The Bluffs on Thompson Creek

Baton Rouge local media has reported the owners closure of the course effective 9/27/21

Looks like it was once a great course. No one had mowed, bunkers washed out, Kevin in golf shop was a jerk. Don’t waste your time or Money. Maybe someone will buy and Renovate.

I drove 49 miles to a goat ranch. They need to invest in a lawnmower. Just simply horrible.

I saw this course online and decided to drive the 37 miles. What a disaster! The course is dry, overgrown, and looks abandoned. I quit after 6 holes.

Had not played The Bluffs in a few months and was not sure what condition the course would be in. Overall the course was not in bad shape. The greens were slow but in good shape, sand traps were not. Sand traps were loaded with small rocks and had not been raked or prepped, they were packed and hard.
Amenities did not exist except for driving range. There was no clubhouse access, no beverage cart on the course, and no grill to grab a beer after 9 or at the end of the round.

The Bluffs at Thompson Creek used to be a wonderful destinations course in Louisiana. The Town of Saint Francisville is delightful and with lots of good restaurants and things to do especially for the non-golfer. This Arnold Palmer design course has a number of wonderful halls including a par three with at least a three story elevation change which is unheard of for Louisiana. In the past the course has been in very good condition and it was always a pleasure to play here.

Currently the course is not in good condition. We had to play bunkers as ground under repair. The fairways in many places had weeds growing. The greens were bumpy with some invasive grass growing in. They were not terrible but not up to the expected condition. Some of the cart paths were also in bad condition with many deep ruts. The restaurant did not open before 11 o’clock and it was hard to get refreshment on the course. They had no separate water on the course to drink and we only saw a beverage cart lady once midway through our second nine. I actually consider this to be dangerous as we were playing in 90+ degree heat and humidity as is typical for Louisiana this time of year.

I’m not certain if there are ownership issues going on. Of course Covid may be playing a role and many courses are finding it difficult to find adequate support staff. I think it is really a shame to let a fine course decline. The conditions we played in my might be expected for a run of the mill municipal But fell far short of my previous experiences at the resort. I am hopeful that issues can be worked out and the course can be restored to its previous glory.

The Bluffs owners need to get the course back in to good shape and support the golfers

First time playing the Course, very imitating, can't wait to play again.

I saw much improvement from a month ago in the greens. The greens are mostly grown in , just a few blemishes in the middle, mostly slower greens. Bunkers are out of shape, little to no sand fairway bunkers, some green side bunkers are decent shape.
Stay out the bunkers or just play them as ground under repair.

Course wasn’t in best condition. 5 hour and 45 minute round. Nowhere to go, people on every tee box and fairway. Food from clubhouse was inedible. Chicken fingers & burger clearly microwaved. Couldn’t pay me to eat there again. For what they want to charge go to Beaver Creek or Santa Maria.

I've been hearing about The Bluffs for years and was excited to finally get to play there. I also booked a room as we were heading to Carter Plantation the next day.
What a HUGE disappointment. The cart paths are worse than the streets in NOLA. The course itself looked like it was abandoned. Weeds, ruts, rocks...ugh. The traps were wet packed rocky sand-totally unplayable. The staff seemed super disinterested. The lodge was a bummer, too. Mold on the shower curtain, no batteries in the remote for the TV, etc. I won't be going back.

This was the fourth time I have played at The Bluffs, all within the past 18 months. The first three were not bad at all. The last round before today was in early March 2021, so the greens got a bit of a pass due to a fairly hard winter. Now in May, it has gotten considerably worse.

It seems that they haven’t done any sort of maintenance on the greens or bunkers at all this year. Most greens were very dry, hard, and bumpy with many dead or sandy spots. Almost every single putt would dance around the surface on the way to the hole.

All of the sand traps seemingly have not had any new sand in several months and are basically equivalent to river silt at this point.

Even the staff seemed very dejected and not particularly helpful or friendly, which as far from the norm I’ve come to expect. In the clubhouse, we waited over ten minutes to get a round of drinks with no other customers at the bar.

The Bluffs is one of my favorite course layouts in the area and is very enjoyable when in good shape. However, that sadly just is not the case at the moment. It seems to me that they are in desperate need of a management shakeup in order to bring in a renewed focus on the qualities that previously made the course so enjoyable.

Unfortunately, I would not recommend the course or not any to play here again until there is some real effort to rejuvenate the course.