Some elements of the Ridge Course at Oxmoor Valley in southeast Birmingham are fairly outrageous. I think of the first and second holes (formerly the 10th and 11th, a par-4 followed by a par-5, one going uphill, the other downhill) that are so steep they’re like playing on a life size Q-bert pyramid where the only place a ball can come to rest is on small steps and ledges in the fairway.
That’s the way it is here: relentlessly up and down with enormous bucking fairways. The Ridge plays on the east side of Little Shades Mountain dropping a total of 200 feet, with 17 and 18 tightwalking the ridgeline back to the clubhouse along the property’s highest point.
You won’t forget the par-5’s–or maybe you will, with therapy. After the 2nd hole, the 3rd delves through a low basin to a green perched atop a sheer-faced shale outcropping. The huge 18th requires a third shot to a high, shallow green perched over a ravine.
The 12th offers a lower, alternate fairway to the left of the bigger upper fairway that in theory shortens the hole. But like many alternate fairway holes, the risk (it’s narrow; you can be blocked out by pines) is out of proportion with the reward and most players play to the only slightly longer higher ground.
![Oxmoor3](http://theaposition.com/theduncanlist/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2010/06/Oxmoor3.jpg)
Taking advantage of the natural assets, the green at the par three third is perched distantly atop a shale outcropping.
Oxmoor Valley is indicative of all the RTJ Trail courses—epic in scale, outsize in personality and features—and I understand those who don’t care for the extroversion. To me it’s like jammy, high alcohol, Russian River Valley zinfandels: old world palates aren’t impressed and they’re tough to match with food, but damn if they’re not entertaining one-offs. (88)
Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail—Oxmoor Valley Ridge Course
Birmingham
Architect: Bobby Vaughan and Roger Rulewich
Year: 1992