Audubon Golf Trail: Seven years and still growing

By JOHN PRICE

The Audubon Golf Trail, created in October 2001 under the direction of Lt. Gov. Kathleen Blanco, has continued to evolve under current Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu into one of the country’s most recognizable golf trails.

AGT started with six charter members (Cypress Bend Resort, Gray Plantation, Olde Oaks, Tamahka Trails, The Island and The Bluffs) and has added at least one course since 2003. While two facilities have left the trail (The Bluffs in 2003 and Calvert Crossing earlier this year) for various reasons, the trail stands at 12 today with the additions of three facilities in 2004 (OakWing, Carter Plantation and TPC Louisiana), Audubon Golf Club in 2005, The Atchafalaya at Idlewild in 2006 and Black Bear and The Wetlands in 2007.

The Audubon Golf Trail is under the Department of Culture and Tourism, which is run by Secretary Pam Breaux. Applications for the trail are accepted from January-June every year. After filing an application, a 22-member commission (which includes AGT Administrator Eric Kaspar and a member from all 12 current trail courses) reviews the application and votes on whether to accept the facility into the trail on the first day of the following year. Paul Buckley is the chairman of that AGT committee.

Kaspar says the goal for the Trail is to have geographic representation across the state, which is something the AGT has done a great job of so far. For instance: Olde Oaks is located in the northwest part of the state (Haughton); Black Bear is located in the northeast part of the state (Delhi); Cypress Bend is located in the central western part of the state (Many); Tamahka Trails (Marksville) and OakWing (Alexandria) are located in central Louisiana; Gray Plantation is located in the southwest part of the state (Lake Charles); The Wetlands is located on the central south part of the state (Lafayette); The Island (Plaquemine) is located in the Baton Rouge Metro area (it takes less than 30 minutes to reach The Island from downtown Baton Rouge); Carter Plantation (Springfield) is located on the Northshore between Baton Rouge and Hammond. Atchafalaya is located in Patterson, which is about an hour south of Lafayette down Highway 90. On the other side of Hwy. 90 on the Westbank of New Orleans is TPC Louisiana and smack dab in the center of New Orleans sits Audubon Golf Club.

“I think the Audubon Golf Trail was a great idea and the courses seem to be spread out almost perfectly all over the state,” said Gary Brown of Baton Rouge. “I travel around this state a lot and when I get the time, I try to play as many of the Audubon Golf Trail courses I can.”

Kaspar has been with the AGT since February 2003, taking over for Stuart Johnson, who is now the Secretary of Louisiana State Parks. Kaspar has been a PGA Class A Professional since 1988 and has been involved with the PGA since 1985. His first golf professional job was in Dallas and it was in that same city recently that Kaspar realized how far the AGT has come in only seven years.

“When I worked in Dallas in the early-to-mid 1980s, I remember people asking me to recommend courses they could play in Louisiana and I really couldn’t suggest to them a few they could go to,” Kaspar said. “Nowadays, it’s completely different. The last time I was there, some guys saw me with my Audubon Golf Trail shirt on and they told me that a group of eight had just went play four different courses on our trail.”

The trail was named after naturalist and artist John James Audubon, who was enchanted by the natural beauty of Louisiana and created a lot of his famous bird paintings in the state. Coincidentally all of the courses on the AGT are members of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary for Golf Courses, which is a program dedicated to protecting the environment and preserving the natural heritage of the game of the golf.

AGT is promoted nationally, similar to how the state promotes its other tourism destinations. Louisiana has always been known as the ‘Sportsman’s Paradise’ and the Audubon Golf Trail has done nothing but validate that nickname over the last seven years.

 John Price is the Publisher of Tee to Green Magazine and can be reached by e-mail (john@teetogreenmagazine.com) or by phone (800) 643-4053.