Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Grand National Lake Course
Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Grand National Lake Course: Robert Trent Jones Sr. (1992). Par 72, 7,314 yards. Jim Herman won the 2019 Barbasol Championship here with 262 (−26).
Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Grand National Lake Course: Robert Trent Jones Sr. (1992). Par 72, 7,314 yards. Jim Herman won the 2019 Barbasol Championship here with 262 (−26).
Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Grand National Lake Course: Robert Trent Jones Sr. (1992). Par 72, 7,314 yards. Jim Herman won the 2019 Barbasol Championship here with 262 (−26).
Updated October 24, 2026
5 editions on the record, by event, newest first.
PGA Tour
| Year | Champion | Score | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Jim Herman | 262 (−26) | lowest winning score in this event · by 1 stroke |
| 2018 | Troy Merritt | 265 (−23) | by 1 stroke |
| 2017 | Grayson Murray | 263 (−21) | by 1 stroke |
| 2016 | Aaron Baddeley | 266 (−18) | won in a playoff |
| 2015 | Scott Piercy | 265 (−19) | by 3 strokes |
The RTJ Golf Trail says Robert Trent Jones Sr. is on record calling Grand National the single greatest natural site for golf he had ever seen. 32 of the complex's 54 holes run along 600-acre Lake Saugahatchee.
Source: RTJ Golf Trail – Grand National
Lake Saugahatchee is the main drinking-water reservoir for Opelika and Lee County. The holes are linked by bridges built high enough for boats to pass underneath, and the lake stays open for boating and fishing.
The Trail was the idea of David Bronner, CEO of the Retirement Systems of Alabama, as a way to diversify the state pension fund. He set out to build 378 holes at eight sites at once, and at one point more than 700 pieces of earth-moving equipment were working across the state.
Source: RTJ Golf Trail – About the Trail
The 35,000-square-foot clubhouse sits on a knoll overlooking Lake Saugahatchee, with water visible on three sides of the building.
Source: Encyclopedia of Alabama – Grand National, Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail
Grand National is the home course of the Auburn University golf teams, and has hosted the Nike Tour Championship, the LPGA Tournament of Champions and an NCAA Division I Championship.
Source: Encyclopedia of Alabama – Grand National, Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail
The Opelika Water Board leases 650 acres of reservoir land to the Retirement Systems of Alabama at no cost for the golf complex, and the city built the two-mile entrance road.
Source: Encyclopedia of Alabama – Grand National, Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail
The PGA Tour and DP World Tour weeks at this course since 2017.
| Year | Event | Winner | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Barbasol Championship 20–23 July 2017 | Grayson Murray | PGA Tour |
Every value is shown as recorded in GNN's tour-course research (profiles, championship history, the tour's visits since 2017, stories, details and course changes, each with its sources). A value no source confirmed is left out; nothing is estimated. The light in the room is the sun's real position on the last day of a recorded visit.
The routing and ground are drawn from OpenStreetMap data, © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License (ODbL). The clubhouse is drawn by GNN from reference photographs; the photographs stay private.
Data: grand-national-lake.json. Spot an error? See corrections.