Local Interest
Hulman Links course rated best ‘muny’ in Indiana by Golf Digest
TERRE HAUTE — Terre Haute has won another state championship. Only this time, the rest of the nation knows all about it.
Golf Digest Magazine, one of the most popular magazines for a sport that has a ton of publications devoted to it, ranked its best municipal courses in all 50 states. Hulman Links, which is run by the Terre Haute Parks Department, was ranked No. 1 among Indiana’s “muny” courses in the magazine’s August edition.
“It always feels nice to be recognized by Golf Digest when the staff and community put so much into what we do here,” Hulman Links director of golf Ryan Klopfenstein. “We’ve made about 40 copies of the magazine and we’ve got them printed all over the shop.”
It’s just a one-line mention in the magazine and on the publication’s web site, but being honored in a magazine that uses its ranking system as one of its most prominent features, brings a lot of exposure to any course.
“It’s always rewarding when you get noticed for stuff you do on a daily basis. It’s one of the better honors we’ve had,” said Hulman Links superintendent Dave Alumbaugh, who ought to know considering he’s in his 30th year at the course.
Both Klopfenstein and Alumbaugh agreed that some of the changes that have been made to Hulman Links in recent years has made it better. Both mentioned the removal of trees as one of the big keys in making the course better.
“Over the years we’ve made steady improvement and the tree removal was really noticeable, it made it kind of different from where it was in the past,” Alumbaugh said. “We removed trees on both sides of the 10th and 11th holes and had extensive removals on four or five other holes.”
Klopfenstein said it made the course more challenging, but what makes it an effective muny course is its flexibility.
“It’s truly a championship layout, from the teebox to the 18th hole, it’s demanding, but with five sets of tees the course can be played by anyone,” Klopfenstein said. “And we’re affordable to play. Among the courses ranked, we were one of best values.”
Indeed. Listed at $22, only four other states had muny courses mentioned that had lower peak, nonresident walking rates than Hulman Links.
Hulman Links wasn’t the only Terre Haute course, or Wabash Valley layout, to grab Golf Digest’s attention.
Mark’s Par Three, located in East Glen just north of Hulman Links, was included in an internet photo slideshow called “Sampling The Muny Courses.” The slideshow tried to capture the feel of public courses. A photo of the American flag with the sun gleaming through it was shown flying from Mark’s Par Three’s clubhouse looking over the course. The slideshow also had had a miniature American flag placed inside a fish bowl advertising two-cent golf tees.
Waveland’s Turkey Run Golf Club was mentioned as one of the best values in golf. Using a system that calculated peak green fees per star earned by the courses in Golf Digest’s course rankings, Turkey Run GC’s four-star rating was rated as one of the best values in the nation with a $14 green fee.
With national exposure comes greater interest, especially from avid golf fans who love to play as many courses as they can. Both Hulman Links and Turkey Run anticipate that being nationally featured should increase business.
Klopfenstein also said a public announcement was to be made at the Parks Department meeting on Wednesday.
“They need to know about this and they should be proud of being a part of one of the finest muni golf courses in the country,” Klopfenstein said.
Hulman Links
Holes: 18
Length: 7,225 yards from the longest tees
Par: 72
Designed: David Arthur Gill, ASGCA
Opened: 1978.
On the net
Golf Digest rating: www.golfdigest.com/rankings/courses/2009/08/photos_muny_courses
- Local Interest
-
-
Metro Roundup: ISU’s Hutson named Indoor Field Scholar Athlete of the Year
Indiana State’s Kylie Hutson added another honor to her illustrious career at Indiana State as she was named the Indoor Field Scholar Athlete of the Year by the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Wednesday. This was the second straight year that Hutson has received the award.
-
Mother Nature only thing that can slow down North TH 11-12s
The North Terre Haute 12-year-old Little League team hasn’t been stopped by any foes at the Indiana state tournament. Mother Nature, however, is another story.
-
Forget Texas, this cowboy’s a Hoosier: Rinard one of four from Indiana set to compete for national high school bull riding title
When one pictures the most likely place to experience a real, live, rootin’-tootin’ rodeo, first thoughts would likely be Texas or Oklahoma. Maybe Wyoming or Montana. The likelihood of choosing Indiana would probably be far down your list of possibilities. Did you know that there is an Indiana High School Rodeo Association? Did you know we have a bonafide IHSRA bull rider right here in our own backyard, in nearby Sullivan County? Well, believe it.
-
North TH 11-12s advance to state semifinals with 12-5 victory
The North Terre Haute 11-12 year-old Little League team advanced to the state semifinals Tuesday with a 12-5 victory over Ben Davis at Falls Park.
-
Riley 8-and-under Cal Ripken team takes Ohio Valley Regional
The Riley Recreation League’s 8-and-under Cal Ripken baseball team won the Ohio Valley Regional on Monday night, finishing with a 6-1 record in the tournament.
-
Metro Roundup: Junior boys golf championships start today
Match play begins today in the junior boys golf championships at the Purdue Kampen Course.
Thomas Goss of Terre Haute qualified for the championship division and will play Thomas Cameron in his first match today. -
Wayne Newton rolls 15-2 to regional title
About the only prize Kokomo Post 6 wound up with at American Legion baseball’s Terre Haute Regional was an extra day in the host city. But whether they knew it or not, the players from that team took something else home with them Monday afternoon — a healthy dose of gratitude from the players of Wayne Newton Post 346.
-
TH Women's City: Rachael Pruett needs 20 holes to edge recent Sycamore
Ball State and Indiana State needed overtime to settle their differences Monday afternoon at Rea Park. Actually, this wasn’t basketball and neither university was officially involved. But both were proudly represented in the entertaining championship-flight finale of the Terre Haute Women’s City Match Play Championships as two extra holes were needed to determine a winner. Linton resident Rachael Pruett, a senior-to-be on the Ball State women’s golf team, won her third straight women’s city title by chipping in from 18 feet on the 20th hole (No. 2 on the course) and edging recent ISU graduate Mackenzie Mack 1 up.
-
TH Women’s City provides family fun for Putnam County pair
They didn’t return to Putnam County with any giant-sized hardware Monday. But 17-year-old Chelsea Samuels of Greencastle and her grandmother, Gloria Curtis of Cloverdale, made the Terre Haute Women’s City Match Play Championships a fun family affair at Rea Park Golf Course.
-
Metro Roundup: ISU football offensive coordinator leaves for Texas A&M
Troy Walters has resigned after one season as offensive coordinator for the Indiana State football program to accept the position of wide receivers coach at Texas A&M.
- More Local Interest Headlines
-
Metro Roundup: ISU’s Hutson named Indoor Field Scholar Athlete of the Year
