Capstone Club of Alabama 
Brookwood, AL 



Reviewed: 2009
Capstone Club of Alabama
By Ian Thompson

The Capstone Club of Alabama in Brookwood is under new ownership and launched “a new beginning” over Memorial Day weekend.
Local businessman Alan Farmer purchased the course, on a total of 230 acres, late last year and has already spearheaded significant improvements at this Gil Hanse design that opened in May 2001. This includes an upgraded cart fleet (appropriately crimson colored) and an ongoing bunker renovation project.
The long holiday weekend also saw the debut of Arman’s at Capstone, their new restaurant concept within the clubhouse. The chef is Arman DeLorenz who previously operated restaurants in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa.
“I view this course and this facility as a diamond that got a little cloudy, and we now cleaning that diamond up so that it sparkles once again,” new director of golf Jason Hofius, who has run and owned clubs in Florida and his native Indiana, said.
Green fee and cart is $35 plus tax Monday-Thursday and $45 plus tax Friday-Sunday. They offer memberships as well as public play.
Capstone Club has had somewhat of a checkered past with various owners and management groups having come and gone, but Farmer, who’s multiple transportation businesses are located within a mile of the golf course, is determined to make the course and club viable.
On a recent visit to the course I met with Farmer, Hofius and DeLorenz. They each shared their thoughts and a unifiedpassion for making the club viable again and enticing golfers back.
Certainly a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since the Capstone Club opened for play eight years ago. Much may have changed away from the golf course, but very little has changed on the golf course -- for the simple reason that very little needed to change.
Sure the course had its detractors, most do; but I’m most certainly not one of them. In fact I have been quite vocal in my praise for this stellar layout. And I’m delighted to say that Farmer and the team he has assembled are currently taking the steps needed to restore the course to tiptop shape. They are addressing some of the trees and shrubs that have been allowed to grow unchecked and encroach on some holes and are taking the look back to those that were seen on opening day.
Prior to Farmer’s purchase it was owned by Textron Financial and managed by Affiniti Golf Partners.
The property is found about 15 minutes north of Tuscaloosa in Brookwood, just 45 minutes from downtown Birmingham. It is off the next exit from the expansive Mercedes-Benz plant and museum.

How it all got started
Allow me to now look back at my original story from when the course opened.
Hanse may be a not be a familiar name to a lot of people, but he is a young, up-and-coming course architect and the Capstone Club is the first course in the southeast for this Malvern, Pa. native.
In 1998 he designed Craighead Links in Scotland and as such became only the third American (behind Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf) to design a course in the home of golf. He also renovated the East Course at Merion.
The flow of the landscape dictates the flow of the holes, and the lay of the land adds greatly to the strategy of the course, Hanse said. “We (Jim Wagner, his design associate, and Hanse) are very much traditionalists in course design. We take what the land gives us and build a course that is as natural as possible to its surroundings.
“This includes the use of natural vegetation (love grass and andropogon, better known as broom sage) native to the site; carving bunkers out of the land and generally not moving a lot of dirt. Also the scale of the course reflects the scale of the land in that the wide expanses found there add to the large feel of the course.”
Indeed, the course was built on the site of a strip mine which was capped in the mid 1980's. This provides the varied terrain as some holes may run parallel to one another, but one may be 30 feet or so above the other. This presented a challenge to Hanse and his team because of the varied soil profiles associated with such a site.
“In places we had to deal with heavy clays, but in others we had very sandy, wonderful conditions.”
I remarked to Hanse that the rugged, natural look of the course and the preponderance of pine trees reminded me in a way of photographs I'd seen of the most esteemed Pine Valley.
“I'm flattered that you would say that, but Pine Valley is incomparable. However, as I live only 45 minutes from the course and have been fortunate to study it and play it many times, it has been a big influence on me and my work.
“The Capstone had the vegetation and the pines to achieve that kind of look.”
From the Crimson (back) tees the course measures 7032 yards and plays to a par of 71. The bent grass greens are a mix of Crenshaw/L93 (and were in particularly good condition on my recent visit), with tif-sport Bermuda grass fairways. There is at least 100 feet in elevation change across the property, on which the clubhouse stands at the highest point surveying multiple holes before it, including the majestic par 3 ninth. This is a one-shotter that will test your nerve, as the green is as slippery as any on the course.
The coal mining influence can be seen at various points on the property with an example being a bunker on No. 6 which is built into a coal face, as well as the bluffs and escarpments which were created by strip mining and have been utilized by Hanse in his design.
Other features include very generous landing areas on most of the holes, and fringes around the greens which are shaved down so an approach shot not hit quite far enough may roll back down a slope some distance from the hole. Conversely, you will be able to putt the ball from this tight surface even if you are well away from the actual putting surface.
The overall look created by all these factors is unique; I've played a lot of golf courses across the state, but have never come across one of its like.
One hole on this course that has a little bit of everything that I've already talked about has to be No. 17.
Stand on the seventeenth tee and you have to make a conscious decision to go left or right of the creek that meanders down the middle of the fairway. It would be advantageous to take the right side as this leaves a better view of the green, while the left side requires that your second shot traverses a vast waste area strewn with sand and natural vegetation. As if all this wasn't enough, the undulating green has more movement in it than any other on the course. The best approach shot will be one which lands a little short and to the left and takes the natural contours as it releases up the green. Anything missed to the right could fall foul to the creek.
There may be a lot of features to this hole, but it is not contrived, far from it in fact. And that is a trend you will see throughout your journey around the Capstone Club.
I could go into more detail about individual holes, but probably would not do them justice. This is a course that needs to be seen and played to be truly enjoyed. Hanse has done a fine job and has repaid the trust put in him, as a an unknown quantity in this area.

So ends my look (back and forward) at the Capstone Club of Alabama.
Sure it’s different and there are some blind shots, and some views and vistas that may not be what you are used to. This is far from a cookie cutter design.
If you’ve played here before, I wholeheartedly recommend taking another look. If you’ve never visited, come with an open mind and I’ll guarantee you’ll find many things to your liking. I know I always do.