The Country Club of Birmingham moved to its present Mountain Brook property in 1925 and opened the West Course the same year as the first of two 18-hole designs laid out by Donald Ross; the East Course followed in 1926. Ross’s planning and staking therefore date to 1925, with construction sufficient for opening that season.
The club has documented two major post-Ross rebuilding eras on the West: Robert Trent Jones Sr. reconfigured the course in the late 1950s–1960 (club and state-association materials fix the work to 1959–60), and Pete Dye undertook further, multi-visit renovations beginning in the mid-1980s and continuing through 2009. Jones’s campaign is also listed in the Robert Trent Jones Society chronology at 1959 for “Birmingham, Country Club of, West Course.” An overview on the club’s site characterizes Jones’s rework as converting the West to larger greens, signature bunkers and lakes, which Dye later revised.
Ross’s intent as expressed on this property.
In a USGA interview given on site, the club’s director of golf explained that Ross located the clubhouse in the middle of the property so that holes would “cloverleaf” around it—an organizational decision that still governs how the West circulates. That article also records a long-time member’s summary of what remains Ross versus what was altered: the routing is “identical to the original… except for [holes] 15 and 16,” which Jones flipped from a par-4/-5 sequence to a par-5 then par-4. USGA In the same piece the club stated that 16 of the green sites are identical to Ross’s—a crucial preservation datum for understanding where the original design still anchors play.
Unique design characteristics (as they appear on the West today)
Routing, sequence, and the clubhouse axis. Because Ross centered the clubhouse and set the golf to radiate and return, the West still presents a cloverleaf rhythm in which loops intersect the clubhouse lawns and terraces; this is not a generic Ross preference cited in the abstract but a documented feature of this property. Even after mid-century reconstruction, the hole order and corridors remained in Ross’s pattern aside from the Jones reversal at 15–16, meaning approach lines on the other sixteen holes continue to engage the ground Ross selected.
Targets and green sites. With sixteen Ross green sites intact, today’s West still asks players to solve many of the same approach problems Ross set on this ground, albeit into surfaces that have cycled through Jones-era expansion and Dye-era edgework. The club’s 2022 USGA briefing emphasized that greenside “swales and hills” are the course’s main defense—contouring now associated with Dye’s touch but sitting atop Ross’s original siting in most cases.
Bunkering and hazards. The present bunker language on the West carries a clear Dye signature, including pot bunkers in places and pronounced shaping around green pads; that vocabulary arrived during Dye’s visits from the mid-1980s through 2009. The Jones rebuild in 1959–60 trended toward larger greens and newly introduced lakes, which the club summarizes in its site history—features that changed the perimeter risks and recoveries around a number of holes.
Hole-specific expressions that tie to what remains of Ross.
• No. 15 and No. 16 are the obvious breaks from Ross’s original sequence—Jones turned them into a 615-yard par 5and a 485-yard par 4, respectively, in the championship setup the USGA described prior to the 2022 Four-Ball. The club’s staff warned that birdies “will be rare” from 13–18, with 15–16 central to that grind.
• Because the routing is otherwise Ross’s and 16 green sites are unchanged, the clearest surviving examples of Ross on the West are the approach problems into those original targets on holes other than 15 and 16—for example the mid-iron approaches that fall off into mown swales and hills rather than bunkers, a defending scheme the club specifically highlighted. (The defending contours are modern in shaping but sit atop Ross’s chosen green locations.)
Historical significance
The West is one half of a paired Ross commission executed on the same site in consecutive years (West 1925; East 1926), a sequencing the USGA recapped in 2022; few 36-hole private clubs in the South can trace both routings to Ross and still host national events across them. The West’s subsequent history also makes it a design palimpsest by three World Golf Hall of Fame architects—Ross (original routing and green sites), Jones (late-1950s modernization), and Dye (1980s–2009 renovations)—a triad the club itself highlights in its public materials.
As a championship venue, the West hosted the 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur (match play on the West) and the 2016 USGA Men’s State Team Championship, and it served as the match-play course for the 2022 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. The USGA listed the West that week at 7,226 yards, par 71, with match play exclusively on the West and stroke-play qualifying split across both courses. Beyond USGA events, the club tallied 10 Alabama State Amateurs and eight Southern Amateur Championships over its history, underscoring the West’s regional championship role.
In terms of reputation, Golf Digest has repeatedly included the West in its national “100 Greatest” over the past several decades and currently ranks it near the top within Alabama (second in 2023/24 per an aggregated directory).
Current condition / integrity
What of Ross remains? The club has stated that the routing is Ross’s with the single exception of the 15–16 reversal, and that 16 of 18 green sites match Ross’s originals; in percentage terms that places ~89% of green sites and ~90% of the routing sequence (by hole count) on Ross’s footprint, even if surface contours and surrounds reflect later hands. The bunkering and much of the greenside contouring now present Dye’s flavor, and the lakes that influence strategy on several holes originated with Jones’s late-1950s work.
Greens, fairways, and turf. The Alabama Golf Association’s 2018 championship notice for the West lists A1/A4 bentgrass greens, Zeon zoysia tees and fairways, and 419 bermudagrass rough—a modern palette that stabilizes playing conditions but necessarily departs from 1920s surfaces.
Distance and set-up. For USGA play the West has stretched to 7,226 yards (par 71), with the club emphasizing that holes 13–18 are the decisive gauntlet—again, an evolution in yardage over Ross’s day but executed on his corridors.
Tree lines and presentation. The West today plays through mature canopy and shaped surrounds; while the swales/hills around greens are described by the club as a modern Dye defense, the Ross green sites they defend mean many approach angles and misses still echo the original placement.
Summary of integrity. Routing (save 15–16) and 16 green sites are Ross; bunker forms, some hazards (lakes), and greenside modeling are Jones/Dye; turf and yardage are modern. Strategically, the skeleton is recognizably Ross, dressed in mid- and late-20th-century armor.
Sources & Notes
1. USGA, Tom Mackin, “Southern Hospitality: C.C. of Birmingham Back for USGA Encore” (May 3, 2022): club move in 1925; West opened 1925; East 1926; match play on West for 2022 Four-Ball; Jones work in late 1950s; Dye in mid-1980s through 2009; present West yardage/par; routing identical to Ross except 15–16 flip; “16 green sites” identical to Ross; Dye’s swales/hills; clubhouse-centered, cloverleaf routing ascribed to Ross at this property; long event history totals.
2. Alabama Golf Association press release for the 86th Alabama Women’s State Amateur at CCB (July 9, 2018): West originally by Ross in 1925; major renovations 1959–60 (Jones) and mid-1980s (Dye); recent USGA events list; current turf types for West.
3. Robert Trent Jones Society location list: entry confirming 1959 work at “Birmingham, Country Club of, West Course.”
4. Country Club of Birmingham, About / West Course page: the West is a “blend” of Ross, Jones, and Dye, as publicly presented by the club.
5. Club history page: note that Jones converted the West to large greens with signature bunkers and lakes, later revised by Dye. (Cited from the page’s search snippet on ccbham.org).
6. USGA, 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur coverage: championship match contested on the West Course.
7. Where2Golf directory entry: summarizes West as Ross original with Jones 1959–60 and Dye 1984/2009 work; provides recent yardage/par and a note on current Golf Digest ranking within Alabama.
8. Golf Digest directory blurb (state page and course page): West repeatedly ranked on 100 Greatest (historical reputation).
Disputed/uncertain points
• Opening year for the West. The USGA states the West “was unveiled [in] 1925,” with the East in 1926, and this narrative adopts those dates; some secondary lists round to “mid-1920s” or cite 1929 for Ross at the West, likely reflecting later construction notes or directory inconsistencies.
• Scope of Jones’s lakes and green expansion. The club’s site summarizes Jones’s West work as adding lakes and enlarging greens; detailed plan sheets are not reproduced publicly, so hole-by-hole attribution of each water body to Jones cannot be verified here.
• Attribution of modern surrounds. The club credits Dye with the swales and hills around greens now defending many targets; because those defenses sit on Ross green sites in most cases, this narrative treats them as Dye overlays rather than original Ross contours.