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Visitors to New Orleans have traditionally been single-minded in
their approach to the Big Easy. New Orleans is about food, drink and nightlife
(and the annual confluence of those things at Mardi Gras). New Orleans has never
been about golf. Sure, the suburban, private English Turn hosts a PGA Tour
event, but the course is a half-hour from the French Quarter, and it takes some
arm-twisting by your hotel's concierge to get you a tee time.
Audubon Park Golf Course won't change New Orleans' golf status all
by itself, but more than $6 million in renovations have thrust it out from the
shadow of its next-door parent, the Audubon Nature Institute and Zoo. Golf has
been played at Audubon, an old World's Fair exhibition field, since 1898.
Encroachment from the surrounding park and decades of indifferent maintenance
had pounded flat the cramped, 5,800-yard course.
Architect Denis Griffiths transformed the 81-acre plot into a
clever 4,189-yard, par-62 course with 12 par 3s, four par 4s and two par 5s --
including the spectacular par-5 18th, which is protected on the left by one of
four lagoons installed to improve drainage. The design encourages fun, speedy
play, but the scenery makes hurrying hard. Locals crowd the running paths around
the course enjoying the scenery and shade offered by the majestic old-growth
oaks. Audubon doesn't make the standard short-course concessions to
conditioning and strategy anymore, but it has kept the charms. You don't need a
tee time, and you'll spend less than $20 to play. Head pro Stan Stopa stocks a
variety of rental sets for clubless visitors. And remember, this is New Orleans:
A Peacemaker -- the fried shrimp and oyster hero from the Acme Oyster House, a
short streetcar ride away -- is the best halfway-house snack on the planet.
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