A couple of years ago I wrote a column about the changes that were going on at the French Lick Springs Resort. My husband and I finally got a chance to go back there, so I can report first-hand on the changes.
My overall impression is, “Wow! What a difference a half a billion dollars makes!”
That’s for the whole complex, including the West Baden Springs Hotel, which used about $200 million of that.
When we first arrived in French Lick we were too early to check in so we visited the West Baden hotel. I had been in it in the past when it was a dilapidated hunk of concrete and tiles.
After West Baden, we met with Dave Harner, Director of Golf, who took us for a drive up to see the work in progress at the new Pete Dye Course.
This course is going to be unbelievably beautiful while being very nasty and mean at the same time. The site is on a hill behind the resorts magnificently appointed with an historic mansion, built in the 1920s by the son of Thomas Taggart, the entrepreneur behind the French Lick Resort.
It will be used as an inn for high rollers and VIPs. The view from the mansion is spectacular, being on the second-highest point in Indiana. The building that was at one time the carriage house and servants quarters will be used as the pro shop.
The course will be one of Pete Dye’s best — or at least most feared — and friends of his have told me that he thinks it is his best. It will be over 8,000 yards from the back tees, with narrow fairways and small greens. If you miss the fairway, you’re not just in the rough, you’re down a steep slope or in a lake.
There are three man-made lakes on the course, with pumps to make a waterfall, making for a gorgeous but intimidating hazard. Another feature of the course is sandstone boulders. Dye used stones dug up from the site to build tee boxes and reinforced areas. He did not use any railroad ties on this course. His new trick is the “volcanoes” that he has placed inside of waste bunkers. They are mounds topped with sand traps. They don’t really come into play on the course, unless you hit a horrible shot, but they are intimidating to see and would not be much fun to have to play out of.
The Pete Dye Course at French Lick is scheduled to open in May 2009. It, like Pebble Beach, will be more of a course that you just have to play once, because the greens fees will be $250, plus a tip for the mandatory caddie for your group.
After spending the night in a very comfortable and beautifully appointed room in The French Lick Springs Resort, following a fantastic meal at the 1875 Steakhouse, Andy and I got to play some golf at the course formerly known as The Hill Course. It was revamped and rejuvenated for about $5 million, going back to the original Donald Ross drawings to get it right.
They restored 35 bunkers to the course, all featuring the Ross flat bottoms and deep faces. All of the greens were restored to their original shape, which was either rectangular or square. They made the eighth green less severely sloped, making a better hole.
The carts are equipped with GPS, which is very helpful, but doesn’t quite let you off the hook. With all of the hills and valleys, you have to do your own addition of yardage when faced with an elevated shot. The course plays to 7,000 yards from the back tees, 5,400 yards from the forward tees, but the elevation changes make it seem much longer.
The clubhouse has been remodeled too, and includes a very nice bar and restaurant. Items of interest in the pro shop that are worth seeing are the original Donald Ross drawings of each hole, and the napkin that Pete Dye used to lay out his original design of his new course.
Of particular interest when you first enter the pro shop is a picture on the wall from the 1924 PGA Championship, played on the hill course. Not only does the picture include many famous and not-so-famous golfers from a bygone era, it includes Walter Hagen and James Barnes in it twice. They ran around behind the photographer as he panned the field from left to right and got in line at the far end before the lens reached them. You can see this picture by going to a Website called oldgolfpros.com.
In 2010 the PGA Club Pros Championship will be played at French Lick. The first 36 holes will be played at the Donald Ross Course then the lucky ones to make the cut get to be humbled by the Pete Dye Course.
Quote of the Day – “You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.” — Walter Hagen
Vigo County Golf Leagues
Terre Haute Savings Bank Senior Men — National Division standings: SMC 55, Page’s Market No. 1 53, Paitson Bros. 50, Pizza Hut 49, Lough Bros. 39, T.H. Savings Bank 38, Fore Seasons Golf Complex 35, Complete Kitchen and Bath 33. Low gross: Fred Keenan 34. Low net: Charles Montgomery, Keenan, Tom Cundiff 31. American Division standings: Callahan Funeral Home 52, Poplar Flower Shop 49, VFW No. 972 48, Spring Clean Car Wash 46, Page’s Market No. 2 42, Salt of the Earth 39, Pabst Painting 36. Low gross: Darrell Guerin 40. Low net: Charles Miranda 29.
Ft. Harrison Ladies 9-hole — Low gross: Rita Neal. Low net: Carolyn Sweeting. Low putts: Mary Shake. Chip-in: Mary Add Baker.
Mark’s Par Three Men’s Senior — Standings: Tabco 143, Midwest Gas 140, Vigo Bowl 139, Sycamore Chevrolet 138, Dew Drop Inn 136, Mattingly Collision 129, Old National Trust 125, Fuson Cadillac 106. Low gross: James Stricklin 34. Low net: Dennis Hayes 26. Closest to pin: Larry Stewart (7). Longest drive: Marvin Mericle (4). Longest putt: Don McVeigh (1).
Rea Park Women’s Tuesday 18-hole — Low gross: Shelva Gaither 82. Low net: Gaither and Shawn Durand 63. Bridies: Marie Spurr (1), Sandy Stabler (2, 16). Chip-ins: Beth Lowe (4, 11), Stabler (12), Susan Amerman (17).
Rea Park Ladies Wednesday Evening 9-hole — Standings as of 7/30: Meyer-Clements 24, Newton-Petty 23, Swalls-Mozley 23, Padgett-Snow 23, Pair-Bedwell 20, Honselman-Hiatt 19, Cannon-Atterson 18, Mann-Rusk 17, Durand-Hyde 16, Hamilton-Harden 16, Bocard-Luttrell 15, Lanke-Johnson 14, Horrall-Mahalek 13, McCord-Ugo 11. Low gross: Stephanie Meyer 35. Low net: Meyer 31. Chip-ins: Shawn Durand, Eileen Mann, Shirley Padgett, Josie Swalls.
On & Off the Course
On and Off the Course: French Lick will have two world class courses
- On & Off the Course
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Death Notice: Feb. 7, 2013
• Gary R. Wright
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Donna Lynn Strahla Bown
Donna Lynn Strahla Bown passed away early Friday morning, Jan. 25, 2013, with her children by her side.
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‘The Match’ pitting amateurs vs. pros recalled 62 years later
Quote of the Day: “I play golf with friends sometimes, but there are never friendly games.” — Ben Hogan.
Bubba Watson has had a busy fall. Not only did he play all the way to the final round of the FedEx Championships, and in the Ryder Cup, he also played in an event commemorating a very famous match played at Cypress Point in 1956, pitting two of the greatest golf pros at the time against two of the best amateurs.
Come to think of it, all four were some of the best golfers of all time. This year’s event was celebrating The First Tee’s exceeding $100 million in pledges to reach 10 million new young people. It wasn’t televised and kept very quiet; only 225 people were in the gallery.
One of the people in the gallery was Mark Frost, the author of a book titled “The Match,” which is about that match played 62 years ago that was re-enacted in modern terms last week. The pros in 1956 were Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson and the amateurs were Ken Venturi and Harvie Ward. It was supposed to have been a private affair, built around a wager by two millionaires, George Coleman and Eddie Lowery. -
ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Golf from the wrong side of the brain
Imagine this scenario: a woman, small in stature (possibly freckled), walks into a hospital emergency room and says, “I have an emergency, I need a doctor quickly!” The admitting nurse, ever trying to be helpful, asks what the emergency is.
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Farmers looking at widely varying yields
Combines will roll through fields this weekend, bringing in the harvest from a summer with nearly no rain.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Golf debut in London would have been nice
As the Olympics get underway in London this weekend, I was thinking it’s too bad that the Olympic committee decided too late to add golf as one of the sports for this event; instead it will be added to the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Getting to Hoosier country’s best golfing venue part of the fun
If you are looking for Indiana’s premier golfing destination, then you should look no further than French Lick.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Indiana's Pete Dye courses worth the drive
You’ve probably heard of the Robert Trent Jones Golf trail throughout Alabama, but you might not be aware that Indiana has its own “Pete Dye Golf Trail” comprised of seven courses.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Fathers typically a big influence on golfing sons
Some events fall naturally into place around holidays. The Fourth of July always falls somewhere during Wimbledon, giving all of the Yanks in attendance something to be boisterous about, to the chagrin of their hosts; The Masters often, but not always, ends on Easter Sunday, which is fitting since golfers find it such a reverent occasion.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Memorial just one of many visions of Jack Nicklaus
When Jack Nicklaus was a young man, the golfer he most admired was Bob Jones.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: With some tricky rules, golf is not a walk in the park
Golf is not a casual sport, even though it has a term called “casual water.”
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On and off the course: Sycamores seeded sixth heading into MVC golf tourney
It wasn’t too long ago that Indiana State University didn’t even have a women’s golf team.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: A hard ticket to come by
This is the weekend of the Masters Tournament, the first of the four major tournaments.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Some things on golf course are worse than steep putts
It’s not often that anything gets more scary on a golf course than a steep downhill putt, but on some courses around the world, things a little more on the supernatural side might give you a bigger fright!
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The shot heard round the world
I don’t know if the Golf Channel will show a “Best Shots of 2011” highlight reel, much like ESPN does for baseball or football.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The Red, White and Blue visits the Isle of Green
In 2006, the Ryder Cup was held in Ireland at The K Club in County Kildare.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Fall may be coming but golf season is far from over
Once the major tournaments are over with, what’s there to look forward to in the world of golf?
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Golf… simplified!
Golf is not a simple game. A golf course is made up of 18 holes, all different. There are par-3s, par-4s and par-5s; they all vary in length and elevation, and each has its own challenges. There can be water hazards, trees, sand bunkers, tall grass, hills, valleys — and then, if that’s not enough, there’s probably wind too.
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On and Off the Course: Northern Ireland builds on golf history
Northern Ireland is only about 5,452 square miles in area and has a population about the same as West Virginia, which is about 1,880,344.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Women’s Open at the Broadmoor
This is the weekend of the U.S. Women’s Open, and this year it’s being played at The Broadmoor, East Course, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The Fort Golf Course: A Walk in the Park…
Indiana has some pretty spectacular state parks, but one of them gives you the ability to “spoil a good walk” by chasing a little white ball.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Father’s Day is a good day for golfers
Most people consider the time around Christmas to be the gift-buying season.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Playing with lead a difficult task
As exciting as last week’s Masters was, with six players being tied for the lead at one point on Sunday, it was very difficult watching Rory McIlroy fall apart to shoot an 80.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Masters a rite of spring
This is Masters weekend, the grand kickoff to the golf season for a lot of golfers. Sure, there have been tournaments on TV, because the professionals have been playing in Hawaii, California, Texas, Dubai, and other areas not so affected by winter as we are here in the Midwest, but to me, watching The Masters is a rite of spring.
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ON THE OFF THE COURSE: Some history on the Ryder Cup
I fell asleep in way too many history classes to ever qualify as a history buff. However, since I have grown up a bit (not much), I enjoy learning about all kinds of history. I often have questions about how something began, or how something came to be.
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On and Off the Course: Purdue's Kampen Course a gem in Indiana's rough
About a month ago, Indiana was still heavily mired in heat and humidity, making outdoor activities such as golf less appealing than usual. At that time it felt like the repressive heat would never go away, it would never rain again, and all of the grass was just going to continue to wither and die. And the month prior to that we kept getting rained out of golf events!
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On and Off the Course: Successful golfers know ... focus is the key
I have a good friend who coached his daughter’s basketball team for a number of years, and told me that his theme with the girls was always “focus”, until it was ingrained in their brains. Now when they play high school ball, if they hear “focus” yelled from the stands, they know the source.
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On and Off the Course: Technology adds even more fun to the course
You’ve hit a drive into some brush in an area marked as a hazard, but you can’t find the ball to prove it is there. And no one actually witnessed it go in the hazard. You just think that’s where it probably is. What is the rule for this situation?
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On and Off the Course: Anthony Gonzalez First Tee Classic a worthwhile charity event
On Monday, I worked as a volunteer for the Anthony Gonzalez First Tee Classic, Golf Tournament and Auction at Eagle Creek Golf Course in Indianapolis. It was an absolutely beautiful day, with clear blue skies, just a few wispy clouds here and there and a high temperature of about 76 degrees.
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On and Off the Course: Trends show golf in decline
You don’t have to watch the news or read the paper to understand that America is struggling on the economic front. The evidence can be witnessed at the local golf course.
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