Pete Dye Course at French Lick

The verdict

Late in his career, Pete Dye was handed a wooded hilltop called Mount Airie above the twin spa towns of French Lick and West Baden Springs, and he produced one of the most theatrical resort courses in America. Opened in June 2009, the course rides the ridgetops rather than the valleys, so nearly every hole plays against a horizon of rolling Hoosier National Forest, and the fairways narrow to mown ribbons pinched between exposed rock, native grasses and Dye's signature volcano bunkers. The card says par 72; the tips say 8,102 yards, a number printed mostly to make a point, and the point lands.

Played from a sensible set of tees, this is a big, bold and surprisingly fair examination: generous landing zones that look terrifying from the tee, greens defended by drop offs rather than water, and a forecaddie in every group to keep the round moving and the lines honest. The pedigree is real, with the 2015 Senior PGA Championship among the professional events the course has hosted. Pair it with the resort's restored Donald Ross course down the hill and you have one of the best two course resort weekends in the Midwest, in the same conversation as Erin Hills and the Blackwolf Run River course a state north.

The holes worth the trip

The drama here is cumulative rather than concentrated in one postcard hole. Dye routed the course along the rim of the property so that the long views arrive again and again: tee shots launched at distant ridgelines, greens set on promontories with the land falling away behind, and almost nothing flat between the first tee and the last green. On a clear day the sightlines reach roughly 40 miles, which is not a number many inland American courses can print.

The architecture underneath the scenery is classic late Dye. Fairways sit up on shelves with shaved banks feeding misses into deep swales, the volcano bunkers, conical mounds with sand craters at the top, look like nothing else in the region, and the green complexes reward a controlled flighted approach over a full send. The par 3s swing dramatically in length depending on the tees, so check the card and pick the set that lets you hit mid irons, not hybrids, into these greens.

And the length deserves respect rather than fear. At 8,102 yards the tips exist for long drive contests and tour pros; members of the traveling public play it at anywhere from the low 5,000s to around 7,000 yards, where the course is demanding, walkable with a caddie's help, and genuinely fun. The forecaddie, required with every group, is the difference between a hard day and a great one.

Where to stay nearby

The golf is half the reason to come; the hotels are the other half. French Lick Resort runs two historic properties, the French Lick Springs Hotel and the astonishing domed West Baden Springs Hotel, both restored at vast expense and connected to the golf by resort shuttle. West Baden's atrium is worth the trip on its own, and staying on property unlocks golf packages that soften the rack rate considerably.

Build the trip as two rounds minimum: the Dye course on the hill and the 1917 Donald Ross course, a Midwest classic that hosted the 1924 PGA Championship, in the valley. Golfers chaining a bigger Midwest swing toward Sand Valley, Lawsonia Links and the Kohler courses should see our Wisconsin golf hub and our ranking of the best stay and play resorts in the United States.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts near French Lick.