For three long years after the 2005 flood, City Park's golf complex, once New Orleans' main hub for affordable play, resembled a weed-choked Scottish moor, where even a bloodhound would struggle to find a ball.

With the September reopening of the park's North Course, however, golfers on many days have lined up three or four deep on the first tee, waiting to play the flat, workmanlike par-67 course, which still has its share of rough patches.

The course also has brought much-needed revenue to the park -- it cleared, for instance, a $22,000 profit in January, outpacing a projected loss of $8,000, its managers say -- even as an ambitious plan for a far more upscale golf complex has marched forward.

In Louisiana, the average rounds played in all of 2008, in an odd coincidence, exactly matched those played in 2007, at 21,293 for both years. In 2007 and 2008, the TPC Louisiana course saw more than 26,000 rounds played each year.

State Sen. John Alario, D-Westwego, who was instrumental in the TPC Louisiana taking up residence near Bayou Segnette State Park in his home district, said the course's original business plan did not factor in a failing economy and might have overestimated the city's lure as a golfing destination.

"They figured there would be enough conventions in town where it would work to get those people in here to play," Alario said. "But tourism is way down, and the TPC Louisiana has not been the overwhelming success we had hoped it would be."


One recent day at the newly minted Lakewood golf course, director Brad Weaver stood outside a temporary clubhouse as workers put the final touches on the course's $9 million renovation, complete with a sand bunker shaped like a fleur-de-lis.

The upscale course is the first piece to a $200 million puzzle that ultimately will include a new clubhouse, golf villas for tourists, condos and retail. Weaver laid out Lakewood's niche in the local golf scene.

"We're cheaper than TPC Louisiana and more than Stonebridge," Weaver said, referring to his West Bank neighbors and competitors.

The opening of Lakewood, designed by Ron Garl and financed by the New Orleans Firefighters Pension and Relief Fund, represents a bullish bet even as demand for golf has waned nationally and some local courses struggle for survival.

Lakewood's financiers hope the renovated course can help transform New Orleans into a golfing destination. The course enters an increasingly crowded field of mid- to high-priced options, including TPC Louisiana, English Turn and Stonebridge, all nearby on the West Bank. Lakewood also might compete with a $46 million golf complex planned for City Park, including a championship course that could open as soon as 2011 and could lure major tournaments one day.

During the past few months, I have met with many prominent people connected with the local golf industry. Not surprisingly, their business reflects the current state of our economy. To borrow a golf phrase, the bottom line is below par.

That is OK if one is actually playing the game, but not so good if one is trying to balance the books.

Some area golf facilities have reached the point of no return. The next 12 months could determine whether their doors remain open. Other facilities appear to be better positioned to weather the storm and not be pulled under by a strengthening economic riptide. Still others are venturing out into the great unknown, specifically the new Lakewood Golf Club in Algiers and the Bayou District Foundation, which is trying to win over the Board of Commissioners at City Park and begin construction on a $46 million golf complex by the end of the year.

NEW ORLEANS -- For some golfers, playing at City Park just feels right.

Their options are fewer these days with two courses still down and out after the storm.

But crowds are flocking to the recently re-opened North course – golfers like Gary McMillen, who said it's a true symbol of recovery.

"If you love the game, the courses here have a long history of good play and it's just exciting to be back on a beautiful day," McMillen said.

City Park officials want to keep the tradition going by re-developing the East and West courses.

At a cost of more than $45 million, it would be a major project with plans that include one of the courses being built using an 18-hole championship layout.

For some golfers, playing at City Park just feels right.

Their options are fewer these days with two courses still down and out after the storm.

But crowds are flocking to the recently re-opened North course – golfers like Gary McMillen, who said it's a true symbol of recovery.

"If you love the game, the courses here have a long history of good play and it's just exciting to be back on a beautiful day," McMillen said.

City Park officials want to keep the tradition going by re-developing the East and West courses.

At a cost of more than $45 million, it would be a major project with plans that include one of the courses being built using an 18-hole championship layout.

Critics are fighting the plan, however, saying they've enjoyed the open green spaces since the storm.

The construction of a controversial $46 million golf complex on 400 acres at City Park apparently is not a done deal after all.

At least, the matter won't get resolved Tuesday when the 36-member board of commissioners convenes for its monthly meeting at the Botanical Gardens-Pavilion of Two Sisters. Park CEO Bob Becker said no vote will be taken on the "master plan." In fact, it won't even be on the agenda.

The plan has been a hot topic since March 10, when several hundred people gathered at the pavilion to voice their opinions. Several suggested the event was little more than a dog-and-pony show and that the project had already been rubber-stamped, a charge that several board members vehemently denied.

No additional public meetings are scheduled, but park officials will continue to accept public comments through next week before Becker and his staff get down to business.

The slumping economy hasn't forced Las Vegan Michael Schroeder to ease up on his twice-a-week golf habit.

But when Schroeder hits the links these days, it's clear to him that plenty of locals have pared their tee times. Playing one Summerlin course in mid-February, Schroeder, an air traffic controller, saw 12 other golfers on a property that can tee off 40 people an hour.

And the courses Schroeder plays have slashed greens fees. It cost him $54 to play at Angel Park Golf Club in late February, down from $145 during flush economic times a couple of years ago. In Sun City Summerlin, greens fees on the Highland Falls and Palm Valley courses dropped to as little as $35 or $40, with perks including free sodas and balls. Overall, it's a great time to be a local golfer, and a not-so-great time to be a course operator.

What's not to like about the Bayou District Foundation working to create "a new mixed income community, complete with schools and recreation facilities, in the old St. Bernard housing community?"

What's not to like about the Bayou District using golf as "an organizing theme as well as an ongoing funding source for special programs designed to revitalize the distressed public housing community, " all of it aimed at "allowing low-income families of the neighborhood to work their way out of poverty?"

Nothing whatsoever.

However, when it comes to the role golf, and City Park, are being asked to play in this laudable venture, I have a problem.

Two-plus hours of peaceful exchange between those who favor a $46 million golf complex at City Park and those who don't turned up par for the course Tuesday.

Whether opponents of the master plan stemmed momentum already generated by the Bayou District Foundation to transform hundreds of acres into an elite golfing destination remains to be seen.

A decision could be made as early as March 24, when the City Park Board of Commissioners meets at the Pavilion of the Two Sisters. If approved, construction on Phase 1 of the project could begin this year.

The City Park board of commissioners unveiled a "master plan" Tuesday that would convert hundreds of dormant acreage into a new $46 million golf complex on which construction could begin by the end of 2009.

Phase 1 would cost approximately $24.5 million and include the construction of an 18-hole championship course, clubhouse, access road to the clubhouse and parking, driving range, range clubhouse and maintenance facility, all encompassed between I-610 and Filmore Avenue and bounded east by Marconi Boulevard and west by Wisner Boulevard.

ATLANTA — When Tom Cousins, an Atlanta commercial real estate mogul, first floated his radical ideas to build a mixed-income housing community, using golf — of all things — as a cornerstone to help resurrect the decaying, crime-ridden neighborhood of East Lake, most of his colleagues and friends — even the mayor of Atlanta — said the same thing.

On Aug. 29, three years to the day after Hurricane Katrina rearranged the face of New Orleans, a new day will dawn at City Park.

Helping usher in Day 1 post-Katrina at the remodeled North Course is Don Tillar, a 47-year-old graduate of Notre Dame who left a job selling insurance four years ago to pursue his life's passion.

As the new director of golf at the North Course, Tillar will oversee the daily operation of the driving range and 5,700-yard, par-67 course for Billy Casper Golf, a Virginia-based management group that is contracted to make $6,500 per month through 2010, according to City Park spokesman John Hopper.

Billy Casper Golf ("BCG") has been selected for turnkey management of the North Course at City Park (New Orleans, LA) that will open for public play on Saturday, August 30 for the first time in three years since Hurricane Katrina.

Under the multi-year agreement, BCG will direct all aspects of golf course and property maintenance, staffing and training, clubhouse operations (food and beverage, merchandising, etc.), golf instruction, marketing and public relations, special events and financial management.

City Park's 1,300 acres hold tremendous potential as an urban oasis.

And the park is finally getting the resources needed to maximize its potential. With $3 million from private foundations and government agencies, park officials are poised to begin the transformation of an expanse of concrete into a lush gathering spot for New Orleanians.

Thanks to nearly $3 million in private and federal grant dollars, City Park officials say they have the cash needed to start work on the Great Lawn, envisioned as a "commons" for New Orleans and the centerpiece of a transformed corridor to be built during the next several years.

City Park's master plan, scheduled to be completed by the city's 300th anniversary in 2018, calls for the swath of greenery to anchor what will be called Tricentennial Place. "We see it as a sort of focal point in the center of the park where people can congregate," said Bob Becker, the park's chief executive officer.

"It will be a place to meet, picnic or throw a Frisbee, smooch, hang out, read a book or sunbathe. All the kinds of things that people like to do in a big open area."