The Country Club of Birmingham relocated to its present Mountain Brook site in 1925 and commissioned Donald Ross to lay out two 18-hole courses; the West opened that year and the East followed in 1926. USGA Ross’s planning for the East is therefore best placed in 1925, with construction and opening in 1926; some directory-style listings round the date to “mid-1920s,” but the USGA’s championship materials fix the East’s debut in 1926.
A secondary account asserts that Ross accepted the 36-hole commission in January 1925, produced the routings that spring, and made periodic site visits during construction—useful for sequencing his presence even though it cites no surviving club minutes. Greens Visited The club’s public history also places both courses among Ross’s 1920s works at Birmingham.
Unlike the West—which underwent wholesale championship-era rebuilds—East’s major post-Ross changes began in the 1960s when George Cobb enlarged greens and otherwise “worked on” the course; John LaFoy then led a renovation in 1989 to stabilize infrastructure while keeping a Ross-forward presentation. Country Club of BirminghamGolf Course Architecture A subsequent, targeted refurbishment by LaFoy in 2018–2019 rebuilt bunkers (to Better Billy Bunker spec), installed a new irrigation system, standardized and expanded tees (a six-tee system with 28 added), and adjusted select green edges to improve surface drainage, with the putting surfaces “virtually untouched” in the interiors. Golf Course Architecture Construction began immediately after the Alabama State Women’s Amateur concluded in July 2018; the East reopened in spring 2019.
Ross’s intent at Birmingham’s East. While no Ross letter for the East is published, three strands of evidence sketch his purpose here: (1) the contemporaneous pairing of two routings tailored to different expressions on the same property (West in 1925; East in 1926), (2) the East’s compact, walkable sequencing with tees close to prior greens that persists today, and (3) the prevalence of modestly elevated targets on mostly moderate ground. The first is documented by USGA’s chronology; the second by LaFoy’s observation that the traditional design allowed “walk-on” tees; and the third by course-side descriptions that the East’s greens are generally slightly raised, with several dramatically elevated. Together they indicate Ross intended the East to be the club’s more “member-daily” test built on continuous flow and exacting targets rather than on forced carries.
Unique design characteristics (as they appear on the East today)
Routing & cadence. The East’s routing remains Ross’s, notable for its continuous green-to-tee connections; the club and LaFoy both emphasize that proximity, and it shaped the 2019 tee program (adding many forward “walk-on” tee decks without disturbing corridors).
Targets and surrounds. Contemporary accounts describe “slightly elevated” greens throughout, with eight holes more dramatically perched—an East-side trait that sharpens distance control and spin on approach. GolfPass LaFoy’s 2019 report confirms the team left interior green contours largely intact while lowering perimeter “dams” created by decades of topdressing, a surgical adjustment that restored front-edge runoffs and lateral shedding consistent with 1920s intent.
Bunkering. All bunkers were rebuilt in 2018–19 to BBB specifications; sand lines were subtly lifted for visibility rather than re-sited en masse, preserving Ross’s general placements where Cobb and LaFoy had earlier respected them.
Hole-specific expressions. Public, hole-by-hole resources and course-specific essays identify several characteristic moments: the 2nd is a short, downhill par-4 that tempts a direct play at the green (the scorecard lists it at ~300 yards), while the 9th features a strongly two-tiered putting surface that has long balanced birdies and bogeys. 18BirdiesGolfTraxx Observers also call the 6th a “cape-style” tease across a diagonal hazard line, and the 10th a dogleg-right that falls to a crowned green—examples that fit the East’s theme of angle-first play into compact targets. (These attributions are interpretive write-ups rather than primary club documents but are consistent with on-site play notes.)
Where Ross reads clearest. Because Cobb expanded green perimeters in the 1960s but left the routing, the most legible Ross today is the macro-routing and the cadence of approaches into modest, slightly raised targets—especially across the front-nine stretch that includes the 2nd (risk-reward drivable par-4) and the 9th (tiered surface), and on the back-nine 10th where the falling fairway to a crowned green amplifies approach precision.
Historical significance
Within Ross’s corpus, Birmingham is one of a handful of American clubs to receive paired, purpose-built 18s on the same site in the boom years of the 1920s; the West (1925) and East (1926) sequencing is clear in USGA materials. USGA The East matters today precisely because it avoided the kind of post-war, tournament-driven surgery seen on the West (RTJ in the early 1960s; Pete Dye in 1985), allowing Birmingham to retain one course with a mostly Ross routing and Ross-scaled targets.
For competitive history, the East has been used as a stroke-play co-host with the West for national events, most recently the 2022 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, where the USGA set the East at 6,611 yards, par 70 for qualifying rounds. USGAThe club’s renovation scheduling even pivoted around the Alabama State Women’s Amateur in 2018, underscoring the East’s regional championship role. Golf Course Architecture
Although the East seldom appears in national “best-of” lists on its own, state and directory profiles consistently place it as a Ross original with later sympathetic work by Cobb and LaFoy—a course valued by historians as the steadier, more intact half of a rare 36-hole Ross commission.
Current condition / integrity
Routing & corridors. The routing is Ross’s, and the course still plays as a compact, walkable loop with short green-to-tee transitions.
Greens. Cobb enlarged the East’s greens in the 1960s; subsequent projects (1989; 2018–19) focused on infrastructure and edge work rather than re-contouring interiors, so today’s putting surfaces present as Ross-scaled targets in footprint with evolution at the fringes. Country Club of BirminghamGolf Course Architecture
Bunkers & tees. As of 2019 the bunker set has modern liners and refined sand lines, with no wholesale relocations; the tee system now offers six sets (including numerous forward “walk-on” tees) to spread wear and calibrate carries without changing Ross’s angles.
Water & trees. LaFoy’s 2019 scope included adding a new pond for water-supply and aesthetic purposes; otherwise, the project emphasized presentation rather than new hazards. Mature canopy and the club’s long-term tree program now frame many lines more tightly than in Ross’s day, but East has not seen the severe corridor narrowing associated with the championship-driven West.
Percentage of Ross that remains. By plan, the routing is essentially 100% Ross; by surfaces, the greens are Ross-derived in siting and general scale but reflect Cobb’s 1960s enlargements and later edge-restoration work; bunkers largely occupy Ross/Cobb/LaFoy lines with modern construction; tees and irrigation are modern. In practical terms, the strategic skeleton is Ross, with presentation layers accreted and refreshed over time.
Current competitive use. The USGA’s 2022 Four-Ball returned national attention to the East as a qualifying venue (par 70, 6,611 yards), a set-up that showcased Ross’s routing cadence and the course’s modernized but historically sympathetic targets.
Sources & Notes
1. USGA, “Southern Hospitality: C.C. of Birmingham Back for USGA Encore” (club move to current site in 1925; West opened 1925; East followed 1926).
2. USGA, “2022 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Fast Facts” (East as stroke-play co-host; set at 6,611 yards/par 70; opening year 1926).
3. Golf Course Architecture (Richard Humphreys), “LaFoy completes renovation of East course at CC Birmingham” (2018–19 scope: BBB bunkers; irrigation; six-tee system, 28 added; edge work on greens; pond addition; interiors largely untouched; sequencing comments).
4. ASGCA News, “Ross-designed Country Club of Birmingham updated by LaFoy” (2019 project summary; proximity of tees to next greens underpinning tee program).
5. Country Club of Birmingham site — History page snippet (Cobb enlarged East greens in the 1960s).
6. Top100GolfCourses, “Country Club of Birmingham (East)” (East as Ross; Cobb renovation in the 1960s; LaFoy 1989 and 2019; 2019 scope summary).
7. GolfPass course profile (public description of elevated targets on the East).
8. 18Birdies — East Course scorecard (hole 2 ~300 yards; par/yardage context for hole-specific discussion).
9. GolfTraxx (East hole notes identifying the ninth’s two-tiered surface; additional hole descriptions).
10. BirminghamWiki (summary confirming Ross authorship of both courses; Cobb/LaFoy timelines).
Disputed/uncertain points
• Exact planning vs. opening dates. The USGA places the East’s opening in 1926 and the West in 1925; some directory pages list 1925 for the East. This narrative uses the USGA’s chronology and flags the 1925 date as a common rounding/summary.