Golfers around Fairhope have a habit of talking about Bobby Hall the way people talk about a favorite coach. They mention the lessons, but they talk even more about the man. As head golf professional at Quail Creek Golf Club, the public course owned and operated by the City of Fairhope, Hall has spent years quietly shaping a place where retirees, high school teams, charity fundraisers and weekend hackers all find a game.
In a February 2023 conversation about his work, Hall laid out a philosophy that applies as much to running a municipal golf course as it does to fixing a slice: listen first, keep it simple and make sure everybody has a reason to come back.
Wearing Every Hat at Fairhope’s Public Course
A head pro at a city-owned course does far more than give lessons. At Quail Creek, Hall manages the facility, organizes leagues, tournaments and charity events, oversees food and beverage, and makes sure the pro shop stocks the equipment and merchandise golfers need. He also teaches. Summing up the job, he puts it plainly: “Generally, keep everyone happy.”
That includes the mayor, the City Council and city employees, who take pride in Fairhope’s recreational facilities, from ball fields and soccer complexes to the city’s growing pickleball scene. Quail Creek is not a big moneymaker for the city, Hall acknowledges, and public golf courses rarely are. Municipal courses across the country exist largely to provide affordable access to the game, green space and a gathering place, and they are often judged by their community value rather than their bottom line.
“Golf is expensive for the City, but the benefit for recreation and fundraising is important,” Hall says.
The Charity Engine Most People Never See
Hall argues that the impact of golf facilities along the Alabama coast is much bigger than most residents realize, and the reason is charity. Golf tournaments are one of the most common fundraising tools for nonprofits in the United States, and the courses of Baldwin and Mobile counties host them nearly year-round.
“The network of golf clubs that host and support charity events year-round is incredible,” Hall says. “This is the bottom line most people don’t see.”
Quail Creek organizes and supports events for a long list of organizations, including:
- The Fairhope Educational Enrichment Foundation (FEEF)
- Shepherd’s Place
- Kiwanis Clubs
- Prodisee Pantry food bank
- The Jackson Clark Foundation, which focuses on testicular cancer
- The Knights of Columbus
- Lions Clubs International, for its sight and diabetes causes
Other courses carry a similar load. Hall estimates that Glen Lakes hosts about 100 events a year, with 70 to 80 of them for community nonprofits. He also points to Lakewood, Holly Hills, Lake Forest, Gulf Shores Golf Club, Peninsula and Craft Farms as clubs deeply involved in supporting the community through events.
“I feel like I’m a member of every charity that hosts an event at Quail Creek,” Hall says. He adds that city leaders understand the connection. “The City Council participates in many of these charity events, and they understand the impact it has on the community. When they support the golf course, they are supporting many of these charities as well.”
A Home for High School Golf
Quail Creek also serves as a practice and competition home for several high school programs. Both the Fairhope High School boys’ and girls’ teams practice there, and St. Michael Catholic High School, Bayside Academy and Robertsdale High School also practice and play at the course.
“We try to help them with their golf programs,” Hall says.
That role matters. Scholastic golf teams need regular access to a course and practice facilities, and without a public or partner course willing to host them, many schools would struggle to field teams at all. A city course that opens its range and tee sheet to local students helps keep the game within reach of young players whose families may not belong to a private club.
Hall and his staff also handle junior golf, men’s senior leagues on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and Ladies Day on Tuesdays. One Friday a month, the course hosts a couples’ “Wine and Nine,” which has grown in popularity. Hall jokes that it is the best meal in town because everyone brings a covered dish.
Social activity is central to Quail Creek’s identity. Hall says about 70 percent of the course’s players are retirees, and they support the club financially through their play and by buying food and drinks. “We have a game for everybody,” he says.
A Military Childhood and a Father’s Remarkable Story
Hall was born in Waco, Texas, into a military family that moved often. His father, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, introduced him to golf at a young age and went on to serve as an officer in the U.S. Air Force.
His father flew reconnaissance missions in Vietnam. When Bobby was 9 years old, his father’s jet was shot down, and he spent the next eight years as a prisoner of war in the North Vietnamese prison that American captives called the “Hanoi Hilton.” After the war ended, his father returned from Vietnam to Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi. Bobby was 17. His father later wrote a book about the experience, Commitment to Honor: A Prisoner of War Remembers Vietnam.
The family eventually settled in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where father and son started playing golf together. “I got interested in golf again and played in a lot of Pro-Ams,” Hall says. “I was around a lot of guys that played golf for The University of Southern Mississippi, but I wasn’t on the team.”
He went on to become a member of the PGA, and he is careful about the distinction. “I’m a golf professional, not a professional golfer. I never played on tour for a living.”
Four Decades in Coastal Golf
Hall moved from Hattiesburg to the Eastern Shore in 1981 and has worked at courses throughout the area since then, including Lake Forest, Azalea City Golf Club and 10 years at Skyline Country Club in Mobile, the course now known as Heron Lakes. By 2023, he had spent 14 years at Quail Creek, where he runs the operation.
A Teaching Philosophy Built on Listening
When it comes to instruction, Hall’s approach is refreshingly uncomplicated. “I try my best to keep it simple,” he says. “A good instructor has to learn to listen. Listen to the student’s words, evaluate, and communicate on their terms. Golf can get complicated. You don’t want to overteach.”
He works on one concept at a time and checks in with his students by asking, “Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”
Hall also avoids chasing fads. “I never try to reinvent the wheel,” he says. In his view, the golf swing has not changed much since the days of Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones and Jack Nicklaus. “Those technical issues have overlapping fundamentals that stay the same.”
He uses real-time video and photographs to show students what makes a successful swing, relying on the V1 teaching app. After a lesson, he reviews the footage at home and sends it to students so they can see what they need to work on.
As of 2023, Hall offered a package of three 30-minute lessons for $120. His goal is for students to leave with only one or two swing thoughts.
Set Your Personal Par and Practice With a Purpose
Hall describes himself as “a counselor of the head game,” and his advice on the mental side of golf may be his most valuable. “It depends on the individual’s perception of the game. Everyone is different. Set your personal par,” he says. “We all make bad shots. If you’re a 12 handicap, then your game includes 12 bogeys. Don’t let one bad shot ruin your round.”
He also suggests mentally breaking a round into six-hole segments. For golfers who tend to fall apart over the final three holes of a good round under self-imposed pressure, he recommends thinking of the round as extending past 18 holes so the finish line never feels close enough to tighten up.
On the range, his motto is to practice with a purpose. “Keep it simple. Go to the range and hit like you’re playing a round of golf. Driver, long iron, short iron, wedge, etc. Don’t just go out and hit balls. There are way too many mulligans on the practice range.”
His students are among his loudest advocates. “I love Bobby Hall!!! He’s the best coach ever!!,” said Jeanie Miller. Tony Atchison called him “a great teacher and the nicest person you will ever meet.” Longtime senior golfer Ron Kozlowski said, “He fixed my swing and I feel like Quail Creek in my club.”
For a city course that Hall readily admits will never be a profit center, that kind of loyalty may be the truest measure of its value. Golfers interested in lessons, leagues or events should contact Quail Creek Golf Club for current schedules and rates.