Fair warning: this Arnold Palmer design (1988) has descended into a shambles. I suppose this must of happened in a few months’ time, as Golf Digest and Golf Advisor ratings are (still) glowing. As GolfDigest.com put it just over a year ago:
“This was the favorite of the late Ed Seay, who thought the tumbling sand hills in “sweet woods” along Thompson Creek north of Baton Rouge was the perfect land for golf. The Bluffs C.C. and Resort is the highest-ranked public course in the state, and currently No. 4 within the Best Courses in Louisiana."
We just returned from a quirky little golf trip and had high hopes based on light (in retrospect, inadequate) research. The Bluffs has struggled with some sort of cataclysmic ownership dispute, and the residents of the community are trying to hang on.
Bunkers washed out and unplayable, ankle high grass on tees, a par 5 shortened by 200 yards, unmown rough, etc. etc. Greens OK. But in general, a real mess. Sure doesn’t look like a temporary problem. The whole place had a Twilight Zone quality. Pro Shop staffed by two residents. I’d guess 60% of the homes, which crowd the course, are for sale. No cell, no internet, no functioning POS. We paid $52 for 18, and left after 8. That never happens….
24 hours later, we had a very nice day at Fallen Oak just north of Biloxi. Very challenging and pretty Fazio layout, even allowing for some repetitious eye candy. 20 golfers on the tee sheet. Abuts DeSoto National Forest; not a home or any structure in sight. You have to stay at the MGM Beau Rivage to access, but if you eat at the Half Oyster down the street and then go straight to your room, you can afford the bundled golf/room rate. I guess the whales subsidize the golf.
Anyway, stay away from the Bluffs on Thompson Creek. Too bad.