Carter Plantation

Carter Plantation is a daily-fee course in Springfield, Louisiana, designed by PGA Tour professional David Toms and opened in 2004. Toms, a Louisiana native who won the 2001 PGA Championship, collaborated with architect David Druzisky on the layout, which occupies former plantation land in the rolling terrain north of Lake Pontchartrain. The course represents Toms's first significant design project and reflects his preference for strategic variety and playability across different skill levels. The routing takes advantage of natural elevation changes uncommon in southern Louisiana, incorporating mature hardwoods, natural wetlands, and several lakes into the design. The property's topography allows for more dramatic hole corridors and green complexes than typically found in the region's flatter coastal courses. Toms emphasized wide fairways with strategic bunkering that rewards thoughtful positioning over pure distance, and greens feature subtle contours that require careful approach play. Carter Plantation has hosted various regional amateur events and qualifiers since opening, serving as a tournament-caliber test in the Baton Rouge-New Orleans corridor. The course stretches over 7,000 yards from the championship tees while offering multiple tee options to accommodate recreational players. The facility includes practice areas and a clubhouse that serves the public-access market, providing a higher-end daily-fee option in a state where private clubs have traditionally dominated the upper tier of golf offerings.