The Country Club at Golden Nugget

Landry’s Inc. (the dining, hospitality, entertainment and gaming corporation) owns and operates Golden Nugget Lake Charles. Extending to almost 250 acres, the resort features a 740-bedroom hotel, casino, several restaurants, a private beachfront and marina, along with an 18-hole golf course that opened for business in 2015.

Crafted by California-based architect Todd Eckenrode, the course lies next to the now fully public Tom Fazio-designed layout at Contraband Bayou Golf Club, which has recently had its bunkers renovated and greens replaced with bermuda grass. Rocky Roquemore’s Gray Plantation course sits a few miles to the south, making Lake Charles a nice little golfing hub.

Highlight holes include the par three 3rd, played across water to a green that’s heavily protected by sand to the right, the left doglegged 8th, with a couple of large sandy waste areas flanking the left of the hole, and the 581-yard par five 18th, where water runs along the full length of the hole from the tee box to the home green.