© Heather Durham Photography
PGA Champions Tour 2014 Regions Tradition, Birmingham Alabama, Shoal Creek
The Alabama Historical Commission added 15 properties to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in mid-December. One local spot made it on the list: Shoal Creek.
Mr. Hall W. Thompson constructed Shoal Creek Golf Course in 1974 fulfilling his dream of building his own golf course. Thompson hired professional golfer and emerging course designer Jack Nicklaus to route the course. Nicklaus had collaborated on the design for his home state course, Muirfield Village, in Dublin, Ohio, which opened in 1974, and had designed a course in Toronto. However, Shoal Creek was the first course Nicklaus designed on his own in the United States.
The property and its buildings are an excellent example of the New Traditional Colonial style that was popularized in the mid to late 1970s by the nation’s bicentennial celebration. Shoal Creek is also a good example of a highly engineered planned landscape. Shoal Creek was designed to be a golf club first and a real estate development second. Thompson prioritized the course routing and wanted house sites scattered organically around the course.
Shoal Creek revolutionized golf greens in the Southeast by being the first to prove it could be done and demonstrating how. Thompson engineered the landscape to support the growth of bent grass, a highly desired grass for golf greens but considered previously unsustainable in the southeastern climate. A combination of ingenuities in irrigation and drainage, manmade lakes and dams with a pump system that could redirect water uphill, made this possible. As a result, Augusta National followed suit and replaced its greens with bent grass in 1981.
The period of significance runs from 1974 when design and construction began until 1990 when the club hosted the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) of America’s 72nd annual tournament. The media surrounding the event highlighted the fact the course had never been fully integrated. This media coverage led to the racial integration of private clubs and golf courses throughout the country including Shoal Creek. Despite minor alterations and additions to the property over time, Shoal Creek retains a high degree of integrity as a premiere golf course and club. Shoal Creek is listed in the Alabama Register for its recreational and social history and for its significant design.
The Alabama Historical Commission created the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage to recognize buildings, structures, sites, objects, and districts of historical, architectural, and/or archaeological significance. Nominations may be submitted by anyone to the Alabama Historical Commission. A staff review committee determines if the nominated property meets the established criteria and the property is added to the register if the criteria is met. The designation is honorary and does not restrict what a property owner can do with the property.
