The public got its first look at Calera’s long-awaited golfers paradise, Timberline Golf Course, at a grand opening ceremony Monday.

Calera mayor George Roy said the course is one of the best things to happen to Calera in a long time.

&uot;A lot of great things have happened to the city of Calera over the past five years, but you may be looking at the best,&uot; Roy said. &uot;This is a great course, and it is going to put Calera on the map.

&uot;We want to thank (Timberline owners) Larry Clayton and Randy Goggins for picking Calera and calling it part of their home now,&uot; Roy said. &uot;No courses in the state, including the Robert Trent Jones courses which I have played most of, stand any better than the course we now have right in our back yard.&uot;

Roy presented course designer Jerry Pate with a key to the city and dubbed him an honorary citizen of the city of Calera.

&uot;The main reason this is such a great course is because of the vision and design of Jerry Pate,&uot; Roy said.

Pate, a former PGA professional, is a University of Alabama graduate and native of Anniston. Pate, winner of the 1976 U.S. Open, said Timberline is one of his greatest accomplishments.

&uot;I am proud to be a part of this course,&uot; Pate said. &uot;You have to have a beautiful piece of land to make a course this great, and we found it in Calera. This is a beautiful golf course with a vista view and a beautiful clubhouse. The course is a challenging, par 71 course with five par threes. The public is going to love playing Timberline.&uot;

Course superintendent Bill Wilson said Timberline has all of the components that Jerry Pate Golf Design is famous for.

&uot;Jerry is a big fan of natural surroundings, so the holes are separated by grass and trees that were originally on Buxahatchee Country Club,&uot; Wilson said.

&uot;The greens are TiffEagle, which is basically the best of both worlds. In this part of the country, TiffEagle is an all-around better grass for greens this time of year,&uot; Wilson said.

According to Wilson the combination should give Timberline an advantage other courses in the area do not have.

&uot;Other courses in the Birmingham area have Bent greens, which tend to weather when the temperature gets into the 90s,&uot; Wilson said.

&uot;This grass will not make that big of a difference as far as playability. When the greens are mowed, they will be almost as fast and play almost exactly as Bent greens do. However, this mix will make a big difference presentation-wise.

&uot;The greens should not look brown like some of the greens in and around this area of the country do when the temperature gets so high in the summer,&uot; Wilson said.

Timberline will be a par 71, 6,900 (+/-) yard course with semi-private daily fees. Fees will be $55 during the week (M-F) and $65 on the weekends. Both prices include green fees and cart fees.

Yearly memberships are available to the public and can be purchased by calling the Timberline office at 668-7888