[Mark Bourgeois]

Peter,

But there IS a connection of JohnK to the Kingfish.  Long built something like 2,000 miles of paved roads, raising the state in that figure from last place or near it up to around 5th!

Maybe this belongs on that opposites thread...

[Jeff_Mingay]

(Seemingly) glaring difference between golf in Louisiana vs golf in France: Tom Simpson worked in France, but not Louisiana.

Take that for what it's worth to you, personally  

[Tom Yost]

I'm trying to imagine the wait at the turn on a golf course in France.    


Tom

[Bob_Huntley]

I may of course have the wrong John.

I'd guess that happens often in New Orleans.

Dan,

Just picked this up. LOL.

Bob

[Jason McNamara]

John, you have to remember that France has topography, while Louisiana does not.  Highest point in the state is 530-odd feet, and that's in the northern part of the state, which culturally speaking might as well be South Arkansas.

New Orleans street names are the best - my favorites are the muse streets:  Erato, Melpomene*, Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, etc.  (not my favorite neighborhood, however).

And just remember that the south bank of the river is called the West Bank.  Oh, and at Canal St. the Mississippi River flows north.

ps.  Dan Kelly, great line.  

* Pronounced "MEL-po-meen," dawlin'.

[John Kavanaugh]

I had a great time in Louisiana, enjoyed all the people including a croupier I secretly named Harry Colonic Jr.  I figured that must be an old joke by now so I kept it to myself.  Here is an interesting article describing some supposed misconceptions about the differences between Katrina and the recent California fires.  I still believe that you have to take culture into account when planning for an emergency and the people of California should be proud of the work that they have done.

http://tinyurl.com/25z8cs

[Steve Okula]

The difference is not so much cultural as it is religious.

Predominantly Catholic countries don't have a golfing culture.
Look at France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland, all of Latin America, hardly any golf at all, at least not among the native populations. Maybe being in church on Sunday mornings, and big family lunches, precludes golf.

The obvious exception, of course, is Ireland, where the overwhelming British influence has granted golf a solid foothold.

[Wayne_Kozun]

The difference is not so much cultural as it is religious.

Predominantly Catholic countries don't have a golfing culture.

However, I believe that Scotland was still a Catholic country when the game was invented.  And its home was in the Catholic religious capital of Scotland in St Andrews and spread to other parts of Scotland via the clergy of the time.

Mary Queen of Scots was an avid player and was a Catholic - is that not why she was beheaded?  She also spent much of her life in France, presumably not playing golf.

By the way, legend has it that she invented the term caddy which came from the French cadet.

I believe that you are trying to make too much of the religious aspect - there is very little golf in Christian Orthodox countries - does that mean that they are even less inclined to play golf?  Golf was invented in the British Isles and spread to former British colonies along with protestantism - religion is irrelevant in the situation.  Spain has produced more top golfers than any other Continental European country and it is catholic.  Argentina has also produced some great players.

[RJ_Daley]

Mary Queen of Scots was an avid player and was a Catholic - is that not why she was beheaded?

Maybe MQofS experience early on, scared the rest of the Catholic countries on the continent away from pursuing anything that tripped her trigger.

I find Steve's observation somewhat compelling.  I can see Wayne's POV as well given Spanish and Argentine golf and player traditions.  

Tom Yost, I reckon you refer to the potentially lengthy luncheons at the turn that might be found in France.    

[Steve Okula]

- religion is irrelevant in the situation.  Spain has produced more top golfers than any other Continental European country and it is catholic.  Argentina has also produced some great players.

Wayne, I don't mean to say there has never been a Catholic golfer. My observation is that there is a curious lack of enthusiasm for golf in predominantly Catholic countries for the past, let's say, 120 years.

[James Bennett]

Perhaps its the combination of Golf and Confession.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

John I am sorry my twisted and possibly perverse love of politics and the need to be a intergal part of losing this governors race kept me from sharing the lose by your Auburn team to my Tigers. I assure you the issue with golf architecture has nothing to do with food or the culture of south Louisiana and everything to do with poor land for golf. All of New Orleans is below or nearly below sea level without the benifit of sand based soils. It was the primary city in the state with the economic base to support golf during the classical period. City Park actually are pretty good courses but suffer in much the same ways do Harding etc in San Francisco. New Orleans CC and Metairie Cc are built on poor draining clay based soils including being mixed with gumbo which is the worst of all. There are 5 or 6 very good courses in the state which do not get their due. I am looking forward to seeing the Rees redo of Baton
Rouge CC sometime during the next few weeks.  

[Paul Stephenson]

John
I don’t think either Huey Long or Charles de Gaulle played golf, so there's something maybe.

So, some early French settlers to Canada (the Acadians) move down to Louisiana when it's still controlled by France (until 1800 I think) and become the Cajuns. Golf doesn't take off there, but jazz does. France is the first country in the world to warmly embrace the American jazz stars of the 20s and 30s. Louis Armstrong takes himself and his music up from New Orleans to Chicago in the mid 1920s. Chicago becomes a great jazz town; it also has some very good golf courses...

Sorry, that didn't go anywhere. I thought it might've

Peter

The Acadians just didn't move to Louisiana.  They were expelled.

That said.  I'm not sure golf is all that hot in New Brunswick, the former home of the Acadians and current home of the descendants of those left behind.

[Steve Lang]

 

Should have stopped in St. Francisville.. a very nice part of the Audubon Golf Trail..  I suspect you did the interstate versus going up-river-roads from NO to BR..

What you didn't really get into is the relationship of tools and sport in Louisianna.. if it moves under its own locomotion, it may end up in a pot, cooking, spiced just right.. tools are used for catching and collecting said species, and crafting shelter for survival and musical instruments for entertainment on the bayou at night.. daylight is just that time between the best hunting periods, best for rest from the heat & sun..

golf is as golf does

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