The Pete Dye Course at French Lick

The verdict

The Pete Dye Course at French Lick is a course built to take your breath away, in every sense. Dye routed it across the highest ground in the region, a ridge in the Hoosier hills with views that run for 40 miles on a clear day, and opened it in 2009 as the modern centerpiece of a resort whose golf history stretches back a century. From the back tees it can reach around 8,102 yards, among the longest courses in the country, but the scale is matched by the drama: tumbling, immaculate fairways, intimidating drops, and the bold contours and hazards that mark Dye's work at its most ambitious.

For the traveling golfer, this is one of the great public golf experiences in the Midwest, both a serious championship test and a destination round in its own right. Multiple tees make it playable for any handicap while the tips defend par fiercely, and it quickly earned national acclaim, hosting the Senior PGA Championship, the Senior LPGA Championship and the Big Ten Championships. Paired with the resort's classic Donald Ross course and its grand historic hotels, it is the headline of a southern Indiana golf trip, and the natural complement to Dye's championship home at Crooked Stick near Indianapolis.

The holes worth the trip

The Pete Dye Course is a study in scale and nerve. Routed along and across a high ridge, it uses the dramatic Hoosier terrain to spectacular effect, with elevated tees that hang over the valley, fairways that tumble and turn, and approaches that play to greens perched on the edge of the world. The views are a genuine part of the experience, the 40-mile vistas a constant companion, but they are also a distraction from the demands of a course that, from the back, is one of the most exacting in the country. Choosing the right tee here is the difference between a memorable round and a brutal one.

Dye's familiar tools are everywhere, the bold bunkering, the strategic water, the contoured greens that punish a careless approach, but the defining feature is the land itself and the way he draped the course over it. Uneven lies are constant, distance control is complicated by the elevation changes, and the wind on the exposed ridge can turn a comfortable approach into a guessing game. It rewards the player who manages the round, picks conservative lines when the terrain demands it, and takes on the hazards only when the reward justifies the risk.

What makes the Pete Dye Course special is its sense of occasion, a championship-grade test set on some of the most spectacular golfing ground in the Midwest, and open to anyone willing to make the journey. It is a strategic, scenic epic that flatters smart course management and humbles the reckless, and a bucket-list round for any traveling golfer. For a southern Indiana trip, it is the headline, with Dye's Crooked Stick and Fazio's Victoria National rounding out the state's best.

Where to stay nearby

The obvious base is French Lick Resort itself, whose two grand historic hotels, the West Baden Springs Hotel and the French Lick Springs Hotel, are destinations in their own right and put the golf, spa and dining all within one stay. Booking a stay-and-play package is the most rewarding way to play the Pete Dye Course, pairing it with the resort's classic Donald Ross course over a couple of nights.

For a wider trip, the resort sits within reach of Louisville to the south and Indianapolis to the north, opening up the rest of Indiana's best golf. Build the round into a Pete Dye tour with his championship home at Crooked Stick near Indianapolis, and add Tom Fazio's dramatic Victoria National near Evansville for a complete Indiana itinerary.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts around French Lick and southern Indiana.