Golf in Franklin Louisiana

In Louisiana, you can hit the links at the site of an 1812 battlefield or an old plantation home. Here, golf courses seem a natural part of the landscape. And for good reason: The courses of Louisiana's Audubon Golf Trail—the innovative collection of 18 top-notch courses, covering all five regions of the state—are all members of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program, which promotes ecologically sound land management and the conservation of natural resources.

Established in 2001, the Audubon Golf Trail includes courses designed by Hal Sutton, David Toms and Pete Dye. Dye's latest creation, TPC of Louisiana at Fairfield, which opened in 2004, hosts the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, which is an annual draw for golf's heavyweights.

And while the Audubon Golf Trail provides a splendid sample of golf in Louisiana, there are numerous other beautiful and challenging courses statewide. Be sure to swing by.

If life is sweet in Franklin, it may have something to do with the vast sugar plantations that established the city as a 19th-century inland port and built the wealth still evident in its downtown center. Distinctive lampposts line Franklin's Main Street, a partner in the state's Main Street Program, and home to some of the city's 400 structures on the National Register of Historic Places. Each fall, downtown comes alive for the Harvest Moon Fest that is held in conjunction with the Franklin Patriotic Concert, a performance on the banks of Bayou Teche. Recently renovated and reopened as a performing arts center, a year-round roster of cultural events is found at the historic movie house, Teche Theatre. For sportsmen and nature lovers, a public boat launch leads to the Franklin Canal and easy access to the Atchafalaya Basin and the many ecological wonders of Louisiana's wetlands and its delta region.