LaTour Golf Club, Mathews, LA

I've played this course a few times now and it's my favorite course to play. No, it doesn't have a great clubhouse. No, it doesn't have great signage to get to the course or on the course. Yes it can be very windy. But if you are worried about signs and the clubhouse, you're missing the point, and missing a solid layout. I think the course lays out well, it's always been very well maintained while I was there. Greens are tremendous, very fast and true. Practice area is quite nice and complete. Signature holes - the par 4 5th hole, which plays hard into the prevailing wind. A long par 4, it features a split fairway. From the left side, you have a long way in; from the right, the shot is marginally shorter and you likely have no view of the green. The other hole to contemplate is the long par 5 13th. Again into the wind, water comes into the layup area so you have to really think about how you will approach your second and third shots. Sorry, I disagree with the guys above. This is a primo course that is worth the drive from New Orleans to play.

We played La Tour in June,2013 and found the course in good condition, however, we had trouble with the signage for the holes which left us wondering around looking for the next one. This added time to our playing and made it frustrating as the day went on. The staff in the pro shop were unprofessional and/or not well educated in customer service as the two gentlemen there were rude and arrogant when we tried to get some help from them. Both turned their backs to us as we asked for help in getting around the back 9. They gave us a bad impression so we will not return again and would not recommend the course to anyone. I hope the management corrects the circumstances of the pro shop so the course doesn't suffer more bad reviews and more loss of business.

This is a decent track, but for how new it is, I was somewhat disappointed. There aren’t many trees on the course and it plays like a links style course. The pros: Practice area is adequate and has grass tees. The fairways are very green and lush, wonderful to hit off of. The design of the fairways on most holes looks like a narrow meandering stream from the tee boxes, which is a nice feature and gives you something to think about as you try to pick a target. The placement, design and maintenance of the bunkers are also exceptional. The greens are average, they had been aerated a few weeks prior to my playing, so I can’t give a great review on them yet. The cons: With no trees to guard the course, the wind here can be brutal which was unexpected for the area, I’m just not a fan of windy golf and wasn’t expecting it. There doesn’t appear to be any real management of the course. There was no starter, we just kind of took off and there were no marshals in sight during the round. We played a round at a good pace (4 hours), had a group in front and yet still had to deal with a rude group behind us who continued to hit into us while we were waiting for the group in front to clear. Not really southern hospitality or good golf etiquette. It would be nice if management taught some manners to some of the players. The clubhouse was a real letdown, it is basically a very large trailer that looks like it was meant to be temporary but is actually the permanent clubhouse. In fact it appears that the area was meant to be a neighborhood that fell through after the recession and so there are maybe 2 or 3 houses and a lot of empty barren land with a golf course that is out of place. It is hard to find this course, doesn’t show up on GPS yet and the signage is lacking. Once you are actually on the course I found the signage to navigate between the holes very confusing and lacking. My biggest complaint was the cart paths which are a mix of gravel, dirt, and semi-paved path which are already crumbling even though this course just opened 3 years ago. Additionally there are no GPS devices on the golf carts which is shocking in 2012. The golf carts also don’t have attached ball/club cleaners or mini ice chests. These are small amenities that I would expect at a newly opened course. Overall this course has potential, but it’s a bit overpriced for what you get and its very apparent that there was bigger master plan in place here for a neighborhood and golf course and after the recession the money dried up and so they didn’t really finish everything and now they money is tight.

LaTour was a fun, challenging course to play. Many fairway bunkers to contend with. Some mushrooms made balls a little difficult to find. Greens were recently aerated and played true. Drinking water was found throughout the course along with sand containers to repair divots. Overall I enjoyed my day at LaTour and consider it a great course to play.