Alabama's Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is terrific, but a discussion of great public golf in Alabama involves more than that network of 21 courses. It ought to include the new Auburn University Club in Auburn. Just down the street from the university campus, the course was designed by an Auburn alumn, Bill Bergin, a standout player who was on the 1981 Southeastern Conference championship golf team and was a four-time All-SEC Choice. Bergin played for a time on the tour, then worked as a club professional and ultimately apprenticed under course designer Bob Cupp before going out on his own. Auburn University Club isn't his first course design, but it is his best to date.

From the tips, it's a rugged 7,259 yards over rolling terrain and around Lake Yarborough. The Tiftdwarf Bermudagrass greens are well contoured but not penal in their slopes. The bunkers are cleverly placed, mounds are positioned to direct balls back into play and the course has plenty of water hazards. Those hazards come in every size and shape. The beautifully natural par-4 fifth plays over a natural stream valley to an elevated green. The uphill par-5 third and downhill par-5 seventh are separated by a series of stair-stepped manmade pools. The par-3 eighth skirts a corner of Lake Yarborough, a large reservoir. There's not a weak hole on the course, with the 442-yard 18th as a stern but suitable finishing hole. The course is complemented by a 22-acre driving range with tees at both ends as well as a magnificent short game practice area.

Auburn University Club is actually a private club that allows public play. The club's goal is to eventually have 1,957 members, symbolic of the year the Tigers won the NCAA national championship in football. Yes, football is still king at Auburn. So don't expect a tee time on the morning of football Saturdays, but you might find the course almost empty on game day afternoons.