Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa, Autograph Collection in the 2026 Top 25 Historic Hotels of America Most Historic Golf Courses
June 15, 2026
The 2026 Top 25 Historic Hotels of America® Most Historic Golf Courses list has been released by Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation for recognizing and celebrating the finest historic hotels across America.
This listing of historic resorts chronicles the history of golf in the United States through many of the most beautiful, prestigious, and remarkable American golf courses that continue to attract both leisure seekers and serious athletes. They represent a variety of locations, from the first course built on a rocky Hawaiian lava flow, to courses built on mountains and alongside dramatic coastlines. Many of these golf courses were designed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, often called the Golden Age of golf course architecture. The golf courses at these retreats and resorts were designed and renovated by influential golf course designers, ranging from Golden Age architects A.W. Tillinghast and Donald Ross, to more recent visionaries like Pete Dye. These courses have also earned an enviable reputation in part because of the remarkable achievements of the athletes and the famous hotel guests who played on them. Today, guests can make their own historic memories on these golf courses.
Golf course architect Perry Maxwell designed an 18-hole championship golf course for the Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa in Point Clear, Alabama, in 1947, just in time for the Grand Hotel's centennial, as it was established in 1847. After World War II, a long-awaited retreat to the Mobile Bay resort offered weary Americans a chance to play Maxwell's brand-new 7,104 yards of oak-lined links. Unsurprisingly, it was a grand success. Another nine holes were added, first in 1967 and again in 1983. Today, there are two 18-hole golf courses at the resort's Lakewood Club: the Dogwood Course and the Azalea Course. Since 1947, the Lakewood Club has hosted former President Gerald Ford, European royalty, movie stars, and sports legends, along with legions of local and visiting golfers. The Kenny Stabler Charity Golf Classic was held at the Lakewood Club for several years and hosted a who's who of professional football players and other celebrities, as well the Pro Rivals Open in 2025. It also played host to the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Championship in 1974, 1986, 2021 and will again in 2029, one of 14 championship tournaments run by the United States Golf Association. Despite its impressive age, the Dogwood Course is well-kept and cared for. It was renovated in 2005 by the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail team and again in 2018, all to give it a fresh and modern feel while retaining Maxwell's vision for the course. Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 2011.