Lakewood Golf Club at the Grand Hotel, Point Clear: Azalea and Dogwood, Fees, Booking and the Drive From Gulf Shores

Lakewood Golf Club is the Grand Hotel's 36-hole club in Point Clear, on Mobile Bay about 51 minutes from central Gulf Shores. Its two courses, Azalea and Dogwood, trace back to a 1947 Perry Maxwell layout and have been part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail since 2005. The hotel's golf page listed green fees of $205 to $249 with cart (seen October 2026), and RTJ multi-day specials ran $180 to $215 a day.

It is the real golf resort of this coast, and the only one with 36 holes outside the hotel door. This guide covers both courses, tees, fees, the RTJ booking rules and whether it is worth the drive from the beach.

Lakewood Golf Club at a glance

Address: One Grand Boulevard, Point Clear, AL. Golf shop: 251-990-6312. Find them on the map as Lakewood Azalea and Lakewood Dogwood.

History: Perry Maxwell, the RTJ Trail and two renovations

The original Lakewood 18 is a 1947 Perry Maxwell design. Which of those holes survive in Azalea versus Dogwood is not clearly documented, though the Grand Hotel credits Dogwood to Maxwell. Bobby Vaughan expanded and reworked the club to 36 holes for the RTJ Golf Trail in 2004-05. Dogwood had a complete renovation finished in summer 2018, and Azalea reopened in November 2019 after about 18 months of work. The sources we found don't name the architect for either renovation.

Both courses have TifEagle ultradwarf bermuda greens and Celebration bermuda fairways, according to the Grand Hotel.

The Azalea course

Azalea is parkland on Mobile Bay: live oaks, pines, azalea-lined fairways, ponds and marsh, with bay breezes. Water is in play on holes 4, 5, 6 and 9, and at the 14th.

• #14, par 5, 538 yards from the tips. The club calls it Lakewood's signature hole: a peninsula green in a four-acre lake. Lay up to a full-swing yardage.
• #4, par 3, 62 to 176 yards. Over water to a wide green, where the pin side changes the shot.
• #15, par 3. Over marsh and sand, with little room short.

The Dogwood course

Dogwood is tighter, with water on several par 3s, bulkheaded greens and live oaks. Its men's slope is 141 from the Purple tees, and the front nine alone rates 144.

• #17, par 3, 119 to 209 yards. Water down the entire right side and in front of a bulkheaded green.
• #3, par 3, up to 217 yards. A carry over marsh and sand to a large green.
• #4, par 4. To a green on a peninsula in the pond.
• #13, par 3, 238 yards. The longest par 3 on the course.
• #7, par 4, 310 yards. Drivable, but the yardage book advises laying up short of the center bunker.

Dogwood hosted the USGA Senior Women's Amateur in 2021, and the club also hosted it in 1974 and 1986. It is slated to return, but sources disagree on the year (2028 or 2029).

Tees and ratings

Men's ratings, from the RTJ Trail and USGA. Both courses also have rated combo tees.

Women's ratings from the Red tees are 66.5 / 109 on Azalea and 67.3 / 114 on Dogwood. On Dogwood, higher handicappers should step up a tee; the combo tees make that easy.

Lakewood Golf Club green fees and RTJ specials

There are two price lists, and you should check both. All seen October 22, 2026; prices change and are plus tax.

The Grand Hotel's golf page (green fee with cart; the table doesn't separate guest and public rates):

Twilight on the same page runs $113 to $129.

RTJ Golf Trail specials (per person per day, with cart and unlimited range balls; book through RTJ Reservations, two days minimum, at least 48 hours ahead):

The single-round public rate in RTJ's own system is only shown after you log in, so we don't have it. RTJ Trail Card and annual memberships give lower rates but can't be combined with packages. There is an active and retired military discount and no senior discount.

The cheapest way on for a visitor is the winter Swing at $216 for two rounds. Magnolia Grove is in Mobile, about 66 minutes from the Grand Hotel, so plan it as two separate days. Our RTJ Trail near Gulf Shores guide covers that course.

Booking Lakewood tee times

• Online only, 7 days ahead for the public. RTJ moved to online-only advance booking on June 1, 2026. Same-day times are by phone to the shop. (The Grand Hotel's own golf page still says tee times by phone, so call if the online system gives you trouble.)
• Members get longer. Trail Card and Annual members get 11 days, Platinum 14.
• Packages and groups go through RTJ Reservations (1-800-949-4444, option 2), up to 12 months out, with prepayment required outside 7 days.
• Hotel guests book through the resort.
• Public access. RTJ's booking pages imply non-guests can play, but a 2024 directory listing said otherwise. Confirm with the shop.

Rules, practice and dress code

Carts are mandatory; walking is not allowed and there are no pull carts. Non-golfing riders pay a cart fee, and personal coolers are not allowed on RTJ courses. The practice facility, "The Experience", has a Trackman range with four stations plus short-game and putting areas. RTJ ranges close for part of every Tuesday.

Dress code: collared shirts and dress slacks or appropriate golf attire, no jeans or T-shirts.

When to play (and when not to)

• Avoid Dogwood in early June. It aerifies June 1-7, 2026 (June 7-11, 2027), with two weeks of recovery.
• Avoid Azalea in mid-August. It aerifies August 3-9, 2026 (August 2-6, 2027), also with two weeks of recovery.
• Mondays and Tuesdays. Azalea's maintenance day is Monday and Dogwood's is Tuesday, when the range also closes for part of the day.

The Eastern Shore is colder than the beach in winter. NOAA normals for Fairhope show January lows of about 37°F (frost delays are possible) against about 42°F at the coast, with highs near 62°F. October, at about 80°F highs, and March to April, at 72°F to 78°F, are the prime months. See our best time to golf in Gulf Shores.

Staying at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear

The Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa, Autograph Collection has 405 rooms and dates to 1847, with a $32M renovation finished in 2018. A January 5-6, 2027 snapshot showed about $591 to $596 a night, plus a 15% resort fee and tax. The resort fee covers driving-range access with balls, a bayside putting green and self-parking. Google rates it 4.7 from 2,401 reviews.

For golfers: a free on-property shuttle to Lakewood (about 3 minutes), bag storage, club cleaning and wooden lockers. The "Grand Golf Escape" package (a room plus two rounds covering both courses) was valid July 28 to December 31, 2026; later dates and prices were not published. Standard reservations cancel up to 5 days out, and peak-date deposits are nonrefundable.

Is Lakewood Golf Club at the Grand Hotel worth the drive from Gulf Shores?

As a day trip, it is a long one: about 51 minutes each way from central Gulf Shores and 44 from the Courtyard at Craft Farms, at the highest green fees in the area. It makes more sense as its own base. Stay at the Grand for two or three nights, play both courses, and add Eastern Shore rounds at Quail Creek (18 minutes) or Rock Creek (21 minutes). Our Eastern Shore golf guide and the 5-day Gulf Shores and Eastern Shore itinerary show how to split a trip between the bay and the beach.

Plan it on the map

The Gulf Shores golf map shows Lakewood and the other Eastern Shore courses off the beach map, with drive times from every hotel. Use it to decide whether Point Clear is a day trip or a base for your golf trip.