Alabama Golf Courses: Deer Run Golf Course

Earl Stone Design Midway between Cullman, Florence

Scrolling through Alabama golf courses midway between Florence and Cullman, Alabama, for a midweek round, a friend and I settled on Deer Run Golf Course in Moulton, Alabama, an Earl Stone design that has been open for more than 30 years.

With Bankhead National Forest as a backdrop, it was great to see that Deer Run was in excellent condition.

Deer Run is just minutes off U.S. 157 and is a city-owned course that first opened as a nine-holer but later expanded to 18 holes.

For a golf course that is a little bit off the beaten path, Deer Run is a quality daily-fee course with reasonable rates. I paid $28 for the weekday senior fee and a friend paid $32 for the regular rate. Those prices included cart and green fee.

Hidden Gem Among Alabama Golf Courses

Because of its location, Deer Run has a good mix of tight, tree-lined fairways and a number that are fairly open. While the front nine is mostly flat, the back nine (which features several of the original nine holes) has five holes have a decent amount of elevation change.

June is prime season for Alabama golf courses, and despite the likelihood of oppressive heat and humidity, the Bermuda grass tees and fairways are thriving.

Although the rough is cut only slightly higher than the fairways at Deer Run, miss the fairways and it’s a crap shoot as to whether you will have a decent lie or just be able to gouge it out. However, that’s the beauty of Bermuda grass – the ball tends to sink to the bottom, so driving accuracy becomes a premium.

Deer Run’s bentgrass greens are large with few undulations but with a decent amount of slope.

Deer Run is listed at 6,745 yards from the tips and 6,121 from the white markers. With the course soaked from recent rain, that 6,121 yards seemed more like 6,400 or so.

Best hole: No. 10 is a 375-yard par 4 with a fairway that doglegs and slopes to the right. A missed tee shot to the right funnels into the trees and leaves a tricky approach. There’s also a fairway bunker about 225 yards out on the right. The green is like a horizontal figure 8 with a single bunker protecting the right side. A back-left pin is the most challenging location.

Fun fact: When the course is playing firm and fast, along with receptive greens, a low number is not out of the question when you play Deer Run. It also has a couple of driveable par 4s on the back nine.