By Tom Lang
If you want to get your 2021 golf season started a little earlier, French Lick Resort’s one-two punch of the Pete Dye Course and Donald Ross Course – nestled upon the rolling hills of southern Indiana – have been rated the No. 1 and No. 2 best public golf courses in the state of Indiana every year, since 2011.
Plus, two dozen national rankings and awards – including No. 2 Casino course in the country by LINKS Magazine – makes French Lick Casino and Resort a great option for planning a head start on the spring golf season with its almost-in-Kentucky location. 
While Midwest American history practically oozes from this remote, small town region, it has been a favorite for celebrities and sports icons alike. French Lick Resort never seems to settle upon its past successes, however and continues to make improvements.
Most people are incredibly happy with exploring the historic grandeur of the resort’s two largest hotels – West Baden Springs Hotel and French Lick Springs Hotel. Both are massive buildings from the early 1900s that are on the National Historic Registry. Yet the modern 71-room Valley Tower Hotel with large, well-appointed rooms, was recently built for resort expansion and optional amenities.
The Valley Links Golf Course, the original course at French Lick, dates back to 1907. It was updated and renovated recently to be more family friendly and became even more popular during the Covid summer of 2020, with the nation’s increased interest in golf. A very progressive, new golf training center was also recently added near the course to expand the resort’s large practice facility.
“We put a lot of effort into the Valley Links Course to make it a better course,” Director of Golf Dave Harner said of the easier-to-play, 9-hole regulation par 36 course. “And it really showed up because of the boom in golf that we’re seeing with the pandemic. The beginning player, or the player that hasn’t played golf in years; it’s a perfect venue for them.”
What draws the golfing crowd are the resort’s two main attractions: the modern-day Pete Dye creation with incredible views of the surrounding countryside, delicately balanced atop the second tallest point in Indiana, and the historic Donald Ross Course offering its contrasting classic feel and style.
“What we can sell here is the experience of probably the most prolific, classic course architect Donald Ross, and the most prolific modern course architect in Pete Dye,” Harner added. “The Ross Course is a pretty traditional Donald Ross design with the elevated greens and the pretty sharp fall offs to the sides. It’s pretty open with deep-faced bunkers spready around.
“Then you have the Pete Dye Course, where we moved 3 million cubic yards of dirt to create something that will stand the test for a long time. The Donald Ross does also, but in a different way.”
Pete Dye Course:
What stands out the most about the Dye Course is the illusion that many holes are suspended in air as they appear to “hang” onto the side of a long mountainous ridge. That would not be most people’s first thoughts of an Indiana landscape, but it reflects the reality the Hoosier National Forest area is essentially in the foothills leading to the mountainous Kentucky region.
Dye moved huge amounts of earth to create relatively level fairways on top of and along the sides of the rolling hills. The end result is many extreme drop-offs, hill climbs and cavernous valleys lining the fairways. These features play into the need for very thoughtful club selection, but when the ball is kept in the fairway it’s a very playable layout.
“Someone called it ‘golf on a bent grass tightrope’ and I thought that pretty accurately described the feeling you get playing there,” Harner said. “Pete made it futuristic because he felt that the golf ball went too far and wanted to penalize shots off line. I think he did a great job.”
The tee boxes at holes 8 and 11 are especially great lookout points for the surrounding forest and the two small towns in the valley below (French Lick and West Baden), but there are so many wonderful views from virtually every green and tee that no one location can be singled out as best. The overall wow factor is what will bring in the masses for many years to come.
“This is a great golf product,” Harner said. “When we first started, I thought price might be prohibitive, and it is for some, but we have people come back 5, 6, 7 times a year to play.”
Once the first 18-hole greens fees are paid at the Pete Dye, replays are no cost. However, Harner added:
“We got into a heavy demand situation in 2020 (with Covid issues) to where if you didn’t book your second (same day) round you didn’t get it, we were so busy.”
Donald Ross Course:
Stately, elegant, classic and natural – a typical Donald Ross design.
The good thing is – when would ‘typical Ross’ ever be considered a bad thing?
The Donald Ross Course balances the resort’s modern Dye design with its historical ties to the area. Initially, the region was frequented by visitors looking for the speculative ‘healing and relaxation’ in the mineral springs. Two large, beautifully appointed hotels residing in close proximity is a rarity for such a sparsely populated area. Plus, basketball fans know French Lick as the birthplace of NBA Hall-of-Famer, Larry Bird.
In 2007, the resort spent almost $5 million to restore the course back to Ross’ original 1917 layout that was the site of Walter Hagen’s 1924 PGA Championship victory.
Ross’ design gently flows across the dramatic, natural rolling terrain. This natural routing was necessary, because the only earth moved was to shape tee and green complexes.
Also like ‘typical’ Ross, par is protected by uneven lies in the fairways and undulating greens.
There is enough severity – with spines, swales, dips and plateaus on many greens – that Indiana native Fuzzy Zoeller was said to be a regular visitor in his younger playing days to practice putting in preparation of going to Augusta National.
Extras:
Both the Ross and Dye Courses annually host big time professional golf tournaments. Familiar names like, Laura Davies, Juli Inkster and Jan Stephenson visit the Dye Course, to compete in the Senior LPGA Championship.
The Ross Course hosts aspiring LPGA talent for the Symetra Tour’s Donald Ross Classic. These young women are working to make it to the big checks and bright lights of the LPGA Tour.
If three golf courses on site are not enough for your group, Sultan’s Run, in nearby Jasper is a French Lick partner.
“It’s a really pretty, 18-hole golf course with some challenging holes,” Harner said. “And the 18th hole there is probably as picturesque as any golf hole you’re going to find. A waterfall surrounds the green. A good golf course with good people over there.” 
As historical settings go, the resort’s two main hotels are classic and very unique. The circular West Baden Springs Hotel, with its huge indoor skylight dome reaching 100 feet into the air and measuring 200 feet across the radius between interior-view hotel room balconies, is so elaborate that at the time it reached 8th wonder of the world status in 1902 by the media.
As recent as 2015, the French Lick Springs Hotel was voted by readers of USA Today as the top historic hotel in the country. Grab one of the dozens of rocking chairs on the massive front porch and unwind.
Although developed several generations ago, today’s resort offers modern features of indoor and outdoor pools, spa amenities, several restaurants, a casino, with the new Sports Book lounge; plus a concert and convention center, outdoor gardens, carriage rides and a first-class stable for horseback riding.
There are many other family activities in the area with an indoor water park, plus trails and the French Lick Scenic Railway.
To book your next Golf Getaway, or Family vacation, visit: www.frenchlick.com.
