The National Golf Club of Louisiana Review

Texas Outside Rating: 8.6

Golf - Public Course · 18 Holes · Par 72
Westlake, LA
Website

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The National Golf Club of Louisiana Review

Review and Rating of The National Golf Club of Louisiana in Westlake, LA

                                                                                                    The National Golf Club of Louisiana was designed by Dave Bennet and is a joint venture with the City of Westlake and it is the newest and most affordable premier golf course in Louisiana. When we played in late 2018, the course meandered through towering strands of Louisiana soft pines and preserved wetlands with no homes lining the fairways, but The National will soon be the centerpiece of a new 600-acre master planned community in Westlake.  There are five sets of tee boxes with yardages ranging from 5267 to 6946 yards which means if you pick the right set of tee boxes, play smart to avoid the 14 lakes and 80 bunkers, you’ll have an enjoyable and fun round at a very reasonable rate. The National was selected as one of “America’s Best New Courses” by Golfweek in 2011.

The TifSport fairways, which were in very good condition when we played, are ample to a little tight and they range from flat with subtle slope to gently rolling.  During your round you’ll encounter some carries over water, slight dog legs, thick and dense rough that can bury your ball, strategically placed fairway bunkers, and some interesting risk-reward shots.  A couple of the holes that we really liked include:

  • #4 is a fun and interesting 394-yard par 4 with a carry over a pond to a fairly tight fairway with water on the left side from 200 yards out. It runs along the fairway around three-quarters of the green and comes back in to pinch the fairway about 80 yards on the right front of the green. The cluster of three trees that can block the right side approach to the green is guarded with a front and back bunker – club selection and accuracy are critical for a par and you’ll need to play this hole again to master it
  • #5 is a very picturesque 192-yard par 3 with water along the entire left side and a raised green with 3 church pew long skinny bunkers on the left front, a hidden bunker in the back, and a small bunker on the right front
  • #17 and #18 are fun finishing holes and they’ll throw a lot at you – water on both sides of the fairway (tee to green on #17), well guarded green complexes, pinched fairways, and a slight dog leg left

The MiniVerde greens at The National Golf Club were also in very good condition when we played.  They ran at a good speed, held the ball ok, and all had some subtle breaks.  Some are raised and others are flat and perfect for a bump and run.  They range in size from 24 to 42 yards deep (the average size is probably around 34 or so) and all but one are guarded by two to five bunkers. 

The 80 bunkers were in also very good condition when we played.  They have manageable lips and soft fluffy sand.  The vast majority of the bunkers guard the green and we had no trouble avoiding the fairway bunkers.

The National Golf Club of Louisiana is home to a state-of-the-art golf academy and practice facility with over an acre of grass hitting stations, two chipping greens, 1500 square feet of sand bunkers, some grass bunkers and a 12,000 square foot practice putting green.

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Black 6,946 73.0 139
Blue 6,177 69.9 124
White 5,663 67.8 116
Gold 6,604 71.8 128
Red 5,267 70.5 122

Course Information

Greens Type:
MiniVerde
Greens Condition
9.0
Greens Difficulty
8.5
Fairway Condition
8.8
Bunker Condition
9.0
GPS:
No
Walkable:
Easy
Scorecard
Beware of water on 14 holes and the 65 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
8.6 out of 10
Beauty:
8.7
Difficulty:
8.5
Variety:
8.0
Fun to Play:
8.5
Value:
9.0
Condition:
9.0
Front Nine Rating:
8.5
Back Nine Rating:
8.8
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FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $33.00 to $52.00

A new clubhouse is planned to open in 2019. Service was good. There is a full bar but not much choice for food and there are limited golf supplies and equipment

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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.