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Brian Noser

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The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« on: September 20, 2007, 10:54:02 PM »
Well After 2 suggestions to stop here I made it and I am glad I did. What a very nice course . I am not sure how much of Ross is still there as I don't know all the history behind it, other then is has recently been renovated, maybe some one will chime in. I am just here to post some eye candy and try to spark some conversation.... ;D

This a photo of 2 green From 3 tee it is not a very good picture but 3/4 of the green had a large collection area around it looked like a trough. I wish I got a better picture this one does not do it justice.



This is the par 3 4the 242 a little up hill very severe false front. every one in the group cam up just short and ended up down by the front bunker



This is the Par 4 5th 474 My favorite on the course Played a little down wind early in the morning. The bunkers on the left are reachable with a good drive.



Skip ahead to 11 cause I was playing some bad golf between 6-10 and forgot to take pictures... This hole was also good, it was just about 30 yards to long From the tips it played 345 and it was about 290 to the bunker short middle of the fairway it plays up hill. I hit driver right at the bunker in the middle and it hit into the hill and just stopped it there. It was a little wet so not much roll I was not concerned with the ball bounding in to the bunker. I think it would have been better a little shorter to make me really think about hitting it into the bunker.



Hole 12 par 4 440ish? don't have the card in front of me..



Hole 13 Par 3 252. I hit driver off the deck on this hole as the breeze stiffened in the late morning..




14 tee shot.



14 what you see when you get to the top



This is the Shortest hole on the course at 151 if you look closely you can see a Ball about 6 feet right of the hole I made a 2... ;D



Then the closer 440 back into the breeze and up hill I also made a 3 here.



Over all it was a very fun course I will definitely go back and the wife loved the spa so that helps things as well. Thanks to
Mr. Kavanaugh and Mr Simper for the suggestion... ;)

Brian Laurent

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #1 on: September 20, 2007, 11:16:06 PM »
Brian-

Thanks for posting these pictures.  I had my PAT there a few years ago, before they went to town on the course...it looks great!  

Did they make any changes to the green on #7 (I think), the dogleg left where you couldn't hold the green?  

Thanks again!

B
"You know the two easiest jobs in the world? College basketball coach or golf course superintendent, because everybody knows how to do your job better than you do." - Roy Williams | @brianjlaurent | @OHSuperNetwork

David Stamm

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #2 on: September 20, 2007, 11:19:57 PM »
Thanks for posting these Brian. Cool stuff. I love the "horizon" tee shot on 14.
"The object of golf architecture is to give an intelligent purpose to the striking of a golf ball."- Max Behr

Tom Dunne

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #3 on: September 20, 2007, 11:22:20 PM »
What Shivas said. I'd heard murmurs about French Lick before but these pics surpass what I'd imagined, by far...

John Kavanaugh

Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #4 on: September 20, 2007, 11:23:13 PM »
Somebody please set up an outing at this course.

This looks great.  Really neat.  Look at the contour of those greens and how it ties to the strategy of the holes.  Love it.

From the looks of these pictures, Lawsonia has competition for the "public NGLA" title.  This topography and the quality of the bunkering look really cool (I love that left bunker on the 440 yard par 4 that does NOT have a steep face, so you have a chance to get out; this shows that somebody is thinking about the golf course).

I want to play here.

Shivas,

The course is 60 miles from my house...come anytime.  The casino is also building a big budget Dye course a mile or so down the road.  It will be rater hell for a couple of years after that is built...many outings to come.  Due to the casino the playing rates put it more in a resort catagory...I wish it was as cheap as Lasonia.  My friends can no longer afford to play there so I need some big city types to come in and play and not make tee times at 7:30 am Eastern.

Seven green was not changed except perhaps to be recaptured.  The only contour change on the course was very minor on the front of eight.
« Last Edit: September 20, 2007, 11:23:53 PM by John Kavanaugh »

Tim Bert

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #5 on: September 20, 2007, 11:39:35 PM »
How far is French Lick from Nashville?  Do they have any cool Larry Bird museums?

Casino?  Ding$Ding$Ding$Ding!!!  That means the golf is free (after a few hard hours at the tables.)

Dixie Cup 2008?  Or is this too far north?

I want in.

Chris Moore

Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #6 on: September 20, 2007, 11:45:24 PM »
That par 3 4th may be the best-looking par 3 I have ever seen anywhere.  Delicious!

Eric_Terhorst

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #7 on: September 21, 2007, 12:22:12 AM »
Brian-
Did they make any changes to the green on #7 (I think), the dogleg left where you couldn't hold the green?  


Brian N--Thanks for posting.  I was there Labor Day weekend, but didn't take any pictures.  As if this is not enough to whet the appetite, the par 5s #7 and #15 are great big holes with all kinds of possibilities to consider.  

Brian L--They've restored all the greens to near-original area, so the dogleg par 4 8th has a big square green that slopes 7 feet from back to front.  When I was there the pin was up on a little plateau back right that would be treacherous with fast green speeds (they're still protecting them a little bit).  

All the changes have been positive as far as I can tell.  

Shivas, It's a 5-5.5 hour drive from Wilmette, so you'll need a weekend

Brad Swanson

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #8 on: September 21, 2007, 12:37:13 AM »
Very nice.  Definitely some similarities to Lawsonia in the general look.  I wonder how much the 1 tee through 18 green continuous concrete cartpaths cost.  

Cheers,
Brad


ed_getka

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #9 on: September 21, 2007, 12:37:20 AM »
Brian,
  Did you get on the wrong side of any of the dead elephants buried in some of those greens?
   Who did the restoration work? It still looks cool, but I wouldn't have guessed that was French Lick from what I remember in the early 90's.
"Perimeter-weighted fairways", The best euphemism for containment mounding I've ever heard.

Mike_Cirba

Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #10 on: September 21, 2007, 12:38:50 AM »
The course looks somewhere between good and wonderful.

On the downside, those are some of the worst cartpaths I've ever seen.
« Last Edit: September 21, 2007, 12:39:48 AM by MikeCirba »

Brad Klein

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #11 on: September 21, 2007, 12:47:47 AM »
Great bunker work, greens expansion and fairway lines, but those awful lollypop conifers are such an eyesore throughout.

Jeff Doerr

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #12 on: September 21, 2007, 01:52:38 AM »
Brian,

Thanks for sharing. What a treasure of a course by all the images. I live in Oregon and think the realtor.com idea by shivas is a pretty good idea!
"And so," (concluded the Oldest Member), "you see that golf can be of
the greatest practical assistance to a man in Life's struggle.”

Sean_A

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #13 on: September 21, 2007, 02:12:18 AM »
Great bunker work, greens expansion and fairway lines, but those awful lollypop conifers are such an eyesore throughout.

Brad

I am with you.  The course looks wonderful, but a few details have been mucked up a bit.  Those dreadful trees breaking up the sea of long tan rough is a pity.

Thanks for posting Brian!

Ciao
New plays planned for 2024: Nothing

John Kavanaugh

Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #14 on: September 21, 2007, 07:42:54 AM »
While the pines are ugly from afar some have beautiful trunk detail that is rare for this area.  I am afraid that many are just too old to kill for the sake of a clean human eye.  I don't see them in play except for the most awful of shots.  I would prefer them to be dead and gone for my one visit per year but find that to be a selfish position much like when I wish I could do anything but smell an old uncle during the annual family activity.  They will be gone soon enough.

John Mayhugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #15 on: September 21, 2007, 08:27:45 AM »
French Lick is around 60 miles from my house in Louisville as well.  If anyone wants to visit and have a game, let me know.  I tend to play there mostly during the off season as rates are much lower.  Last year I think Nov-Feb they only charged $40 to play all day with a cart.  And as you can see there are plenty of cart paths....

Andy Troeger

Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #16 on: September 21, 2007, 08:40:48 AM »
Brian,
  Did you get on the wrong side of any of the dead elephants buried in some of those greens?
   Who did the restoration work? It still looks cool, but I wouldn't have guessed that was French Lick from what I remember in the early 90's.

Ed,
I played there in the mid-90's about six times and had similar thoughts, it looks pretty different in my mind (although to be honest at the time I didn't think its memorability was that great other than a few holes mainly because of the greens). It does look much more interesting now and hopefully I'll get back on one of my trips to Indiana. I had a friend play there a month ago and he loved it, which was promising to me.

To all who go play there and have some extra time, take the 30-45 minute drive and play Sultan's Run too. Would make for a good weekend for those in the area.

Chris_Clouser

Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #17 on: September 21, 2007, 09:10:07 AM »
I'm trying to convince my wife that a long weekend in the area would be a great vacation when our kids have fall break in October.  Between this course, Sultan's Run and Quail Crossing I would get my fill of golf.  But for some reason she wants to go to Cincinnati and do some shopping.

I need to talk to her about her priorities...   ::)
« Last Edit: September 21, 2007, 09:10:35 AM by Chris_Clouser »

PThomas

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #18 on: September 21, 2007, 09:11:00 AM »
nice pics Brian, thanks...

looks like another course on the "gotta get to" list
199 played, only Augusta National left to play!

John Kavanaugh

Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #19 on: September 21, 2007, 09:25:16 AM »
I'm trying to convince my wife that a long weekend in the area would be a great vacation when our kids have fall break in October.  Between this course, Sultan's Run and Quail Crossing I would get my fill of golf.  But for some reason she wants to go to Cincinnati and do some shopping.

I need to talk to her about her priorities...   ::)

French Lick is a short drive from Louisville...Many of the poker players at the resort come over to pick on the small town locals.

Chris_Clouser

Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #20 on: September 21, 2007, 09:34:09 AM »
Well, to be honest John, I don't gamble much at casinos.  I really don't do it at all actually.

Unfortunately, the drive is much longer from north of Indy than it is from Louisville.  

That doesn't change the fact that my wife's priorities are out of whack from my reality.   ;D  

John Kavanaugh

Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #21 on: September 21, 2007, 09:36:01 AM »
I was just saying to sell her on a trip to Louisville and drive on over.  I am sure Patino's wife must shop somewhere.

Steve Kline

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #22 on: September 21, 2007, 09:45:27 AM »
And as a long time resident of Cincinnati I didn't know we had any shopping here anymore. Certainly not any that you would want to travel for.

Chris_Clouser

Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #23 on: September 21, 2007, 10:13:15 AM »
Steve,

Thanks for the information.  I will use that to try and sway her towards my side of the argument.  But she is convinced there must be some shopping there because all of her friends tell her there is.  

John,

As for Patino's wife, I'm sure that he can afford for her to go on day trips to NYC or Chicago, so Louisville may not be an option either.  My point is that if my wife goes somewhere she expects me to follow and accompany her everywhere.  And going anywhere with her usually means no golf.  

Cabell Ackerly

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:The Donald Ross Course @ French Lick
« Reply #24 on: September 21, 2007, 10:26:16 AM »
Oh, just fess up, Barney.  You just like this course because the sight of 7000 yards of continuous cart paths gives you a woody...

Those paths look to be concrete...and that can't make an asphalt man very happy

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