HISTORY

In the early 1980’s Bent Brook’s founder and owner, Jimmy Lee, played a lot of golf with Lee Harper. Lee Harper was arguably the best golfer in central Alabama – if not the state – for many years. Lee and Harper could play just about anywhere and had access to quite a number of private clubs. Lee recognized that the Birmingham area was in great need of public course with a country club feel. Jimmy envisioned a 27-hole golf course that would appeal to players of various skill levels and feature bent grass greens that were at the time, almost non-existent at public courses. In fact, other than Roebuck, Oak Mountain and Frank House, there weren’t many public courses in the area.

“I knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Lee says. “To make the 27-hole goal work, I needed plots of land held by as many as eight other property owners.” It was also critical, Lee surmised, that the land would have to be visible from the newly completed interstate 459 and thus draw the attention of those passing by. The rationale for having 27 holes was to play 18 every day and rest 9 as needed. “For me, it was 27 holes or I wasn’t going to pursue the project,” Lee said. “Letting 9 holes rest on a regular basis was important to the success of bent grass and bent grass was a big part of the appeal of Bent Brook.” It was early 1987 and Lee believed he could secure the tracts of land. Banks at the time weren’t accustomed to lending money on a public facility to a private owner, Lee says. “We may have been the first in the state to try and make this work,” Lee recalls.

The first year the course was open, it was well received. Golfers accustomed to certain quality conditions and bent grass greens now had a place to play that did not require a membership and interest soared. “The first year we were open, we did 60,000 rounds of golf and did over 50,000 rounds every year for the next 10 years,” Lee says. “Shortly thereafter, numerous courses were developed around the area with a similar purpose in mind. Some of those are still with us. Others are not.”

Over the last 30 years, the golf course has seen many improvements, inside and out. A practice area was added. New tee boxes were installed on key holes to keep the course playable for all, and challenging for others. Between 2014 and 2015, all greens were upgraded to the new AU Victory Grass bent grass which have yielded a heartier and more consistent playing surface. In 2016, a tornado came through the property and uprooted or destroyed hundreds of trees. The clean up and reconstruction resulted in a more open course with more green space, without losing all the old growth hardwoods that separate many of the fairways.

“It’s quite a bit of history,” Lee says. “But the story isn’t completely written yet. We always have our eye on ways to make the course more enjoyable for our patrons.”