Highland Oaks and The Dothan Driving Range - Dothan, AL
WGC got to play a special round this week because I got to tee it up with my mom.
My mom has always been a great athlete. She played just about everything growing up, but particularly excelled at field hockey. Golf came later, after retiring as a high school teacher, and she has been on a tear ever since. She now has three hole-in-ones under her belt, including one I was lucky enough to witness, and is constantly working to improve her game.
We had not gotten to play together in a while, so getting a couple of days back home and a round together made this trip especially fun.
For our round, we headed to Highland Oaks in Dothan, part of Alabama's Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. The Trail opened in the early 1990s as an ambitious project to build a collection of championship golf courses across the state. Today, its courses stretch from the Tennessee Valley to the Gulf Coast, and the Trail has become a huge part of the golf identity of Alabama.
Highland Oaks is the Trail's Dothan outpost and features 27 championship holes designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., split between the Highlands, Marshwood and Magnolia nines, along with a nine-hole Short Course. One of the strengths of Highland Oaks is the variety across those three nines, each using the property a little differently.
Mom and I played the Highlands and Marshwood nines. The Highlands is the more open of the two, taking advantage of the rolling terrain with broad views across the property and plenty of movement from tee to green. Marshwood provides a nice contrast, moving through more wooded sections of Highland Oaks with water becoming a greater part of the challenge. One of its more memorable features is the large double green shared by the sixth and ninth holes. Together, the two nines show off two different sides of the property and make for a really enjoyable 18-hole combination.
One of my favorite parts of golf has always been how easily it gives you a few uninterrupted hours with someone. Mom and I have played plenty of golf together over the years, but life makes those rounds a little harder to come by these days. Getting back to Dothan, playing 18 and watching her continue to enjoy a game she picked up later in life made this one particularly special.
After the round, we had one more golf stop to make before heading home: the Dothan Driving Range on Highway 84.
Dothan Driving Range
Sitting right along Highway 84 in Dothan, Alabama, the Dothan Driving Range has been part of the local golf scene since 1995. Growing up in Enterprise, trips to Dothan were a regular occurrence, and the range and its big red sign along 84 have been familiar sights for as long as I can remember.
The setup has changed quite a bit over the years. A covered hitting area, launch monitors and other improvements have been added, but the place has managed to keep the old-school driving range feel that makes it great. You can still pull off the highway, grab a bucket of balls and spend an hour working through the bag without making golf any more complicated than it needs to be.
Inside, there is a fully stocked pro shop that feels a little like stepping back into the golf shops I grew up around. New clubs, bags, balls, gloves and accessories fill the space, but mixed in among them are older clubs, putters and plenty of other interesting pieces of golf equipment. There is even the essential rack of snacks and candy at the counter.
The equipment side of the operation has become increasingly serious as well. Nick Powell has built a separate, fully enclosed fitting bay that can open directly onto the driving range, combining an indoor fitting setup with the ability to watch the actual ball flight outside.
Nick has assembled an extensive selection of equipment for the fitting operation, with countless combinations of driver heads, shafts and other components available to test. Full-bag fittings are offered, allowing golfers to work through everything from the driver down through the irons and wedges rather than simply trying a few clubs off the rack. Having that level of fitting available at an independent driving range in Southeast Alabama is pretty impressive.
That's really what I like about the Dothan Driving Range today. It has continued to improve without trying to reinvent what it is.
The technology is there. The club fitting is there. The pro shop is packed with gear, and the range itself has received plenty of upgrades. But it still feels like the driving range that has sat alongside Highway 84 for decades.
You can get dialed in with a new driver using modern launch-monitor data, dig through some golf gear inside and then walk outside and hit a bucket of balls.
I got fit for a new Titleist GTS 3, 8 Degree launch, adding about 15 yards over my former gamer of the Titleist TSR 3, 9 Degree launch. I am using the new Project X Titan shaft and really like the performance.
