New Orleans City Park

[Chris Moore]

Our City Park golf courses have been closed since Katrina.  This article illustrates how little chance there is for the courses to recover as long as the park administration is in charge:  http://www.nola.com/sports/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-24/115001171153350.xml&coll=1

Word on the street is that there is a push to redevelop the park, including the former PGA Tour venue West Course, as the new home for the New Orleans PGA Tour stop.  For funding, folks have been comparing the model to the one used to re-develop East Lake and the surrounding areas.  

Can anyone describe the model at East Lake?  Any archies out there interested in a 1200-acre canvas in the middle of a major (or formerly major) American city on which to build a PGA Tour Course?    

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Chris, I have not heard anything about the Tour and City Park. In all fairness to the slow process on the golf course, I have not seen much progress anywhere in the last 6 months. I was with a friend last night who is in the scrap/salvage/dispossal business and is currently making over a million a month in the city. He is avoiding the government/fema subcontractors whenever possible in favor of private businesses who have an interest in getting things done.

[Mike_Cirba]

Chris,

Is the "West" course the one known a few years back as the "Wisner" course?  

I played there about 15 years ago and got to play what was known as the "Championship" and "Wisner" courses.   I've done a bit of research into their origins and believe most of the Championship was Ralph Plummer circa 1968.

The much more interesting, though shorter course, was the Wisner, which I believe was largely designed and built by Joe Bartholemew, who was a Raynor disciple, and who is profiled in the book about African-American golf history (can't recall the name off the top of my head).  Bartholemew designed a number of courses in the area, which ironically, he couldn't play due to segregation.

In any case, I did read something recently about the possibility of an East Lake type project, and I've love to see something built there that reflected the long history (I believe the "Short" course dates to 1902) of golf in New Orleans from an architectural standpoint, and not just another modern championship course for tour professionals.  There is certainly an amazing amount of land available for multiple golf purposes, and there were four full 18 hole courses prior to Katrina.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Mike, I believe you are correct as to the courses. It has been 25 plus years for me since I played them.

[Chris Moore]

The West was the championship course, and I believe that the East was the Wisner course.  There was also a North course and a South course -- the South was basically an executive course and the North was somewhere between executive and "championship."  The East was actually pretty interesting, as you mentioned.  

The thing that intrigues me the sheer amount of space that is available there for making a modern, classically designed course or two.  Any interesting golf course would have to be manufactured, since the ground is dead flat, but I know firsthand based on my own course down here that interesting contours and shot variety, including the ground options, are possible, if strict focus is given to drainage.  My course sits on about 85-90 acres, and I just get excited about the possibilities of something similar in City Park.    

[SB]

The "model" at East Lake is:  Get influential developer to buy slums, level them, and build new affordable housing in conjunction with nine hole golf course.  At the same time, developer buys East Lake, renovates it at untold cost, paid for by asking local corporations to buy memberships at very high cost.  New development encourages neighborhood, attracting new residents and increasing home prices (over the course of many years).