ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) – The Central Louisiana Chamber of Commerce welcomed Back 9 Golf to the area Friday, July 31, with a ribbon cutting ceremony, marking the business\u2019s official opening to the public and its membership in the chamber.<\/p>\n
Back 9 is a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week indoor golf club.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis place is honestly for any golfer,\u201d said owner Maurice Duper. \u201cIf you never touch the club, if you golf weekly, if you golf every day, it\u2019s kind of for everybody because we have two private bays.\u201d <\/p>\n
In addition to regular business hours, Back 9 plans to host events for both the public and members.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have obviously Monday night, Sunday night football, Thursday night football, we\u2019ll have events,\u201d Duper said. \u201cBut then we\u2019ll do like kind of public and members only events throughout the months as well. It\u2019s kind of just bring everybody together, have everybody network, mingle, and just have ultimately a great time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duper said community reception played a role in bringing Back 9 to Central Louisiana.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommunity aspect\u2019s huge for this because, I mean, without the community support, mean, something like this is not going to sustain itself,\u201d Duper said. \u201cSo a lot more of the new members that we\u2019ve had have been referrals from those founding members. So their friends, their co-workers, their family members have joined in. So we\u2019re building a community within a community here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chamber members attended the event, which included food and games. Scott Laliberte said ribbon cuttings serve an important role for new businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cRibbon cuttings are super important because it\u2019s good to expose these new businesses,\u201d Laliberte said. \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity to network and to provide some fellowship within our community. Really just the exposure is the biggest thing is showcasing all of the great stuff that we do have here in our city.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laliberte said the chamber is pleased to add Back 9 to Alexandria\u2019s business community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just super excited to have a back nine here in Alexandria,\u201d Laliberte said. \u201cIt\u2019s just one more thing that adds the entire flavor of our city. Sports is really very relevant in our community and golf is one of those things that we should be very proud of with our golf courses.\u201d<\/p>\n