Bayou Oaks - South Course Review

It was a beautiful morning for golf at Bayou Oaks at City Park. No rain, very few clouds and temperatures in the mid 80's.

We checked in and grabbed our cart ready for some golf. There is a driving range that is available, but it is hitting off of mats that are as hard as the concrete underneath it. The small grass areas they do are not maintained. At least last time we were at the range a few months ago. Balls also are not included in the rate of the greens fees. At least I was not told they were, nor was I offered a token to go across to the street to the range. Due to this I just decided to go to the practice putting green, and stretch.

We started on the back nine and were expecting a great day. The course was in great shape. The greens were rolling smooth, the fairways were cut tight and the rough was not much of a concern. Although if you hit the ball offline to far, like i did on a few holes, the rough was enough to loose a ball or two in some areas.

We were surprised to see rakes around all the bunkers. For the most part all bunkers were well maintained, but either due to people still being scared to touch anything due to Covid or just too lazy to rake the bunkers there were many footprints and un-raked areas from where shots were taken.

All in all our first 9-holes was an enjoyable experience.

That did change a little on our second 9-holes. Two things took away from some of the enjoyment.

After approaching the green of hole #1, our 10th hole, we quickly realized why we started on the back nine. The greens on the front 9 had just been lightly sanded. Not one person in our group was aware of this. We were not told in the pro-shop or by the starter. However in the starters defense he did not have a tee sheet to know what groups had what time, so he probably had no clue either about the greens being sanded on the front 9-holes. They could have printed the tee sheet for him the night before, like I've done at every golf course I worked at. That being said I do not blame the starter.

The second thing that ruined the enjoyment was from maintenance. I completely understand they need to do their work and will be running around the course, but either they are not aware of certain etiquette or just flat out do not care. We waited on a few holes for mowers to move and that was perfectly acceptable. What was the problem was having maintenance carts driving right next to the tee, right behind the tee while we were teeing off. They did not stop or even acknowledge that we were about to hit. The worst was when they drove right past us on the tee of a par 3, across a wooden bridge that was somewhat in-front of us then turning and going right up in front of the green placing himself between us and the hole and proceeded to do his work as if we were not there. One of my playing partners decided to no longer wait for him to move and proceed to hit over him.

Even with the greens sanded and maintenance running around the entire time on our second nine, we still had a good time. Even though the greens were sanded on the front the roll was not affected that much. The sand actually was not a play-ability issue, we just wish we were aware of it prior to playing. We had more problems of spike marks from someone dragging their feet ahead of us and pitch marks not being repaired.

The South course at Bayou Oaks at City Park is a very good golf course. There is plenty of room off the tee and there are many tee boxes to choose from. They even have, what I personally think more courses should do, a combination of using the blue and white to fill a gap between yardages and giving golfers 7 tee options.

Overall I would recommend this course for any golfer of any ability. The golf course is very playable and very fun if you play from the correct tee box for your handicap or ability. I personally think the local rate is a tad bit high, but it is not unreasonable. The only reason I gave the Staff and Greens 3 marks is due to the front 9 greens being sanded and not being told. I would give them a 5 if they were all like our first 9-holes were.

There is a North Course for those that like to keep their golf under a certain price. Click Here to read more.

If you get a chance to go play you will enjoy it.