Getting To Know: Black Bear Golf Course

An Insightful Interview With Eric 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 Eric 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
Located in the Mississippi River delta region of North Louisiana between Vicksburg and Monroe, Black Bear Golf Course offers an oasis of varied topography, creek bottoms, and tree covered terrain. The beauty of the course is match by it's diversity of holes, playing strategy and varied challenges. Numerous sizable bunkers emulate giant bear paw prints giving hints of the actual live black bears that are often seen on the course. Each hole is different from the other, and at no time can a golfer see an adjacent hole. Golfers enjoy the peace and serenity of the setting because there are no busy streets nearby and no houses on any holes.

Our tifeagle greens are in great condition and although they offer nice tests of skill for putting they are not overly penalizing. While the course does play very challenging and long from the back tees, we offer 4 sets of tees to help the average golfer. Most holes can be played with run up shots to the greens, but the scratch golfer can throw darts at the pins.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
Black Bear Golf Course is part of and adjacent to the Poverty Point State Park which features beautiful cabins directly on the Poverty Point Reservoir (318) 878-7536

Also, the Black Bear Stay & Play Lodge is located on the 9th hole and offers stay & play packages (318) 878-2681

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
While the fairways look narrow, there is more landing room than you see on most holes. If the golfer can stay in control and not try to overpower the holes, and keep the ball in play, he can score.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
Voted #1 Public Course in Louisiana by GolfWeek magazine for the 3rd straight year.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
#6 is a beautiful and difficult par three. The golfer hits from an elevated tee, across a low lying wetlands area, to an elevated, and very narrow (from front to back) green. The green falls off sharply from the front and back - shots that are short or long can face pitches that are more than head high. Also, there is a huge bunker to the right of the green and a creek at the left side of the green that catches any balls rolling over the left edge of the green. Even shots that hit the green then face a three level putting surface. Pars on this gem are well deserved.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
#12 at Black Bear may be the best short par 4 a golfer can find. It plays between 256 yards to 330 yards. The green is very small, but can be reached by a strong drive setting up an eagle putt. However, there are 8 bunkers set a varying yardages guarding the green ready to trap your shot. There is also out of bounds left of the green, and wetlands hazard along the right side of the fairway. A golfer has many options, and most choose to hit a hybrid or iron off the tee to set up a wedge to the green. #12 is one of the best risk/reward holes anywhere.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
The Waterfront Grill at Black Bear offers outstanding meals featuring Catfish Desaird at the top end or for the quick turn around, try the flavorful tuna fish sandwich.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score? The course record is 64 (8 under) held by both Dale Cagnolatti and Derek Busby. Dale's 64 featured a hole-in-one on the 4th hole.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 7276
Slope: 136
Rating: 75.1

More Information
Black Bear Golf Course
253 Black Bear Drive
Delhi, Louisiana, 71232
318-878-2162
www.blackbear-golf.com

Revised: 01/03/2014 - Article Viewed 34,827 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.