The Donald Ross at French Lick Indiana - It is hosting the 2012 Big 10 Women's Championships

The Atrium inside the West Baden Resort Hotel in French Lick The Resort Rooms face toward the atrium

Getting Ready to Tee off

     French Lick Indiana is a small community that may be down on their luck but it has one outstanding resort community with two and a half golf courses that are among the very best the public can play. Earlier I spoke about The Pete Dye Course but The Donald Ross Course is also one outstanding golfing experience. This course has plenty of history from Al Capone hanging out at the clubhouse with his bootlegging buddies to Walter Hagan winning the 1924 PGA Championship. The women also have a history as the course held the 1959 and 1960 LPGA Championships and the Senior PGA Tour has also stopped there for a visit. In 2005, over 5 million dollars was pumped into the original Donald Ross course and smartly restored to its original design including the small  and diabolical greens bunkering and links style course that gave Ross 11 of Golf Digests Top 100 Courses of all-time.

A Flyover of the entire course is available through animation and is below.
http://www.frenchlick.com/golf/donaldross/history


A view of the 394 yard par four. I would like to credit Dan Perry for many of the course photos



The womens Big Ten Championship will be held the last week of April in 2012 at the course and the men will be at the Pete Dye Course at French Lick hosting the same championship three miles away.
     The 7,000 plus yard course looks tame from the first tee but once you tee off and survey the property and the job you need to do to tame the course you realize that the course is holding the whip and the chair and you must think your way around the links. My tee shot was good and solid into the wind but was knocked down by the wind and drifted to the right side of the fairway. This 394 yard par four from my tees had an elevated green and undulated greens that guarded the pin. Being on the green of a Donald Ross course is no guarantee of success. He was the original designer of Oakland Hills in Bloomfield, Michigan and those greens are wicked on most days and require excellent golfers to play to a certain portion of the green and many golfers cannot. This is especially the case when it is windy as it was on this April day. My second shot landed off the green to the left and a chip was ten feet from the pin and a two-putt gave me an opening five.

The Green is wide but the wind is a big equalizer on the day I
Played the Course

     Skipping my way to the par three fourth hole, Donald Ross is not shy about giving golfers a tough time on his iron tee shots. The hole plays from 194, 210, 228 and 133. I played from 228 yards into the wind and I nearly got out my driver on a par three. The green is wide for a Ross design but with the wind, it is not a sure thing from 228. My tee shot started out toward the right center of the green and kicked into the rough to the right side into the thick first cut. I drove my cart all over the place and never did find it although it should have been an easy find. I did not go back to the tee box but dropped the ball in the bottom of the rough and chipped up to the center of the green. Once again I two-putted and with the penalty earned a five and never hit a bad shot on this hole. 


The fifth Hole plays at 461 yards from the Ross Tees. It is a Risk Reward Hole with fairway bunkers that you have to hit over or lay up short unless you want a sand shot from 200+ yards away.

The green looks wide open but the wind is the big equilizer.

     The sixth is a 210 yard par three from the Ross tees and makes you say what the...... It is up hill and plays into the wind with a very tricky putt. The gulley in front of the tee box is a tee shot that cannot be dubbed. If you do, you are three off the tee. My tee shot went even with the pin but to the left of the green. My pitch was about 12' by the pin and a two-putt left me with a four.

     The 7th is the only par five on the par 35 front nine but at 513 yards it is reachable for some players in two. The fescues in front of the tee box act as a penalty stroke if you go in them. The front bunkers are reachable for long hitters. My tee shot was short and left as my driving was not very good on the front nine. My second shot still left me short of the green by just under 100 yards. It will playdown hill for your second or third shots and the green is not easy. Take your par and get out of here. A birdie is possible and you will earn it here. 



     The eighth hole is my favorite until you get to the final stretch of holes after making the turn. It plays at only 368 yards and a nutted tee shot will go into the long and thick first cut of rough. My advice is to hit a three wood and place it down the middle and then set yourself up for a mid-iron or less before you hit the gulley. A downhill lie hitting to an uphill approach to the green is not a good way to play this hole. The thick grass around the green from all 360 degrees means the green is really at a premium to hit. Ironically, the green slopes steeply from the back to the front. If the pin is in the back you will play a break if you are to the left or right of the flag. If the pin is on the front third of the green, approach shots that go long will leave you putting downhill and have you grabbing a wedge to chip back on as the collar is long on the first cut. The hole has strategy and is no sure thing to par.


The valley slopes severely on the eighth and the trees make the approach shot tight


If you think the Donald Ross Course takes it easy on you in the back nine, you will find out that the front nine was the appetizer for things to come.

The tenth is similar to the first hole and would play an important role in my 18th hole strategy wise.

    The 374 yard tenth hole plays parallel to the first and like the opening hole on the front, it is similar to the first back nine hole.  Like many of the holes, you will find a raised green and an uphill approach shot with sand bunkers and a steep drop off just yards from the green. I whaled on my tee shot and hit it very well but the wind did laugh at me to some extent. I was still on the right side of the fairway with a decent look but with an elevated green I had no idea which part of the green to work the ball and with the 20-30 mph wind it was pointless to try. My approach shot was pulled into some bunkers to the left of the green and I had a good 50’ pitch. I was about 15’ short and a two-putt gave me another bogey on this course. 

     The 11^th hole is a confidence builder as it is the shortest par 4 on the course. You can see the bunkers are looking to collect tee shots on this 345 yard hole. The wind makes any of them possible with a dubbed tee shot but  there is room to work the ball in front of the sand trap in the middle. Look at the slope to the left side of the fairway. Any draws here may filter to the first cut and it is a tough shot from there. The approach is an uphill one but most golfers do not have trouble with casually sloping up hill holes. My drive went to the right of the middle trap and I had an easy uphill knockdown pitch shot and a two-putt gave me a par.

 The 13th hole has a valley a severe uphill climb and sand behind and in front of the greens. You need a three wood or more and has wind. Oh yeah, its a par three.

     Hole number twelve is one where you just want to whale away. The tee shot is one where you have a large landing area before you reach a cluster of bunkers. The carry is not a problem for most golfers but if you hit it short you most likely will be 3 off the tee and the lake will give the 3 for sure. The green does have casual slope so putting on it in regulation is no easy feat.

If your approach shot is off the mark you have three bunkers with deep lies to contend with.The course is tough and really kicks up a gear for the final six holes.  The entire course is a major test of your golf game but now you mostly playing downwind but the real wind comes from your breath as your shot making is being tested. I think many people think that a par three is a place where you can relax for a hole before grinding out the rest of your round. At this course, you have no place to rest and the 13^th hole is a monster. Ben Hogan said famously about The Donald Ross course at Oakland Hills that “I have brought this monster to its knees.” This course cannot really be brought to its knees and the 13^th is really rough. It plays as an uphill hole nearly 230 yards from the Ross tees and over 250 from the medal tees. There is room to hit your shot to the left but the grass is very thick on the first cut and could be a couple of inches depending on where you hit it. There’s room to bail left of the green, and bunkers front and right. I played this hole with a three wood and while the hole should have played downwind, today the wind was swirling and my tee shot ended up in the collection area to the left of the green. The green is huge as a hole should be that has such a long carry and few options if you miss the green to avoid disaster. My tee shot was on the side of the hill and it was uphill and I figured I had a clean shot (and did) but the real problem is negotiating the undulated green and the 90’ I had left to finish the hole including the green and hill. 

Here is the 13^th from the tee box and again from behind the green looking down the valley to the tee box. 

The fourteenth can be summed up by the picture below.

               Got yardage?

     The tee box for the pond is for players playing from the medal tees and perhaps the Ross and I did not shoot over the lake today but you get an idea that you need a long and well placed tee shot for 15^th. The fairway runs at an angle from left to right and goes downhill with well placed fairway bunkers depending on your tee box. This 665 yard par five plays downwind and if you play your tee shot and metal wood correctly, will leave you with a mid to long iron to the green. If not, you can hit your 3 metal wood one more time. Once again, a birdie putt could easily turn into a three putt so hit it firm and follow through.

     Finally, I so waited for the par three sixteenth hole and hoped for a breather. This is not what happened for me as this 151 yard par three has danger everywhere including the green. A sand collar basically surrounds the green and I think there is a frustrated golfer or two buried in the rough both in front of the tee box and to the right. I shanked my tee shot to the rough and looked for my ball and did and found about 7-8 vintage golf balls for my trouble. I then chipped to the green and two-putt and felt lucky to do so. The pin is tucked to the front of the green and two the right. The problem is the green slopes severely from the back to the front and from the left to the right.  
      Anyone who hits it in the tall stuff may not have a shot and I was lucky to have one. A three putt will not put you in the walk of shame but if you have time walk to the back of the green and toward the pin. You might just pick up some G forces.

                                              Check out the severe undulation of the 17^th green.

The 18th Hole from the Tee Box. Some Say that going up ten is preferable and I did but on accident. 

The tenth is similar to the first hole and would play an important role in my 18th hole strategy wise.

The final hole is a dandy and was played very unconventional for me.




Your view from the tee box is to hit it on the right side of the fairway and hit iron and two-putt or make a clutch putt and celebrate at Hagen’s restaurant. But a funny thing happened on the way to the finish. From the picture above it looks impossible to do but I blocked my driver left and hit it into the fairway of the tenth hole. I watched golfers play this hole from the restaurants veranda the previous day and most ended up on the meat of the fairway or in the right rough. Instead, I hit it into the swirling wind and was on the right side of the fairway of the 10^th and decided to drive my cart toward the green to see the flag stick and any other problems I might have. The shot was clear and I had about 230 to go according to the GPS uphill to a blind shot. I nutted the uphill shot. I knew it was a dandy but I thought I was a few degrees to the left of the green and drove to where I thought the ball was. I couldn’t find the ball and my daughter said there is a ball on the green. It was not just on the green but less than three feet away for an eagle. I didn’t play a very good game of golf all day and I finally am the blind squirrel that found a nut. I putted that nut right into the hole for a birdie and boy did that lager taste good.

My caddie at Donald Ross

My second shot from 230 happened to the right of the trees left side in front of the sand trap. 

The Skinny (The scale is from one to 10) with ten being the best.

Amenities- 9- There is not a practice range at the course but there are GPS carts here and are very helpful. The restaurant is one of the finer destinations to go in the French Lick area and the prices are reasonable and there is history at the course. Al Capone used to sit at the bar with his buddies to escape the law many years ago and Walter Hagen drank plenty of scotch here and it’s a safe bet that anywhere you sit is a place he sat. The merchandise is pricey but makes a great souvenir. The yardage books are only $6 and they have plenty of swag to take home from shirts to hats. I wish they had the old fashioned Ben Hogan hats.  

Course Personnel- 11 The personnel randing from Dan to everyone else is excellent and friendly and will bend over to make sure you have a super time. Most likely they have already thought of it or will find a solution to your liking if you have any question.

Conditions- 9.5  The course is immaculately kept. The fairways are wide and look even wider from the tee box but the first cut is thick and is usually not deeper than the cut I experienced but this spring the weather has been an even better version of our March 2012 weather in Michigan and they cut all day long. I did lose a few balls where they should have been found not far off the green and I looked for several minutes.

Pace of Play- 10 Traffic was light when I played and I played at my leisure. The play will pick up with outings and tournaments but your frustration will be light and most likely non existent.

Course Itself-10 Truly an outstanding course that is worthy of a competitive golf tournament and has strategy that will reveal itself even after you play it a dozen or more times. Play the right set of tees and get some confidence before you play the Ross or Medal tees.