Golf Course Review: Farm d' Allie Golf Club

This was the second time in the past week I made it to play at Farm d' Allie Golf Club. After being impressed with the conditions I wanted to get back there as soon as possible for an official Golf Nola review. So I played with two of my best friends on Saturday, March 23rd.

My first experience at Farm d' Allie, back in 2010, was not that great. The golf course was not in good condition and I felt the staff was rude. Having been back a few times since the experience was different each time. The course was good one time but I didn't feel the staff was friendly or the staff was friendly and the conditions were not that great. With that said, Farm d' Allie was not a course I wanted to play as much as other golf courses. This week has been a whole different experience. The staff was very friendly in the golf shop, the grill, and the beverage cart, both times and the course was in really good condition. You can see in the video below as well as our Instagram post from last Wednesday.

The history of the land at Farm d' Allie dates back to 1787. Known as Beaubassin, it is the site of the first home in Acadiana, that was once owned by a British prisoner. The image below details the Historical Site information. These signs can be viewed by the first tee and the 15th green.

Throughout the entire day, there were a few issues we had to deal with. To start there were no golf carts available immediately and we needed to wait for golfers to come of the golf course. Not a big deal as I was there almost 2 hours early so I walked to the range and the short game area. It is more surprising that for a 1:30 pm tee time, there were no carts back in from the morning at 1 pm. The other minor issue was that we only saw the beverage cart only one time on hole 6. Yes it was a busy day and it took her some time to make it around the golf course, but it wasn't until after we were finished we found out the beverage cart stops at 4 pm. Had we known we would have grabbed extra drinks when we made the turn.

The major issue we had, which deserves a paragraph all its own was the pace of play. It took us 4 hours and 40 minutes to play all 18 holes. Normally I am not one to complain about a round over 4 hours and 20 minutes on a busy day but this was beyond a normal busy day. We waited on every shot since the first tee. On the front nine, we were behind a group of two who were waiting on the group ahead of them. When we made the turn they let us go ahead of them and that was when we realized they were behind a group of 5. On such a busy Saturday we were surprised they even allowed a group of 5 to play. That isn't even a big issue if they keep up with the groups ahead of them, something they were not doing. The group was an entire hole and a hlaf behind the group ahead of them. To make it worse they would drive as a group to one ball, watch a player hit, then drive as a group to the next ball, and so on. Not once did they offer to let us play through even when we were driving up toward a tee box and they hadn't had a golfer tee off yet because they were "chatting" and goofing around. I'm all for them having a good time but they seemed oblivious to the fact they were holding up the golf course even more than it already was. What was disappointing is that on such a busy day there was no marshall riding around the golf course to make sure groups were keeping pace. Had we not been stuck behind this group of 5 we possibly could have finished our round 20-30 minutes earlier.

As for the golf course itself, Farm d' Allie has a really good practice area to get your day started. A full driving range as well as a really good short game area where you can hit wedges up to about 50 yards or work on your bunker game. There is also a very large and undulating practice green that emulates the slopes you will find on the golf course.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Tee Boxes: 3.5 out of 5

Although the majority of tee boxes were good there was some inconsistency between them. A few of the par 3 holes had long grass on them that made it difficult to find a decent lie even using a tee. The upside was the grass was thin from overseed so it didn't affect shots like they would out of the rough. Other tee boxes had very little to no grass on them but these were areas that get a lot of shade and I would assume will be temporary until we get some good warm weather. The tee boxes that had no shade near them were almost perfect. All tee boxes were pretty level as well.

Fairways: 4.5 out of 5

The fairways were really good. You would get a nice light lie 90% of the time. The only questionable areas were those that didn't drain as well. Even those spots were not bad they were just not cut down as low and I understand why. The entire golf course drains very well so there were very few areas like this with the exception of hole 15 which sits lower and is more tree-lined than any other hole. Even on that one hole it only looked muddier than it played. The fairways were still firm and would allow the ball to bounce and roll out as long as it wasn't through one of those lower areas that were just a bit softer.

Greens: 4.5 out of 5

The greens were very good. They were rolling quick and there are many slopes that make putting tricky if you are not familiar with the golf course. There were some areas around the collars that lost some turf and were filled in with sand but nothing that was actually on the greens. The only green that looked bad was again on hole 15. Due to the amount of shade that entire hole gets they ave obviously experienced more issues with it. Even though it looked worse than others where the pin location was not affected by those areas. All in all the greens were great and I'd expect as we start getting more warmer weather they will get better. Although the greens were firm they would still accept shots and allow them to spin. It was chip/pitch shots you had to be careful with. A chip/pitch that was uphill would stop quickly but one that was flat or downhill, even with a lot of spin, would check roll out a good bit.

The conditions were really good considering the winter we have had and the amount of rain we've had recently. Even the bunkers were great, with the exception of golfers who do not know how to use a rake and smooth out their footprints. The overall design is good as well. Farm d' Allie can be a challenging golf course with plenty of risk-reward options while also being fair and fun. Just play the correct tee for your game and you will enjoy a round there.