The Country Club of Mobile relocated to its present Spring Hill site by 1916, with course and clubhouse work underway and a grand three-story clubhouse completed in 1918. Contemporary local history records that “sometime between 1918 and 1920, Donald Ross ‘designed’ a golf course whose location and routing is the same as today’s course.” The same account notes scant evidence of a site visit, suggesting Ross may have worked from topographic mapping, a method he occasionally used when travel or timing required.
Confusion persists around the “opening” date of the Ross course. Several modern directories state that the Ross course was “set out” or opened in 1928, while the club’s own materials credit Ross with the 1918 design year. Given the 1916–1918 construction at Spring Hill and the 1918–1920 dating in Mobile Bay Magazine, the most defensible reading is that the Ross plan was prepared and largely implemented c.1918–1920, with additional finishing or re-opening references later recorded as 1928 by secondary sources. Resolving this discrepancy would require consulting club minutes, Ross plan invoices, and any construction correspondence from 1916–1920 and 1927–1928.
The club suffered a devastating clubhouse fire in 1925, but the course footprint appears to have remained in place thereafter. In the post-war decades, CCM retained outside architects for updates: Willard C. Byrd was engaged after Hurricane Frederic (1979) damage, and his work particularly affected the back nine. Later, Ron Forse led a restoration-minded renovation around 2001, emphasizing a return to Ross-style bunker forms and clearing encroaching trees, as reported in industry and trade pieces of the period. Bergin Golf Designs rebuilt bunkers in 2006. Most recently, Jerry Pate Design executed a comprehensive renovation of the North Nine par-3 course in 2017, then a full renovation of the East and West championship nines in 2018, adding USGA-spec greens, rebuilt tees and bunkers, re-grassing fairways/rough with 419 bermuda, establishing native bahiagrass areas, and installing a new Toro irrigation system—work described as a near-$7 million project intended to “pay tribute to the original Ross design.”
Unique Design Characteristics
The championship course occupies rolling terrain with more than 100 feet of elevation change—unusual relief for the coastal plain—and this topography underpins several of the clearest surviving Ross strategies. The short par five 7th invites a bold second from an angled fairway into a green described as having “Raynor-styled” character, an intriguing historical layering given the club’s Ross attribution. The adjacent par-3 8th also features a geometric, Raynor-like green pad. On the inward nine, the par-3 12th demands an all-carry shot over water to a perched target; the 15th and 16th form a strong two-hole stretch where the 16th’s fairway is crossed diagonally by a creek before turning right to a “wickedly sloping” green—features that sharpen angle control off the tee and reward precise distance control into firming targets.
The 2018 rebuild sought to restore the scale and edge definition of hazards associated with Ross work at CCM, while expanding pinnable surface on greens that had shrunk over time. New USGA profiles, combined with resurfacing and expanded short-cut surrounds, heightened the effect of fall-offs and false-front elements that Ross had embedded in the original routing. These interventions, paired with selective tree work (reported during Forse’s earlier tenure), re-opened diagonal lines of play into landing zones—especially noticeable on the mid-length par-4s where modern width now frames Ross’s intended angles to corner pins.
In terms of holes that best convey Ross’s hand today, the 7th–8th pairing (for its green forms and strategic sequencing), the 12th (shot value over water to a compact target), and the 15th–16th (creek interplay and green cant) are repeatedly cited in external course profiles. These remain the most persuasive touchstones when reading Ross’s routing decisions through modern renovations.
Historical Significance
Within Ross’s Southern portfolio, CCM illustrates his readiness to plot cohesive routings on gently rolling inland ground in the Deep South during the late 1910s—contemporaneous with his engagements across Alabama and the Gulf region. It also reflects a pattern at older Southern clubs where subsequent architects layered hurricane-era repairs and modernization onto a classic blueprint, making CCM a case study in how clubs balance heritage and infrastructure. The club’s Labor Day Invitational—a regional amateur fixture—adds competitive relevance; modern listings trace winners and annual playings at the course. While the club has not pursued national rankings campaigns aggressively, several directory and travel sources single out the course’s retention of Ross character despite “several updates,” a reputation that underwrote the decision to pursue a historically sensitive renovation in 2017–2018.
Current Condition / Integrity
As of the late-2010s renovation, the routing of the championship 18 conforms closely to the historical plan used at Spring Hill, and the bunker styling/placement and green sizes were rebuilt with explicit reference to Ross antecedents, per the owner’s statements and the contractor’s project summary. The course now presents USGA-specification greens, rebuilt and repositioned bunkers, sprigged 419 bermudagrass in fairways and rough, targeted native areas, and a modern irrigation system. The North Nine par-3 course was fully rebuilt in 2017 alongside a new teaching facility. While decades of incremental change—particularly Byrd’s post-storm work—altered some green-site specifics and vegetation lines, the most recent work purposely redressed tree overgrowth and restored strategic visibility. Overall, integrity to Ross’s routing and angle-of-attack ideas is high, though specific green interior contours and certain bunkering details necessarily reflect modern interpretation. Yardages and par today are consistent with regional listings (par 71; ~6,842 yards from the tips).
Citations and Uncertainty
Attribution and dating present two open questions. First, did Ross visit the site, or did he design via plans alone? The Mobile Bay Magazine account asserts “little evidence” of an on-site visit; absent travel records or plan annotations from Ross’s office, this remains unverified. Second, the opening date of the Ross course appears in conflict: local sources point to 1918–1920, while multiple directories cite 1928. Without club minutes, contractor invoices, or newspapers documenting an opening day, the conservative presentation is to treat 1918–1920 as the planning/build window with a possible later “formal opening” or re-opening recorded as 1928 by secondary compilers. Additional primary documentation—Ross drawings, correspondence, and Mobile newspaper coverage—would resolve both issues.
Sources & Notes
Country Club of Mobile — Golf page (club site), credits Ross (1918) and notes 2018 Jerry Pate renovation with guidance from the Donald Ross Society; overview of amenities.
Country Club of Mobile — Amenities (members page), states 2017 North Nine renovation and 2018 East/West renovation by Jerry Pate; 27 holes and clubhouse details.
Mobile Bay Magazine, “Change of Course” (Feb. 16, 2018), local history recounting Spring Hill move, 1918 clubhouse, Ross design timing (1918–1920), and the 1925 fire; notes limited evidence of Ross on site.
Top100GolfCourses — Country Club of Mobile (course profile), cites 1928 as the Ross date; describes elevation change and key holes (7, 8, 12, 15–16) and mentions North short course. Secondary directory; hole descriptions useful but not primary.
Wadsworth Construction Newsletter (2019), article summarizing the 2018 Jerry Pate renovation: ~$7M, new USGA greens/tees/bunkers, re-grassing with 419 bermuda, native bahiagrass areas, new Toro irrigation.
Golf Course News (trade PDF, c.2001), notes Ron Forse renovating the Country Club of Mobile among several Ross restorations that year. Trade source confirming early-2000s work.
GolfLink — Country Club of Mobile (Main), attributes original design to Donald J. Ross with Willard C. Byrd as a later renovator; lists 1918 opening (directory).
Bergin Golf Designs — Project page confirming 2006 bunker renovation at CCM.