Tournament completes week of events at the Bechtol-designed track and home of Louisiana’s Audubon Golf TraThe 15-month old Black Bear Golf Club in Delhi, La., fared well in its first real test of professional golfers last week as 103 players from the Adams Golf Pro Tour Series tried the track during the four-day Guaranty Bank Classic.
Black Bear Golf Club – a 7,256-yard, par-72 track designed by Roy Bechtol and Randy Russell and built as part of the Poverty Point Reservoir State Park here in the northeast corner of the Pelican State – showed its teeth to the international field. After four rounds, the average 18-hole score for the competition was 73.98, proving to these pros that Black Bear belongs in the short list of Louisiana’s best Golf Courses.
The tournament, which was won by Shawn Stefani of Baytown, Texas with a score of 11-under par 277, was the culmination of Black Bear’s five-day, grand-opening celebration. The course has been open since July 2006, but kicked into high gear with a week of festivities that featured an official opening of Black Bear’s new 6,000-plus square-foot clubhouse and restaurant. The special gala included speeches and spoken memories from Bechtol, Louisiana Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu and Francis Thompson, the Louisiana state representative who championed the course and the Poverty Point development.
“Black Bear and this entire project are very near and dear to my heart,” Bechtol told a crowd of about 400 onlookers at the gala while the sun set a beautiful combination of red, orange and purple on the course in front of him. “It is very emotional to see that our vision has been realized in such a dramatic and spectacular setting. I am humbled to be a part of what has happened here and for what we all worked so hard to create.”
Landrieu is already proclaiming Black Bear, which is the home course of Louisiana’s 13-track Audubon Golf Trail, as a premier facility and crucial link to the state's tourism package.
“As Louisiana continues to rebuild in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, new properties such as Black Bear are vital to our state's rebirth," said Landrieu. “Tourism is our state's second largest industry — making a $9.9 billion impact while employing more than 126,000 before the storms. As we return as a top travel destination, the Audubon Golf Trail and its new courses – such as Black Bear – continue to offer an unparalleled golfing experience.”
Black Bear spans a varied topography from tree-lined holes to open approaches. Because it is set atop 300 acres of the Macon Ridge, there are elevation changes that are uncommon in almost all Louisiana golf courses. Although technically in the Mississippi Delta region that is characterized by flat terrain, Black Bear is like an oasis as it winds up and down and through wooded creek bottoms and provides golfers with a feeling of isolation and a kinship with nature.
“I have played many of the courses on this tour and Black Bear is – by far – the best course we have seen,” said Adams Tour pro Andrew Dresser, who played with Bechtol in the Guarantee Bank Classic’s pro-am event. “This is a course that requires your whole game and your whole attention, and playing out here will make us all better in the long run.”
The Guaranty Bank Classic is definitely helping to fulfill Black Bear's mission.
“We are extremely proud of Black Bear and what it provides for golfers throughout our state and the surrounding states, Guaranty Bank president Albert Christman said. “At the same time, we are excited about what it is already doing for our community and our local economy. We are already generating positive dollars, and as I travel around the state people everywhere want to know more about Black Bear and plan to experience it soon.”
Eric Kaspar, who is directing all the Audubon Trail golf courses from a central office at Black Bear, feels the facility is just now experiencing the tip of the ice burg.
“We've recently had senior golf groups from Mississippi and Arkansas come here for events,” Kaspar said “Last week, the AmeriStar Casino (in Vicksburg, Miss., which is about 45 miles east of Black Bear) hosted an event for 75 golfers, and our bookings continue to grow.”
Black Bear is stamped with Bechtol’s signature design: there are long par-4s and short par-4s, there is target golf and swing-away wide fairways and there are reachable par-5s and monster par-5s, all in a track that is bracketed by environmentally sensitive wetlands and a strict adherence to nature and the significance of the course’s historic surroundings.
“We paid attention to the boundaries and edges that the track provided us,” Bechtol said. “Black Bear gives golfers a chance to ‘feel’ the site and the wetlands that surround the course and understand that the course has only enhanced that feel, instead of interrupting it. You get out there and it is almost like you are part of the site itself.”
The clubhouse at Black Bear features a pro shop, a bar area and the Waterfront Grill, the third location of Delhi natives Don and Sam Weems’ highly regarded Monroe, La.-based restaurant.
“The new clubhouse at Black Bear, and the upgraded cabin and camping facilities at nearby Poverty Point Reservoir, are a part of our ongoing effort to invest in our parks,” Landrieu said. “Now, Northeast Louisiana has even more appeal for visitors. You can golf at Black Bear, stay at Poverty Point and truly experience why Louisiana is known as ‘The Sportsman's Paradise.’”
The Poverty Point site is named for the nearby Native American National Historic Landmark Area. Dubbed the Poverty Point culture, its people settled on the banks of Bayou Macon, near what is now the community of Epps, between 1,400 and 700 B.C. Park guests are only 20 minutes away from Poverty Point State Historic Site for day trips to what has become a focal point for archaeological research since the mid-20th century.
The Bogzag and Cypress Creeks bisect Black Bear Golf Club and offer significant wetlands features. The routing of the course generally follows, then crosses, the creeks and offers passes through the heavily treed creek bottoms. The result is a course that weaves from tree-lined holes to open opportunities and sports expansive Tif Eagle greens, lush fairways and native grasses in all non-play areas.
The golf course, which was constructed by Weitz Golf International, takes its name from the Louisiana black bear which are often sighted on or near the reservoir. Bechtol even left in place a tree behind the 15th green that was previously used by the bears in the winters to hibernate.
“I am very proud of the way we have been able to create a real championship golf course at Black Bear,” Bechtol said. “I really think the course offers something for everyone and – for my money – is the best track in the state. As it matures, Black Bear will only get better and harder, but the course is more fun than just about any other I have played.”
Black Bear is located just six miles off Interstate 20 in Poverty Point State Park.
