A Golfer's Guide to Indianapolis

[Andy Johnson]

I played the Bridgewater Club in Carmel for a qualifier a few years back and really enjoyed it. Obviously, the houses on the course are disappointing, but the course was very fair and as most Dye courses do challenged approach shots to the green. 


I am also a big fan of Purgatory, its a great value for a public track.

[Kevin Stark]

Thought this was interesting regarding Highland G &CC.  (Park Jr & Diddel)


http://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/content/First-phase-of-Highland-Golf-and-Country-Club-restoration-project-concludes

Yes very interesting. Bill must have been very young at the time. That would have been a tough team to beat in a real match! Highland is a course that I did not get to see when I lived in Indy.

It was a pleasure to work with Ron on the renovation. As I mentioned a bit upstream in this thread, much of what we did during the renovation was to undo the mess made by that previous renovation in the early 90's. The "second phase" that they mention in that linked article will be to add additional bunkers that we deferred building for the time being. The remaining bunkers to add are nearly all fairway bunkers.

I can attest that the Better Billy Bunker system was the best money the club has ever spent. It is worth every nickel.

[Steve Burrows]

Thought this was interesting regarding Highland G &CC.  (Park Jr & Diddel)


http://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/content/First-phase-of-Highland-Golf-and-Country-Club-restoration-project-concludes

Yes very interesting. Bill must have been very young at the time. That would have been a tough team to beat in a real match! Highland is a course that I did not get to see when I lived in Indy.

It was a pleasure to work with Ron on the renovation. As I mentioned a bit upstream in this thread, much of what we did during the renovation was to undo the mess made by that previous renovation in the early 90's. The "second phase" that they mention in that linked article will be to add additional bunkers that we deferred building for the time being. The remaining bunkers to add are nearly all fairway bunkers.

I can attest that the Better Billy Bunker system was the best money the club has ever spent. It is worth every nickel.

One of my first jobs during was as a caddie at Highland, and my high school golf team played out from time to time as well.  Unfortunately, I haven't played out there since around then (the early 90s).  I recall a couple of fairly nondescript holes, but also a number of them with some really interesting movement.  It is very nice to see them doing good work out there.   

[BCowan]

Thought this was interesting regarding Highland G &CC.  (Park Jr & Diddel)


http://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/content/First-phase-of-Highland-Golf-and-Country-Club-restoration-project-concludes

Yes very interesting. Bill must have been very young at the time. That would have been a tough team to beat in a real match! Highland is a course that I did not get to see when I lived in Indy.

It was a pleasure to work with Ron on the renovation. As I mentioned a bit upstream in this thread, much of what we did during the renovation was to undo the mess made by that previous renovation in the early 90's. The "second phase" that they mention in that linked article will be to add additional bunkers that we deferred building for the time being. The remaining bunkers to add are nearly all fairway bunkers.

I can attest that the Better Billy Bunker system was the best money the club has ever spent. It is worth every nickel.

Kevin,

   Thanks for posting, I just went back and saw your original post.  What IYO made them remove most/all of the fairway bunkers in the 90's?  Do you think it was an effort to ''grow the game'' or cut annual maint costs?  Interesting that they are Diddel greens.  WPJ is known for making very good greens and I have never played a Diddel course.  So the fairway bunkers are being restored in the near future?  That is great to hear. 

[Kevin Stark]

The bunkers were removed as part of the most recent renovation. We opted to remove them rather than leaving the ugly, collapsing, dreadfully shaped things there. We will build several back in as part of the next phase of the renovation. That was purely a cost consideration. We wanted to defer that additional capital expense until later.


The renovation in the early 90's was done to "modernize" the golf course. The results were pretty predictable. I've spent most of my energy as green chairman getting that undone.


Indianapolis has a pretty good collection of historic aerial photographs dating back to the mid-1930's that were invaluable to our master plan work. It was clear that the Depression claimed a number of bunkers as did Diddel's renovation in the 1950's. There aren't any historical records from that time but I have to think those were cost saving measures. One thing that I found interesting in looking at the historic photos was how the introduction of single row irrigation narrowed the playing corridors. What were once 40-50 yards wide fairways suddenly shrunk to 30 yards or less, as that was the extent of the reach of irrigation. Then the tree zealots came out in the 1960's and you get to where we are today with narrow fairways and tree encroachment. The fight continues...

[Brian Bowman]

Has anyone ever played Sagamore Club in Noblesville? It is listed as a Jack Nicklaus Signature course, and outside of his tradition housing development course, it looks like a fairly decent track.  Not my favorite designer but Memorial Day Broadmoor is packed sadly.

[Josh Tarble]

Brian,
I've played it several times.  It is definitely completely opposite of Broadmoor.

It's a modern and brawny course, while it is a housing course, it only feels slightly constrained on a few holes. The course is pretty difficult, but quite good.  There are a few goofy holes, but the par 5s are excellent and worth the price of admission alone.  You could certainly do worse than a round out there.

Not sure on your access, but if you can swing it, Woodland is great.  I've played it a few times recently and it's really good.

[Brian Bowman]

With 2 days, and limited opportunities with most courses closed on Tuesday (thank goodness for Wolf Run being open on Tuesday) I'm trying to pick out my round for Monday, any other advice will be appreciated.  Broadmoor's staff said it would be quite the crowd out there, and as an Apprentice, I try to stay away from messing with member play.  So, I believe I'm still trying to figure out my monday round, unless Thurman sneaks up to WR on Monday instead.

[Nigel Islam]

Brian, try Harrison Hills in Attica or Rock Hollow in Peru if the Indy courses are full. HH is totally worth the drive. I played it last Tuesday finally getting to see the Langford holes I missed in 2012. Trophee Club is a real nice course, by GCA's own Tim Liddy.

[Brian Bowman]

I don't believe I will be traveling that far out, Trophy Club looks excellent and I've only heard good things. 


Also, if anyone is looking for a game that day, or needs a 4th, I would like to play with others who know the courses around town.

[Matthew Sander]

Brian,


Trophy Club is really good. Great variety of holes on that property. Check it out...I don't think you'll be disappointed in the least.

[Richard Hetzel]

I really enjoyed The Trophy Club. Indy has some solid courses for sure. So much so, that I drove there five times last year from Cincy just to play.

[Criss Titschinger]

Brian, The Trophy Club is my favorite public course in the Ohio/Indiana/Kentucky Tri-State area. It's a very personal bias, and there's a few courses outside Indy I haven't got to yet, like Harrison Hills or Rock Hollow. But as far as the Indy metro area public courses, it's tops in my book, ahead of The Fort and Purgatory. The par 5s at The Trophy Club are the best set I've played. Very few weak holes out there.

You will just miss out on playing Brickyard Crossing with Indy 500 practice going on. That's an experience all on its own.

Wish I could join you. Have fun!

[Adam Warren]

I'm gonna second Criss here.  I'll go further to say I enjoyed TC much more than the Brickyard as well on my trip.  It's nice to seek out the private courses, but TC is an excellent choice.  Also, if you had other non PGA/Apprentices with you, it definitely won't break the bank.  TC is very reasonably priced for the product you receive.

[Brian Bowman]

Thank you everyone with the help so far. I do not have anyone else playing me so far. I didn't realize Trophy Club was so close, looked further on the map. May have to give it a look.

[BCowan]

I'll have to say the Broadmoor greens are top 3 of any set I have played.  I also like how the only the top of the bunker faces are visible from the tee boxes. 

Highland GCC has really solid drive and pitch par 4's.  Very solid course with good variety.  Kern did a solid job restoring WPJ bunker complexes.     

[Brian Bowman]

I'll have to say the Broadmoor greens are top 3 of any set I have played.  I also like how the only the top of the bunker faces are visible from the tee boxes. 

Highland GCC has really solid drive and pitch par 4's.  Very solid course with good variety.  Kern did a solid job restoring WPJ bunker complexes.   

Broadmoor is jam packed for monday, and I really do dislike to bother any member play, so I kindly passed on the course, and I love Ross too.


Unless I receive an email back for one or two people (due to tee times I previously inquired about) I am playing Sagamore Monday, and Wolf Run Tuesday

[Josh Tarble]

Brian,
After those two rounds, your game will be ready for your playing test, that's for sure.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

There will be one less course as Riverside,  the city's oldest  muni, has closed as of today. The course opened in 1900 and was home to the New Years Day  " Hangover Open" for  69 years.  At 6281y with a slope of 108, it's the type of course the golf industry needs. Unfortunately, as the article points out, the city has 12 other munis in operation.


https://www.theindychannel.com/its-official-indy-oldest-municipal-golf-course-is-closed




https://www.indy.gov/activity/golf-courses

[Terry Lavin]

The Grim Reaper types again! 🤪

[Nigel Islam]

Very sad to me as I've played the course many times. It was a good layout with some drainage issues. Definitely home to one of the most polarizing golf holes in Indy with Number 13. Riverside served the city very well.

[John Nixon]

one of the most polarizing golf holes in Indy with Number 13.

Exactly.


I used to play Riverside a lot when I worked downtown Indy, hadn't played for a few years so I made sure to play it this fall before it closed. I always thought #14-17 was a pretty good stretch of holes.

[John Nixon]

Just to update some of the info on this thread for anyone using it to plan some rounds in the area:


Wolf Run is gone. Riverside, a downtown muni, is gone.


Holliday Farms and Chatham Hills, both by Pete Dye (with major input from Tim Liddy I assume) and relatively close to each other are housing development courses on the north side of town. There are threads here on GCA specific to each but it won't hurt to mention them here.  I don't know how accessible they are for public play. I've played Chatham, have not played Holliday. Chatham was very solid, I found the par 3s the best part of the course.


All the usual suspects are still around: Purgatory, Trophy Club, Bear Slide, Prairie View, Heartland Crossing, The Fort, Eagle Creek (both 18s), Brickyard Crossing, etc. West Chase, west of town in Brownsburg, I think is a pretty good Ron Kern layout that doesn't get much mention here. I haven't played it for a long while though.


I can't speak much to the private courses in the area, I have played Woodland a few times and think it's outstanding.

[John Nixon]

A few more thoughts:


Hickory Stick, on the far southside of Indianapolis, is a Tim Liddy course. I've not played it yet, but his designs are almost always worth playing. I've maintained for years that Coffin, in downtown Indy, which he designed is greatly underrated.


A number of notable courses are just outside a 30 mile radius from downtown Indy, which is my arbitrary cutoff for Indianapolis/Non-Indianapolis courses. The 2 courses at Purdue, the Pfau course at Indiana U, Ross and Dye at French Lick, Rock Hollow (Liddy again) in Peru, and most likely a few others I've not seen yet.


Some previous mentions of Nicklaus' Sagamore course. I've not played it, but it just hosted local qualifying for this year's US Amateur. A friend of mine caddied for his son, who made the cut, and reports it was a demanding course.

[Jim O’Kane]

Canyata is only an hour from the airport.  Has it become part of the Indy discussion?

John,

Have you played it and do you know the folks that run it?
I only became aware of it about 5 years ago. In reading about the history of the place, I believe that the proprietor of the place might have one time been a member of a country club in Arlington Heights, IL, and if that is indeed the case, I looped for this gentleman more than a handful of times back in the late 70's early 80's.

I see that the website lists their construction business, which is located in Wheeling, IL, right next door to AH. So, I always suspected this could be those folks.

Do you know if the owner/family of Canyata might have that connection? Same people? I'm just curious. That's all.

Don't want to hijack this thread, so maybe PM me if you know anything?
I tried reaching out to them via the website a couple of years ago and received no answer. I didn't ask for anything other than just if that was the family and wanted to say hello. I have a lot of fond memories of the thousands of people I caddied for. Some stick out over the 45 years ago for reasons both good and bad. He and his family are of the good variety and were always good to me.