Black Bear Golf Club

Overview: Black Bear Golf Club in Delhi sits between Monroe and Vicksburg on Louisiana’s Audubon Golf Trail. The Bechtol-Russell design uses a varied landscape of tree-lined holes, open approaches, native grasses and water to create a championship course that remains approachable across its teeing areas. From the back markers it stretches to 7,276 yards and plays to par 72, with TifEagle greens and broad fairways set against lakes and woodland. The course’s strongest quality is its balance: tournament players can find a serious test, while the different angles and forward options make the landscape accessible to a wide range of golfers.

History: Black Bear launched in 2006 as part of a larger destination that also includes lakefront cabins, fishing and an RV park. The course quickly received national recognition, being named a Golf Digest America’s Best New Course in 2007 and later ranked as Golfweek’s best public course in Louisiana for several consecutive years. It also became a host for Adams Pro Tour events. Those honours reflect the original Bechtol-Russell concept: a full-size championship course that uses the rural setting without losing the playability expected of a public facility.

Did You Know? Black Bear’s tournament reputation arrived almost immediately. The course was named a Golf Digest America’s Best New Course in 2007, only one year after it launched, and its natural-grass areas help distinguish the layout from a conventional manicured parkland course.