If you are looking for Indiana’s premier golfing destination, then you should look no further than French Lick. The best method of getting there is by car, preferably one that hugs the road and makes the drive down U.S. 150 through the Hoosier National Forest more fun than a roller coaster.
Once you turn off onto Indiana 56 and drive through West Baden, you’ll get the feeling you stepped back into time. The West Baden Hotel is a massive fixture down a brick road, fronted by an arched entryway. Its very existence is amazing to me; the fact that such an ornate, immense structure was built in 1902, and also that an awful lot of money was poured into it to save it from continuing to be a crumbling ruin. Just down the road you come upon another amazing edifice, the French Lick Resort and Casino.
The French Lick Resort looks very much like it did 100 years ago, with yellow bricks, welcoming canopy, and the especially welcoming veranda, strewn with rocking chairs and bistro tables, for sitting and relaxing, reading, chatting, and watching the day go by. There are some modern additions to the French Lick Resort, most notably the Casino and conference center wing, but when you enter the lobby with its rococo paintings and embellishments, intricate tile patterns in the floor, and bustling bellhops, again you’re reminded that you’ve gone back in time. They just don’t build them like that anymore.
French Lick offers modern and throw-back golf too. The Valley Links course is a nine-hole conversion of the 18-hole Tom Bendelow design that was original to the French Lick Springs Hotel. It is fully walkable and designed with children and beginners in mind. However, the championship tee length is 3,500 yards, so it’s perfect for families with various skill levels.
The Donald Ross Course, originally called The Hill Course, is a more challenging course, strewn with elevated greens that are filled with undulations. A par-70 that plays to 7,000 yards, it was originally constructed in 1917 by iconic architect Donald Ross (best known for Pinehurst No. 2 and Oakland Hills). Over the years changes were made to the course, not necessarily enhancing it. So in 2005 the course underwent a $5 million dollar restoration, in collaboration with the Donald Ross Society. Eighty of Ross’s original trademark bunkers, with flat bottoms and deep faces, were put back in place aside or near the restored square or rectangular-shaped greens.
Again, you are sent back in time to golf a century ago. However, the modern convenience of golf carts with GPS devices in them, make the course oh so much more playable!
The gem of the French Lick courses is the Pete Dye Course at the top of the hill, which opened in 2009. The clubhouse, a turn of the last century mansion built by Thomas Taggart, former owner of the hotel, stands at nearly 1,000 feet above sea level. Even so, the course is quite walkable (although a caddie is required), with 40-mile panoramic views all around. On every hole you have a spectacular view, which might distract you from the dangers that lie in the course at your feet! Five sets of tees range from 5,151 yards with a 118 slope rating, to 8,102 with a 148 slope. It has narrow fairways, many different kinds of bunkers, including some that Dye called “volcanoes.”
With the casino, spa, indoor and outdoor pools, tennis courts, bowling alley and water park, there are activities (besides golf) for the whole family to enjoy at The French Lick Resort.
• Quote of the Day — “I was lying 10 and had a 35-foot putt. I whispered over my shoulder: “How does this one break?” And my caddie said, “Who cares?” — Jack Lemmon.
• Upcoming events — The THWGA will host the Women’s City Tournament July 27-30 at Rea Park. A qualifying round will be on Friday, with three days of match play to follow. Entry fee is $40. Entry forms are available at Rea Park and Hulman Links. Contact Sandy Stabler at (812) 877-3485 for more information.
The Alice Dye Women’s Golf Invitational will be held at the French Lick Resort on Sept. 23-25. The package includes two nights at West Baden Springs Hotel, golf at The Pete Dye Course, golf at the Donald Ross Course, practice rounds available at either course, and most of your food. Price is $618. For more information contact Marsha Tellstrom at mtellstrom@frenchlick.com.
Jennifer Myers can be reached by e-mail at jfmyers@xsthe.net.
On & Off the Course
ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Getting to Hoosier country’s best golfing venue part of the fun
- 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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