By Len Ziehm
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,
“Our courses never closed. It took a pandemic to get golf going again. Our play has been extremely heavy, especially on the weekends.’’
It seems French Lick is always expanding or improving. We have seen new and positive developments, of one sort or another, every year.
On this visit we found they had opened a new hotel and restaurant, the Valley Tower and Bar. It is adjacent to the casino and adds 71 new guestrooms, including larger suites, as well as, adjoining rooms. The Valley Bar adds a new informal option to share drinks with friends, or grab a bite to eat.
Its creation led to the conversion of the pro shop at the nine-hole Valley Links course into a convention/exhibition center. A new pro shop was constructed closer to the first tee at the Valley Links.
While French Lick’s big tournaments had to be scrapped for 2020, the Senior LPGA Championship and Donald Ross Championship will return in 2021. The Big Ten men’s championship and Indiana Amateur are also on the resort’s calendar for future years.
Bottom line, we found it safe to travel about the country and golf resorts are open and ready to provide their guests an enjoyable visit with the utmost safety in mind.
