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Ran Morrissett

  • Karma: +0/-0
Challenge – what is the right amount?
 
We all like to shoot low scores and bore our friends with the hole by hole details  ;). Too much challenge, we get beaten up and are less likely to return to the site of the mugging. Too little challenge and even a good score leaves you wanting more.

For instance, I wish that the bunkers at Doak’s Heathland Course at Myrtle Beach were just a bit more in the line of the play. Another example WAS the Ross Course at French Lick. As it played a decade ago, the wild driver (i.e. me) routinely escaped without punishment. Its famous greens alone weren’t enough to fully engage the golfer. That has changed!

In 2006, a multi-million restoration was performed by Lee Schmidt with the help and guidance of The Donald Ross Society and its Executive Director Michael Fay. Thanks to the restoration of twenty-nine fairway bunkers to Ross’s original design and the course’s new fescue grass scheme, the golfer now must be mindful of where he positions his ball down the fairway corridors. In particular, the number of deep central bunkers recaptured is fantastic as they act as true strategic hazards.
 
Bottom line: Now the challenge is well balanced as thought-provoking options occur on both the tee as well as the approach. In fact, with menacing central hazards galore and several greens that feature at least four feet of movement in one direction or another, the Ross Course has all that is required to become a cult course. Maybe it is already and I don’t know it! Indeed, I am not even sure what a cult course is but I imagine some of my very favorites like Royal Worlington and Lawsonia qualify.
 
Speaking of Langford & Moreau’s masterpiece at Lawsonia, this course reminds me of it to a certain degree. Both are on open parcels of land and the steep and deep design mantra applies at both. Normally, you don’t readily associate the phrase ‘steep and deep’ with Ross. However, built in 1917, this falls in the first third of his career when his work often featured unique qualities.  À la Wannamoisett and Essex County, French Lick has some singular green pads and other playing features that I never seen on any other Ross course.  Certainly, you always must consider who was Ross’s on-site man and in this case, it was Sandy Alves. I wish I knew more about their other works together because some of the more abrupt green pad angles and brazen green contours really resonate.
 
For sheer boldness, don’t you think that the French Lick course ranks near the top in Ross’s portfolio? Best of all, this course is open to the public and resort guests. At $90 on a weekday, the green’s fee is reasonable considering the quality of the course. Certainly, on a hole by hole basis it competes well with the other courses that I have played in the golf rich state of Indiana (I didn’t play its sister Dye Course), including Victoria National (which surely is near the very top of Fazio’s work), Wolf Run, Crooked Stick and Ross’s own Broadmoor.
 
By enhancing the pleasurable challenge off the tee, The Ross Course at French Lick has been returned the halcyon days when it hosted the PGA Championship that Walter Hagen won in 1924 – see if you agree!
 
 Cheers,

PThomas

  • Karma: +0/-0
some of the most wicked greens I've seen are there Ran!
199 played, only Augusta National left to play!

Jud_T

  • Karma: +0/-0
Ran,

Thanks for another great review.  Definitely need to do the Indiana tour next year....
Golf is a game. We play it. Somewhere along the way we took the fun out of it and charged a premium to be punished.- - Ron Sirak

Jay Cox

  • Karma: +0/-0
Most underrated golf course in the world?

Joe Bausch

  • Karma: +0/-0
Thanks for the review.  I enjoyed my time there a couple of summers ago very much.  My photo album of almost 200 pics are here if you wish to supplement those from Ran's review:

http://xchem.villanova.edu/~bausch/images/albums/frenchlickross/
@jwbausch (for new photo albums)
The site for the Cobb's Creek project:  https://cobbscreek.org/
Nearly all Delaware Valley golf courses in photo albums: Bausch Collection

PCCraig

  • Karma: +0/-0
Ran,

Thanks for posting. I played the Ross course a couple years ago and really, really enjoyed it. The course is a ton of fun to play and has some outrageously hard and fun greens (I 4-putted the 17th green after hitting it in two, only time I've smiled after 4 putting) I've seen. Also, the site is just beautiful in a Midwestern sort of way ;) with some great vistas.

Interesting comparison between the Ross Course and Lawsonia. The properties certainly have similar feels after their respective tree removal projects/restorations.

I would urge any GCAers in Chicago (Jud) to make the 5 hour trip down to French Lick and spend a night sometime in the spring or fall when it's significantly warmer in southern Indiana/KY. It's a very neat experience.
H.P.S.

Chris Buie

  • Karma: +0/-0
Without a doubt this course belongs in the upper tier of the Ross portfolio. French Lick is a more extravagant scenario than we
usually see from him. Brilliant.
Some courses really are worth going to considerable lengths to be preserved in perpetuity. The world is a better place when that is the case. Generations of golfers get to have a really elevating experience that they will carry around with them for years. The world is a lesser place when these treasures are allowed to wither on the vine. I'm not impressed with people and organizations who facilitate that sort of diminishment. This happens all the time in the States - in a lot of different ways. It's always amazing to me when people think that's an ok path to go down. It isn't. Sure, there are complex reasons and compelling arguments why places are allowed to move in a less appealing direction. However, I would say that often it is possible to sort those matters out. It would be a matter of resourcefulness, advanced thinking - vision. For any place, town or country to remain stabilized in a properly elevated manner - long term - you would need qualities like that to be at the forefront. Any place that carries on with expediency and small thinking being the prevailing wisdom will...well, you don't need me to tell you what that leads to.
In any case, the Ross course at French Lick is a shining example of what can happen when people handle matters in a deserving manner.
« Last Edit: November 10, 2011, 10:56:41 PM by Chris Buie »

Bart Bradley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Ran:

Thank you so much for this profile.

The Ross course at French Lick was certainly my first exposure to excellent architecture.  I managed to play approx. 30 rounds there during my time in medical school in Indianapolis.  The old girl looks great in these photos.  I am inspired to make a return trip.  I suspect you can get no greater compliment than when a reader is motivated by your profile to make a trip.  So, WELL DONE!

Chris, you are so right:  "Brilliant".

Perhaps I'll see you there sometime soon ;D.

Once again, more proof of Ed Oden's theory.

Bart

George Freeman

  • Karma: +0/-0
That course looks incredible.  Always has...

I really need to get down there.
Mayhugh is my hero!!

"I love creating great golf courses.  I love shaping earth...it's a canvas." - Donald J. Trump

John Mayhugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
That course looks incredible.  Always has...

I really need to get down there.

Let me know when.  Would be glad to meet you there.

Bret Swanson

  • Karma: +0/-0
Thanks for the update, Ran. I keep telling people I know here in Indianapolis who are thinking of "going to see" the new Pete Dye course that, yes, the Dye course is spectacular. But the Ross course is the real surprise. The synthesis of topology and architecture is remarkable.

Bret

Jud_T

  • Karma: +0/-0
The question is whether it's even worth paying up for the Dye course when another round on this baby beckons...
Golf is a game. We play it. Somewhere along the way we took the fun out of it and charged a premium to be punished.- - Ron Sirak

George Freeman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Will do John!

I agree Jud.  After seeing pictures of both courses and reading reviews of both, I have a pretty solid hunch that the Ross course will be my favorite of the two, by far.

Now I just need to go down there and see for myself.

Question:  Based on Joe's pictures, there seem to be a lot of 400-420 yard par 4s.  But it looks like the terrain is so varied that the golfer wouldn't be complaining about multiple holes of similar length.  Is this true?  I guess that could also be said about the par 3s, three of which appear to be the exact same length (240-50 yards!!).
Mayhugh is my hero!!

"I love creating great golf courses.  I love shaping earth...it's a canvas." - Donald J. Trump

PCCraig

  • Karma: +0/-0
Jud & George,

The Dye Course is a pretty solid golf course, and it's in a spectacular setting. However for this crowd I would guess that many if not most would prefer the Ross Course.

George,

My one knock on the course is that the first three par 3s are way too similar IMO and are all either a wood or long iron into the green. Granted those holes have always been long but they can really beat you up as the greens are all wild as well, so getting up and down is not an easy proposition.
H.P.S.

Scott Sander

  • Karma: +0/-0
P.Craig-

I wondered about the similar lengths of the par 3's before I played it for the first time last month.  To me, the stark visual and directional differences made each one distinct.  The middle of the three also plays hard by a treeline while the others are in the open - and on such a windy site that seems significant.  And the 'safe miss' location on each hole is different.  I ended up playing three very different shots.

That said, I am -very- guilty of letting the visual play far too great a role in my choices and swings.  A more disciplined player might well see those holes as quite similar.

In any event, I'm thrilled to see the course profile updated and I cannot wait to play the course again!

Andy Troeger

Great profile. I played the Ross Course quite a few times when it hosted junior tournaments in Indiana in the mid-90's and returned a couple years ago. The changes to the course really elevated it to another level and I think its easily one of the top 100 classics in the country. I actually enjoyed it as much or more than a number of Ross' better known courses such as Inverness, Scioto, Holston Hills, and Pine Needles (all of which are certainly very good in their own right).

I think some of this is that the work and the land is bolder than much of his other work. The greens are certainly bold, but some of the other slopes around greens make the golfer really consider their approaches. The fairway bunkering makes tee shots a bit more complex, although there's generally a lot of room to play. Its well worth a visit to French Lick especially given the price. Its a study in contrast with the Dye course, and even though I normally like Dye's work better I have to give the edge at French Lick to the Ross Course by a fair margin.

JLahrman

  • Karma: +0/-0
I have not played the Ross course since before the renovation, and I've never played the Dye course, but the Ross course was a real treat even before the recent work.  Based on these pictures it looks even better and probably plays even better as well.

The par 3s are long except for 16, and I'm sure there are a lot of alternate tees to shorten the holes because I believe they all play across valleys.
« Last Edit: November 11, 2011, 03:28:40 PM by JLahrman »

Andy Troeger

According to the scorecard, #4 and #6 are quite a bit shorter from the up sets of tees, but #13 still plays long (200+).

Eric_Terhorst

  • Karma: +0/-0
Ran,

Thanks for the updated review of French Lick.  I was led to French Lick--and Lawsonia--by your reviews of both and thrilled to find a style of golf course and challenge that suited my taste perfectly.  Easy on the eyes off the tee, exceedingly challenging around the large greens, built on beautiful, expansive properties with few trees to obstruct the views or inhibit swings.  Those two courses also have something in common with Holston Hills--with a routing that maximizes great natural features, with some greens that are built up, some draped over hillocks, and some benched into slopes...and large-scale bunkers that fit the expansive views.  I joined Holston as an out-of-town member, and think of it as having the golfing thrills of French Lick and Lawsonia together with the advantages of a well-run private club.

To George and others commenting on the narrow range of yardages on French Lick's par 4s and 3s--it's true, if you play the same set of tees all day that you may feel some duplication.  So mix it up already!  Especially the par 3s--there is really no reason to play 4 and 6 all the way back, or even at 200.  I would argue that 4 and 6 with with their steep fronts are really designed to challenge the golfer to make an aerial approach that finishes on the right part of the green, as opposed to the running shot that is a must for #13.   Play 4 at 190-195, 6 at 170-175, 13 at 230+, and 16 at 135-150, and you have all the variety you need in the 3s.  Same with the 4s--there is plenty of variety built in to the terrain, but if you're feeling by #10 that you've seen enough 400 yard holes, move it up. 

I felt that if you start from the "Ross Tees" as they're called on the Scorecard, at 6517, you're seeing the "fun" resort course that Ross meant for most visitors to see.  With three or four other tees on each hole, you can mix up yardages from there if you like.

Ronald Montesano

  • Karma: +0/-0
Do you think Ross planted those two trees in front of the 8th green?
Coming in 2024
~Elmira Country Club
~Soaring Eagles
~Bonavista
~Indian Hills
~Maybe some more!!

Ronald Montesano

  • Karma: +0/-0
I'm going to find a way to shoot the 18th at CC Buffalo, so that yet another great Ross closer might see the light of day, err, GCA.
Coming in 2024
~Elmira Country Club
~Soaring Eagles
~Bonavista
~Indian Hills
~Maybe some more!!

ward peyronnin

  • Karma: +0/-0
In addition to great cross bunkers  another nice additional feature is the expanse of native grass areas that frame much of the course and provide a "base"/transition  to the appropriately offset treelines on the margin of the course
"Golf is happiness. It's intoxication w/o the hangover; stimulation w/o the pills. It's price is high yet its rewards are richer. Some say its a boys pastime but it builds men. It cleanses the mind/rejuvenates the body. It is these things and many more for those of us who truly love it." M.Norman