Harrison Hills - Attica, Indiana

[Steve Burrows]

Though I am a lifelong Hoosier, it was not until this past weekend that I made a trip to Attica to play Harrison Hills, and I was not disappointed.  With apologies, I must admit that I did not take any pictures.

The usual criticism levied against the course is the disparity between the old and the new, particularly the visual discrepancy between the extreme topography of the original holes and the rather banal flatness of the new holes.  The new holes are pretty good, but if I were to offer an opinion about them, it would be:

A) Holes 5-11 all seem to have greens that are angled right to left with bunkers or depressions at the front left and the back right (with minor exceptions, this is confirmed by the aerial view), which became somewhat repetitive, and
B) There is nearly an embarrassment of width in these fairways.  Interestingly, they are not that much wider than the corridors of the old holes, but rather than the width compelling players think about where to place their shot, it came across to me as width for the sake of width.  Perhaps this is just a function of the vagaries of playing golf in an old cornfield in Indiana.  But again, just my opinion.   

So, now to the old holes: They are filled with character and an intensity of form that I have not seen on but a handful of other courses.  Langford certainly used the natural landforms, but, as he was an engineer, sculpted them with extreme cuts and fills in such a way as to draw out the topography even more.  Moreover, the up and down nature of the routing makes it so that each hole (except for the Par-4 14th) has a blind shot, but the visual experience and the demands of the shots, whether from the tee or to the green, are so varied that I am hard pressed to find this trait disagreeable. 

A favorite hole is probably the 16th, with a tee shot that must first rise to the ridge line, then fight the left-to-right tilt of land and stay close to, or short of, the left-side fairway bunker in order to have a clear shot to the green, or otherwise contend with the strategically angled chocolate drops that obscure the false-front (and indeed the entire green) from one's view.   

[Link Walsh]

Steve,

I was at Harrison hills last week too.  I guess they had quite a bit of rain (the river down the road was flooded way out of its banks), so it was playing kind of long.  I didn't realize the front side out there was like 3500 yards- it just wore me out (started on the backside).  Plus, I gave myself a break and played #7 from the 596 tee instead of 642 yards! 

13 is one of my favorite par 5s anywhere, and I wonder if anyone would have the balls to design a par 3 like #2 today.  I love it.  I do think they could cut down some of those trees they planted behind #4 green.  It seems too artificial and it blocks out the great view of several golf holes behind.  Other than that, I don't mind the width you are talking about.  To me it's all about finding the right angles on some of those holes.  I had just come from playing Lawsonia in Wisconsin and I would say the fairway widths seemed about the same. 

I think the 6th hole as it stands is fine, but it's the third hole in a row going in the same direction over similar terrain.  So it does seem kind of monotonous.  You're right about the blind/ semi-blind shots though.  I didn't remember there being so many of them.   It's a fun course- just wish I could have played better that day.

[Steve Burrows]

Agreed on the second hole. A demanding shot over the chasm, to be sure, but the 25 yards of fairway to help run the shot onto the green are appreciated.

It is also Interesting to note that though the green sites to 13 and to 15 look somewhat similar in plan view and are both flanked by deep bunkers, they could not be more different: the former plays downhill and the latter decidedly uphill, once again underscoring the balance and variety of shot demands on the gold course. 

[Link Walsh]

Good point.  Also, I was in the middle of the fairway with a wedge to the green on 13.  Although I could see the deep trenches to either side of the green, I could not see any sand.  It had been a few years since I had played there, so I didn't remember all the details of the course (I didn't find the hole diagrams on the scorecard until later...).  When I got to the green, needless to say, I was glad I had hit my approach straight because I had not expected there to be any sand at all. 

So with 13 the bunkers are there, but they aren't really that visible.  And of course on 15, all you see is the sand.

[Mark Pritchett]

Thanks for this thread, Harrison Hills is a great course. 

Here are a few pictures from a couple of years ago:

Bunker on #1



Tee shot on #2