Golf Getaway
Alabama’ s Gulf Shores
Fall & Winter Golf Getaway by Bill Cromwell
When the fall chill sets in for Midwestern golfers, it’ s time to start planning a warm-climate golf getaway. Alabama’ s Gulf Shores and central regions offer everything needed to quench a golfer’ s appetite both on and off the course.
Kiva Dunes Beach Resort & Golf Course
Throughout the South, former PGA professional Jerry Pate is well-known for his golf course design work. This year, Pate celebrates 30 years of golf design, and Alabama has more Pate courses than anywhere else.
As a former professional golfer, Jerry Pate( on left) is known for winning the U. S. Open in 1976 at the age of 22. His successful career on the PGA TOUR includes winning eight tournaments. He was known for playing with an orange Pro Staff golf ball.“ They paid me a lot,” Pate once said in an media interview. Later in his professional golf career, he faced shoulder injuries and retired from the PGA TOUR at the age of 28. Subsequently, he transitioned into golf broadcasting and established Jerry Pate Design, a golf course design firm. He also founded a turf and irrigation company in Pensacola, FL, with branches in Birmingham, AL, Atlanta, GA, and Toledo, OH.
Pate has designed 12 signature courses( five in Alabama), renovated over 13 others, and has three America’ s 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses, including Kiva Dunes Golf Club and Limestone Springs Golf Club in Alabama, along with Dancing Rabbit Golf Club in Mississippi.
Pate’ s golf course design philosophy features interesting routing, strategic elements, well-designed green complexes, and playability for golfers of all skill levels. His designs, such as Kiva Dunes and Limestone Springs, emphasize the natural landscape, enhancing the overall golfing experience.
Here are three Jerry Pate-designed Alabama courses and five other notable courses( not Pate-designed) to play on your southern golf getaway to the Gulf Shores and central Alabama regions.
Kiva Dunes Beach Resort & Golf Course( Golf Shores) is also home to the state’ s only golf resort directly on the Gulf of Mexico. It offers beachfront homes plus condos along the 18th fairway, above the sixstory clubhouse. The resort also offers a restaurant and three outdoor pools, including one with a tiki bar located along its private Gulf Shores beach.
Kiva Dunes
Kiva Dunes Resort is renowned for its stunning golf course, offering dramatic coastal views of the ocean. The resort is a beautiful combination of relaxation and play. Just minutes away from Gulf Shores, the resort offers Alabama’ s highest-ranked public golf course.
Kiva Dunes Beach Resort & Golf Course offers Stay & Play packages. 815 Plantation Road, Gulf Shores, AL 36542. Call 866-540-7100 or visit www. kivadunes. com for more information.
Ol’ Colony Golf Complex( central Alabama)
Ol’ Colony Golf Complex is an 18-hole championship golf course in Tuscaloosa. It opened in 2000 and quickly emerged as a top-quality course with national recognition. This 7,097-yard, par 72 course is also where the University of Alabama golf team practices.
16 Nov. / Dec. 2025 TEE TIMES GOLF GUIDE