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Founded as
Lakewood Country Club in 1961
and serving as the host of New Orleans’ PGA
Tour events 26 times, Lakewood Golf Club is a
huge part of the golf tradition of the Big Easy.
After a multi-million-dollar renovation, the
course is different than the one designed 55
years ago by Robert Bruce Harris, an adherent
of the “garden school” of golf architecture.
Lakewood was on the verge of bankruptcy
when the New Orleans Firefighters Pension
Fund purchased the property in May 2003 for
$6 million. The private club was closed and the
facility opened to the public. There were grand
plans for the site, including the development of
an upscale resort that would include golf villas,
a four-star luxury hotel and condominiums.
Those lavish ideas were sidetracked by Katrina.
After the hurricane, Ron Garl was hired to
redesign the course and it now stretches to
over 7,000 yards. He preserved the character
of the original layout, while upgrading it with
distinctive bunkering, modernized fairway
contouring and updated tee and greens, all
nestled among beautiful Louisiana cypress and
oak trees.
Garl’s work included the formation of four red-
sand-filled “flaming” hazards. One is formed to
resembleaFleurdeLisandanotherintheshapeof
a fireman’s seal in tribute to the firemen-owners
of the course. In addition, Indiana woodcarver
Dayle Lewis transformed several trees that
were damaged by Katrina into works of art.
Lakewood’s final two holes are noteworthy,
one for water and the other for fire, or at least
the reference of it. The 17th is a 160-yard par-
3 played over a pond to a green surrounded
Lakewood Country Club in New
Orleans Has Been Reborn
By
Steve Habel
NWO Golf Links