Golf Trails have become a booming business since the Retirement Systems of Alabama pension fund decided to promote Robert Trent Jones-designed courses on a 100-mile stretch of highway.

Now reaching eight courses, with championship par 3s available on all of them, they're affordable ($35 for locals, no more than $60 for tourists) and they draw thousands of tourists a year.

It gives golfers something to do with their spare time other than just play a game.

http://www.rtjgolf.com/ Robert Trent Jones Trail. When I tried this earlier, nothing appeared.

http://www.travelgolf.com/departments/editorials/trent-jones-trail.htm

The genius behind the idea of a golf trail appears to me to take advantage of the guilt Americans feel when they play. If the goal is to play all the courses designed by a certain architect, or those in a certain area of the country, well, that gives it the semblance of work, and that makes it respectable.

Here are just a few more golf trails:

http://www.niagaraparksgolftrail.com/ Niagara Parks Trail.

http://www.audubontrail.com/ The Audubon Trail in Louisiana.

http://www.lewisandclarkgolftrail.com/ Lewis and Clark in North Dakota.