krumpihills
Jeff McMorris’s tree,
the
Jack-Nic-a-Loss
obstacle that puts a little
crazy in his drive.
There are signs everywhere, especially at Krumpi
Hills Golf Course. Most of the signs belong to his
children and grandchildren, but some lucky visitors
to Lanaux’s Krumpi Hills earned their way to a sign
of their own. They had to adhere to Gaston Lanaux’s
rules to get their names on this beautiful piece of earth,
rules that no one knows and Gaston refuses to explain.
Jeff McMorris, Gaston’s son-in-law, knows all too
well about those rules. With almost two decades of
experience, also known as friendship, he hasn’t figured
Gaston out yet. At this point, what fun would that be?
In 1997, Jeff walked through Gaston Lanaux’s front
door – with Gaston’s daughter Michelle on his arm. In
true Gaston fashion, he immediately began giving Jeff a
hard time. After learning Jeff worked at a golf shop, he
started calling him Jack-Nic-a-Loss, a name he uses to
predict Jeff’s finish in their golf games. Well, of course,
Jeff disagrees.
They actually disagree with pretty much everything
the other says, but that is how their relationship works.
The one thing they do agree on is that the Krumpi Hills
Golf Course was a great idea. And it started with Jeff.
Gaston has 300 acres in Husser, Louisiana. He
actually almost lives further than the backroads extend.
On his property, he continues to grow trees to harvest
pinestraw mulch for local landscapers and also for
eventual cutting, making him semi-retired.
With family ties to Carter Plantation, Krumpi Hills
isn’t the only place he likes to play, but it is Gaston’s
favorite. Perhaps his favorite thing to do there, besides
play golf, is add signs to mark memories and honor
those he loves.
There is a sign to mark the spot where his grandson
Mason “The Brick” McMorris broke his arm jumping
out of the trampoline (on Mother’s Day) and one that
marks where “Smart” Lanaux avoided colliding with
a barbed wire fence by jumping off the ATV he was
riding. The children and grandchildren pick out their
own trees that will share their
names, and Gaston has recently
had to replace his own tree after
it blew over in a storm.
Every sign has a meaning,
from those that mark the Ronald
Reagan trees fashioned from the
Eisenhower Tree at Augusta to
Crawfish’s House, named for a
friend who ate more than his fair
share of crawfish to sport the
title.
If the property didn’t have
enough personality, Gaston
made sure to add a little more
pizazz. The goat named Wilma
from Wilmer and a small flock of
chickens complete the Krumpi.
By the way, his rooster was eating
the eggs, and Gaston said that he
read somewhere that putting just
a few golfballs around the coup
would take care of that problem.
Gaston Lanaux and Jeff McMorris walk the greens at Krumpi Hills.
Krumpi Hills has home course rules. Some areas are
marked out-of-bounds by the flagpole standing in the
middle of the course that boasts the Stars and Stripes.
While it is in the middle of the course, it presents a
challenge for those playing a few of the holes as the rule
says the ball must fly to its left or right – or the golfer
is penalized. Jeff claims the rules change according to
Gaston’s game. Gaston, of course, disagrees.
“If I’m beating him, the rules change,” Jeff said.
Gaston laughed, half in agreement and half in his
own defense.
Their relationship isn’t all jabs, however. Jeff gave
Gaston a set of golf clubs when he met him, eager to
get his future father-in-law back into the game he had
abandoned 25 years earlier. As he was handing him the
clubs, Gaston was allowing Jeff to design a golf course
on 25 acres of field on his land.
“Jeff came to me and asked if he could design a
course we could build. He said he would take care of
it, and that he would also like to marry my daughter,”
Gaston remembered.
Jeff married Michelle, and while Gaston jokes about
Jeff not taking care of the property as much now, Gaston
does admit that it’s really because Jeff is busy ta