Bayou Din Golf Club, the nearly 60-year-old course south of Beaumont scheduled to close next weekend, will get another shot under new ownership.
Justin Pierson, longtime club director of operations, confirmed on Wednesday night that he bought the 27-hole course from owner George Brown III for an undisclosed price.
Brown announced late last month that he intended to close the course on Nov. 27 because of a decline in revenue. Brown said in October that he hoped to sell the land to housing developers.
“When they talked about closing, I told them I was interested,” said Pierson, 37, who has worked at Bayou Din for 23 years. “I don’t know how seriously they took me. Luckily, with the resources I had, it was able to work. It needed to happen.”
Pierson said he will scale back the 27-hole course to 18 holes and will try to keep as many employees as he can.
“Maybe by scaling it back a bit, we can make it work,” Pierson said.
Bayou Din opened in 1958 and was the course many locals grew up playing on. It’s also a course popular for fundraisers and benefit tournaments.
The club will host the Jay Bruce tournament this Saturday, which was a date that factored into Brown’s closure announcement.
“I knew I didn’t want to pull out the rug on them,” Brown said in an October interview. “And the day after Thanksgiving is a good day (for people to golf). Nov. 27 is a Sunday, and that felt like the right day.”
Pierson said he wanted to be buy the course because his grandfather, father and uncles had all worked at Bayou Din.
“I’m third generation working out there in my family,” Pierson said. “It was my way of life. I was sad to see it go. I hope the community will continue to support it, and we’ll keep rolling.”