Rounds at Golden Nugget, Koasati Pines at Coushatta, The National and Mallard, with two rooms at a Lake Charles casino resort, are the plan. About 16% in hotel taxes, nightly resort fees, golf bag fees and a rental car for the drives to Kinder and Westlake push the total up.
Plan my golf trip for me: budget, dates and courses →Starts with a sample trip. Change any number to match yours. Set up your travel profile to fill these in for you.
Compare hotels at the casino resorts →Pick each course you'll play (one round per golfer) and we'll price it for your group. Prices are per golfer for 18 holes, with the season and time of day you choose. Your picks set “Green fees per golfer (whole trip)” in your budget.
412 courses around Lafayette & Lake Charles that take public tee times, by city, with peak green fees. Private member clubs are left out.
The area's top-ranked course you can play, a forgiving bayou and marsh layout next to the casino; it is closed on Tuesdays.
goldennugget.com golfdigest.comThe only public Tom Fazio course in Louisiana, on the bayou at L'Auberge, but 2026 golfers report temporary greens and spotty conditions, so check before you book.
golfpass.com golfnow.comA newer city-owned, links-style course near the airport with no interior trees, 101 bunkers and plenty of wind, at a bargain price.
golfdigest.com golfcourseindustry.comA long, highly rated casino-resort course in the pines about 50 minutes north of Lake Charles, with an island-green 19th hole for settling bets.
golfpass.com golfpass.comLafayette's Audubon Golf Trail course, with water on 11 holes, a shared double green on 9 and 18, and Gulf wind in spring.
lafayettetravel.com golfpass.comA city-owned course just across the river from the casinos, with 14 lakes, 65 bunkers and a good practice area, and friendlier to higher handicaps.
golfpass.com golfpass.comA dramatic Audubon Trail course with big elevation changes built into the edge of the Atchafalaya Basin, about an hour southeast of Lafayette.
golfpass.com golfdigest.comA demanding Jeff Blume course just north of Lafayette, playing over 7,000 yards from the back tees.
golflink.com golfnow.comA parish-run course on the south side of Lafayette and one of the cheapest 18-hole rounds in Acadiana.
greenfeetracker.com golflink.comAn old-school small-town club about 35 minutes east of Lake Charles on I-10 that takes outside tee times, with easy pace and low prices.
golflink.com golfnow.comSulphur's city course, about 10 minutes west of Lake Charles, an easy, cheap round for higher handicaps.
la-sulphurparksandrec.civicplus.com golflink.comThe former Squirrel Run in New Iberia, a Joe Lee design that is open to the public at low prices, about 30 minutes south of Lafayette.
golfpass.com greenfeetracker.comThe sample is 4 travelers for 4 nights. Your plan ($7,264) covers the main costs most people budget for, the ones you enter on the left. Costs people forget ($3,059, about 42% more for this trip) are the fees, taxes, tips and extras listed in the calculator. Prices were last checked on October 17, 2026.
Share of the $10,323 real cost. Nights and travelers multiply most of these costs, so changing either one moves the total the most.
12 of this trip's numbers link to a published price or rate. The rest are our estimates, and each one says what it is based on. You can also read how we calculate every trip.
| Cost | Default | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Green fees per golfer (whole trip) | $381 per traveler | Four peak-spring rounds with cart: Golden Nugget $159 (public rate on its golf page; hotel guests $129), Koasati Pines $110 (no rate card; November online rates $87 to $108 and GolfLink estimates $125), The National $60 (GolfLink estimate; November deals about $40 to $59) and Mallard $52 (weekend rate, Green Fee Tracker, May 2026). Total $381. Judgment call. Source |
| Hotel, two rooms per night (whole group) | $460 a night | Golden Nugget averages about $234 on weeknights and $410 on weekends (KAYAK, Nov 2026); L'Auberge shows from about $125 to $197 (https://www.kayak.com/Lake-Charles-Hotels_Resort.Tresort.24219.hotel.ksp). $230 a room for a mix of weeknights and a weekend at a casino resort, two rooms = $460. Judgment call. Source |
| Airfare per person | $635 per traveler | US DOT (BTS) average domestic itinerary fare for Lake Charles (LCH), Q2 2026: $635.08. Lafayette (LFT) was $653.96. Source |
| Food per person, per day | $68 per traveler, per day | GSA FY2027: Calcasieu Parish is not a named non-standard area (only Alexandria and New Orleans are), so it gets the standard M&IE rate of $68 a day (https://federalnewsnetwork.com/pay-benefits/2026/09/federal-employee-per-diem-rates-will-tick-up-slightly-in-2027/). Source |
| Cost | Default | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Checked bag fees | $90 per traveler | Major US airlines charge about $35 to $50 for a first checked bag each way, so about $90 round trip. Source |
| Golf bag fees | $110 per traveler | American, Delta, United and Southwest treat a golf bag as a standard checked bag; a second bag is $55 each way. Source |
| Shipping your clubs Off by default | $108 per traveler | Ground shipping for a golf bag starts around $54 each way. Source |
| Lodging taxes | 16% of the hotel | Louisiana's state sales tax on hotel rooms outside Orleans and Jefferson is 5% (Jan 2025 to Dec 2029). Lake Charles local sales tax is about 5.75% for a 10.75% combined rate (https://www.trykintsugi.com/sales-tax-guide/lake-charles-louisiana-sales-tax-guide; Avalara shows 10.75% minimum in Calcasieu). Calcasieu occupancy tax is 5% to 7% depending on district (https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2307), including the 1% added in 2018 (R.S. 47:338.219). About 15.75% to 17.75%; we use 16%. No single official total found. Judgment call. Source |
| Casino resort fees | $56 a night | Golden Nugget resort fee $27.77 a room per night (includes valet); L'Auberge $24.30 (https://www.travelocity.com/Lake-Charles-Hotels-LAuberge-Casino-Resort-Lake-Charles.h2001528.Hotel-Information). Two rooms at about $28 = $56. Self parking is free at both. Source |
| Rental car | $85 a day | KAYAK at LCH (Nov 2026): SUVs typically about $83 a day ($72 in recent searches), minivans about $139 (a Pacifica listed at $89); October priciest at $86 average, June cheapest at $59. $85 a day for an SUV. Judgment call. Source |
| Drinks on the course | $80 per traveler | Our estimate of about $20 a round for beverage-cart drinks and snacks. Judgment call. Our estimate |
| Golf balls | $55 per traveler | A dozen Titleist Pro V1 balls lists at $55. Source |
| Tips for bag drop and cart staff | $20 per traveler | A few dollars at bag drop and the turn; we use $5 a round. Judgment call. Source |
| Side bets and prizes | $50 per traveler | Our estimate for skins, team bets and a small trophy. Our estimate |
| Lessons and extras you picked Off by default | $0 for the trip | Set by the extras you pick in the tee-time planner. Our estimate |
| Travel insurance | 6% of your plan | Squaremouth says a comprehensive plan averages about 6% of the trip cost, usually 4% to 10%. Source |
| Pre-trip shopping | $60 for the trip | Our estimate for travel-size toiletries, sunscreen and small things bought before a trip. Our estimate |
| Pet boarding or sitter | $50 a day, if you check Pets | Dogster puts regular kennel boarding at about $35 to $85 a night. Overnight sitters at home cost more. Source |
For 4 golfers spending 4 nights in peak spring season, with four rounds each, a hotel, two rooms, flights and food, plan on about $7,260. Once you add golf bag fees, lodging taxes, casino resort fees, rental car, drinks on the course, balls, tips and side bets, it's closer to $10,320, or about $2,580 each. Use the tee-time planner above to price the courses you want.
Yes. The Country Club at Golden Nugget is open to everyone for $159 with a cart, and hotel guests pay $129. Twilight from 2 pm is $89. It is closed on Tuesdays, so plan your other rounds that day. Source
Winter weekdays and summer. Courses stay open all year, and online deals at Koasati Pines and The National drop well below spring rates, but Golden Nugget and the city courses keep one price all year. Summer is hot, humid and stormy, so book early tee times. Source
Lake Charles Regional (LCH), about 15 minutes from the casinos, but flights are pricey: the US DOT average fare was about $635 in spring. Houston Hobby averaged about $422 and is about two hours west on I-10. Source
It is open, but golfers reported several temporary greens and a closed practice area through late summer and fall 2026. Call the pro shop at 337-395-7220 before you book. Source