Course Review: Pete Dye Course at French Lick is Dye's Favorite Inland Course

A View of the Clubhouse During the Fall.

   When you think of a Pete Dye Course you think of several courses. They include TPC at Sawgrass, Whistling Straits in Wisconsin (Home of this Years Women's US Open) Crooked Stick, Kiawah Island Golf Resort (Ocean Course and so on). Talking about Pete Dye's courses is like talking about any one of the Beatles immeasurable hits and saying any one of their songs is their best.

Pete Dye is on the Right

   Built in 2006 with a finishing date of 2009, this resort course is available to the public as part of the French Lick Resort in French Lick, Indiana and is a course that must be played if you want to be tested to the zenith of your abilities. Pete Dye still regularly plays the course in his travels and the eighty-six year old Dye still walks his nearly 7,300 yard creation and according to Jan Tellstrom, PGA Head Professional at the course calling it his favorite inland course. Dye, like many world reknown designers has synergized his efforts drawing on his own abilities and adding a splash of Donald Ross (also a course at French Lick), Trent Jones, and Alister MacKenzie. 

     ^{The Pete Dye Course was constructed in the hills above the French Lick Resort and the cost to construct the course is not known but figures ranging from 25 million dollars to 40 let you know that some serious money was invested to bring golf to the public at the resort.} 

   ^{The Dye Course was voted as the newcomer course of the year in 2009 and Indiana's best course in 2011 and the adventure starts when you book as a caddie is required for this venue.  The Big Ten Golf Championships will be held at both this course and The French Lick Resort's sister course called The Donald Ross Course later in April 2012 (25th-27th).}

You have to be Buzzed in to Play the Course and Tee Times are 20 Minutes Apart.

The real Iron Horse is being ridden by my daughter Isabella

^{When arriving, included in your greens fees is your driving range and putting green time and you can take as long as you want. My caddie, Doug "Whitey" Schroeder has a tremendous amount of local knowledge about the course and is as nice as he can be. Listen to what he says because he will save you some shots. The greens roll true here and he invites you to putt up the collection bunkers instead of chip unless you have deft touch.}

     ^{The series of tees plays from 2,611 to 8,102 yards and yes you heard that right. Tellstrom said Dye planned ahead knowing modern technology will test the best golfers as equipment makes advances.}

     ^{Warming up at the course is a smart idea. The first hole plays from 314 to 519 yards but most will play this hole as a 465 yard par four. I am still rusty and played the course from the blues which run 6,701 yards. Dye likes to use plenty of optical illusions to trick you into trying to make a shot that is a poor play or intimidates you to laying up when their is plenty of room to drive or work the ball. Such is the case with the first hole. You are on an elevated tee box overlooking the fairway and it looks like you can whale away but a pond to the left of the fairway guards tee shots throughout the hole. Bunkers on the right side look reachable and they are for really long hitters and make you aim left but Whitey told me not to worry, they are farther than they look. Your smart play is to take the water out of play by going up the right side and when on the green, aiming right at the hole.}   

^{The second hole is what I call the volcano hole.}

End up in the Volcano Bunkers  on Number 2 and a Big Number Could Await.

The 369 yard par four second (from the blues) is one where going right from the tee box will put you in the sand lavas and an impossible up and down for most golfers. The funny thing is my caddy said that playing your tee shot off the left side of the bunkers is a smart play as the landing area really tightens up. Assuming you hit a three wood or an accurate tee shot, a short or even mid-iron of 100-150 yards is a good handle. I dubbed my tee shot and had to do it the hard way which is a poor way to play this hole. The greens on this course are small as it is a trait of Dye and long irons or fairway woods will rarely hold the green and will roll off into a collection bunker. 

The collection bunkers will take balls that do not hold on the green to the bottom with a good 20 foot putt or pitch before making the green leaving this a tough up and down.



Third Hole view from the Green. Going Right is a huge mistake. This is a view from the green so look at the right side of the picture. Thick long grass awaits shots from there.

The eighth green is a par three guarded by bunkers below right and to the left of the hole.

Aim for the American Flag on the 469 Yard Par Four 9th. It will give You a good Angle to the Pin. 

So you want an easy back nine.

   You will not find it here.

     The 378 yard par Four 11th is one where you feel like you can whale away and you can. Pete Dye himself surveyed the course one day and saw where the Golf Channel was televising a tournament on top of the hill to the right and said this would make a good additional tee box. I teed it up from the regular tee box and again on top of the hill and whaled away. While usually this is a good idea for me I made a pretty big fool out of myself here and dubbed the drive. Whitey, my caddy said he drove the green from just over 300 yards as it plays very down hill and said many people have hit a great tee shot here. I goofed up and did not. This is a real feel good hole if there ever was one. This picture does not do justice to how down hill this hole is. Thanks Pete. It's the last time I will thank him for a confidence building hole during this round.   

    Dye's designs are known for distinctive features, including small greens and the use of railroad ties to hold bunkers. His design for the Brickyard Crossing golf course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway utilized the dismantled outer retaining wall from the race track. He is known for designing the "world's most terrifying tee shot". Known as the "Island Green", it is the 17th hole at TPC at Sawgrass located in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Dye's designs have been credited with returning short & medium length par fours to golf.

His 14th hole is a diabolical hole where you can approach the hole from one of two locations and look at the picture and I will explain.  The hole plays as a par five that ranges from 575 to 397 yards and from the blues it is 504 yards into a dead wind. The falloff from the fairway to the left is severe and is to be avoided and if you go to the right you will play twister with the ball high above your feet. With the wind being an 'x' factor, a crushed drive could lose valuable yardage and leaves your second shot with a valuable decision. The decision lies where you can go up the left side of the picture and it will play as a three shot hole but you can cut the hole by a good 75 yards by going in the valley up to the green. The problem is the green is a good 70 feet above the valley and you have no idea if there are collection areas, water or sand bunkers and while I like Pete Dye's course, I don't trust him enough to shoot a totally blind shot. The problem is I pushed it  through the valley and had to hit a pitching wedge up the hill. Between climbing the hill and wondering what awaited me, I was just plain tuckered out. My approach shot landed in a collection area and a pitch and two putt left me with a double bogey.

The real fun is behind the picture with a 150 yard sand bunker that you have to pitch 15 feet in the fairway and carts are allowed into the sand.

Whitey told me that usually he tells golfers to aim at the flag pole a half mile away but the wind kicked itself up to where I aimed well to the left of it. I hit it to the right of where he told me and it kicked off the hill into the sand. Luckily it landed on top of the sand and I took a hybrid out and I usually hit it well. Not today. After two attempts out of the sand and a second shot hit with a sand wedge, I get out and  land where you see the ball in the picture. Finally a good shot puts me about 20 yards to the right of the green and a pitch and one-putt leave me with another double bogey. I usually can play golf but not today.



16 is a par 3 301 yard hole from the Gold or Back Tees. I played it from 183.

     Number 17 is a supurb par four that has many of Dye's twists from a small green, narrow fairways and a depression that runs the length of the right side of the hole. While there is no picture here, the video I will release later has footage of the hole. It does play as a dog leg right and of course has plenty of sand bunkers. Depending on the day you may play dead into the wind or have it in your back.

   The final hole is the grand finale and is one awesome hole. The 18th plays from 657 yards to 447 and from the blues is 589 yards.  The wind was howling at the course this day and my caddie suggested that instead of hitting my tee shot in the direction of the flag pole a half mile away, to hit it to the left of it. Instead I hit it to the right side of the fairway and it landed on the side of the hill and caromed into the sand trap which is 15' below the fairway and runs about 150 yards. My shot laid on top of the sand and I hit a hybrid which I successfully hit in these lies but not today. My second shot landed on the fairway as I hit a lob wedge to take my fourth shot. From there I finally hit a blistering three wood into the fairway about 30 yards in front of the green and a pitch and one putt ended the day. Look at the left side of the picture. It is the opposite side of the trap I hit into. The grass is long and acts as an out of bounds area as pitching.

To learn more about playing The Pete Dye Course at French Lick, click below for the link.

http://www.frenchlick.com/golf/petedye

Here are the ratings of the Top 100 Golf Courses in the US.

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-courses/2011-05/100-greatest-public-golf-courses?currentPage=2

Here's the Skinny... One is the worst and ten is the best (1-10)

Customer Service- 11.0. This course models how to take care of customers. Jan, Dan and the rest of the staff do a great job to let you know you are welcome. They spare no expense to make sure you have an outstanding experience.  It is a nice touch to have several half liters of water placed in your cart and that small gesture is big for golfers who need to wet their whistle on a hot day.
   

Course Markings- 9.5 - Excellent. Between the caddy and the yardage in the cart via satellite it is great. I still like the scorecard to have the bunkers but I am nit picking here. Your caddy can make the experience better than a ten and Whitey was excellent.
Conditions -10 - Course in outstanding shape and the greenskeeper should be commended. 

  When I asked Jan Tellstrom, the head pro which hole is the signature hole at the course he said he asked Pete Dye that very same question and Dye's response is all of them. "They are all great". There isn't a bad hole at the course and they play like a great rock 'n' roll album that doesn't have a bad song on it.
Phone The Pete Dye Course at French Lick at 816-936-5855.