After a couple months at home I was back on the road to Florida again. I’ve been working from home for over a year now and that has allowed me plenty of flexibility to travel. It won’t last forever, but I’m happily taking advantage of the flexibility while I can!
I’ve driven past the exit for Black Bear Golf Club (one of the Audubon Golf Trail courses) a good number of times now but the timing just hasn’t worked to golf here. Thankfully, this time it worked for me to make the small detour. The course is about 15 miles north of the I-20, so it isn’t too far out of the way for travelers passing through the area.
My tee time was at 1:30pm and I got to the course a little early. As I was checking in I got nervous because the proshop had a sign posted warning everyone about five greens that had undergone recent maintenance. I asked about it and was told that all greens were playable, just some portions were resodded from the rough winter.
And, those greens turned out to be just fine. As explained to me, I found that new turf was put down in spots and a layer of sand was over those areas. Most sections of most greens had good coverage and rolled well, just at slower speeds.
Other conditions were fine as well (well cared for but not pristine), although the course probably looks better in my pics than it played. The ball sat down in the fairways and all the fairway bunkers were filled in, leaving odd looking grass scars. The greenside bunkers had good sand. For a sub $50 green fee, no complaints. I’d think as it gets into the summer, lies will become more lush.
Black Bear is located in a natural area and I found the course’s setting to be the best part about my round here. On a sunny day the course would pop! There aren’t any homes around and the property had a coastal Carolina feel about it to me. Plus, all the mature trees seemed to add that southern elegance to the place. Specifically, the 10th and 11th holes had a spooky wooded look to them.
I played the blue tees which are 73.3/132/6964. The white tees are only 6,298 yards so there really needs to be a combo set of tees to reduce that nearly 700 yard gap! From the blues the course has plenty of challenges, even with wider fairways and flatter greens. The yardage is tough for a mid length hitter like me as many par-4’s are 425+ yards. Also, I found it difficult to pick lines and distances because of many semi-blind landing areas.
The front nine is longer (over 3,600 yards) while the back nine is shorter, but trickier thanks to some target golf. The par-3 6th, at 181 yards, was my favorite hole on the front and the par-4 10th was my favorite on the back. A creek cuts to the left of the 6th green and wraps around the back, making it tough to get the ball all the way into the back of the green. The 10th has another creek in play, this time short of the green and you need to kick a field goal through a group of trees and over the creek for a birdie putt.
From what I can see, Black Bear might be the only decent public course along the I-20 in Louisiana. If you find yourself bored along the interstate and looking for some golf, then Black Bear is a decent option. My only wish is that a few fairway bunkers remained – every one being filled in felt like it took too much away from the original design.
Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):