I don’t claim to be a great golfer by any stretch of the imagination. From time to time my game has been pretty good, and at others - well, not so hot.

From what I understand, a recent idea to stop the oil leak in the gulf is to shoot debris such as old tire pieces, old golf balls, and other items into the spewing well to “clog the hole.” Well, trust me when I say that if they had all of the golf balls that I have ever hit into a body of water, they would have more than enough “debris” to fill that hole 10 times over.

Like most other golfers, however, I do enjoy testing my game at new courses from time to time. Several years back, some buddies of mine from Birmingham joined me on a road trip to Mobile to play the Crossings Course at Magnolia Grove.

As is the case at every Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail location, the experience can be both a positive and negative one.

My rounds of golf during that particular weekend were enjoyable from a visual standpoint. The holes on the Crossings Course that wind through the pines and hardwoods of Mobile are as picturesque as any golf course I have ever seen. The many creeks, lakes and marshland, however, had me rethinking if I should ever swing a golf club again.

Bottom line, it was tough!

While the recently renovated 54 holes that make up Magnolia Grove have been voted into Golf World Magazine’s Reader Choice Top 50 Public Courses and Golf Digest’s Places to Play, I think the scorecard needs to include the disclaimer “You might be forced to lose your religion while playing these courses.”

This week some of the finest female golfers in the world will descend on Mobile and will show me, and others, that the Crossings course can be mastered.

The Bell Micro LPGA Classic got cranked up Monday with a pro-am tournament featuring several LPGA pros such as Brittany Lincicome, Irene Cho, Mina Harigae, Anna Grzebien and Wendy Doolan.

Today, there is another pro-am with shotgun starts both this morning and this afternoon.

Although several of the Crossings course holes have been completely revamped since I played it several years ago, the new design from the $5 million renovation will be no less challenging I am sure.

One player that lots of eyes will be on is Natalie Gulbis. While Gulbis has an impressive resume from her college days as well as on the LPGA where she has earned close to $4 million since 2002, many part-time golf fans will recognize her from her appearance as a contestant on “The Celebrity Apprentice.”

Gulbis, along with golfing sensation Jiyai Shin, hosted a teaching clinic on Monday for local Girl Scouts.

The Bell Micro LPGA Classic starts tomorrow, and would be worth the short drive over to the Robert Trent Jones facility to watch some of the finest golfers in the world compete for the title.

-Hit ‘em straight

Dale Jones is a writer for The Islander and a member of the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Reach him at djones@gulfcoastnewspapers.com