POWERGRAMS

31 clubs and slap a Titleist around while driving a cart a couple of hours for $45. The price jumps to $52 the rest of the week and $62 on weekends, but it's a bargain for men and women used to playing well-known courses around the nation. In the huge dining room with a rock-walled fireplace beneath chandeliers, visitors can dine and watch golfers on the 18th green before venturing out themselves. The atmosphere makes folks who frequent major tournaments feel right at home. Lunch is served every day – breakfast on weekends and brunch on Sunday – at privately owned Timberline. "Most of our business doesn't come from here," says Joe Kruse, the head golf pro and manager of the par 71, 6,745-yard course. "We're not too far from Birmingham, only 20 minutes, and a lot of people stop here while traveling south to the beaches. We're pretty much the last course until you reach Robert Trent Jones in Prattville." It's no coincidence Timberline looks like a high-dollar golf facility. Kruse, pro Blake Dickenson and a staff of 50 work each day to make their buildings and grounds stand out among the many private and public courses in Alabama. This year, the public responded by playing 24,000 rounds and holding many fundraising tournaments. "We keep our course up like a private country club," says Kruse, an Iowa native who earned a degree in golf management at Mississippi State University in 1995. "We have a great maintenance staff, a great food and beverage staff, just a lot of employees who all work together as a great team." Worldgolf.com noted Timberline's "sense of tradition" despite opening in 2002 with offices inside mobile units. Kruse was familiar with established courses and new ones, having been an assistant pro at Shoal Creek and then the head professional at Limestone Springs when it opened in 1998. The Timberline clubhouse opened in 2008 and the prestigious Hank Johnson School of Golf soon found a home. Kruse handles a lot of the day to day operations for Johnson, the Alabama Sports Hall of Famer who has been recognized as a top national instructor for four decades. "That's a big attraction," says Kruse, the 2015 PGA Southern Section Merchandiser of the Year. "A lot of golfers know Timberline because of its association with the Hank Johnson School." OZAN VINEYARD & WINERY Seated at a hillside patio overlooking 44 rows of Norton grape vines spreading out over 5 acres, it's not a stretch for one's mind to wander to the venerated vineyards of Italy. The hundreds of vines here, however, have only been producing wine since Burt Patrick planted them 16 years ago. Patrick's Ozan Vineyard & Winery opened a tasting room in 2006 and by 2013 expanded his business with an adjoining 2,400-square- foot winery. About 1,000 gallons of wine ends up not only in bottles on Ozan's shelves but in ABC Stores across Alabama, and is shipped to 36 states. Ozan was the inaugural winner of the Alabama Winery of the Year in 2015, and its dry red variety was Wine of the Year. Its Chilton Peach and Brewton Blueberry varieties won gold medals in this year's state competition to join Ozan's more than 20 previous state, regional, national and international medals. Close to 8,000 people make the trip by road or track each year to the vineyard located just past Timberline golf course. Ozan is named after a former stop on the rail line that runs through the property, and many people arrive on Saturday via the popular Heart of Dixie Railroad excursions. "We've been selling out two months in advance," says Manager of Operations Chris Smith, who began volunteering a decade ago and left his auditing career last year to join Ozan full time. The trains run from downtown Calera to a 2007 movie prop storefront left from "Honeydripper," starring Danny Glover. Patrick, Smith and Tasting Room Manager Paige Blake are the entire staff of the second largest operation on the Alabama Wine Trail. "If you have a job at this winery, you do every job," Smith says. Those jobs seem to expand often, including hosting weddings, daily tastings for walk-ins and groups by reservation, and serving lunch in Café Vino. On an average weekend, Ozan guests will purchase about 50 bottles of the bourbon-barrel-aged apple wine, which is the Timberline is home to the Hank Johnson School of Golf. Golfers played 24,000 rounds at Timberline in 2017.

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