Gray Plantation Golf Club Review

Texas Outside Rating: 9.4

Golf - Semi Private Course · 18 Holes · Par 72
Lake Charles, LA
Website

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Gray Plantation Golf Club Review

Review and Rating of Gray Plantation Golf Course in New Orleans

What an outstanding golf course - fun, fair but challenging, excellent conditions, friendly service, affordable rates, great layout, and some outstanding holes. The Gray is a delicate mix of Southern Charm & Cajun Fire as it plays around 60 acres of lakes and water on twelve of the tree-lined holes.  And it's not surprising that Gray Plantation Golf Course is one of the top ranked courses on the Louisiana Audubon Golf Trail and was ranked #6 in Golf Digest's Best Courses in Louisiana, #3 in the best public courses in Louisiana, and is consistently ranked in the Top 100 Courses in the United States by Golf Digest

Some of what we really liked about playing Gray Plantation included:

  • the conditions were excellent from tee to pin, the course was well manicured and maintained, and the landscaping was well done
  • the rates are very reasonable for such a good quality course and the pace of play is excellent
  • the staff and everyone we met were friendly and service oriented
  • the layout is outstanding with some really fun holes and designed with strategy in mind
  • the course puts a premium on the approach shots thanks to the raised and guarded greens
  • it's fair but demanding with bunkers, water, dog legs, forced carries over water and natural areas, some great risk-reward opportunities, and wind that can impact your score

The first three and the last three fairways on the front nine have homes set back off the fairway but the rest of the fairways play through tall pines and other trees, dense natural areas that will devour your golf balls, and lots of water. The fairways were in excellent condition when we played and they are flat, ample to a little tight, and with a wide rough that varies from thick and challenging to thin and playable. 

The bunkers at Gray Plantation Golf Club were wet thanks to a recent rain and unplayable.  It looked like the sand would normally be soft and fluffy.  The lips are manageable at 1" to 8'' tall and should be relatively easy to escape from.  We didn't have much trouble avoiding the bunkers. 

The greens at Gray Plantation are raised and the false fronts prevent bump and runs, meaning you need to stuff it on the green and hope it holds or you've got a challenging chip back toward the pin.  The greens were in very good condition, held the ball well, and ran true and at a good speed of around 10.5.  Most had some combination of slope and undulation.

A must play if you're in the area!

The Golf Academy at Gray Plantation is fantastic and perfect to help develop your skills and help you rethink the fundamentals of golf in order to strengthen your game.  The state-of-the-art TrackMan can pinpoint exactly where your game can use some improvement.  And for practice you game, the simulator virtually puts you on the course at Troon, Gleneagles, Mauna Kea, Pinehurst, and several others.

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Black 6,936 73.4 136
Blue 6,137 69.5 127
White 5,428 66.1 114
Gold 6,468 70.9 130
Red 4,699 67.2 114

Course Information

Course Architect:
Rocky Roquemore
Greens Type:
Tif
Greens Condition
9.2
Greens Difficulty
9.0
Fairway Condition
9.3
Bunker Condition
9.3
GPS:
No
Walkable:
Easy
Beware of water on 12 holes and the 94 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
9.4 out of 10
Beauty:
9.2
Difficulty:
9.2
Variety:
9.2
Fun to Play:
9.5
Value:
10.0
Condition:
9.2
Front Nine Rating:
8.8
Back Nine Rating:
9.9
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FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $50.00 to $70.00

The pro shop is well stocked, the grill has some very good food, and the practice facilities are very good.

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Here's How Texas Outside Determines the Scorecard Rating

The Texas Outside rating scale ranges from 1 to 10 – a perfect 10 course would be something like this:  links along a cliff overlooking the Pacific ocean and bordered by tall trees; lush fairways on rolling hills with lots of natural hazards; water (which is crystal clear) on most of the holes; immaculate greens (but they are undulating and tough); lots of variety and character (each hole is completely different and includes blind shots, elevation changes, doglegs, and significant challenges); perfectly manicured traps with the whitest and prettiest sand you’ve ever seen; a nice club house with great food and a 19th hole; a GPS; plenty of beverage carts or your own cooler and ice; and it only costs $40 bucks! What this means is that you probably won’t find any 10s in Texas – try Cabo San Lucas, Pebble Beach, or some of the Hawaii courses! 
Texas Outside rates courses on the following:

  • Beauty – tall trees, rolling hills, beautiful houses, waterfalls, and similar stuff would score high; a 1 would be flat, bushes or cactus instead of trees, and some grass but mostly weeds
  • Difficulty – a straight, 300 yard par 4 with no traps or hazards, no out of bounds or water would probably get a 1; if it is a 460 yard par 4 over two ravines, with water along one side, natural hazards on the other, strategically placed traps or that dreaded tree right in the middle of the fairway, we are talking a 10. 
  • Variety – what would you give a course where all the holes looked and played exactly the same (“I thought we just played that hole!”); were side-by-side, which is good for finding or dodging other people’s balls, but not much fun; and you can see the flag from every tee box?  That’s right, it gets a 1.
  • Fun Scale – a 10 is where you walk off the course and say “now that was fun” and you can’t wait to get back, or you immediately turn around and play another 18 holes
  • Value – a 5 is $50 to $60, a 10 is $20 to $30, and 1 is $200 or so – of course all of this is dependent upon how you liked the course.  For example, if a run down, boring municipal course, with six players on each hole was only $10; it would still get a value rating of 1.
  • Condition – this one’s pretty easy – what condition are the fairways. A 10 commands very lush perfectly manicured fairways, compared to a 1, which has fire ants, weeds, and more dirt than grass!
  • Condition of Greens and Difficulty – very hard to read greens with lots of undulation and tough pin placement, rate very high on the difficulty scale.  Condition is self-explanatory.  

All of the above determines the overall score for the golf course.  In other words, we like courses that are pretty, fun, very challenging with a lot of variety, and fairways and greens in excellent condition – all for $40.  We also tend to play the courses that are affordable for the masses, which means in the $30 to $80 range. We rate hard and we haven’t found a 10 in Texas yet – don’t worry we haven’t given up and we’re still looking.