[PThomas]

i got the chance to play the course a few days ago....it opened April 24

general impressions:


***EDIT:  I FORGOT TO MENTION THE COURSE IS VERY WALKABLE!


1.it is on a  huge scale, 340 acres said my caddy...reminded me of WHistling Straits at times with its huge hills..few if any trees in play so looks and plays like a links somewhat

2. the clubhouse , also per my caddy, sits on the highest point in Indiana...the course sits below it, but is still subject to pretty strong winds...the winds were at least 2 club winds when i played

3. the course was in pretty good condition i thought...quite firm and fast, some of my tee balls kicked up dust upon landing, i had to land at least some of my approaches short of the green...they said they intend to keep it that way...

4. yardages:  8102 (!!) in case the golf ball gets even more out of hand, 7,254, 6701, 6115, and 5151

5. some of the fairways got VERY narrow at points, like 20 yards wide!  the rough was quite short though, an inch or so high

6. quite steep dropoffs if you missed some of the fairways

7. fairways did have some rolls and elevation to them

8. only 2 water hazards in play

9. lots of chipping areas..i used my Texas wedge a few times as the lies were tight

10. a good amount of bunkers out there

11. a few holes had just about 90 degree turns in the fairways

12. Pete put in Church Pew type bunkers (!) on the right side of the 18th fairway

i believe the PGA Club pros event is there next year

i took several pictures but dont know hot to post...if people want to see them IM me and i will email some to you

[John Nixon]

the clubhouse , also per my caddy, sits on the highest point in Indiana...

Thanks for the input, I'm looking forward to pics and additional reports from others. But I would point out it's been established for years that the highest elevation in Indiana is just north of Richmond.

 

[PCCraig]

Well did you like the course? Is it worth the drive from Chicago?

[Scott_Burroughs]

From the course's web site:

"Thomas Taggart’s turn-of-the-century mansion will serve as the course’s clubhouse and full service pro shop. Taggart was the famed owner of the French Lick Springs Hotel and Chairman of the National Democratic Party. The mansion is perched atop the area’s highest point at almost 1,000 feet above sea level."

Funny how "the area's highest point" has already been fabricated into all of Indiana by the caddies! 

John Nixon is correct...the highest point is N of Richmond (east central IN) @ 1257 ft.

[PThomas]

Well did you like the course? Is it worth the drive from Chicago?

i did like it Pat...I am a Pete Dye fan.....tis a long drive, 5.5 hours!

the Ross course is also worth a play, so obviously if possible best to stay and play both

and Scott and John:  keep the elevation point to yourselves, otherwise you'll kill a good caddy story!

[Jim Colton]

I'm posting some pics on Paul's behalf.

yardages given are from 3rd set of tees which total 6701...1st two are 8102 and 7254

1st - downhill dogleg left,420


2nd - par 4 turns left  a bit..volcano bunkers on the right, 369


3 par 5 with an almost 90 degree dogleg left 554


4- downhill par 3 191


5- uphill par 4 345


6 - another dogleg left, 397.

 
par 5 7th, 500 yds


from behind the 7th hole


par 3 8th, 170 yds


par 4 9th, 410 yds, dogleg right


behind the 9th


10th hole, par 4 350 yds

[John Mayhugh]

Paul,
You mentioned your caddie.  I was a little surprised by that, expecting this to be mostly cart golf.  Are they encouraging or requiring caddies? 

Jim,
Thanks for posting Paul's pics.

[PThomas]

Paul,
You mentioned your caddie.  I was a little surprised by that, expecting this to be mostly cart golf.  Are they encouraging or requiring caddies? 

Jim,
Thanks for posting Paul's pics.

thanks Jim for posting!!!

John - i think at least a forecaddie is required...for a course on such a big scale it really is very walkable....greens and tees very close together...i walked in about three hours!

[PCCraig]

Some great pictures Paul...looks like you were the only one out there! What day did you play?

[PThomas]

I played April 27 Pat, it opened the preceding Friday

I think I WAS the only one out there that day .....VERY windy that day, at least 2 clubs on the course and 3+ clubs near the clubhouse which is on the top of the hill

but the course played very firm and fast which truly negated when one was going into the gale

[Ed Oden]

What's up with some of the bunkers in the middle of nowhere?  For example, the volcano bunker on top of the hill behind the 7th green:





It seems inconceivable that a ball would ever get in that bunker. 

Ed

[Ed Oden]

Whoa, that was weird.  I copied the properties to Jim's photos, which were 800 x 600, into my post and they somehow resized automatically to 1800 x 1350.  Anyone know how that happened?

Ed

EDIT:  Fixed

[George Freeman]

Paul/Jim,

Thanks for the info and pics.  Do you have any pics of the remaining holes (11-18)?

Thanks,

George

[Scott_Burroughs]

Ed,

You and I had posts in this thread deleted for some reason.  They were about how to shrink pics to fit the new, smaller GCA.  Weird.

[PThomas]

Paul/Jim,

Thanks for the info and pics.  Do you have any pics of the remaining holes (11-18)?

Thanks,

George

all 18 were here yesterday George...along with some other posts on this thread they got deleted...maybe they will reappear!!?

[Paul Saathoff]

My Father just called to check on prices for when I come back to Indiana this summer.....

$360 a round plus 30 per person caddie fee!!!!!!!!  You've got to be kidding me.  Absolutely absurd for southern Indiana... well Indiana in general.  Shocked

[PCCraig]

$400 is a ton for Southern Indiana. What did WS charge when it first opened in 1999? - That is a somewhat similar situation.

I haven't seen the course though in person. When I do I will report back.

[Ben Sims]

As I said from my deleted thread yesterday....

From the pics, it looks a little weird.  Volcano bunkers in mound tops.  An obvious massive earthmoving operation. But the scale looks promising.  I just hope its not too "Golden Tee-ish" in person. The fairways look like "hit it and pray" targets out there.  

It looks a little like a mountain version of PGA West Stadium....but I do love me some Pete Dye.  Will have to see it in person.

Side note: Y'all should check the pics of the new Dye course at TPC San Antonio.  

Side note two: Greg Norman put a bunker in the middle of a green a la Riviera at TPC San Antonio...

[Rob Rigg]

Great that the course is walkable - still too bad the cart paths are such an eyesore.

The course looks really intense, like it would be a lot of fun to play.

I'm a bit perplexed by the bunkers as well. The VBs (volcano bunkers) look ridiculous. They're zits on the course - especially the one that is totally and utterly out of play. A lot of the other small bunkers look like they are just scattered around for no reason.

The 4th is a neat par 3 - I like the infinity green with the sharp drop at the back.

$400 for a round? I'd rather pay that and knock off all three Bandon courses in a day plus 10 at Old Macdonald.

[Chris_Clouser]

There are a lot of things I see in those photos that remind of a lot of other Dye work I have seen.  It's funny how a lack of fog and rain can make the place look entirely different from what I saw last year there.  The first looks like a good solid opener and the fourth looks great from the photos.  The first thing I thought of when I saw that photo of the second was the 9th at the Brickyard with the funny looking pot bunkers all over the place alongside the fairway.  The 6th looks a lot like the 12th at Kampen in many regards.  Also the 8th reminds me a lot of a par three at Fazio's course at Belterra, but perhaps a tick longer.  The 7th looks interesting, but perhaps a little narrow.  My guess is that bunker behind the green is for aiming if you get too far left and down to a position where the green is totally blind for you. 

I'll be interested to see what some people think of the course as all of the comments have mentioned the absurd length from the back sets of tees and the number of bunkers everywhere.  Both common items brought up about Purgatory, but for some reason it appears that they will be endearing because it is Pete Dye after all.   

But at $400 a pop I would guess that it will not be seeing the desired traffic.  If they made it $200 or less, I could see a lot more people playing this as a round on their trip to French Lick.  Otherwise I think the Ross course will be getting a lot of extra play.

[Andy Troeger]

I have a feeling that rate will need to come down--no matter how good the course is it seems like $360 in the Midwest is too much, especially for a course that difficult to get to. Perhaps if it becomes a top ten public course it could charge that, but I don't see that from the photos.

You could do a very nice 2-3 day trip at public courses in Indiana that for a local wouldn't cost more than $360, including food and shared lodging.

Chris,
I can't imagine wanting to play this course from 8100 yards--but its difficult to place features that have an impact from those tees and for everyone else, hence LOTS of bunkers.

[PCCraig]

I have a feeling that rate will need to come down--no matter how good the course is it seems like $360 in the Midwest is too much, especially for a course that difficult to get to. Perhaps if it becomes a top ten public course it could charge that, but I don't see that from the photos.

You could do a very nice 2-3 day trip at public courses in Indiana that for a local wouldn't cost more than $360, including food and shared lodging.

Chris,
I can't imagine wanting to play this course from 8100 yards--but its difficult to place features that have an impact from those tees and for everyone else, hence LOTS of bunkers.

$360 is alot, but perhaps they are trying to make it a true "casino" course in the light of Shadow Creek?

I recently found the place where this course was built on Google Maps (with directions from Paul), and the images must be very old because it was still a farm when google took the pictures from the air. It looked like it used to be one big hill. I wonder how much earth moving they had to do?

[Andy Troeger]

While it does appear a fair amount of earth moving was done (at least to create the volcanoes)--there certainly is a big hill but I think from a couple of "before" photos that there was quite a bit more natural terrain than just that.

[Nick Church]

My first thought on the "volcano" bunker behind that green is that it's an aiming device.  Since the green appears to be situated as a peak with no backdrop, that "in the air" bunker gives the golfer a spot from which to aim.

[Mark Pritchett]

I played the Ross Course last August and then went and checked out the Dye Course afterward.  I hope to get back to play both soon.

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