Golfer’s Guide Indiana Golf Courses Stories

The most anticipated golf course debut of 2009 is upon us, as the new Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort opens for play this week.

Set in the Southern Indiana town of French Lick on a piece of property so bold that Dye initially labled it as unfit for golf course construction, the 18-hole championship course ushers in a new era at the history-rich resort whose heritage dates back to the 19th century.

If it’s possible for a true gem of a golf course to be “hidden” in plain sight, The Trophy Club in Lebanon, northwest of Indianapolis, might just qualify. Less than a decade old, The Trophy Club burst on the scene as Golf Digest’s “4th Best New Public Golf Course in America” when it opened in the fall of 1998, and it is only improving with age.

 Just last year, Golf Digest again honored The Trophy Club with a 4.5 star rating and named it among the country’s “100 Greatest Public Golf Courses,” and has consistently rated it among the top five public courses in the Hoosier state. Yet you can still take this Scottish links-style getaway for under $50 most days and times. 

Course builder Pete Dye has built a litany of diabolical designs during his decades pushing dirt around the globe. Crooked Stick Golf Club, opened for play in 1964, was the first of his legendary creations to garner critical acclaim, and thus retains a special place in his body of work.

At Crooked Stick in 1991, ninth alternate John Daly became the first man to claim a major championship tournament on one of Dye’s courses, winning the PGA Championship by three strokes over Bruce Lietzke and registering one of the most improbable victories in the history of golf in the process.