I was up early on Sunday for a quick trip to Louisiana. One of my friends has been working in Lafayette since the beginning of the year and periodically we will try to meet up for some golf. This weekend we met at Koasati Pines Golf Club on Sunday and then played near Lafayette on Monday.

I left Dallas about 6:00am and the drive wasn’t bad at all, even on a holiday weekend. Normally that stretch of the I-20 from Dallas to Shreveport isn’t fun, but I guess I left early enough. It took me about five hours to get to Koasati Pines, which is associated with the Coushatta Casino. Both the course and casino are a half hour from both interstates going through the area (I-10 and I-49). So, it is a bit off the beaten path, but should be worth the effort in my opinion.

Koasati Pines has been high on my list of Louisiana courses to play and I was excited to finally check it out. The course normally ranks among the top public courses in the state and is part of Louisiana’s Audubon Golf Trail. Koasati Pines is the 7th Audubon Golf Trail course I’ve played and I’d put it in 2nd place, behind TPC Louisiana, if I were to rank the trail courses I’ve played so far.

Overall, I enjoyed my round at Koasati Pines and it didn’t disappoint. The course can be spendy, but it has an upscale, premium feel to it. The landscaping is top notch and the area between the clubhouse and driving range looked like a garden. Unfortunately, because of all the recent rain the driving range was closed, the course was soaked and it was cart path only. I was prepared to pay the $109 rack rate, but the course only charged us the $79 twilight fee. That was a nice gesture because Koasati Pines is a big golf course and we walked a lot after having to leave the cart on the path.

Besides the constant squishing sound, Koasati Pines was in great shape. The turf was full (think no winterkill), the fairways were cut down and the greens were smooth. I’ll call the greens a medium pace, but I was never able to adjust to get a putt to the hole. I struggled on the wet ground here compared to the firm, dry conditions I normally experience in Dallas.

My friend and I played the blue tees which are 71.8/128/6682 and as I mentioned Koasati Pines is a big track. It is a resort-style course with large fairways and expansive areas of rough. For high level competitions the course can stretch to 7,617 yards. From where we played it felt like the course was tougher than what is reflected on the scorecard, even with the ample driving areas.

Koasati Pines is a Kevin Tucker design that opened in 2002. My favorite thing about the course was its setting in the Louisiana wetlands. The holes are routed around many beautiful trees and lakes. Plus, there aren’t any homes nearby and the property gave off a laid-back vibe. As far as the design goes, it presented well visually and was fair to play.

The only fault my friend and I could find with the design is that it felt a bit plain and repetitive, besides the par-5’s. I could have used a driveable par-4, a long par-3 and more chipping areas around the greens. The par-5 9th, at 527 yards, is one of the better holes because of a hazard short of the green and fairway layup areas on both sides of the hazard. The most memorable hole is probably the island green 19th hole, which (if possible) I think would have been better to include in the main routing.

If you are traveling through this part of Louisiana with the clubs and looking to golf, then I’d recommend a detour to Koasati Pines. There is a lot to like about the course and in a state without much quality public golf, Koasati Pines is a course to seek out.

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):