Course Review: Grand Ridge Golf Club

I got a chance to get back to Grand Ridge Club Club yesterday (11/06/2022). The last time I was here was in March of 2021. At that time the club was in the process of some upgrades. They put in a brand new parking lot and working on a new irrigation system, as well as enlarging a few retention ponds.

Grand Ridge Golf Club is about a 20 min drive from the New Orleans Airport and about a 30 - 40 min drive from downtown New Orleans, Located in Luling, LA the golf course is easy to get to from almost any location.

The first thing I noticed is how upgraded the property looked with the new parking lot. It is not just the fact that it is new but the design and location. They made it so the traffic flows in a certain direction around the lot so you never have to go against oncoming cars. The other thing is it allowed for a new bag drop area and easy access from the cart return back to your car.

Once I was walking up to the golf shop and you get a peek at the golf course and the practice putting green I was very impressed by the aesthetics alone. The golf course was very green and looked very lush from a distance. Walking next to the putting green was the first real up-close look and that looked amazing. The putts even rolled very true and fast.

The staff is always one of the best at any of the courses you can play nearby. They always make sure to let you know what is going on with the golf course and make sure you are aware of anything you may encounter. For example: Not only was I told which holes the tees were moved up due to recent overseeding they marked those holes on a scorecard.

As with many properties in south Louisiana, Grand Ridge lost a good number of trees during Hurricane Ida last year. This was noticeable immediately on the first hole. the blessing of this is that the fairways are now getting more sun and have fewer trees soaking up all the water. It really gives the golf course a new look. This along with the new irrigation and new retention ponds Grand Ridge is making improvements that should maintain the golf course conditions year round. They are and have been making improvements to the club as a whole and have some new membership options, even for those that do not live in the immediate area.

The day was cart path only but there was no need to touch your golf ball. The fairways still rolled out just about everywhere and there were very few wet spots you had to walk around. They were not super tight fairways but they were very playable and left you with good lies just about everywhere. After the rain, Saturday the golf course drained very well. So much so the greens were firm with your approach shots making finding pitch marks a bit hard to find. However, because it drained so well the greens were also rolling quickly.

Grand Ridge is an older-style golf course that barely plays just over 6400 yards from the tips. The greens are somewhat smaller compared to today's standards and the overall design makes you think your way around the golf course. You have to pay attention to where the water hazards are, play around trees to leave you an angle to the green, and pay attention to the hole location and where the safe area is to miss if you hit a wayward shot. They have room to lengthen the course if they chose to but it's not likely or needed. The golf course has plenty of character with every hole draped in cypress trees covered in moss.

They still have more work to do and we look forward to seeing their constant improvements. There are some trouble areas where they need to fill in some "pot" holes in the fairways and some of the tee boxes could use some leveling but some of these areas are not in play for most golfers. Many of the spots you would consider "trouble areas" were either next to the cart path or where the fairway started.

Check out the video below and see what I saw for the day.