Belle Terre Country Club is a Pete Dye designed golf course and is only a thirty to forty-minute drive from downtown New Orleans in LaPlace, LA. Always a fun golf course to play and the weather could not have been more perfect.
Having not played Belle Terre in about a year I was really looking forward to getting out there. I have always enjoyed the traditional and challenging yet fair layout Belle Terre offers. The staff is always friendly and cheerful, and this time was no different. Unfortunately, however, the golf course was not in the best of shape.
For the most part, the course was in good shape for this time of year. The course was dry with the exception of some areas around greens and tee boxes. I am not sure if LaPlace got more rain recently or if there may be some issues with their sprinkler systems on a few holes. Many did not affect play except the ball would get a bit of extra mud on it if you landed in one of these areas around the greens.
The greens themselves looked worse than they were. There were many areas on the greens that were sanded as if those areas are recovering from a disease. Most of the greens just seemed like the grass is struggling to grow, which again can be attributed to December golf. Even with some of these blemishes, the greens were rolling very well. The greens were still rolling smoothly with only a few greens being bumpy and all had a good and consistent speed to them.
The fairways were in good shape for December as well. The grass may have been slightly longer but even with the softer soil drives still got a good amount of roll. The biggest and most noticeable issue on the fairways is from the drainage. Many if not all fairways had depressions where the drainage lines were laid out. You could visibly see them as well as feel them when driving the golf cart over them. It is possible that is something that was being worked on over the summer and the strange hurricane season we had may have delayed it. Fortunately for me, these areas did not affect my play.
Most of the tee boxes were very un-level making finding a good spot to tee the ball up difficult, especially the par 3's. Also, some of the tee markers were placed at odd angles and not the line of play or a few holes they weren't on the tee box at all and in the rough. A minor thing, but when the tee markers are not placed where and how they should be it leads to golfers playing from anywhere they choose and that can lead to tee boxes getting overly damaged.
I hate having to do a write-up and say anything bad about any golf course, but I would be cheating you and not doing my job properly if I only wrote when things are good. However, I can say I did notice improvements being made while being on the property. New roofing was going on the clubhouse and you can clearly tell maintenance is working hard to improve the conditions. Those are just two things I noticed, so I feel confident there is more behind the scenes happening.
Belle Terre Country Club overall is good. A fun layout, a good challenge, and a good rate. I booked an online special for around $25, so you really can't beat that. At that price, I was not expecting "tour" conditions and was quiet, please. I will most likely go to play again soon, when not doing a review and video.
You can see more information and contact information on our Belle Terre Country Club page with our course directory.
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