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Gulf Coast golfers
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The Beau Rivage course is slightly off the track of the Mississippi Gulf Coast trail, similar to the Grand Bear, which lies to the north of the Gulf of Mexico, alongside the DeSoto National Forest. Fallen Oak will also sit in the live oaks, magnolias, pecan groves and waterways of the forest, but that's where the similarities end, according to Mickey Culberson, vice-president of hotel operations.
"There will be some similarities, I guess, but Grand Bear has a lot of pine trees and we have very few pine trees," Culberson said. "We have a lot more mature oak trees and that kind of thing. From a look and feel standpoint, I'm not sure there's going to be that much similarity."
Five holes have been sodded, according to officials. The course will have an Arcadian-style mansion clubhouse, banquet and locker room facilities, a lounge and restaurant. The course is a 7,516-yard, par-72 layout with five sets of tee boxes.
"I think it is a typical Fazio course in that it's both playable and challenging," Culberson said. "It's the kind of course he wants - as you become better as a player, the course becomes harder. As you move back in tees, you really lengthen the holes."
Fazio told the Mississippi Business Journal he and his company looked at a dozen sites before deciding.
"The trees on this site are spectacular and Beau Rivage has given us a landscaping budget for the golf course that will allow us to transplant large, mature trees to key locations on golf holes," Fazio said. "In areas where the routing of the golf course requires the clearing of existing specimen trees, we'll be able to simply move them to a location that works and move them back after the hole is built."
The course is open to the public, but casino guests, who can be escorted to the course by shuttle, get preferred tee times.
The
Lake Charles casino course emphasizes the marsh and lowland features of southwest
Louisiana,
with eight lakes spread through the layout. Fazio, typically, moved a lot of earth
to build the course - about 400,000 cubic yards.
It's a 7,000-yard, par-71 track and has Bermuda fairways, tees and rough with Tifdwarf Bermuda greens. It's the only Fazio public course in the state, with green fees less than $100.
The casino itself, owned by Pinnacle Entertainment, is the 15th riverboat casino in Louisiana, the maximum allowed by state law. Its 30,000 square feet of gambling, also the legal maximum, is different from other state riverboat casinos in that it's all on one floor.
The L'Auberge du lac is entering a competitive, but potentially lucrative market. State records show that in April alone, gamblers lost $189.4 million and casinos made $40.3 million. Still, some are struggling: the Isle of Capri made only $1 million last month.
The casino has 1,600 slot mac hines and 60 table games. Pinnacle owns and operates casinos in Nevada, Mississippi, Louisiana, Indiana and Argentina.
Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management. The information in this story was accurate at the time of publication. All contact information, directions and prices should be confirmed directly with the golf course or resort before making reservations and/or travel plans.
