Best Golf Courses Near Tuscaloosa, AL

“Roll Tide,” echoes everywhere in Tuscaloosa, the home of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide. Located 60 miles west of Birmingham in western Alabama, Tuscaloosa is a college town known as the “City of Champions.” Everyone knows that the Tide is dominant in football, but UA doesn’t count its championships on the gridiron alone. The men’s golf team notched back-to-back national titles in 2013 and 2014. The Alabama golf teams play at a course you can play—Ol’Colony Golf Complex is a muni. Ol’ Colony has a stout defense—plenty of elevation changes, 25 acres of ball-consuming lakes, and 70 smothering bunkers—but it is fair and Golf Digest has considered it among Alabama’s best public courses. Tall Pines Golf Course, a hilly layout with lots of trees, presents a more moderate challenge. The family-friendly Links at Tuscaloosa, a 1963-vintage layout that was updated in 2007, rambles over high ground beside Mimosa Lake. After golf, save some time to explore the University of Alabama campus. Highlight attractions include a natural history museum and the Paul W. Bryant Museum that showcases Alabama’s glorious football history. If you’re there on game day, Bryant-Denny stadium will be rocking. Before the game, don’t miss “The Elephant Stomp”—when the university’s “Million Dollar Band” works fans into a frenzy on the steps of Gorgas Library. In downtown Tuscaloosa two points of interest are the Children’s Hands-On Museum and the old Bama Theatre, a restored movie palace that is now a performing arts center. Tuscaloosa’s other big claim to fame is that it is home to the only Mercedes Benz production factory in the U.S. Tours are offered but advance reservations are required.