Golf Week Indiana courses

[Nigel Islam]

1) French Lick Resort (Dye), French Lick (m)
2) French Lick Resort (Ross), French Lick (c)
3) Chariot Run, Laconia (m)
4) Harrison Hills, Attica (c)
5) Fort GC, Indianapolis (m)
6) Belterra GC, Florence (m)
7) Warren GC at Notre Dame, South Bend (m)
Sultan’s Run, Jasper (m)*
9) Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex (Kampen), West Lafayette (m)
10) Brickyard Crossing, Speedway (m)

I was surprised to see Chariot Run ranked this high. Very cool to see The Ross course starting to get its due, Harrison Hills is outstanding, and Sultan's Run finally makes a state list which is long overdue.

[Bill Seitz]

I like the Warren Course, but I'd probably put it lower than Kampen.  I'm not sure I'd even put it above Coyote Crossing or Blackthorn (probably, but not a sure thing).  And I'm flabbergasted that the Trophy Club didn't make this list.  

[Frank Sullivan]

And I'm flabbergasted that the Trophy Club didn't make this list.  

I second your opinion!

Also, anyone out there prefer the Ross course at French Lick to the Dye?  I do. 

I wish Heartland Crossing (N. Price) in Mooresville had stayed public, not been dumbed down, and remained houseless....I truly loved that golf course when it was first built.  Not so much now.

[Nigel Islam]

I agree Trophee Club would be ahead of Chariots Run for me. I've never played Warren so I'm not sure about that. Sultans for me is better than Trophee Club, but very close.

[Nigel Islam]

I would play Ross 8-2 over the Dye course. I love the Ross or "Hill" as I call it. 

[Bill Seitz]

Just next door, how about Kankakee Elks making the top 10 of the Illinois list.  That's kind of a surprise, but a nice one.  Maybe Langford/Moreau will finally start getting some well deserved recognition outside of the architecture junkies.  Maybe next year Spring Valley will make the Wisconsin list.

[Chris Clouser]

I'm sure Sultans Run is solely because it is now affiliated with the French Lick Resort.  Chariot Run and Belterra are resort related as well.  It is an interesting shift in that most of these courses are well outside of the Indy area.  But it speaks to the power of marketing... and the depth of public accessible courses in the state.

The notable courses not on the list include Coyote Crossing, Blackthorn, and Trophy, but also Priaire View, Purgatory, Bear Slide, Glendarin Hills, Otter Creek, Rock Hollow, and Mystic Hills.  All of which I would put ahead of Chariot Run and most ahead of Belterra and Kampen.

I think Chariot has a nice stretch on the back nine, but overall I find the lack of quality greens a real let down on the course.  Harrison also has some outstanding holes, but the old Langford holes I do not think make up for the other holes on the property that are very ordinary in my mind.  So both of those courses are also lower on my list for the state.  Belterra has some nice holes and is impeccably kept up, but nothing that I just think wow when I look at it, with the possible exception of the 16th green.  I've been pretty public about my thoughts on Kampen as well, so I won't go back into that.    

[Nigel Islam]

Chris I really like Harrison as a whole. It has to me me a unique charm, but you are certainly right about the depth of the Indiana publics. Maybe you should write a book about that Otter Creek should be on the list for me.

[David_Tepper]

No Crooked Stick?

[Nigel Islam]

It's only publics I think.

[Chris_Blakely]

Just next door, how about Kankakee Elks making the top 10 of the Illinois list.  That's kind of a surprise, but a nice one.  Maybe Langford/Moreau will finally start getting some well deserved recognition outside of the architecture junkies.  Maybe next year Spring Valley will make the Wisconsin list.

Imagine if they restore all the abandoned bunkers on the Kankakee Elks course??  And imagine if they restored the slightly uphill abondoned par 3 on the front 9?   The hole is still there waiting to be restored.

Chris

[Bill Seitz]

Just next door, how about Kankakee Elks making the top 10 of the Illinois list.  That's kind of a surprise, but a nice one.  Maybe Langford/Moreau will finally start getting some well deserved recognition outside of the architecture junkies.  Maybe next year Spring Valley will make the Wisconsin list.

Imagine if they restore all the abandoned bunkers on the Kankakee Elks course??  And imagine if they restored the slightly uphill abondoned par 3 on the front 9?   The hole is still there waiting to be restored.

Chris

Where is the abandoned par three?  Six is the uphill par three that I remember, but I haven't been there for a couple years. 

[Andy Troeger]

The best course not on this list IMO is Rock Hollow--for some reason it does well on the GD state list but not GW. Probably should be top five public and not hard on the wallet either.

Count me in the group that thinks the Ross Course is (MUCH) better than the Dye at French Lick. That 8-2 spread is about right I think, and if the Dye didn't have great views I'd never leave the Ross.

Blackthorn isn't the course it was when it opened sadly--they softened some things to make them easier to maintain. Its a fun round, but not really worthy of this type of list. Warren if anything is too low, not too high.

My top five (missing some contenders) would be: (1) FL Ross, (2) Warren, (3) Sultan's Run, (4) Rock Hollow, (5) The Fort

[Ted Sturges]

1) French Lick Resort (Dye), French Lick (m)
2) French Lick Resort (Ross), French Lick (c)
3) Chariot Run, Laconia (m)
4) Harrison Hills, Attica (c)
5) Fort GC, Indianapolis (m)
6) Belterra GC, Florence (m)
7) Warren GC at Notre Dame, South Bend (m)
Sultan’s Run, Jasper (m)*
9) Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex (Kampen), West Lafayette (m)
10) Brickyard Crossing, Speedway (m)

I was surprised to see Chariot Run ranked this high. Very cool to see The Ross course starting to get its due, Harrison Hills is outstanding, and Sultan's Run finally makes a state list which is long overdue.

I've lived in Indiana my entire life.  Their list forgot about:

Quail Crossing  (Doak)
Trophy Club  (Liddy)
Rock Hollow  (Liddy)
Links at Heartland Crossing (Smyers)

All 4 of those would be in Indiana's top 10 publics. 

TS

[Jason Thurman]

How good is Belterra? It's not far from me at all. I get that it's probably not the first choice of this crowd, but how does it rate against other courses of its kind?

[Joe Bausch]

1) French Lick Resort (Dye), French Lick (m)
2) French Lick Resort (Ross), French Lick (c)
3) Chariot Run, Laconia (m)
4) Harrison Hills, Attica (c)
5) Fort GC, Indianapolis (m)
6) Belterra GC, Florence (m)
7) Warren GC at Notre Dame, South Bend (m)
Sultan’s Run, Jasper (m)*
9) Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex (Kampen), West Lafayette (m)
10) Brickyard Crossing, Speedway (m)

I was surprised to see Chariot Run ranked this high. Very cool to see The Ross course starting to get its due, Harrison Hills is outstanding, and Sultan's Run finally makes a state list which is long overdue.

I've lived in Indiana my entire life.  Their list forgot about:

Quail Crossing  (Doak)
Trophy Club  (Liddy)
Rock Hollow  (Liddy)
Links at Heartland Crossing (Smyers)

All 4 of those would be in Indiana's top 10 publics. 

TS

Ted, which of the four in GW's list would you replace with your four?

[Peter Ferlicca]

This list is missing two very big omissions.  Obviously Trophy Club deserves to be on the list, but if you look at any other publication Prairie View is in the top 5 publics in Indiana.  How Prairie View doesn't even make the top ten is mind boggeling.  

[Joe Bausch]

How good is Belterra? It's not far from me at all. I get that it's probably not the first choice of this crowd, but how does it rate against other courses of its kind?

Jason,

Take a peek at my photo tour of Belterra (and three other Indiana courses) from back in 2010 if you wish:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,44892.0.html

[Nigel Islam]

Ted, the problem with a lot of the courses mentioned is that they are extremely close. I've played Bear Slide, TC, Heartland, Otter Creek, Prarie View, and Quail. With the exception of Quail (which I love but it is not up to the others) I can make a case for any of those to be in the top ten. The same probably can be said of Purgatory, Rock Hollow, Blackthorn, and Mystic Hills, but I have not played these. I think Indiana has a lot of very strong 5s on the Doak scale, but not a lot of 6s. Heck even Coffin is a real good course(at least until they added the water on 8

[Scott Sander]

Heck even Coffin is a real good course(at least until they added the water on 8

Water is gone on 8 now.
But wait til you see what they just did to #15.  It's... um... different.
Wide and deep drainage wash now cuts across the fairway about 40 yards short of the green and drains to a big two-tiered retention area right of the hole.  Looks like it's meant to handle massive storm drainage from the area around the soap box derby hill across 30th Street.

And Peter, Prairie View is -maybe- top 5... in Hamilton County.   

[JLahrman]

Ted, the problem with a lot of the courses mentioned is that they are extremely close. I've played Bear Slide, TC, Heartland, Otter Creek, Prarie View, and Quail. With the exception of Quail (which I love but it is not up to the others) I can make a case for any of those to be in the top ten. The same probably can be said of Purgatory, Rock Hollow, Blackthorn, and Mystic Hills, but I have not played these. I think Indiana has a lot of very strong 5s on the Doak scale, but not a lot of 6s. Heck even Coffin is a real good course(at least until they added the water on 8

I have played Purgatory and liked it quite a bit. I was expecting gimmicks but overall I found it to be an interesting course. I haven't played every course on that list, but I liked it as much as I liked The Fort.

[Peter Ferlicca]

Scott I grew up in Carmel and have played pretty much every golf course in Indiana except Victoria National.  For you to say that Prairie View is not even Top 5 in Hamilton County for PUBLIC golf courses, you must be joking right, remeber we are talking public Scott, maybe you were thinking private too, which I would agree with you then.  If you include Purgatory, Bear Slide, Plum Creek, Prairie View, and then after that you start getting into pretty bland public courses.  If you ask the general public golfers, or as we say on here Retail golfers in the Indy area, I guarentee you that everyone would say how Prairie View is one of the best publics in the Indianapolis area.  Conditions, views, no homes on golf course, and a pretty good course for Trent Jones Jr. I would say that Prairie View is pretty nice.

Also, not that I agree with Golf Digest often.  In there best in state rankings, which include public and private, prairie view is ranked #7.  So Scott maybe you need to check your facts .

Just to compare here is Golf Digests Best in State ranking, which has both private and public
1. Victoria National
2.  Crooked Stick
3.  French Lick Dye
4.  Sycamore Hills
5.  Wolf Run
6.  French Lick Ross
7.  Prairie View
8.  Rock Hollow
9.  Brickyard Crossing
10.  Otter Creek
11.  Woodland CC
12. South Bend
13.  Sagamore
14.  The Fort
15.  Purgatory

[Brad Klein]

There's nothing "missing" from the Indiana list and we didn't omit or miss any courses. Some folks here simply disagree with our top-10 public access courses.

If we had gone to the top-15 those courses would have suddenly "appeared." Indiana is so much stronger for public golf than Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and I was tempted to go 15-deep there but we needed a certain symmetry (of 10) in the number of courses we listed for comparably-sized and -populated states. In any case, the real issue is not Golfweek's negligence but the depth of talent and the compression in the voting results.

[Josh Tarble]

1) French Lick Resort (Dye), French Lick (m)
2) French Lick Resort (Ross), French Lick (c)
3) Chariot Run, Laconia (m)
4) Harrison Hills, Attica (c)
5) Fort GC, Indianapolis (m)
6) Belterra GC, Florence (m)
7) Warren GC at Notre Dame, South Bend (m)
Sultan’s Run, Jasper (m)*
9) Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex (Kampen), West Lafayette (m)
10) Brickyard Crossing, Speedway (m)

I was surprised to see Chariot Run ranked this high. Very cool to see The Ross course starting to get its due, Harrison Hills is outstanding, and Sultan's Run finally makes a state list which is long overdue.

I've lived in Indiana my entire life.  Their list forgot about:

Quail Crossing  (Doak)
Trophy Club  (Liddy)
Rock Hollow  (Liddy)
Links at Heartland Crossing (Smyers)

All 4 of those would be in Indiana's top 10 publics. 

TS

I haven't seen Quail Crossing but totally agree with Trophy Club and Rock Hollow. Both are fantastic. I've never even heard of ChariotsRun though. I would definitely replace Belterra and Sultans Run.  Really glad to see Harrison Hills in there as well.

I honestly think the Fort is best public in the state. It's great.

Jason, Belterra is decent, worth playing but nothing spectacular. Nothing you won't see anything else.  Kind of a typical casino course if that makes sense.

[Criss Titschinger]

Put me on the list who says Trophy Club's exclusion is a miss. I agree that some of the others mentioned could be interchangeable based on opinion. But I do think Trophy Club is comfortably one of the ten best publics in Indiana.