Gulf Shores Golf Club Plan Swaps 36 Planned Homes for a Nine-Hole Par-3 Short Course

GULF SHORES, Ala. — A patch of vacant land beside the clubhouse at the Gulf Shores Golf Club may soon become a nine-hole short course instead of a neighborhood of single-family homes, under a zoning change now headed to the Gulf Shores City Council.

The Gulf Shores Planning Commission has advanced an amendment to the club’s Planned Unit Development, or PUD, that would reclassify a roughly nine-acre parcel around the clubhouse at 520 Clubhouse Drive from residential use to golf course and open recreational space. The change would replace a previously approved 36-lot subdivision with a par-3, nine-hole course designed for golfers who want to sharpen their short game without committing to a full round.

What the Gulf Shores Golf Club plan includes

The proposed short course would cover 691 yards across nine holes, with each hole measuring between 40 and 100 yards and featuring challenging greens. A round is expected to take about an hour, compared with roughly four and a half hours for a full 18 holes on the championship course.

• Location: About nine acres of vacant land around the clubhouse at 520 Clubhouse Drive
• Previous approval: A 36-lot single-family residential subdivision
• New use: Golf course and open recreational space
• Short course: Par-3, nine holes, 691 total yards
• Hole lengths: 40 to 100 yards
• Playing time: About one hour
• Site work: Removal of 32,000 square feet of overgrown impervious surfaces
• Preservation: Existing landscaped buffers and heritage trees would be kept
• Next step: Final approval by the Gulf Shores City Council

Beyond the golf holes themselves, the project calls for tearing out 32,000 square feet of overgrown pavement and other impervious surfaces, keeping the landscaped buffers that already separate the club from surrounding properties and protecting heritage trees on the site. Supporters say the plan would improve the club’s appearance and help its long-term financial stability.

How a PUD works

A Planned Unit Development is a flexible zoning tool. Instead of fitting a property into a single rigid zoning category, a PUD allows a master-planned approach that can combine different land uses, building designs and site layouts, as long as the development lines up with the city’s comprehensive plan.

PUD rules are also meant to encourage appropriate land use and protect the natural, scenic and open-space character of an area. Because a PUD is tied to a specific master plan, changing what can be built on the land, as the golf club is seeking to do, requires an amendment that goes through the city’s planning and approval process.

Six decades of history on Clubhouse Drive

The Gulf Shores Golf Club was established in 1964 and is widely described as the first golf course in Gulf Shores. The 18-hole course was later redesigned by the father-son team of Jay and Carter Morrish and plays to 6,812 yards from the back tees.

Over the years, the club has served as a scenic focal point and anchor for the neighborhood around it, and its 175-acre property has gone through several rounds of planning changes:

• 2005: The property was rezoned from R1A to R1A PUD under a master plan that allowed multifamily development.
• 2006 and 2008: Amendments adjusted parcel sizes and eventually swapped the multifamily use for an approved 42-lot single-family subdivision.
• 2015: Another amendment reduced the planned single-family development to 36 lots and carved out a parcel of nearly nine acres.

The current amendment would effectively retire the residential plan for that parcel and fold the land back into the golf operation.

A different idea for the same parcel earlier this year

The land around the clubhouse has drawn attention before. In March 2026, the Planning Commission took up a request to amend the club’s PUD to allow 72 vacation rental units, designed as two-story cottages on pilings, on the undeveloped parcel near the course entrance. City staff recommended denial of that request, citing the jump in density, traffic and concerns that short-term rentals could bring noise, parking and safety problems to an area intended for owner-occupied homes and long-term rentals.

The short course plan takes the opposite approach, trading new housing of any kind for open recreational space.

Investments under current ownership

Under its current ownership, the club has invested heavily in revitalizing the property. Upgrades have included new turf grass, improved course amenities, irrigation, bulkhead walls, bunkers, cart paths and putting greens.

The club has also become a community gathering place beyond its regular golfers. It recently hosted high school golf tryouts for 42 students and youth events that drew about 50 children, a sign of the role the course plays in introducing young people to the game.

Why short courses are catching on

Short courses, sometimes called par-3 or executive layouts, have grown in popularity across the country in recent years. They appeal to players who have limited time, to beginners and juniors who are still learning, and to experienced golfers who want to work on wedge play and putting, the parts of the game that most often decide scores.

Because a nine-hole short course can be played in about an hour, it can also make golf more accessible for families and for visitors who want a quick round during a beach vacation. For a club that already hosts high school tryouts and youth events, a short course could offer a natural place for new players to get started before moving on to the full 18 holes.

What happens next

The zoning change still needs final approval from the Gulf Shores City Council before work on the short course can begin. Under Alabama law, a city council must give public notice and hold a public hearing before adopting a zoning amendment, so residents will have another opportunity to weigh in before the council votes.

If the council signs off, the nine-acre parcel will officially shift from planned homes to open recreational space, and golfers will gain a new place to hone their short game at one of the city’s oldest recreational landmarks.

About the Gulf Shores Golf Club

• Address: 520 Clubhouse Drive, Gulf Shores
• Established: 1964
• Property: About 175 acres
• Course: 18-hole championship layout, 6,812 yards from the back tees
• Planned addition: Par-3, nine-hole, 691-yard short course, pending City Council approval