English Turn

Jack Nicklaus designed English Turn Golf and Country Club in 1988 on a piece of New Orleans East Bank land along a Mississippi River horseshoe bend, on a property the developers had bought specifically to host a PGA Tour event. The course hosted the Tour's New Orleans stop — under several different sponsor names, including the Freeport McMoRan Classic, the Compaq Classic of New Orleans, and the Zurich Classic — from 1989 through 2004, when the event moved to TPC Louisiana. English Turn produced champions including Mike Sullivan (1989), Nick Price (1993), Davis Love III (1995), and Steve Stricker (2003).

The scorecard reads 7,089 yards from the back markers, par 72, with a slope of 142 and a course rating of 74.8. The four par-3s sit between 168 and 215 yards. The 215-yard sixth is the longest one-shotter and plays directly across one of the property's natural water hazards — the Mississippi River horseshoe means seven of eighteen holes have a meaningful water carry. The four par-5s range from 530 to 595 yards. The 595-yard fifteenth is the longest hole on the card and plays as a three-shot par-5 because the layup zone is bounded by water short and long.

The number-one handicap is the 478-yard fourth — a long par-4 with an approach into a green Nicklaus set on a Mississippi River bluff. The 446-yard second-hardest is the par-4 seventeenth; the 451-yard third-hardest is the par-4 eighth. Three of the top-three are par-4s over 440 yards, which is the slope signal that scoring at English Turn happens on the par-5s and the par-4s are exposure.

The Louisiana Gulf Coast climate keeps English Turn playable year-round, with the prime window running October through May when the humidity drops and the air dries out. The summer New Orleans humidity peaks in July and August; afternoon thunderstorms are a daily occurrence and rounds get suspended frequently. The course is private and access is members-and-guests only.