Ohio Golf Journal September 2020

NewValley Tower & Bar is Open at French Lick Resort Our latest golf travel writing tour took us through several states and ended at one of our favorites stops, the French Lick Resort & Casino in southern Indiana. French Lick was not immune to pandemic restrictions. The hotel and casino were forced to close for a time, but both are now open and ready for guests. The golf courses never closed, however and experienced increased play during the quarantine period of March and April. Both the Senior LPGA Championship, slated for Oct. 9-16 on the Pete Dye Course, and the Donald Ross Classic, a Symetra Tour stop, to be contested on the Donald Ross Course in July were cancelled, but are slated to return next year. This latest tour of golf destinations included stops in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Ohio and Michigan before we reached Indiana. In sharp contrast to PGA Tour events, the destinations we visited had no trouble welcoming golfers. Virtually all were cognizant of governmental restrictions caused by the pandemic and except for a couple of minor incidents, we felt safe during the entire trip. None of the places we visited were as diligent about safety concerns as French Lick. Masks were required at all times, with no exceptions. Temperature checks were conducted in the hotel and restaurants on a daily basis. Those who passed were issued coded bracelets to wear that day. That was one precaution that we had not found at any of the other resorts we visited on this trip. While the hotel and casino at French Lick did close for a short time, there was a silver lining. The pandemic created additional golf opportunities said director of golf Dave Harner, By Len Ziehm Ohio Golf Journal