By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Oak Mountain State Park soon will become more golfer-friendly, as the Alabama State Parks system is making plans to make several improvements to the park’s course.

The state park system recently renamed the Lake Guntersville State Park golf course, the “Eagle’s Nest,” and soon will be renaming the courses at five other state parks, including Oak Mountain.

“We are looking to do a new marketing program that will allow us to showcase our parks,” said OMSP Superintendent Michael Jeffreys. “We want to get people back to our courses who may not have been in a while.”

Through the program, the state will work to rate, handicap and slope the course, and will place the course on the Golf Handicap and Information Network. The improvements will help golfers to identify the course’s difficulty, Jeffreys said.

After the course becomes part of the Golf Handicap and Information Network, golfers will be able to input their handicap information at the course while playing, which Jeffreys said will help golfers improve their games.

“I think this will draw more people out to the course, and will give us some much-needed exposure,” Jeffreys said.

After the state park system renames each of the golf courses, it will seek public input to name the courses collectively, “be it a trail, path, course or other suggested title,” read a state park press release.

To learn more about the state park or the golf course, visit Alapark.com/Oakmountain.