via GoogleTrail guide
Louisiana Audubon Trail
Louisiana's Audubon Golf Trail strings 18 public-access courses from Shreveport down to New Orleans — TPC Louisiana hosts the PGA Tour's Zurich Classic, David Toms designed Carter Plantation in his hometown, and Joseph Bartholomew's 1923 Oak Knoll predates the trail brand by nearly a century. Pair morning rounds with French Quarter dinners, Cajun roadhouses, or Baton Rouge tailgating depending on your cluster.
| Trail at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Courses | 19 in catalog · 4 must-play |
| Primary airport | MSY · New Orleans |
| Price band | $$ |
| Trip length | 4 days |
| Best months | Apr, Oct, Nov |
| States | LA |
What this trail actually is
The Louisiana Audubon Golf Trail is a state-tourism cooperative coordinated by Louisiana's Office of State Parks. The official roster runs to 18 public-access courses spanning 250 miles north-to-south — from Olde Oaks in Shreveport-Bossier (Hal Sutton's first signature) down to TPC Louisiana in Avondale (Pete Dye's PGA Tour Zurich Classic host). Joseph Bartholomew's 1923 Oak Knoll was added in 2019; Mallard, Farm d'Allie, and The Island Country Club joined in the 2022 expansion that pushed the count from 16 to 18.
The trail's structural advantage is the food-and-golf double feature. Most American buddies-trip destinations are golf-first; Louisiana lets you book morning tee times and let the city carry the evenings. New Orleans has the deepest restaurant scene of any American golf hub by an order of magnitude; Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Lake Charles each carry their own Cajun-Creole footprint. Pricing is $$ across the trail with the muni courses (Audubon Park, Santa Maria, Mallard) anchoring the lower end at $40-$50 and TPC Louisiana topping out at $200 in PGA Tour week.
The 18 courses and their clusters
TPC Louisiana in Avondale (Pete Dye with Steve Elkington and Kelly Gibson, 2004) is the trail's marquee — PGA Tour Zurich Classic host, 7,425 yards, 15 minutes from the French Quarter. Bayou Oaks at City Park South (Rees Jones and Greg Muirhead, 2017) is the post-Katrina rebuild that combined the original RTJ Sr. East and West nines into a championship-length 7,297-yard muni — the only championship-length public course in New Orleans proper. Audubon Park (Denis Griffiths 2002 redesign of an 1898 routing) is the par-62 executive course threading hundred-year-old live oaks on Magazine Street, the only NOLA public course to reopen after Katrina.
Carter Plantation in Springfield (David Toms, 2004) is Toms's first signature design and his hometown course, an hour northwest of New Orleans. The Bluffs on Thompson Creek (Arnold Palmer, 1988) is the trail's Palmer signature, perched on rolling hills above Baton Rouge. Pelican Point in Gonzales (Don Knott, 36 holes) sits between New Orleans and Baton Rouge as the natural connector course. The Atchafalaya at Idlewild in Patterson (Robert von Hagge, 2007) is the bayou-and-cypress routing southwest of Baton Rouge.
The Lake Charles cluster pairs Gray Plantation (Rocky Roquemore, 1999) with Mallard (Jeff Blume, 2021) — Louisiana's only Scottish-links course, no trees, native rough, the closest a Louisiana golfer gets to a Bandon-coast feel. Olde Oaks anchors the Shreveport cluster but stands alone there. Black Bear in Delhi was Golfweek's #1 Public in Louisiana from 2010-2014. Copper Mill, Santa Maria, The Island, Farm d'Allie, OakWing, Cypress Bend, and Tamahka Trails fill out the geographic spread across central and northwest Louisiana.
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Marquee courses
The must-play anchors of the trail.
Three routings to pick from
The trail spans 250 miles north-to-south and breaks into three drivable clusters: the NOLA cluster (TPC Louisiana, Bayou Oaks, Audubon Park, plus Carter Plantation as a day trip), the Baton Rouge cluster (Santa Maria, Copper Mill, Pelican Point, The Island, The Bluffs), and an end-to-end traverse for groups doing the trail as a one-shot bucket-list trip.
The buddies-trip-with-French-Quarter-nights pitch — TPC Louisiana, Bayou Oaks South, Audubon Park, plus Carter Plantation as the day trip out of town. Four rounds, one lodging base downtown, ~$1,300-$1,600 per player all-in (NOLA hotels carry the cost line).
- Day 1
Fly into MSY → TPC Louisiana
Land at Louis Armstrong New Orleans, pick up the rental car, drive 25 minutes west to Avondale. Afternoon round at TPC Louisiana — Pete Dye with Steve Elkington and Kelly Gibson, the PGA Tour Zurich Classic host, 7,425 yards. Drive back to the French Quarter for the trip's first dinner. Overnight at the JW Marriott New Orleans on Canal Street.
TPC Louisiana· afternoondinner· Antoine's (French Quarter, est. 1840)JW Marriott New Orleans· $300/night - Day 2
Bayou Oaks at City Park South
20-minute drive north to City Park. Round at Bayou Oaks South — the Rees Jones / Greg Muirhead 2017 rebuild combining the original RTJ Sr. East and West nines into a championship-length 7,297-yard muni. The only championship public course inside New Orleans city limits. Second night downtown.
Bayou Oaks at City Park - South Course· morningdinner· Commander's Palace (Garden District)JW Marriott New Orleans· $300/night - Day 3
Audubon Park (morning) → French Quarter walk
Quick 10-minute drive uptown to Audubon Park — par-62 executive course on Magazine Street, hundred-year-old live oaks, 12 par-3s, walk it in three hours. Afternoon free for the French Quarter, the Garden District, or a streetcar ride down St. Charles. The trip's lightest golf day on purpose. Third night downtown.
Audubon Park Golf Course· morningdinner· Brennan's (Royal Street, French Quarter)JW Marriott New Orleans· $300/night - Day 4
Day-trip to Carter Plantation
Hour drive northwest to Springfield. Round at Carter Plantation — David Toms's first signature design in his hometown, on-site lodge if you want to stay overnight, 7,049 yards through Louisiana parkland. Drive back to NOLA for one last French Quarter night, or push the schedule and overnight at the Carter Plantation lodge for an early flight from MSY the next morning.
Carter Plantation Golf Resort· afternoondinner· Cochon (Warehouse District, NOLA)JW Marriott New Orleans· $300/night - Day 5
Fly home from MSY
20-minute drive to MSY for return flights. Four rounds, one lodging base, the food-and-golf double feature in its tightest form. Most groups budget heavier on hotel and dinner than on green fees here — that's the trip's structural reality.
Lodging logic
New Orleans is the trail's expensive city — French Quarter and Warehouse District hotels routinely run $250-$350 per night during golf season, and the JW Marriott / Hotel Monteleone / Ritz-Carlton tier carries the upper end. Baton Rouge and Lafayette run $130-$180 per night at brand-affiliate properties; Lake Charles and Shreveport run $100-$140. Carter Plantation has on-site resort lodging, the only on-property golf lodge in the trail's central cluster.
For the NOLA cluster trip, single-base downtown is the right call — every NOLA-area trail course is within 30 minutes of the French Quarter, and the trip's evening anchor is the city, not the courses. For the Baton Rouge cluster, the Renaissance Baton Rouge Hotel covers the central cluster; for the end-to-end traversal, plan four lodging bases (Bossier City, Monroe, Houma, NOLA) and accept the lodging-change overhead as part of the trip's structure.
What it actually costs
Peak weekend green fees: TPC Louisiana $150-$200 (Zurich Classic week premium), Bayou Oaks City Park South $95, Audubon Park $45, Carter Plantation $80-$120, The Bluffs on Thompson Creek $70-$100, Pelican Point $55-$80, Gray Plantation $60-$85, Mallard $50, Atchafalaya $50-$75, Olde Oaks $65, Black Bear $50, Copper Mill $55, Santa Maria $45, The Island $55, Farm d'Allie $50, Oak Knoll $45, OakWing $40-$60, Cypress Bend $60-$85, Tamahka Trails $50-$75.
Per-player trip totals: NOLA cluster $1,300-$1,600 (NOLA hotel rates carry the line), Baton Rouge cluster $900-$1,200, end-to-end traverse $1,200-$1,500. Green fees themselves run $350-$500 across any 4-5 round routing — the trail's value position is structurally Cajun-affordable on the courses, but NOLA hotel rates and the city's restaurant tier push the all-in number above the Tennessee or Arkansas trails.
If you can compress a 4-night NOLA trip to a 3-night format, the savings come from one fewer hotel night, not from cheaper rounds. The trail's expense-control lever is lodging, not green fees.
When to go
Peak season is October through May. June, July, August, and early September in Louisiana are routinely 95°F with 90% humidity and daily afternoon thunderstorms — locals play at dawn or skip. The PGA Tour's Zurich Classic moved from October to late April in 2017 specifically because of summer playability constraints; that's the most concise statement of the trail's seasonal calibration.
Conditioning peaks in November and again in March-April. Late October through early December is the sweet spot for cooler-climate visiting groups; Mardi Gras week and the immediate aftermath (mid-February through early March) is the best window if you want New Orleans's nightlife at its peak. Avoid June-September entirely if your group has any heat-sensitive members.
Month-by-month playability
Playability score (0-100) combines temperature and precipitation. Higher is better.
Is this trip for your group?
Pick this trail if
- ✓You want to combine American golf with the country's deepest restaurant scene in a single trip
- ✓Your group rates evening atmosphere as heavily as morning tee times; New Orleans carries the trip's social anchor
- ✓You're willing to pay NOLA hotel rates; the Audubon Trail's structural reality is that lodging is the cost line, not green fees
- ✓You can pick a cluster and live with the trip ending after 4-5 rounds; full-trail traversal is a 6-night routing
Skip and look elsewhere if
- →You're traveling June through September; Louisiana summer humidity is the trail's most-cited reason for trip regret
- →You want a one-base resort trip; only Carter Plantation and Cypress Bend support the on-property model
- →Your group is allergic to driving; even the tightest NOLA cluster routing logs 3-4 hours of total drive time
- →You expect Pinehurst-tier turf budgets; the Audubon Trail's value comes from muni-grade pricing, not premium agronomy
The bottom line
The Louisiana Audubon Golf Trail is the answer to the question "can we plan a buddies trip where the city carries the evenings?" New Orleans is the only American golf hub where the question's answer is structurally yes; Baton Rouge and Lafayette carry it for the lower-priced variants. Pick TPC Louisiana plus the NOLA cluster as the first trip, then come back for Carter Plantation and the central trail on the second.