Opened in 2020 and designed by Steve Smyers, the Pfau Course at Indiana University is the result of the melding of the University’s former Championship and par three courses. The architect was given free rein and he took full advantage of the property’s topography to create an exciting layout.
Pfau Course at Indiana University
Opened in 2020 and designed by Steve Smyers, the Pfau Course at Indiana University is the result of the melding of the University’s former Championship and par three courses. The architect was given free rein and he took full advantage of the property’s topography to create an exciting layout.
4.5
The Pfau course is difficult but I do think it is fair IF one plays the correct tees for their length off the tee. In fact I would suggest for first-time players playing a set of tees one shorter than one normally plays, before returning to their more normal tees upon return visits. However, even on one’s normal length tees one should likely expect to score 3-6 shots higher than their normal score given the challenges of this golf course.
The course is beautifully routed over a huge amount of land. While certainly possible, it would be very taxing to walk the course given its length and the many rises and falls of the holes. There is not a level hole on this golf course with most rising and falling while several holes have both a dip and a rise.
The course offers reasonable width in nearly all of its fairways but there are definite preferred lines into the greens. The bunkering is well thought out and sculpted. The green surfaces are not overly complex, probably not kept too fast, and fairly easy to read to avoid a three putt. All of this suggests a “fair” golf course. However, adding in the land movement to all of the above and the course is a strenuous test.
I have two comments about conditioning. Several tee boxes were in very poor shape particularly on the back nine. There had recently been a lot of rain but I do not believe that accounts for how bad they were. Additionally tall weeds were near too many of the fairway bunkers and were also noticeable near the edges of some fairways. If the course does not have adequate money for additional maintenance, then they should charge higher fees particularly to non-residents of Indiana. I gladly would have paid more for improved conditioning. The fairways and greens were in good condition even if the green speed was below 10.
The Pfau course is one of the highest rated courses in the USA. Its back tees stretch to 7908 yards rated 80.2/155. Tees go all the way down to 4648 yards rated 64.8/117. In total there are nine sets of tees including three combo tees. I will reference the back tees of 7908 and a blue white combo of 6530 yards rated 73.0/146.
Par 5 - 615/545. From a raised tee you play to a rise which if you clear you can see the green, otherwise the second shot is blind. Trees line both sides of the fairway but the fairway is broad enough. The hole snakes to the right going slightly down then slightly uphill to the green. There are two large bunker complexes on the right of numerous small bunkers and a similar one on the left nearer the green continuing halfway down the left side of this square green. Two squared bunkers are on the right corners. It is a hard starting hole and sets the tone for the course of ”hard.”
Par 4 - 540/434. This hole plays downhill to a fairway quite slanted to the left with some bunkers off the left which is not a feature I like as the bunkers act as a double penalty. The green is set uphill and set off to the left requiring most players to have a forced carry over rough land and multiple fronting bunkers to reach the green. For those taking an extra club to ensure carrying all of the danger in front of the green, they added four bunkers at the rear. Moreover the green is very tilted to the front with a middle spine. One could come in from the right where is a bailout but it is a tough pitch to judge. This is an overly hard golf hole.
Par 3 - 212/182. The hole plays downhill requiring a forced carry to the green with no possibility of a run-on shot due to a large bunker about 15 yards short of the green and two down the entirety of the right and left sides. The green is a near perfect triangle with a steep slant from back to front and also to the left. It is another difficult hole.
Par 4 - 460/392. The tee shot is blind over a rise but longer players can easily carry it and get a lengthy favorable roll-out on the downslope to the green. The fairway is narrower than previous holes. If one does get to the peak of the rise, their second shot will be blind. There are many bunkers on both sides of this fairway. The downhill green is squared with a bunker on the right short of the green and then a bunker wrapping around the front right corner and another wrapping around the left rear corner. The green slopes to the front right. Par is a good score,
Par 4 - 390/344. Finally, a slightly easier hole beginning with a blind uphill tee shot before the fairway goes down to the green. This is a dogleg right with the fairway canted to the left where a small grouping of trees can block an approach shot. The green is tricky with a sizable false front and a banked green from front to back. Going over the green there is a section of short grass but one can easily reach taller grass and possibly a lost ball. Going long could result in an uphill blind shot to a green running away to the front.
Par 4 - 470/369. This is likely the most memorable hole on the front nine. It is also perhaps the hardest hole on the course. From an elevated tee one plays down to a fairway that has a steep tilt to the right and longer hitters can run through the fairway as it shifts to the right. Most players hitting the fairway have to play a forced carry over rougher ground to an uphill green placed on the right although it seems to be left as the fairway snakes back to the left. The smaller green is titled to the front. The green has slight fall-offs on three sides.
Par 3 - 264/182. The hole plays level from the back tee but uphill from the forward tee. The green is very long but thin. There is a 40 yard area of short grass before the green. Bunkers line both sides of this green going deeper on the right side. It is another very difficult hole.
Par 4 - 515/399. You play downhill and will likely get a favorable roll out. There are trees on the left to be avoided but it is the better side to approach the green which sits off to the right above on a plateau. The left side does lengthen the hole but one has a better view of the green. The right side of the fairway can result in one’s tee shot running into trees as well. Additionally the right side brings four bunkers fronting the green into play. Missing the green to the right will see one’s ball tumbling down a slope.
Par 5 - 630/541. Another hard hole follows with the fairway rising most of the way to the green sneaking back to the right on the second shot with the green set even more to the right. The tee shot has to avoid the fairway bunkers on the right yet the left side has thick trees. As you near the green there is a complex of many bunkers on the right beginning about 120 yards from the green continuing to the front.
Par 4 - 386/341. Finally a breather hole to start the back nine. This dogleg left plays slightly uphill from the tee. There are flanking fairway bunkers that narrow the fairway with two others on the right for longer hitters. It is more likely longer players will try to cut the dogleg but tall grass awaits. The green is small and somewhat crowned. I liked the movement in the fairway.
Par 4 - 447/335. This is another dogleg left with tall grasses down the left giving pause to those trying to shorten the hole. Further up on the left are two fairway bunkers likely not in reach for longer hitters. The green is lower after the dogleg and has a tiny right side and is surrounded by short grass while being slightly elevated. Going long results in a potential uneven stance. It is a demanding hole from the back tee but not much from the very short forward tee.
Par 4 - 529/434. There are no fairway bunkers so one can swing away on this gradual downhill hole. However, the fairway is slightly humped so balls will fall off to either side. The only fairway bunker is about 50 yards short of the green placed inside the right side of the fairway. Bunkers surround much of the green particularly on the left side. Having to pitch or chip a ball from the right side near the green can be difficult due to a mound.
Par 5 - 578/500. This hole is a gradual but steady uphill climb with thick trees down the left. The fairway is narrower than most of the holes at Pfau. The hole turns sharply right near the end to a green on slightly higher ground with a false front. There is a front central bunker at the green and one to either side. A bunker on the right about 30 yards short of the green likely gets a lot of balls. There is higher ground surrounding the left and rear of the hole creating a half bowl. This is the easiest par 5 on the course yet par is a good score.
Par 4 - 458/382. This hole is a sharp dogleg right where longer hitters can try to cut a corner that has fronting inner corner bunkers set below the fairway. The right side bunkers continue nearly to the green. A ball hit hard and straight can go too far and run across the fairway into heavy rough. The green is thin with a left side front bunker and a good slope to the front so going over is a difficult recovery.
Par 3 - 247/160. This hole plays uphill with deep fronting bunkers of which one is pressed against the green. There is short grass to the right of the green serving as a bailout area, but if one goes too long right they will reach one of three bunkers off of the right. It is a daunting hole.
Par 4 - 467/406. This fairway is angled to the right but ceases at a section of lower ground and thick rough about 120 yards from the green. Most of the greenside bunkers are off the right where tall trees also provide a hazard.
Par 3 - 192/164. This hole is uphill to a raised green playing longer than the yardage. The front right has a sizable false front. It is the least interesting hole on the course.
Par 4 - 517/386. If one has had a bad day to this point, you are then likely relieved to finally be at the last hole. Yet the course does not let up and this is one of the harder holes on the course. The hole plays as a dogleg right with thick trees off the right and scattered trees down the left. The fairway tumbles downhill before a long area of rough ground and numerous bunkers placed before a green placed higher than the fairway set below a tall ridge. It is a large rectangular green sloping gently to the front. For most players, a bogey is an acceptable score on this hole.
The Pfau course is unique because it was designed to be hard. The scorecard does a nice job at providing the tees one should play based on the length of their tee shot but I believe indexes should be added because most players should play one-two sets of tees shorter than their normal length.
This course is so hard I doubt many want to play it on a regular basis. However, I would recommend people to play it at least once but stress that they should be prepared to have a higher score than normal by 6-8 shots. Players should take it one hole at a time and try to enjoy a par but laugh at anything higher than a bogey.
Pfau does have some conditioning issues with too many weeds and tees that are in very poor shape. Both of these issues should be addressed.
Mark White
Round Information
Standout Holes
#6, #3, #18
Rating Breakdown
Strategy
Green Complexes
Variety
Facilities & Amenities
The latest ranking of the Top 100 Golf Courses in the World serves as the ultimate global golf bucket list. Most members of our World Top 100 Panel are seasoned golfers, each playing 20-30 of these courses annually while travelling extensively over decades to form their opinions on others. We recognise that opinions vary—even among our panel members. Rankings are subjective, and there are undoubtedly 50 or more courses in the UK and USA alone that could easily fit onto this list. Links Golf Pilgrimages The rankings
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Pete Dye Course opens at French Lick Resort 24th April 2009 French Lick Resort in Indiana, complements their existing Donald Ross course with a new Pete Dye course French Lick Resort, located in southern Indiana, announces the new Pete Dye golf course will officially open for play this week on April 24. The new Dye course marks a significant move forward in the golf renaissance that has been taking place at one of the countries leading resort destinations. "We are very excited about the opening of the new Pete Dye course here at French Lick Resort. The course is arguably one of the most exciting inland designs that Pete Dye has ever created with panoramic views in all directions," said Dave Harner, Director of Golf at French Lick Resort. "Pete spent a great deal of time on site creating a visually stunning and challenging layout that will test the skills of not only the greatest golfers in the game, but also players of all levels. He did a wonderful job in laying out a variety of tee markers and angles that will make it playable for everyone." Many already believe that Dye has created one of the most breathtaking and exciting 18 holes of golf in the country. The course was carefully carved on a dramatic hilltop offering a variety of elevation changes, rugged and dramatic terrain, narrow fairways and ever changing bunkers, along with spectacular views from every hole that stretch for over 40 miles. Acknowledging the advances in modern equipment, golf balls and player fitness, Dye has designed a golf course that stretches over 8,100 yards from the professional tees. However, this new creation welcomes all levels of players. With five sets of tees, yardages begin at 5,100 yards from the forward tees. Most players will probably play from 6,100 to 6,600 yards. This new course is already gaining recognition. In 2010, the PGA of America will play its PGA Professional National Championship on the new Pete Dye course. This is expected to be the first of several high profile professional events to be hosted here. The new Dye course showcases many distinct design features, including the newly designed volcano bunkers, as well as stretches of holes on each nine that are vintage Dye. The front nine builds excitement from hole to hole and gets more visually dramatic as the outward nine finishes back up toward the clubhouse with one of the best views on the course. The back nine offers the most dramatic stretch of holes from Nos. 11-14. This culminates with one of the course's signature holes, No. 14. Stretching nearly 600 yards from the back tees, this par five, with a split fairway, escalates from tee to green over a massive grass hollow that will intimidate even the elite players. Complementing the new Pete Dye course at French Lick Resort is the historic Donald Ross course, which has just undergone a $4.6 million restoration project that has brought the course back to Ross's original plans. "We are very excited about showcasing not only this new modern Pete Dye masterpiece, but also our newly restored and historic Donald Ross course, making this truly one of America's must see golf destinations," said Harner. French Lick Resort is now the only resort in the world that combines the classic history of Donald Ross and the modern day design of the legendary Pete Dye. This combination is a spectacular opportunity for golfers to experience two of the best designers who ever shaped beautiful landscapes into golf courses.
US East North Central Division Best in State Rankings 2020 This is the sixth of nine Best in State revisions that we’re currently conducting for the United States so we’re now two thirds of the way through our biennial re-ranking process, having re-appraised thirty-three of the fifty states. In this reworking of the East North Central Division, we take a closer look at the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. Part of the Great Lakes region, these five states cover an area of approximately 300,000 square miles, with a population of around 47 million people. Much of the best golf is concentrated around the cities of Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, Indianapolis and Milwaukee but travel away from these major centres and you’ll come across the likes of Crystal Downs and Sand Valley which are among the finest golfing grounds in the entire country. A total of nineteen courses in this review are listed at the moment in our US Top 100, with eight of these layouts also occupying a position within our World Top 100 chart so this is clearly a geographic area with an exceptional number of great golf courses. In recognition of this, we’ve increased the coverage in these five states by more than 25% so there are now a total of 295 courses listed below. Without further ado then, let’s take a look at how the new numbers stack up, starting in the Prairie State of Illinois, where we’ve added another ten courses to produce a Top 70 chart. Illinois The course at Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, recognized as the first 18-hole layout in America, is still No. 1 in our Illinois listings. Originally designed by C.B. Macdonald then enhanced soon after by Seth Raynor in the 1920s, this layout is a timeless classic that played an important part in the evolution of championship golf in America, hosting early editions of the US Amateur, the US Open and the Ryder Cup. Chicago Golf Club Our correspondent Marc Bender recently commented as follows: “No matter how you analyze your round at Chicago Golf Club, you’d be hard pressed to find a single negative take away from your experience and the course. You’ve undoubtedly just played one of the best courses in the world that has everything to offer and checks every single box for a pure gem; regardless of what boxes you may have on your list of criteria for a great course.” At #21, soaring seventeen places up the chart, the course at Glen View Club is another early tournament venue, hosting the very first Western Open in 1899 before staging both the US Amateur and US Open inside the following five years. Those championships took place on the course that Herbert Tweedie set out for the members, but William Flynn then revised and extended that layout in 1922 to fashion the fairways that are still in play today. Glen View Club The course at Ruth Lake Country Club in Hinsdale is the highest of our new entries, arriving ahead of the others at #35. Founded almost a century ago in 1923, the club engaged William Langford to carve eighteen holes through 160 acres of woodland adjacent to Ruth Lake and its sparkling waters emerge on the back nine. Several architects have modified the layout down the years, with Arthur Hills numbered among them. One of his former design partners, J. Drew Rodgers, completed a bunker renovation program last year, in addition to redesigning the home green of the par three closing hole. Ruth Lake Country Club Rank/ Click the link to see full details of our latest Illinois Best in State rankings Indiana The top three positions in our Indiana standings are unaltered, so the course at Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh retains the No. 1 spot. Designed by Tom Fazio for founder Terry Friedman on the site of an old coal mine, this 18-hole layout first opened for play in the late 1990s, hosting the US Senior Amateur championship in 2006. Victoria National Golf Club Three 5-ball rated reviews in the last twelve months have provided comments such as: “what I admire the most about the course is the uniqueness of each hole. I never got the sense I was playing the same hole… Victoria National is clearly a course one can never forget and clearly belongs in the upper echelons of layouts that Tom Fazio has created… this is a super track, if you can get on you gotta go.” A couple of collegiate courses make a big impact on our revised Indianan rankings, which might surprise a few people who’re unaware of the quality to be found in educational establishments around the country. The highest newcomer at #6 in the updated chart is the Pfau Course at Indiana University in Bloomington, where architect Steve Smyers collaborated with Fuzzy Zoeller, a Hoosier State native and two-time Major winner, to manufacture a new course on a 265-acre tract that previously housed the 18-hole Championship course, a par three layout and a cross country circuit. The $12 million project, which took 2½ years to complete, has resulted in a new course which is far better suited to modern requirements and is capable of hosting top-flight competitions. And, what’s even better, it’s available for public play at reasonable rates. Pfau Course at Indiana University Rising five places to #11, the Pete Dye-designed Kampen course at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette regains all the ground it lost last time around when it fell five spots during our 2018 re-ranking exercise. Described by a reviewer last year as “a fantastic challenge with plenty of width for the high handicapper, yet an extremely difficult test for tournaments” the Kampen course, along with the recently refurbished Ackerman-Allen course, can definitely lay claim to the title “best 36-hole university golf complex” in the whole country. As does Indiana University, the Birck Boilermaker facility also welcomes pay-and-play golfers. Birck Boilermaker Kampen course Click the link to see full details of our latest Indiana Best in State rankings Michigan The top four rungs of the Michigan ladder have been occupied by the same four courses since 2016, so the celebrated Alister MacKenzie/Perry Maxwell layout at Crystal Downs Country Club in Frankfort maintains its No.1 status in the Wolverine State. Tom Doak’s Renaissance Golf Design firm has made numerous little improvements in recent years, ensuring this Golden Age layout stays as relevant now in the modern era as it was nearly a hundred years ago. Crystal Downs Country Club Regular contributor Peter Wood posted these comments a couple of months back: “Crystal Downs CC is a classic MacKenzie course in a beautiful remote setting. The club will rarely host tournaments or be televised. It will likely remain relatively unknown by the masses – but the true believers will know all about it and seek it out. They won’t be disappointed!” The most significant upward move in the new chart is made by the course at Meadowbrook Country Club in Northville, rising seven places to #5. Andy Staples carried out a renovation of this layout to mark the club’s centenary just a couple of years ago, preserving the original Willie Park Junior holes that were first laid out back in 1916 and removing hundreds of trees to improve vistas and assist with on-site agronomy. The results of this work are spectacular, paving the way for a well-deserved leg up in the state listings. Meadowbrook Country Club We included the Black circuit of The Loop at Forest Dunes Golf Club when we re-ranked Michigan two years ago. Now it’s time to introduce the reversible Red course of The Loop as our highest new entry at #15 in an expanded Top 70 state chart. Our US correspondent Fergal O’Leary was here last year and he endorsed our stance of treating the Black and Red as distinct courses by stating: “we have two totally separate, unique courses and they should be treated and rated separately.” He also ended his review by writing: “there’s no doubt visitors will come back here multiple times as the golf and hospitality is as good as you can ever ask for. With time and maturity, the golf course will be a superstar.” Forest Dunes The Loop Red Click the link to see full details of our latest Michigan Best in State rankings Ohio There’s very little movement at the top of our state listings for Ohio. In fact, for the top eight positions, there’s absolutely no chart activity whatsoever. These eight courses stay exactly where they ended up when re-ranked two years ago, meaning Seth Raynor’s mid-1920s design at The Camargo Club in Cincinnati holds onto its No. 1 billing. The Camargo Club Only the other day, another of our frequent contributors, Colin Braithwaite, posted the following: “Camargo is a throwback and a real treat to play. A Raynor design that he never got to see the final product as he passed away before completion. Huge greens and fairways, with no water hazards, not long by today’s standards, but keep in mind it is a par 70… This is a fantastic course. Hard to beat the par 3s.” We’ve added another 25 courses to what used to be a Top 50 for the Buckeye State and the highest of these new entries is the Kendale course at Kenwood Country Club in Cincinnati, making an impressive first appearance at #28. Dating back to the early 1930s when Bill Diddel designed two 18-hole layouts on 500 acres for the club, the Kendale course has just undergone a substantial renovation by Jason Straka, with irrigation lines replaced, bunkers refurbished, fairways widened, trees removed and greens reconstructed. Kenwood Country Club - Kendale course Another course to benefit from an extensive renovation involving the removal of many trees and the replacement of all the bunkers is the Championship layout at Columbus Country Club, climbing nine places to #37. The original 9-hole course at the club was created by Tom Bendelow, with Donald Ross adding another nine in 1914. A number of leading architects then carried out modifications down the years and the latest in that long line to make his mark is Kentucky-based Kevin Hargrave, who’s a long-time close associate of Keith Foster. Columbus Country Club Championship course Click the link to see full details of our latest Ohio Best in State rankings Wisconsin The Straits course at Whistling Straits in Kohler is Wisconsin’s No.1, a position it’s held since we started our Best in State standings. Set out on the western edge of Lake Michigan by Pete Dye in the late 1990s, this track has already hosted three PGA Championships and a US Senior Open. It was also due to stage the latest edition of the Ryder Cup matches a couple of months ago before the current COVID-19 pandemic caused a postponement until next year. Whistling Straits - Straits course Peter Wood sent us another review for this course the week the Ryder Cup was meant to be played here: “Pete Dye took a pancake flat piece of land and imported enough sand and soil to fill an ocean. His aim was to create a championship links course reminiscent of the famous courses on the west coast of Ireland. The finished product is a topsy turvy journey through an endless dunescape littered with bunkers, from deep pot bunkers to wider waste bunkers, some are groomed, some are left to the vagaries of the ever-present wind.” Advancing four spots to #16, the Brute course at the Grand Geneva Resort on Lake Geneva is our biggest climber, returning to where it was positioned after our 2016 chart reappraisals. The other 18-hole layout at the resort – originally called The Briar Patch and now known as The Highlands – is a Pete Dye/Jack Nicklaus co-design that has been much-altered over the last fifty years but the Brute remains largely as it was first laid out by Robert Bruce Harris back in 1968, featuring elevation changes on nearly every hole. Grand Geneva Resort - Brute course The highest of our ten new entries for Wisconsin is The Club at Lac La Belle at #28. Founded in 1896, the club’s first three professionals – Alex Smith, Robert Simpson and Willie Anderson – won a combined total of eight US Open and Western Open titles between 1901 and 1911, so the club is steeped in the early history of the game in the United States. Thirty acres were recently acquired, allowing Craig Haltom to design four new holes and revamp the rest of the course, constructing new greens and clearing thousands of trees during a significant course upgrade. The Club at Lac La Belle We’re eagerly awaiting the arrival of the tentatively titled “Sedge Valley,” Tom Doak’s sub-par 70, 6,000-yard 18-hole course at the Sand Valley Golf Resort in Nekoosa. Both Gil Hanse and Mike DeVries submitted proposals for a new course but it was the Doak design that found approval with owner Mike Keiser, with fairways to be routed close to the existing Sand Valley and Mammoth Dunes layouts. Some are hoping this new course will drive another nail into the coffin of the “distance+difficulty=good” golfing era. Let’s hope so. Click the link to see full details of our latest Wisconsin Best in State rankings Next up: the South Atlantic Division states of Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses
US East North Central Division Best in State Rankings 2018 Our Best in State biennial re-ranking exercise for the United States of America continues unabated, with the revision now focussing on Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. These states reside in the eastern half of the Midwest, within the East North Central division, which is a geographical area that encompasses a large proportion of the Great Lakes region. In this update, we’ve added another ten layouts to both Illinois and Michigan, bringing the total number of courses featured across all five divisional states to two hundred and thirty. Eighteen of these courses also claim a slot within the US Top 100, which gives a fair indication of the strong golfing prowess of this territory. Four of the five charts below are headed by the same course that has topped the state listings since we began compiling Best in State rankings six years ago but one state has a new number 1, with an old Seth Raynor jewel replacing a modern Jack Nicklaus design at the summit… but more on that development later. First of all, we turn to Illinois, the most highly populated of these five states with around thirteen million inhabitants. Illinois The course at Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton remains the number 1 track in the Prairie State. Recognized as the first 18-hole layout in the whole country, this original Charles Blair Macdonald design from 1895 hosted the inaugural US Senior Women’s Open just two weeks ago, an event won by Laura Davies with an incredible winning margin of ten strokes over her nearest rival, Julie Inkster. Template holes abound here, thanks to a redesign by Seth Raynor in the early 1920s, when he introduced the likes of a Redan at the 7th, a Punchbowl at the 12th and a Double Plateau at the 17th. Our International Correspondent David Davies likes this course a lot: “Chicago Golf is one of the all-time great days that exist in golf. The course is laid out across rolling fields and has this very old school feeling, very few trees and tons of width and wide open spaces. As far as I’m concerned CGC gets everything right, from the understated clubhouse to the superb conditioning of the course. They understand what 99% of US golf courses don’t which is that golf is meant to be played in firm and fast conditions.” Near the top of the new chart, the century-old layout at the all-male Old Elm Club in Highland Park jumps an impressive six places to number 6. Described by a reviewer a couple of months ago as “one of the best courses in the Chicago area… an extremely fun course that has the opportunity for players to go low if they manoeuver the greens well,” this layout is thought to be the only Harry Colt and Donald Ross design collaboration, with Ross constructing the course from plans drawn up by Colt back in the day. In 2010, the club commissioned J. Drew Rogers to restore Old Elm, which initially centred on a tree clearance programme to widen playing corridors and open up sight lines. Fairways were subsequently widened and greens returned to their original sizes. Several cross-bunkers were also recovered during the restoration, and in 2013 the club extended focus to include fairway and greenside bunkering. Adam Lawrence, editor of Golf Course Architecture, visited Old Elm during the restoration and commented as follows: “The results are dramatic, with the bunkers now more closely resembling something that Mr Colt himself might have done. I can honestly say that I have NEVER seen a course like Old Elm in the US, and in a description that I gave to several people at the recent ASGCA meeting, I referred to the club as the American equivalent of Swinley Forest or Morfontaine.” Also entering the Top 10 for the first time, the course at Flossmoor Country Club (up seven to number 10) is a Herbert Tweedie design dating back to 1900 which was substantially modified by the club professional Harry Collis when he was at the club between 1905 and 1929, during which time the club hosted the US Women’s Amateur (in 1910), the USPGA Championship (in 1920) and the US Amateur (in 1923). Ray Hearn completed an upgrade in 2008, rebuilding several holes, restoring historic bunkers and removing trees (on the back nine in particular) to open up vistas that were previously blocked. Another two 18-hole layouts each advance six places to just outside the Top 10: the course at the men-only Bob O’Link Golf Club in Highland Park (at number 13) is a 1916 Donald Ross track that was renovated by C. H. Alison eight years after the club’s formation but it’s been altered quite a bit since then, and the Onwentsia Club course in Lake Forest (at number 17), where the quartet of James Foulis, Robert Foulis, H.J. Tweedie and H.J. Whigham, fashioned the layout in the late 19th century with revisions by Tom Doak a hundred years or so after the club's formation.. Host to the US Amateur in 1899 and the US Open in 1906, Onwentsia was recently visited by Paul Rudovski, one of our US contributors, who had this to say about the course:” I loved the layout…wide open with wonderful vistas. Similar to Quaker Ridge and Muirfield, it has nine holes around its circumference surrounding the other nine. The course was superbly firm and fast and in simply perfect condition. Interestingly, there are three pairs of greens so close to each other that they seemed ideal candidates for double greens (#1 and #8, #3 and #6. and #7 and #11). Apparently, this was voted down by the membership due to the fact that Shoreacres, also located in Lake Forest, has several double greens and the members did not want to be seen as “copying” that club.” The highest new entry for the Illinois chart emerges at number 28 and it’s the No.2 course at Medinah Country Club, which many golfers will best remember for hosting the Ryder Cup in 2012 on the No. 3 course. Rees Jones and associate Steve Weisser restored the original Tom Bendelow layout last year, using aerial photographs from 1938 to help establish the exact size and shape of tees, greens and bunkers which were being rebuilt. They also converted the fairways to bentgrass and made storm drainage improvements. Rank/ Click this link to see full details of all courses in our latest Illinois Best in State rankings Indiana Only five courses retain the same position in the Hoosier State chart and one of them is the state number 1, Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh. Located less than half an hour’s drive east of downtown Evansville, this Tom Fazio layout is set within 418 acres of reclaimed mining land, with water coming into play at almost every hole. Venue for the US Senior Men’s Amateur Championship in 2006, the club changed ownership four years later and it now offers on-site accommodation for up to thirty-two visiting guests. With the late-1980s Steve Smyers design at Wolf Run Golf Club in Zionsville closing at the end of last year, it now drops out from the runner-up slot in our 2016 state listings, allowing several courses to make strong upward moves towards the top spot in the new 2018 edition. The first of these is the century-old Donald Ross course at the French Lick Resort (up three to number 3), where Lee Schmidt and Brian Curley embarked on a major restoration project in 2005. Our regular US contributor M. James Ward had this to say about the layout only a few months ago: “The Ross course at French Lick is a most special place and, when combined with the sheer majesty of the overall resort itself, is one every true die-hard golfer had best schedule at some point”. The next strong climber is Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw’s Warren Golf Course at the University of Notre Dame (up five to number 4), which hosted the US Women’s Amateur Public Links Championships in 2010 and it’s now set to become the first collegiate course to hold a US Senior Open Championship when the event is played there next year. Progressing four to number 6, the 18-hole layout at The Fort Golf Resort is one of the best public facilities in the state, re-designed by Pete Dye and Tim Liddy in 1997, with Dye charging a nominal one dollar fee for their services. It’s built on the now peaceful site of the Fort Benjamin Harrison Military Reservation on the outskirts of Indianapolis. One spot adrift at number 7, the 9-hole course at Culver Academies soars thirteen places up the new table. An old William Langford design, it was restored a while back by Bobby Weed who, when he first visited the property, said: ”I felt like I had opened up a barn door and found a vintage Porsche 356 underneath dust and hay.” Click this link to see full details of all courses in our latest Indiana Best in State rankings Michigan The top four slots in the Wolverine State chart remain as they were when we re-ranked two years ago which means Crystal Downs in Frankfort holds onto top billing in the listings. Set out on hilly, wooded terrain between Lake Michigan and Crystal Lake, it’s a demanding course to walk with occasional blind shots to play along the way. Designed by Alister MacKenzie and Perry Maxwell in the late 1920s, the layout features a “series of unconventional but spectacular holes” that “make Crystal Downs a unique challenge”. Renaissance Golf Design has made several improvements here recently, most notably involving the greens on the 2nd, 11th and 13th holes. In Volume 3 of The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses , author Tom Doak (who’s a member at the club) commented: “Like all of Dr. MacKenzie’s work, it makes the absolute most out of the landscape, with bunkers placed to highlight the drama of the terrain and the shots required. It is also one of the most challenging courses I know: though it’s only 6,500 yards, par is 70, the rating almost 74, and the combination of windy days, gnarly native roughs and heavily contoured greens ensure that there are only one or two scores a year below par.” Three Golden Age courses from the mid-1920s make a little headway near the top of the Michigan standings. The Donald Ross-designed course at Franklin Hills Country Club (up two to number 5) lies within a relatively small property to the northwest of Detroit, with little space wasted when setting out the fairways in 1926. The layout was renovated by Ron Pritchard in 2004 and Paul Rudovski played there a short time ago, commenting: “the course was in superb shape, even though it was too green for my taste …but even as green as it was, the turf was very firm, healthy, as reasonably fast with good run out. There’s a wonderful use of the land to reward taking on tee shots with clear views of greens and punish layups unless they are very accurate and well thought out. Typical Ross greens were superb…unless you’re above the hole, and then you’re dead!” Paul also visited another course an hour’s drive north of Franklin, which Wilfred Reid laid out in 1925. The Old course at Indianwood Golf & Country Club (up three to number 7) hosted the US Women’s Open in 1989 and 1994, as well as the US Senior Open in 2012, so it’s still capable of testing elite professional players in the modern era. Paul’s thoughts were: “I loved it. Wide open with very few trees, it is built on a glorious piece of property and was in excellent condition. The course was very wet but played firm. Greens were tough with big slopes from back to front so best not be long on your approaches. Best holes were punch bowls at #4 and #9, long par fours at #12 and #16. A true hidden gem that’s very much worthy of a visit.” The 18-hole layout at Orchard Lake Country Club (up six to number 11) is a C.H Alison course that was built in 1926, when the architect fronted Harry Colt’s Detroit design office. Unfortunately, some of the original design intent had been lost over time so Keith Foster was called in to restore the course to its former Golden Age glory in 2013. The original plan was to rebuild the bunkers (using a synthetic fabric to hold the sand on steep faces) and this work was done, but mounding associated with a previous renovation was also removed, greens were taken back to their original size, then the putting surfaces were re-seeded with Pure Distinction bent grass. Five courses drop out of the old Top 50 and fifteen new courses make an appearance in the new state Top 60 chart. The highest positioned new entry crashes in at number 6 and it’s The Black Loop at Forest Dunes Golf Club in Roscommon. Designed by Tom Doak with Brian Slawnik of Renaissance Golf Design, the layout comprises eighteen sets of tees, fairways and greens that can be played in one direction one day then in the opposite direction the following day. It’s a project the architect had been considering for many years but it just needed the right site and the right client for it to happen. Our Canadian Correspondent Dave Finn visited Forest Dunes Golf Club last year and had this to say: “The Loop has long been a passion of Tom Doak to create the only reversible golf course ever built in North America… It’s hard to fathom that one day you play clockwise where you are approaching a green that is wide and shallow with plenty of bunkers and the next day on the counter clockwise track you are faced with a skinny green with no visible danger. Doak was ingenious in laying out a minimalistic design using expansive fairways, gentle elevation changes and thorny evergreen gorse-like shrubs to re-create a Scottish heathlands-style course.” Click this link to see full details of all courses in our latest Michigan Best in State rankings Ohio Seven courses in the Buckeye State occupy positions in our US Top 100 so, at the top end of the table, that’s a very powerful line-up which is now led by Seth Raynor’s Camargo Club (up 1 to number 1) in Cincinnati. Set out across heavily rolling terrain, the course displays the full range of Raynor replica holes, from an Eden and Alps at holes 5 and 7 to a Biarritz and Short at the 8th and 11th. Pete Dye thinks it has the best set of par three holes in the country, which is certainly high praise for any golfing layout in the United States. In recent times, Tom Doak has rectified bunker work done during a “bad facelift in the 1960s” to return Camargo to its very best. . Our International Correspondent David Davis had this to say when he visited: “Most certainly one of Raynor’s best efforts. This property may well be one of the best suited pieces of land for Raynor’s style, in my opinion… Camargo is a treat for any lover of golf course architecture. Not a repetitive or mundane hole at the place. It’s understandable why it’s known for its par threes as they are indeed fantastic.” Only two other courses inside the Top 10 move upwards and both rise three spots in the new standings. The first one is Moraine Country Club in Dayton (at number 6), where Keith Foster has just completed the restoration of the old Alex “Nipper” Campbell layout, installing new drainage lines, removing nearly two thousand trees, widening fairways and re-establishing bunkers that had been lost over time. The second course is The Country Club in Pepper Pike (at number 7), which our US Consultant Fergal O’Leary says is “the most historic and significant club in this part of the nation” with notable changes in elevation making it “one of the best walks in golf”. Our coverage of courses in Ohio still extends to a Top 50 chart but new data sources have allowed us to refresh the state listings by bringing in no fewer than fourteen newcomers, with the highest placed of those new entries arriving at number 13. Located next door to The Country Club, the course at the Pepper Pike Club shares both the same location and the same architect, William Flynn. The layout opened for play in 1924, six years before its near neighbour was founded, and it’s currently enjoying a makeover by Ian Andrew, who’s working on bunkers and the aboreal inventory on the property. Click this link to see full details of all courses in our latest Ohio Best in State rankings Wisconsin Once again, the Straits course at Whistling Straits is number 1 in the Badger State, a ranking it’s held since we began compiling Best in State listings in 2012. Laid out on the shores of Lake Michigan, this late-1990s Pete Dye design was built for owner Herb Kohler on the site of an old airfield, with many hundreds of thousands of cubic metres of earth and sand moved to fashion the two 18-hole courses that now occupy the site. The Straits course has already hosted three USPGA Championships and a US Senior Open in the twenty years it’s been in operation but, with the greatest of respect to those particular tournaments, it’s finest hour might yet be the arrival of the Ryder Cup matches in 2020. M. James Ward posted this only a few months ago: “Dye’s finished product is meant to replicate the famous dunes lands of Scotland and Ireland. The vistas provided by Lake Michigan are akin to being adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean or Irish Sea when playing across the pond and there are days when the fierceness of the wind – hence the name “whistling” as coined by Kohler – is more than apt… Those who venture to play The Straits” had best move up one tee box because the course does not suffer fools gladly.” Two of the four new chart entries hurtle into the state standings in very prominent positions and they’re both 18-hole layouts which have just been unveiled at Mike Keiser’s Sand Valley Golf Resort near Nekoosa. The Sand Valley course (new at number 3) opened in 2017 and it’s a Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw layout that uses fescue grasses for the tees and fairways, with bentgrass putting surfaces. The fairways are beautifully routed around a totally natural landscape which is easy to walk and there’s already a competent caddie program in place to assist visiting golfers. A recent reviewer feels the co-designers have “once again shown a gifted touch in allowing the land to be the true story – not forcing man’s hand upon it” and his advice is “if you see yourself as a core golfer who embraces classical golf elements then make plans to get there soon”. The Mammoth Dunes course (new at number 4) opened only two months ago and already this David McLay Kidd design is attracting rave reviews from those who have played the brand new layout. Wide, rumbustious fairways and huge, heaving greens characterize a distinctive course that has been built with the main aim of bringing fun back into the game. First time visitors will be taken aback by the sheer scale of the course as it winds its way around and over massive sand hills and, with every hole isolated, the feeling of solitude and escape is one that many will want to experience again and again with repeat plays. Click this link to see full details of all courses in our latest Wisconsin Best in State rankings We’re always happy to hear what you think about our re-ranking process so feel free to let us know your opinion of our five newly updated US Best in State charts. Which courses have we overlooked or maybe there’s one or two that really shouldn’t be listed? Perhaps a particular layout sits too high or lies too low in the listings? Whatever your thoughts are, please click the “Respond to this article” link at the top or at the bottom of this page if you’d like to contact us. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses
