The oldest course in the French Lick area is the Green Acres Golf Course which was designed by Bob Leonard and opened in 1967. The longest course is French Lick Resort, which is 8,102 yards. French Lick Resort is rated the best course near French Lick. The following courses have won various awards: Sultan's Run Golf Club. Golf has been played at French Lick ever since the Tom Bendelow Valley course was unveiled in 1907. A fine Donald Ross layout appeared in 1917 – becoming the site of Walter Hagen’s victory in the PGA Championship seven years later – and so these two courses served the area for almost ninety years until 2005 when the French Lick Springs and West Baden Springs hotels were amalgamated to. Want to plan a trip to French Lick Resort? In this episode, Brendan Sweeney, director of golf media relations and player development at French Lick Resort, joins the show. Nestled among the hills of the Hoosier National Forest resides this classic American destination. Sultan’s Run Golf Club, located 30 minutes away in Jasper, adds yet another championship course to the world-class offerings at French Lick Resort. Play the Ross, Dye and Sultan's Run, all part of a great golf getaway. French Lick Casino and The Valley Links Course at French Lick are open to the public. Dining venues in hotels are open to resort guests only. By state mandate, masks are required at all indoor resort venues.

If you are seeking a getaway to a resort that combines memories of yesteryear with the amenities of today, choose the French Lick Resort in the adjacent towns of French Lick and West Baden, Indiana. It’s fair to say that the French Lick Resort, which includes the French Lick Springs Hotel (443 rooms) and the West Baden Springs Hotel (243 rooms), truly rivals what is offered at, say, the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, which proclaims itself as ‘America’s Resort.’ When you enter the French Lick Springs Hotel or the West Baden Springs Hotel, both lobbies exude ‘old world charm’ from the Roarin’ ‘20s. The West Baden Springs Hotel, featuring its massive free-span dome that was once the largest in the world, is so magnificent that it once earned this hotel the designation as the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World.’

French Lick Casino Restaurant

The French Lick Resort was built in the early 1900s and quickly established itself as one of America’s premier destinations. In its early days, French Lick and West Baden were a destination playground for the rich and famous.

THE FRENCH LICK COMEBACK: A FACELIFT

Like many business ventures, the French Lick Resort was unable to keep up with the changing times and business suffered in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The French Lick Resort had lost its luster and the ‘bloom was off the rose,’ so to speak. But, that just meant the French Lick Resort was poised for a comeback. Enter successful medical professional and entrepreneur Bill Cook from nearby Bloomington. His Cook Group oversaw the infusion of enough funds to resuscitate this resort that had fallen on hard times. The property was literally falling apart. The West Baden Springs Hotel was in such bad shape that it once appeared on the National Trust’s list of 11 Most Endangered Historic Properties in the United States. But not for long.

Restoration efforts on both hotels started in 1996. After a decade of work and nearly $600 million, the French Lick Resort opened its doors to visiting tourists and businesses from around the world. Business has been brisk ever since.
The total restoration of this destination has been dubbed the “Save of the Century.” That may be an understatement!

The recreational appeal of the French Lick Springs Resort is now on par with resort competition around the country. It includes an indoor and outdoor pool, a six-lane bowling alley, bicycle rentals, horseback riding, and a 27,000-square foot spa. The area also boasts 5.5 miles of hiking trails and a 9-mile mountain biking trail.

FORE! — A FRENCH LICK TRADITION

Today, golfers are spoiled at the French Lick Resort, as there are two world-class 18-hole championship golf courses in this small southern Indiana town — The Donald Ross Course (originally named the Hill Course, opened in 1917) and The Pete Dye Course (opened in 2009). There’s also a nine-hole course – the Valley Links Course, designed by Tom Bendelow. As the names on the 18-hole layout suggest, both courses are named after their respective architects. It’s worth noting that the French Lick Resort is the only resort in the world which boats a classic Donald Ross design and a more modern Pete Dye layout. And, it’s only resort with two golf courses designed by two hall of fame architects.

The Donald Ross Course is one of two public golf courses in Indiana which were designed by Ross. In recent years, the Ross Course in French Lick has been renovated, courtesy of a $4.6 million investment. It has now been restored to Ross’s original plans, which are brilliant. Many of the greens have false fronts, which are accentuated by the back-to-front slope of the greens. When you play this course, check out the configuration of the 8th green. It’s in the shape of a square, as many greens were, back in the day. After playing this course, you can understand why the 1924 PGA Championship was held here. It’s a true test of anybody’s ability to play golf. By the way, Walter Hagen won that year’s event, defeating England’s Jim Barnes, 2 up, in the final.

It’s worth noting what took place during the 1924 PGA. When the official photo was taken of that year’s field of contestants, both Barnes and Hagen appeared in the group photo twice – on both the left and right side of the picture. And, this was not accomplished with Photo Shop! Truth be told, Barnes and Hagen were able to run from one side of the group photo to the other as they were able to outrace the slow-moving camera used to capture the image of the 1924 field.

That picture hangs on the wall of the clubhouse at the Donald Ross Course. By the way, the restaurant at the Ross Course is now called Hagen’s Club House Restaurant. Would that restaurant, which serves delicious breaded tenderloin sandwiches, now be called Barnes’ if the tall Englishman had prevailed back in 1924?

The bar at Hagen’s has an interesting story. According to Brendan Sweeney, the director of golf media relations for the French Lick Resort, the bar is actually from the Chicago stockyards and was shipped down when the bar area at Hagen’s was built. On that bar, you will see a message that was carved into the wood by former gangster Al Capone.

Besides that 1924 PGA, the Ross Course has hosted many high-profile golf events such as the 1922 Indiana Open, 1958 French Lick Open (LPGA), 1959 and 1960 LPGA Championship, 1983 Senior Open Championship, 2012 and 2013 Women’s Big Ten Championship, among others.

The Dye Course, which includes three man-made lakes, was built on top of the surrounding hills. Many powerful adjectives have been used to describe the Dye Course — breathtaking, dramatic, exciting, and spectacular, to name a few. The clubhouse on the Dye course is the old Taggart mansion. This hilltop peak is Mt. Airie — 972 feet high and roughly 450 feet above the town of French Lick.

When you arrive at the clubhouse, it’s Indiana’s second highest elevation point, but it probably has the best view of any vantage point in the Midwest. It’s Indiana’s own ‘Rocky Mountain High’ – a 360-degree view of southern Indiana and the surrounding Hoosier National Forest. From many parts of this golf course, you can see 30-40 miles in every direction. When Dye built this course, he wanted to give golfers a panoramic view of southern Indiana. He succeeded.

After playing golf at the Dye Course, don’t rush away. Instead, have a bite to eat at The Mansion at the Pete Dye Course, where you can continue to enjoy the hill-top and birds-eye views of southern Indiana.

“As I built the golf course, I tried to get the tees, the fairways, and the greens in position that they have these long views over the valleys and hills,” stated Dye. “A lot of southern Indiana is natural forest, a lot of it is

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