3840 Cotton Creek Circle,
Gulf Shores, Alabama AL 36542
Office
+1 (800) 327 2657Pro shop
+1 (251) 968 7500Website
Visit websiteGolf pro
Rick Gehr (Director of Golf)The Course:
18 holes. Tree-lined & open parkland. Gently undulating terrain - easy to walk but some long tee-to-green walks.
Surroundings:
Residential setting.
Designer:
Arnold Palmer
18-hole par-72 Cotton Creek course (7072 yyds from back tees).
30.305074
-87.666875
45 miles SE of Mobile
From the I-10 (20 miles east of Mobile) take exit 44 onto the 59 South direction Loxley. After 25 miles (and 7 miles after Foley) turn left onto CR-4 (Cotton Creek Drive). After o.6 miles turn left into Craft Farms Blvd, and follow road for o.6 miles to golf clubhouse.
Craft Farms (Cypress Bend)
Craft Farms Golf Club (Cypress Bend course): In what was formerly farmland where gladiolus flowers were cultivated in their millions, Craft Farms added a second Arnold Palmer designed golf course in 1998. The Cypress Bend layout represented an enjoyable and testing "new arrival" at Craft Farms, although it had some catching-up to do with its companion course, the tougher, more mature and more scenic Cotton Creek.
Cypress Bend can be enjoyed by golfers of all skill levels, while still presenting plenty of challenges, especially if the wind has anything to do with it. Good course management will be needed, lest the continual presence of water gives your game that sinking feeling.
The good-width fairways often provide generous landing areas, but you'll need these as you thread your way through the lakes and bunkers, and onto the relative safety of the excellent quality, slightly elevated greens.
The landscape on Cypress Bend is quite open and reasonably flat, with areas of tree-planting still to mature. Real estate is still filling in gaps between the existing houses that line many holes. Add to the plethora of water hazards (which threaten on almost every hole), some significant bunkering, and one can understand how this resort course will test and probe your game as you journey round.
Visitors welcome on weekdays and weekends.
Must book in advance.
Golf carts compulsory.
Good
In 1953 R.C. Craft bought 870-acres of farmland just three miles north from the sugar-sand beaches of Gulf Shores, and began the cultivation of gladiolus flowers. After converting from gladioli production to commercial sod in 1973, R.C. and his son Robert decided to take an even bigger plunge in 1988, persuading golf legend Arnold Palmer to build the Cotton Creek course, and so begin to establish Gulf Shores as a premier golf and recreation destination.
A second course, the Woodlands was designed by Larry Nelson and opened in 1994 (this course was closed in 2005 and converted to residential housing). In 1998 the most recent of the Arnold Palmer courses, Cypress Bend opened for play.
PO Box 2288, Craft Farms Resort, Gulf Shores, Alabama AL 36547
+1 (251) 968 7532
Visit websiteThe luxury Cypress Point Condominiums overlook the Palmer-designed Cypress Bend golf course and offer spacious floor plans.
Craft Farms Resort (Cotton Creek and Cypress Bend courses)
No
Peninsula; Kiva Dunes; Lakewood -Dogwood and Azalea courses (25 miles).
3750 Gulf Shores Parkway, Gulf Shores, Alabama, AL 36542
+1 (251) 968 1113
Visit websiteCourtyard by Marriott is located at Craft Farms Resort, home to the Cotton Creek and Cyress Bend golf courses, and in close proximity to many other golf courses in the area.
Craft Farms Resort (Cotton Creek and Cypress Bend courses)
No
Peninsula; Kiva Dunes; Lakewood -Dogwood and Azalea courses (25 miles).
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