I haven’t golfed since August and I have to say, I’ve greatly enjoyed the break from the game. However, I made plans to spend the Thanksgiving holiday in Florida and then the week after Thanksgiving in South Carolina. That means time for some new courses! I have a couple top-shelf courses planned while in South Carolina so stay tuned for those reviews.

Since I needed to get in a few swings before South Carolina I took advantage of a travel day and stopped in Alexandria, Louisiana on Saturday to golf. I had two courses in mind and OakWing Golf Club was one of them.

OakWing is part of the Louisiana Audubon Golf Trail and it is the 9th trail course that I’ve played. The course is unique because of its location, which is adjacent to the Alexandria International Airport. There are signs for England Airpark around the property and come to find out, England Air Force Base was re-purposed into the current airport. There are replica Air Force planes near the course’s entrance and other commercial-style planes parked near a hanger. Interesting stuff.

I got to the course around 11:00 AM and the place was a ghost town. There were probably ten cars in the parking lot and I was able to head to the first tee immediately. I guess no one else is crazy enough to golf on a dreary, cold day. I had the course to myself and walked it in only three hours. My favorite type of rounds!

I played the championship tees which are 71.3/127/6552. OakWing is a tale of two nines as the front nine is shorter and requires more strategy while the back nine is longer and more open. The front has a Louisiana/bayou feel to it with water in play on seven holes. I thought the 3rd through the 7th was a fun stretch of holes. The back has a links look and is highlighted by six lengthy closing holes. From the tour tees there are three 440+ yard par-4’s and two 560+ yard par-5’s to close.

The front nine has many solid golf holes and is highlighted by the 3rd, 6th, and 7th holes. The 3rd is a shorter par-4 (348 yards) that requires a confident tee shot to avoid the water to the left. The 6th is another short par-4 with a couple options off the tee and a green that angles awkwardly away from the fairway. The 7th is a 403 yard par-4 with more water to the left, which runs all the way up to the green. The green complex sticks out into the water which makes it tough to commit to the approach.

I paid $30 to walk which was an awesome deal. We are back to dormant bermuda season so most of the course had that pale look. The turf in the fairways was good and the ball sat up. The greens were smooth and fast. The tees on the par-3’s are being redone but that didn’t significantly affect the experience. The only blemish were some edges of the greens which were sanded.

Louisiana isn’t a golfer’s paradise but if you find yourself passing through Alexandria with the clubs then OakWing gets my vote. It is reasonably priced and has an above-average number of good golf holes. I’d enjoy having a course like close to my house.

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