Getting To Know: The National Golf Club of Louisiana By Brian Weis

Getting To Know: The National Golf Club of Louisiana

An Insightful Interview With David Kaspar, Director of Golf

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with David Kaspar who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
In its short lifespan, The National Golf Club of Louisiana has become one of the favorites for golfers from SW Louisiana all the way to the Houston Metropolis. With typically outstanding golf course conditions and very competitive pricing, The National offers a challenging layout with water hazards on every hole and 80+ fairway and greenside bunkers. Opened in 2009, The National boasts of rolling fairways and undulated greens with just about every tee shot providing some type of risk-reward decision to be made. Every shot and every club in your bag will be tested as you play this wonderful layout.

The National has hosted several major professional and amateur events including The Adams Professional Golf Tour and the upcoming 2016 State Four Ball Championship. The annual Westlake City Championship is an open event for any golfers that have an established handicap and provides excellent competition from Houston to New Orleans.

The National always has special pricing and promotions with Seniors, Ladies and regular golfers interested in a great golf course at an even great price. You can check the current specials by calling the golf shop at (337) 433-2255.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
Besides the fact that the golf course is really great and always in top playing condition, our rates are some of the most competitive in the state. You can always count on some type of special promotion that will get you on the course at a rate that will most likely be as low as anyone in town.

The golf course is friendly for all players...those seeking a very challenging tough layout all the way down to the rank beginner looking to enjoy some sunshine while learning a new sport. The greens are fun, undulated but very playable. There is water on every hole but very few are crossing hazards where the carry is more than a few yards.

All in all, all players will enjoy this wonderful golf course.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
The best advice I can give is to pay attention to the layout on the scorecard. There are 4 holes (#4, #7, #13 and #18) that should be played to a layup yardage from the tee. (Driver can be hit but must be placed into a tight area.) There is water on every hole but most are lateral so all fairways provide ample area to hit (with exception of the four above) driver. Also, many of the greenside bunkers are fairly deep and challenging to get ball close to tucked hole locations so sometime best to play to the middle of greens when holes are in some of the corners.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
We have been awarded with the 2016 Louisiana State 4 Ball Championship. Obviously speaks of the quality of the course, as the State Tournament Committee only choose the best layouts and courses for their championships.

Golfweek listed The National Golf Club of Louisiana as one of "The Top New Courses to Play" in October 2011.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
We have a beautiful par 3 near the clubhouse...#5. It has 3 church pew bunkers in the front left of the green and water all the way to it from the tee and around the left side of the green. The hole can play from 100 yards all the way back to over 210+ yards to an elevated and undulated green. Its a wonderful, very beautiful hole.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
We have a stretch of 3 holes on our back nine that will rival any 3 holes in golf in the state or all of golf for that matter. Beginning with a 437 slight dogleg right par 4 #14 that usually plays into a prevailing wind...the hole has a 150 yard long fairway bunker that gobbles up any errant tee shot to the right side of the fairway, the left side of the hole is protected by a lateral water hazard that starts at about 250 yards from the tee and runs up adjacent to the front left side of the green. The green is one of the largest on the course with a heavily sloped from front to back challenge for all putters.

When you leave #14, you get to go to a very tough Par 3 in #15. This hole can play up to 205 yards from the back tees. The green is a kidney shaped design with a huge bunker protecting the front and right side. All the way up the right side is a large water hazard that seems to draw all left to right shots so great care needs to be taken with this tee shot.

Awaiting you after these two jewels is the hardest hole on the course...#16 can play up to 460 yards. This hole is protected by fairway bunkers on the right and left side of the landing areas, plus just past these bunkers are water hazards on each side of the fairway. Straight and long is the best shot for this tee shot to even have a chance at hitting on this green in regulation. Now, even with a great tee shot, a difficult approach awaits...the green has a large bunker protecting it front and right side, and the green is very narrow from front to back but very wide left to right. The slope is right to left so a nice high draw into the green is a great way to approach but you know as well as I do...this is a tough shot from 200 plus yards.

Walking away from these 3 holes in Par or Better is a great goal and a fantastic score. No way to pick a favorite from them.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
Your must have dish here at The National is either the Cheeseburger or Chicken Quesadillas and an ice cold Shiner Draft beer.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
Course Record under tournament conditions is 62. This was scored in 2013 in The Adams Professional Golf Tour event here.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 6946
Slope: 139
Rating: 73.3

More Information
The National Golf Club of Louisiana
1400 National Dr. Westlake , LA, 70669
337-433-2255
www.nationalgcla.com

Revised: 11/03/2015 - Article Viewed 32,852 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.