Golf Giveaway!

Yeah, we know things have not been normal this year.

Most everybody has had some kind of trip, golf or not, cancelled or delayed (well, except Brooksie) this year. Our intention was to have a bunch of golf to give away, so that you could be playing golf all over the Indianapolis area. Well, you’re playing golf in huge numbers, but not everyone has been willing to drive to do it.

But now, even though masks are required in the state, travel is opening up a bit. To that effect, we have some individual rounds (6) to give away to Coyote Crossing Golf Club in West Lafayette, thanks to the Pro, Brett, and the Indy Golf Expo.

All you need to do is follow any of our "golfindy" social media and subscribe to our newsletter. Drawing will be Sunday night.

Course Review - Lucas Oil Golf Club

Took the drive down to Lucas Oil GC, way down in English, IN. Drive is about 2.5hrs. We’re coming back in July for a golf trip, so we wanted to take a peek.

I’m not the club historian, so I’ll be paraphrasing some; local legend Forrest Lucas (just guess his company’s name?) bought formerly called Old English CC and kinda saved it. He’s put money into it since, Michael Hurdzan has design credit and get this, they have Bermuda grass tees and fairways. In Indiana. But, yah, it works.

The course has been re-worked some, and the front 9 is a little gonzo: it crosses the street a few times, goes under a bridge and over a few more. Good chance you get lost once unless you’re following someone. All the newer holes are still kinda growing up, the rough is pretty rough, and you can lose a ball in it easily. The Bermuda was still waking up in mid-May, so I expect it to be better in July when we come back. Tee boxes were mostly level, but did have some weak spots/growth. The fairways were in pretty good shape (like I said, still waking up some). The bunkers didn’t have rakes (thank you shutdown) but we popped a few out to test them, and they were in good shape, sugary sand. Greens were very consistent, but with recent rain, they played grainy and a little hard to figure out.

The front Nine starts with a par5 around the lake, and with a decent tee ball, you can turn the corner and should have a good look for a 3rd shot approach. The second is a solid par3 up the hill and an early standout. Holes Five and Six are a tough 1-2punch, Five being a long-ish par3 and Six an ever-tightening par5 with a nasty slick green (gonzo moment on this hole is a ball being lost thru the roof of old rotting shed and having no idea how to get to next tee box, bridge was out). Eight and Nine are short and gettable par4s.

The back Nine seems less re-worked and much more hilly. The Tenth is a nice open hole and you’ll get a look at the Course’s rental homes on the right. They have 2 homes, with capacity for up to 20. The webpage has more info. From there, you bounce up and back across a ridge a few times. The Twelfth hole will probably eat your lunch, but just hit one out right of the trees, nothing too long and you’ll be fine. Fourteen is a par3 bomb down the hill to a big green with all kinds of slope; I suggest you go play the back tee, the view is sweet. Seventeen is the number one handicap and it’s a demanding 220yd tee shot (or so) with a beach-towel-sized landing area. Your approach has to cover a big holler to a tilted green. Good luck! The finisher Eighteenth is a great elevated tee shot, we all bombed our tee balls over the trees and had a great look into the green (no eagles were realized today my friends).

Coming back this July, we’re going to play a LOT of golf out there over 3 days, and I’m sure we’ll get to know ball placement and the greens much better. I enjoyed it and if you want to take a drive, see something new, the Luke is a fun, quirky course in a nice setting.

First hole, par 5

Par 5 sixth hole claims another victim

Eleventh hole, par 3

THe back tee of the par 3 fourteenth hole… you need to drive up and use it!

Par 4, fifteenth hole - see a roasted 5w above!

Project 300

If you’re here, I hope you’re also reading about my Par Project in this blog too. Alongside that item, I’m adding another with this post: Project 300.

What would it take for this 47yr old with a high 90s swing speed to routinely hit 300yd drives? I think we know a few things. I need to get my swing up to 110mph or more (speed training). I need to hit the middle of the clubface (lessons). I need the right launch angle and spin (Trackman, equipment changes). Then I need to do all of these simultaneously at a pretty high level each swing.

I’m trying to shoot par from 7,000 yards in The Par Project; I might not get there. I’ve got this as a separate project because even if I come up short (see what I did there?) hitting longer tee balls will help my game. My stats prove that (GIR from shorter distances, scoring averages on shorter holes, etc.) Getting scoring clubs in my hands earlier will work at any length of course.

I read a good article on golfwrx.com about high performing hitters, see it here. I read this not long after we were getting wind of Phil Mickelson’s swing speed gains by doing overspeed training. This all got me thinking about how I might be able to pair some changes in my fitness alongside some swing speed training and start really moving it out there.

I started working on my explosive strength, adding things like this and this. I’m not doing all of this stuff, but adding a lot of them into my normal routine. I use a ketttlebell based workout and am a bit fanatical about the benefits. It’s a challenge to get going with kettlebells because most people are pretty weak in hip flexion, hamstrings and pelvic-floor & core; I sure was when I started. But after getting over those first few weeks of pain (Honey, can you help me pull these socks on?), I have had much more resilience in both everyday movement and athletics (haven’t had chiropractic adjustment on my back since - like 10yrs no kidding). The core kettlebell movements are well suited to help your golf swing: stable core, strong base, hip flexors. On the southside, you can join one of the best KB gyms in the country here.

I also decided to get overspeed training going too; but’s let’s be clear, this guy is a cheapskate sometimes. I wasn’t prepared to shell out the 2 bills required for the SuperSpeed training system. Instead I went jailbreak and made my own: see the video here. I used my old driver shaft and went to Home Depot and got everything needed for just under 17$. Sweet! There are several protocols listed on YouTube and this does include multiple reviews of the SS programs. My intent is to ramp-up speed training each month and hit a maintenance level by golf season or so.

If you’re still reading, you might be wondering about keeping the machine oiled, so to speak. Mobility is the name. I follow MoveU on Instagram and YouTube and you should too. As in: everyone on the planet should make an effort to have better flexion and mobility. I’ve listened to a lot of podcasts lately (on my work commute) and a glaring item in healthy individuals who make it to their 90s and beyond is keeping their balance. You do that by keeping your flexion and keeping your core strong. So that’s what I’m gonna do for my kids and for my golf game. That and MoveU doesn’t take themselves too seriously, so it’s fun to watch.

I’ll try to post updates 1-2x a month alongside updates to The Par Project. Whoooosh!

You need 80%, 90% and 105% of your current driver’s weight.

Get ready for bombs.

The Par Project - Stat day

Did I say that I’d do a monthly update? Well, ahem….I’m back!

There is some value to waiting on stats until after the year ended. We had pretty good weather down the stetch in Indy and I played a fair amount right through the end of December. This allowed me to use The Grint and scrub out my stats for the year. I can tell you a LOT about my game via these stats, but I sincerely doubt that blog would be very fun to read. I do however have some highlights worth noting, and this kind of thinking can inform us all about tracking stats.

A note about tracking: I use the Grint Pro Membership to track my game for every round (right now I track fairways hit, putts, penalty areas; I may add club selection/distance tech this year). I find it pretty damned informative and you will too. My partner here at GolfIndy uses Arccos and that might be something I look into. Anyway you look at it, you can find something to help you see your data.

On to my “highlights.”

An easy one to spot is my average-over-par on the front 9 - I am 9% better on the back side. I am a full shot over-par on Hole 1, both for the year and last 20 rounds. So easy stat-driven change? I need to re-evaluate using the range to warm up. I hardly ever do and have always thought I was loose enough (I played recently, go with warm-up swings, etc). I think that plan is dead; gotta get there early and hit some.

Next up: Scoring avg. by hole par. My par3 stat is 3.7, par4 is 4.9 and par5s is 5.8 (wonder why my handy went up…sigh). There is a glimmer of hope though, as my 10 best improve: par3 - 3.6, par4 - 4.6 and par5 - 5.6. That’s something; more informative though is clearly not taking advantage of par5s. I can occasionally hit them in 2 and almost always have less than a hundred yds if I’m hitting a third. I need to keep it in play and give myself a chance because…

My GiR stats combined are a paltry 29.2% - this goes slightly up on par5s to 35.5%. But I highlight this because my par3 stats show promise: for 150-175yds my GIR is 29.7% (sounds familiar) - but on 125-150yds it goes up a whopping 76% to 52.5% - so this means with a good lie (on a tee or nice level teeing area) my ability to GIR at that shorter approach distance is a scoring opportunity I need to maximize.

You should know I made it a focus of mine late in 2018 that I wanted to pick a better line of the tee for my driver; alongside this I started tracking my “fairways hit” stat as those that caught a first cut (easily playable). I think my tee game is pretty good. Something I did probably mid-year 2019 was to change my approach game; my battery died on my laser so I just stopped using it and instead went with middle off the green numbers. As in: just hit the damn green! As the year went on from there, my stats did improve. This moved all GIR up about 34% - that’s an 18% improvement and clearly something I will keep in my plans. (I do love the laser fyi, great to learn your true distances, and for when you need to measure to something other than the flag.)

Digging into my stats is pretty revealing; if you take a dive in you’ll see some gaps too. My focus for The Par Project is going to about getting off to a good start and hitting greens in regulation. If I can get my average putts to the 28-31 range from there, good scores are a result.

Slow and sloppy starts!

My best scores show promise

Hitting greens = scoring!!

Let’s get close to the hole buddy

The Par Project

This site is 2 guys, with day jobs, kids and other activities. It’s not easy to find time to do something fun like this with so many things pulling at you. But it is fun and we enjoy getting stuff out to you.

I play about 1x a week on average; I’m an 11.4 handicap right now (was as low as 7.7 last year - sigh); I’m 47, in fairly good shape, I can hit the ball pretty well, and I’m the best putter you’ve ever seen. Sometimes anyway.

Lately I’ve been stewing on a few ideas for the next year and this blog is the kickoff for one of them. I’m been thinking about what would it take for me to shoot even par on 18 holes from 7,000 yards. I think the obvious thing is find the fairway, hit the green and putt well. Plus recover from missed fairways at an above average rate, chip the ball close from off the green, avoid three putts and don’t let hazards and penalties kill your round. Sounds easy right?!

I’ve come up with a multi-tier approach to solving this challenge. First off, I will need to properly assess where I am today. Thankfully, I have been using the The Grint pretty religiously since about 2015, and I have a lot of data thanks to their Pro Version. Use the link and see for yourself; and try not to laugh at my GIR stats. But I’m likely gonna need more info, so I’ll be partnering with a local pro, with access to Trackman, to fill out a) where I am…and b) how I progress with help. Roughly speaking, if I’m not playing too hard of a course (course rating) and I’m playing off say a 4-5 handicap, I can have a hot day and likely sneak my way into a round of even par.

But keep in mind I’ve targeted a set of tees at 7,000 yards, so I won’t have a lot of margin for error. Not only will I need lessons, I will need to manage my game better. This game management tier is building out a) my practice routines and b) building up my mental game too. Reading about high school, college and professional coaches, you will see a few common themes: practice real-life situations and practice with pressure. The more you can replicate the game you’ll play, the tougher you’ll be when you face it down. We know this, we read this, but how can we actually do it? I won’t have 4 hours a day to grind on this; I’m going to have to find a way to maximize my practice, building confidence in shorter sessions to address my challenge areas. Very closely tied to this is the mental game; how can I get sharper focus and make better decisions on the course? The mental game is where I think real a breakthrough can occur. I’m learning much more about mindfulness and meditation these days than I would have ever guessed. I think we’ve all heard about the allegories between life and golf: hold on loosely, don’t let go; trying harder sometimes makes you worse; breathe; negative thoughts can do major damage. On and on it goes. So I’ve been working for while on “me” and I can see serious correlations to my golf game too.

The next tier will lend itself to another project, but is still relevant here too: my fitness. Adding in extra reps, delivering in pressure situations, managing fatigue down the stretch. These all get a boost from being fit. I’ll be continuing my base strength with kettlebell workouts here on the southside of Indy, but I’ll also be focusing on my flexibility. I’m subscribing to an Insta called MoveU and I think everyone on the planet should be doing something similar. We all have some hitches in our giddy-up, to use a phrase. This site focuses on helping you rebuild the blocks to keep you moving. You’ve probably heard sports-folk talk about things moving “up/down the chain” and they’re talking about your bad ankle feeding your bad knee which is making your hip tight and shortening your backswing. Get it? I can do a better job of assembling my blocks too.

Thru the winter months I’ll post an update every month; when spring rolls around I will kick that up to every 2 weeks (along with reviews of courses, partners, etc). There’s gonna be some nerdy stuff like stats, exercise programs, that kind thing. I hope it will be fun and I hope you get something out of it for your game and life too.

I’ll have more info from my Grint page later - it’s pretty telling stuff about my game.

Victoria Natty - one of Indiana’s Best

A few weeks back, we did some coverage for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals at Victoria National in Newburgh (near Evansville), and I REALLY liked the course. I’ve been kinda daydreaming about a round there, always scheming for a hook-up. I actually had one last year but couldn’t go due to a 50th birthday party in Florida. I was supposed to meet up with Patrick Koenig as he continued his whirlwind tour of America in the RGV last year; with a somewhat fluid timetable he landed his sled in Indiana the week I had to leave and I anointed a buddy to take my place. It still stings.

The course looks like it was created by giant sandbox toys, as the fairways seem scooped out of the wooly hills that flank the sides of many holes. Throw in about 6 or 7 lake crossings and you’re starting to see how unique the property is. Tom Fazio built the course in an old strip mine area in 1996 and the place is sublime, routinely identified as Indiana’s best course. While not the hilliest of areas, the course has some bumps and swales to create great views and greens tucked into coves and corners. I walked the entire course during our coverage and the attached video captures some of the charm.

I was surprised to see the lighted putting green on the back nine that sits adjacent to the Club’s condos; they do offer stay-and-play options (the Club’s site has more info). I spent some time in the clubhouse, but didn’t get around much beyond the press area. Accommodations and amenities there looked great. From Indy, it’s about a 2.5 hour drive down the new I-69 extension and your GPS will act as if you’ve driven off the planet (and don’t count on a lot of exits or amenities near the interstate either).

I’m hoping to go back and get that round in soon. I won’t lie, if I do I’m gonna gloat and fawn all over the place.

Cantigny Golf - Wheaton, IL

I got out to Cantigny Golf last month for some client golf (the best kind, not on my dime). It was a warm and windy one out in the West ‘burbs and we had a good time. I played pretty damn bad on the front 9, but did finally get it somewhat together on the back.

Cantigny routinely makes the “best of’ lists for IL, and while I wasn’t really wowed by the place, it was in pretty solid condition, and there are enough good holes out there to help you past a few ho-hum ones. Roger Packard/Andy North designed 27 holes out there in the 80s and the facilities are run by Kemper Sports. They tout the visit as one of those “country club for a day” expeiences and mostly deliver. Bag drop, forecaddies available, GPS on the carts, club wash at the end, plenty of amenities. Like I said, a pretty good time can be had. We played the Hillside/Lakeside nines; cost was $120 per player.

Lakeside #2 is a gettable par5 with a good tee shot (you work around the lake on the right side), lots of green grass everywhere and a fairly accessible green; there's a lot of greenside bunkers out here, so plan for that. The sand was just ok; I found a few of them to be getting thin and/or wet for some reason. Only logical reason was overwatering, it’d been pretty dry the previous days. Lakeside #3 is a great hole, a tight tee shot par4 with an elevated and guarded green. A note on the greens, pretty consistent (a strength) but very hard to get right. A lot of putts look like they’ll break and just don’t and we never got really comfortable. It’s the kind of thing that will wear on you, so by the end of the day, my putter was in a dark place…so sad! Lakeside finishes with a great par4, the tee shot using some misdirection, pointing you a bit askew from your landing area, with water lurking right, and a bunkered green. See the video.

Hillside was our second nine, and the two pair together fairly well. Number one is a good opener for the nine, with a nice dogleg right, ideally set up for a cut tee ball. I hit the green and…3 slapped for bogey. They have a few really big greens and that’s another level of defense for sure. The stretch from Hillside #6 thru #8 was my favorite. The sixth hole opens the video and is a placement tee shot, then over the water to a masssive double green complex; we were dead into the fan, so hitting that bunker complex off the tee and still hitting the green felt like a hero shot. Hillside #7 is a great par5, with a well-framed tee shot to a rumply fairway; the green is guarded by a false-front and bunker trouble right (surprise!) and I managed par from just off the front in 2. The eighth is a long-ish par3, with the green a bit elevated, mounds to the right, with another big green.

Overall I liked the place even if I started so poorly (it can be hard to be a “review guy” when you’re playing, even more so when you’re jacking the ball all over the place). Tons of green grass, a lot of bunkers to negotiate, pretty solid tee boxes (in need of a little work) and the greens were consistent all the way around. I’m not convinced the course is worth the full freight we paid, but keep in mind it was Chicagoland, so there’s a differential ain’t there? I would much more like the place if it was $80-90, that just sounds about right. They have three nines, ample facilities, and a very large practice area; everyone was quite nice. If you’re looking for something out west in Chicagoland, they definitely are in the running.

Korn Ferry Finals part 2, debrief @golfVNGC

Sorry I didn’t get to a second update on Sunday - I ran out of storage on my Dropbox and couldn’t get my pictures moved over….total rookie move.

The back nine at Victoria Natty is pretty damn solid too; even bigger rookie move was my deciding to go inside for a while to cool off, write a post, grab some water, because this led me to miss Purdue-grad Tyler Duncan going into what-can-only-be-called The Zone and shooting a total of 6-under to earn his PGA card. Really solid stuff. We also got to see Indiana guy Chris Baker earn his card too, making the journey from Journeyman to PGATour player after 8 years; both of these guys deservedly got some press for the achievement and it will be cool to see how they do this season.

The back nine has more of those great carved out of rolling terrain holes, but even wilder by a few degrees. I like all the holes, but looking at 14 through 18, the closing stretch is pretty sick and looks both crazy hard and fun. Fourteen might be one of the coolest looking holes out there; the tee shot is tricky, with a big grass bowl short left of the green. Take a look at the pix below, these are #nofilter shots and came out looking awesome, just like the course. I’m dying to play out here!

In the end, a masterful Tom Lewis pretty-well torched the place, taking advantage of wet conditions and lift-clean-place to shoot 23-under.

Korn Ferry Finals - Sunday @golfVNGC

A quick update from a muggy and kinda breezy day at the Korn Ferry Tour finals in lovely Newburgh, IN and the even lovelier Victoria National Golf Club.

It’s a bit hard to capture the fluidity with the top 25, especially the bubbly boys. I spend some time watching Purdue grad Tyler Duncan see if he can make a move; he’ll have to go low out here on the back.

First observations, this is a big boy ballpark. The fairways are immaculate rows of green that look as if they we’re created by a giant ice cream scooper from a wild and wooly terrain. I’m gonna go out on a limb, it’s really easy to lose golf balls our here if you’re not one of the top 200 players in the world. Views from the tee are freezing sweet and the greens are a nice mix of big ones and little ones, bunkers strategically framing the place. Gotta figure out how to get a tee time (and maybe get some of our loyal followers out here too?).

Take a look at these pics from the front 9.

Adjacent to the fairway, a holler you can get lost in…

Huge green on six

Golf Trip - The Region

Because one golf trip a year ain’t enough, we rocked another one this past weekend up in The Region - we stayed (and golfed) in Merrillville, played 36 in Valpo and hit Demotte on the way home Sunday.

I wrote about playing Innsbrook CC in Merrillville last year for GolfAdvisor, so click here for more. As a recap, its a 100yr old private course designed by William Langford with six par5s, six par4s and six par3s. It’s in great shape and features some tricky-ass greens and brutes in the par4 category - all those par3s left some “extra” yardage and it adds up. We had lunch in the clubhouse, aptly named Langfords and had great weather. If you get an invite, GO.

Next up was 36 at The Course at Aberdeen in Valparaiso. This a Michael Hurdzan course with a cool routing, somewhat through a neighborhood and somewhat around ponds/woods/shires. My favorite hole was #12, a short par4 calling for a precise tee shot to a fairly guarded fairway. We worked with the course and got a group rate and had ton of fun. Food choices were a bit limited on site, but the cart girls were on point keeping us refreshed. The Homeowner’s Association recently purchased the club and have made strides in repairing some of the neglect that had befell the course. Conditions were pretty solid, some of the tee boxes were beat up and a few spots had been overwatered, but overall it was good.

Our Championship round was at one of my favorite courses in the state, Sandy Pines GC in Demotte (my GA review here). They’re doing something right in this place and it’s always a busy scene between the golf, the restaurant and the Hall they have for rent. The course opens up right on top of the clubhouse (almost) so you can have some fun heckling your buddies. The par5 second is one of my favorite in the state. It’s a wonderful place, and seems very much like a Florida course. The place is always in great shape and I think it’s just quirky enough to keep your attention. We played the back tees, some of which are new, and I think this showcases the course at it’s best (some of the landing areas are better). Eat at the restaurant it’s really good (specials, lots of choices).

We paid $47 plus $15 for a re-buy at Aberdeen and paid $68 at Sandy Pines. We stayed at Home2Suites in Merrillville and it was nice (relatively new); double occupancy at a group rate of $150 per night. They have breakfast in the morning and we played some poker downstairs in the dining area. We ate dinners out at Bar Louie and Hooters, both nearby. We played a Stableford Scoring for our championship and it’s a good way to keep it fun (can’t do worse than double bogey so pick it up); it allows for the flights to be a little closer in competition without having go through the hassle of handicapping everyone and building scorecards, etc. We also kept current with everyone on the course by using The Grint’s Live Leaderboard - easy to set-up and cool to check on other players (sorry I forgot to screenshot it).

Stay tuned to GolfIndy.info for more on trips you can take too; we’re going to show off some itineraries for you to check out.

Golf Trip - Island Hills Golf Club, MI

I take a few golf trips each year and one of my usual groups made a venue change this year and it was a solid success.

The Island Hills Golf Club near Centreville, MI is a Ray Hearn design, who’s done a lot of courses in Michigan. The club recently added some condos to kick up their Stay-and-Plan options and it’s a great fit. They have 3 units on the property, with multiple rooms, and each rooom is ensuite with 2 beds. They have full kitchens, most of the tableware and cooking items you need, plus seating areas inside/outside, and a gas grill. And poker can be played to the wee hours.

We stayed Sunday through Wednesday and played a stroke play round each day (for the flighted championships) and a gambling/scramble/fun round on Monday and Tuesday afternoon. I was golfed out by Wednesday (this chassis ain’t in his 30s no more).

The course is solid and proved to be a good test. Tee boxes were mostly level, consistent; the fairways and greens were well maintained, grassed well. Bunkers were on average in good condition. The heather was pretty varied, which adds to the challenges out there. Sometimes you caught a break and played away, while other times it gobbled golf balls like a machine. A little more on that later. I’d put Island Hills in good company as compared to Indy area courses; think of Plum Creek, Eagle Creek and Hickory Stick; overall pretty solid.

Something great about a golf trip to one course is getting to know a place in a hurry. By Monday afternoon, we knew how to get around there.

The club has a nice range and practice green adjacent to the first tee. The front nine kicks off with a stock par 4 with a tee box that kinda points you in the right direction…”kinda” being the operative word. Course knowledge out here is all about the tee balls and getting things going on the right line. IHGC isn’t overly long, and with a good game you can score out there, but it’s really set-up off the tee.

The second hole is an easy bogey trap (or worse) so keep your tee shot to the right or risk being blocked out by the trees. The front nine par 5s are scoring chances, not overly long. I like the sixth hole par 5, with some quirky items in your landing area and heather the whole left side of the hole. The par 4 eighth hole will confound you, I promise. My thoughts is to pound a tee ball past the trees with driver, but I only pulled this off once successfully because it’s a tight shot. The ninth is one of the better holes on the property, picturesque.

I scored better on the back nine almost everyday. Eleven and Sixteen are driveable par 4s, but the better play is keeping the ball left and in play. Unless the wind is helping, you should do the same! The stretch of thirteen-fifteen is my favorite on the course with a longer par 4 on the thirteenth, a par 5 behind that, and a tough driving hole on the fifteenth (hello bunkers). The closing stretch is fun too, with the drop shot par 3 seventeenth hole and the picturesque par 5 eighteenth. On eighteen I suggest you try to murder one left of the bunkers and catch the hill with a draw; that leaves a short shot to the green (which has some serious slope on it). We saw eagles and eights. Fun stuff (risk/reward)!

FIELD NOTES

The staff was great in all ways; 16 of us paid about 450$ per person (double occupancy) and weather was HOT. We only had a bit of rain to contend with. Centreville is the closest town, and there’s not a ton of dining options. But we enjoyed The Local and Roosters restaurants nearby. We also grilled burgers, brats and chicken and just chilled on-site. With a Sunday thru Wed stay, we didn’t have a lot of traffic to deal with, they did have league on Tue night, but it wasn’t a big deal. The putting green is faster than the actual greens, and we all kinda struggled to get the speed right on course. The heather was the real defense out there; the landing areas are pretty big, but the tee box placement does tempt you into trouble. You’ll find a lot of golf balls while looking for yours. We are giving serious thoughts to going back next year. The drive from Indy is about 3.5 hours, so not a nightmare. I was sore, tanned like a touring pro and ready for my own bed by Wed. I lost at golf but gambled well!

The 18th green can yield some low numbers - or some some big ones

Wicked golf-sock tan lines are not required (17th hole)

Color up, lads

These idiots can play hungover. Sorta.

A few quick reviews…Kampen, Prairie View

Just wanted to drop a few notes about some recent rounds I played.

First off, I played an outing at Prairie View on a gorgeous day. I had played there in late fall last year, so this was much greener and in-shape. A Robert Trent Jones Jr. design (only one in Indiana) it routinely makes the “best of” lists. I do enjoy playing here, more-so now that I know how to play a few of the holes better. It can be a little pricey, so I prefer playing with a discount. The first hole eases you into the round well, a short-ish par 4; the stretch from 6 through 9 is solid, with hole 9 a tough finish to the front. The back starts with my least favorite hole, only because there’s nothing creative about it: hit to the corner or you’re toast. Boring. But the rest of the back is better; my favorites are the shortish 16th and the great tee shot on 17. The closing 18th is a gettable par 5 with a good tee shot. Conditions are usually solid: mostly level tees, consistent greens (if a little boring) and their practice facilities are some of the best you can find. The pic at the top of this page is the par 3 sixth hole and one of my favorite par 3s in the area.

Up next was a round at the Kampen Course at Purdue. I’ve written about this place before (see my GolfAdvisor review here). Let me say this again: the is Pete Dye at his wiliest, with misdirection off the tee and strategy needed all over the place. Experience helps out here and I finally had a decent round (nothing shocking, but not ass-kicked, I now-hate-golf mad driving home). It’s always in good shape and they just updated their twilight pricing, so it’s more affordable than ever. I love all the par 5s out here and holes like 7 and 8 are fun scoring chances if you don’t goof up your tee shot. The home stretch from 16 - 18 is a great way to close out your day, and perhaps blow up your scorecard. Biggest item out here is to choose the right tee box; they have the ability to tip the course out and mortals like me can’t even dream of teeeing off from those tees back yonder (hole 9 is a great example, take a walk back there). This course is highly regarded on a national scale and for good reason. Take the drive to enjoy it. I would even consider the double shot of Kampen and the renovated Ackerman to be a day almost unmatched in Indiana Golf.

The 17th hole tee shot at prairie view is risk/reward and tons of fun

Accidentally St. Louis

I had been planning a trip to Sweetens Cove in Tennessee for months… After contacting the course, I was thrilled to learn I could lug my travel trailer down there and set-up camp in their parking lot for the weekend. (For Free!) Booking their $100 for all-day-play for Saturday, we had the makings of a cheap weekend filled with awesome golf. It was perfect.

Then spring showers decided THEY would camp at Sweetens, not us. Friday arrived and we had to call an audible. Memphis maybe? Go to Wisconsin?? Looking to the West, the weather was tracking to be 20 degrees warmer and sunny. St. Louis was only 3.5 hours away. That kinda freed up some time to get set-up Friday night somewhere, get home earlier on Sunday. So the die was cast, the call was made. We scrapped Sweetens.

We didn’t do ourselves bad though; we found some fantastic golf and we kept within earshot of our original pricing. Accidentally St. Louis was a great way to spend the weekend.

Our first round was at Pevely Farms in Eureka, MO, just southwest of downtown. An Arthur Hills course, with rolling hills everywhere and zoysia fairways, it was top-notch golf experience. I’ve played A. Hills’ courses before, and a theme I expected was dog-legs/blind landing areas. This was a little different. There are really very few flat spots out there, and this lends itself to a ton of great looking elevations on your tee ball or your approach shots. I love hill golf, even if it doesn’t love me back all the time. We played the blues (with a few stops to the black tees to see a better looking tee shot) and it was a solid test. The drivable par-4 third hole is a fun test and the par-3 fifth hole was stout at 185 yds into the wind.

The par-5 twelfth is a wonderful hole wandering down the hill and around the bend to a tucked green. The par-4 thirteenth is a great position hole with the remnants of a stone bridge deftly left on the course by Hill.

We played just down the road for our next 18 at Aberdeen Golf Club which is a Gary Kern course on markedly different ground than our morning round. Both courses are influenced by the Meramec River, this course being the bottom ground much closer to the water. When you roll around the bend from Pevely, you are kinda struck by how open and barren it seems. There are only about 10 trees in play around the course and you can immediately recognize the scottish-links styling. It was a fun gearshift from the hills; the wind was a bigger influence as you might expect. They have zoysia fairways here too, but the vibe is more about the ground game. This was April golf, and they’d had rain for days before, so we lamented not seeing this place in its later-season glory, bouncy and drier like something British. (That would be better for sure). There are shared greens, some sod-faced bunkers and some local knowledge will help you steer tee shots better. It was a fun romp. The par-5 sixth stands out for fun, strategy and can offer a birdie chance. Both nines finish well, as nine and eighteen share a green and skirt the same lake, both tee boxes guarded by an ancient sycamore tree standing by like a sentry. Neat touch.

Our trip was capped Sunday morning with a round at Annbriar Golf Course near Waterloo, IL. The course routinely gets accolades from Golf Advisor and Golf Digest. It’s a Michael Hurdzan design and in many ways, it’s a stunner. Not as hilly (outright anyway) as the ground for Pevely, but by moving around some ground, the course does a great job of weaving around the mounding and elevation. The front 9 has a bit more muted feel, as the holes march thru mounds. The stretch of 6-7-8 is solid, with the brute par-4 eighth asking a for a deep tee ball and long approach, Par is a good score. This all sets you up for the dramatic back nine. Starting with the eleventh (clearly one of those holes the architect just “found”) as it’s a gorgeous tee shot down to a fairway the swoops to the right with the creek. This kicks off a stretch of holes that move back and forth across chasms and elevation changes. We played more than a few back tees here too so we could take it all in. Annbriar reminds me a bit of The Fort in Indy, but it’s better and I’d play it a ton if it was nearby.

We were whipped by the time we wrapped 18 on Annbriar. Including the “emergency 9” we did at Aberdeen the day before, we were north of 50 holes of golf in 36 hours. Factor in way too many cigars and booze, it being only April, and you have a recipe for tired men who kinda dreaded driving home for three hours. Oh well, it was worth it. We made some great memories and can firmly attest that SLU has first-class golf chops, so bring your clubs next time you go.

FIELD NOTES: I was breaking in my new irons, Mizuno JPX tour/forged combo set. They rock. We camped north of Highland, IL, off I-70 and ate dinner in town Friday. Pevely was $70 and Aberdeen was $40, so the switch to St. Louis had only bumped us about $10 from Sweetens. Annbriar was a steal at $40, which was what we were going to spend at Sewanee if we had kept the TN trip. All the courses had zoysia, which I love; they were still a little dormant, but they played fine. All the greens were bumpy and hard to get figured out; it added a bit to our scores. They had had a lot of rain, so I have to give the courses the benefit of the doubt because they were battling. One item that seems worth noting was the rough at Annbriar. It was U.S Open penal, punch-out and hope rough; it bordered on unfair. I hope they mow it closer when it’s drier. Otherwise, you better be keeping it on the short stuff because I got my ass kicked more than few times when I didn’t. That course is too good in every other aspect to need or use rough like that. My opinion. Aberdeen stacks back-to-back Par 5s on the front nine and it’s a horrible idea. We waited 20 minutes; they need to make one a par 4 by shortening it and get play moving.

pevely - #13 Stone bridge hole

pevely - a closer look a the bridge

pevely - the par-5 ninth with the first tee on the right

aberdeen - the sycamore stands on guard

aberdeen - lot of open spaces and zoysia

annbriar - picturesque early and often

annbriar - eighteenth hole back to the house

annbriar - one of many valleys to hit over on the back

annbriar - #11 as good a hole as you’ll play

annbriar - that bunker on the right looks fun

annbriar - well i got out

Visit to Sub 70 Golf

I am in the throes of redoing major portions of my golf bag (new driver, new irons) and found Sub 70 Golf earlier this year when they officially “launched”. I personally was in the market for a combo set and had my heart pretty well set on Mizunos; I reached out to the guys to see if they could help (even though it was the eleventh hour for my decision) and they hadn’t rolled the combos out yet. I was a little bummed, but still, they had some great looking wedges too. With a business trip to Chicago the other day I decided to bolt-on a visit to Sycamore, IL to see the shop and get my wedges ordered.

Sub 70 is a golf company built by golf guys, for golf guys - BUT without the big-ole’ mark-up. Jason has been in the club components business for 20 years and online retail for 10 plus years too (see Hurricane Golf) so they had the connections it takes to get into production. They all play golf, and fairly well, so they were looking to build stuff they would like to buy. I think they nailed it; one major challenge is the perception of start-ups/direct-to-consumer brands. No, this isn’t the Oberholser X Wedge or two-sided chipper or wedgewoods or any of those infomercial driven items. This is legit badass golf stuff and they work had to take care of the details - customized, personal and fast. They are clearly aware of the direct-to-consumer stigma (getting less so these days) and decided the time was right to get into production. They spent a lot of time testing equipment, prototypes, etc. before it hit my social media feed to check them out. They have a great demo feature too; use your specs to have them build a demo club, make a deposit alongside a 20$ charge and you can test the club versus your current gear. Easy.

After Jay showed me around, I got my wedges ordered at my specs: 2deg upright, 1/2” over std, with KBS C-taper Lite shafts (an upgrade), in 52deg and 56deg in their raw unfinished - both clubs for $218, delivered. You flat out can’t beat that for what I got. Preliminary report (an outing and 2 rounds of golf): they are freeking sweet is what they are. I am still adjusting to all the juice these things are creating, so daddy is expecting the ball to stop cold and occasionally back up now. Nice.

They have a full line of clubs available and you’re going to do a double-take when you see the prices and what you’ll get. They had clubs in a recent test by MyGolfSpy and they did solid work (beating a bunch of big OEMs along the way). I can’t speak for everything they make, I didn’t get that hot and heavy in their hitting bay to try it all. I can tell you this though: every club in my bag is a candidate to be replaced by a Sub 70 product. My 3w, Hybrid and putter are all a few years old and I’d be a fool if I didn’t give these guys a crack at replacing them (I’m told Calcaveccia is reppin’ some Sub 70 these days). Stay tuned to golfindy.info, I think we might be hearing more from them.

Look at those sexy beasts

This illicited a happy dance from me

July is the month of Golf

If you’re reading this blog, then you’ve been thru this year’s Spring from Hell (as far as golf goes). I bought new clubs in April and have only just this week played golf in wind less than 5-mph and NOT been greeted by water-logged fairways and blown-out bunkers. I still don’t know how far they carry versus my old set.

But all that noise withstanding, the Month of July is the best golf month for most of us; Kids’ are out of school still, the weather is usually good for golf, and if you’re lucky, there’s a golf trip in your future too. One more item I think really kicks things off: the 3 weeks of PGA golf in the British Isles with the Irish, Scottish and British Opens in consecutive weeks.

I’ve never been overseas to the Home of Golf to play; not yet anyway, that trip is on the docket for 2022 (my 50th, ahem!). But I love the links golf anyway. I love that it’s much more about creativity (the ground game, blind shots, pot bunkers, wind, weather, etc). It’s a complete crapshoot on which course you’re going to get. The links courses are really constructed differently than most of what we see here in the States, and it’s immmediately obvious that the tight fescue greens and fairways can roll for days. You gotta be Down with the Brown over there and it’s magical.

Another fun item is the time change - you can roll out of bed at 4am and score live golf; SWEET! This week’s Irish Open is at Lahinch, the Scotty is at The Renaissance Club (a Doak design) and then back to Ireland for the British Open at Royal Portrush. All great tracks, and worth your time. Throw in a field including a bunch of US PGA Tour players alongside some wild names you might not see often: well you can hand me a beer and some peanuts I’m watching all day, baby.

Get out there and play some golf, we’re halfway through the season!

An interview with Ted Bishop

I had the distinct pleasure to meet with Ted Bishop one Friday at his Legends of Indiana course in Franklin and it was a great conversation. Ted was more generous with his time than I deserved and we spoke freely for more than an hour (easily 30 minutes more than I planned). We covered a lot of ground and what follows are some excerpts as we discussed what he’s doing now, what he’s seeing in Indiana golf and some ideas for the future too.

I didn’t see any need to rehash a lot of ancient history with Ted; if you haven’t looked into his book, Unfriended, I would encourage you to pick up a copy or download. It tells his story better than anything I’m going to do.

HOW DID YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH THE GAME?

I got a job working at a golf course in Logansport; it was just a job, I didn’t even play golf that first season. I was a into baseball and basketball then. But I ended up being there for 5 summers, each year taking on more responsibilities. When I got to Purdue I eventually switched my major to Turf Management; I thought I was going to just be a course superintendent. My first job offer was at the Phil Harris Golf Course, but it went beyond the super role and included more of the “pro role” - so I had to learn the pro side (and pass my PAT). But I had to earn it from there too - as a “non-member Head Pro” back then it took me a few years to get enough credit to join the PGA. Then I spent 17 years there before I came up here to Franklin to build The Legends.

WHAT’S YOUR ROLE IN THE INDIANA PGA NOW?

The Section has been great, involving me in their special events, etc. and I’ve enjoyed it. But I’ve just perhaps done something that may be one of the more important things I’ve ever done. We recently hosted boys’ and girls’ IHSAA tournaments and witnessed 35 boys take 6 hours to play and the girls sectional take almost 6.5 hours. It’s been this gradual deterioration in pace of play. So I reached to Tim Finchem and Mike Davis, and Amy Saunders (Arnold Palmers’ daughter); the idea being that we can do something about it. Mike Davis was very supportive, pledging support and asked us to start local as a test-run. So we started getting leadership connected at the IHSAA, the head of Indiana PGA, the head of Indiana High School Golf Coaches Assoc. and others and formed a task force. We took 18 months and came up with the roll-out of a 20 minute instructional video on pace of play, focusing on things like Preparedness and Proper Etiquette. It’s now required viewing for coaches and players, alongside a second item which is Mandatory Rules Meetings for coaches (helping with rulings on-course, etc). And a 3rd item that being implemented is a “double par” maximum in IHSAA events to eliminate unneeded time. We did backtesting too, and enacting this rule had no impact on who advanced as a team or won as an individual. The 4th item is supplying locations around Indiana without a working “Pro and Instructional Handbook“ on hosting golf tournaments more effectively. We’re getting traction from other surrounding states too, so we feel like an impact is being made.

I’D SAY THIS BUILDS FASTER PLAY ORGANICALLY.

I can’t see a kid who plays a 6-hour round getting to adulthood thinking they’d want to go do THAT again. So hopefully we can keep them in the game.

I LIKE TO WATCH COLLEGE GOLF - PACE THERE IS HORRENDOUS.

Absolutely - and we’re hoping this will continue to grow.

WHAT BIG TAKEAWAYS DID YOU TAKE FROM THE RECENT INDIANA PGA SECTION MEETINGS?

We elected Kat Benson as a Section Officer, which is a big deal for us to see women advance in a male-dominated profession; so along with other Board Members we now have more women in leadership than ever before. Weather has made things tough - you need good days. But something that seems strange is we haven’t seen the contraction in the number of golf courses.

THERE’S BEEN A LOT OF COURSES KINDA HANGING AROUND.

A lot of these courses are in really close proximity to others; the competition hasn’t really changed even though it was so over-built in the 90s.

WE’RE SEEING COURSES FAIL THEN GET BOUGHT OUT OF RECEIVERSHIP; WHY WOULD SOMEONE THINK THEY CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN IN A SATURATED MARKET?

The major thing is they’re buying the properties at cents on the dollar for what it cost to build. At the end of the day, their debt service is a fraction than the original owners. But there are still operation challenges; chemicals, taxes, payroll.

WHAT CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE ANNIVERSARY MEMBERSHIP YOUR COURSE ROLLED OUT IN 2018?

I got a book unsolicited in the mail one day called Golf the Untapped Market: Why the Professionals are Failing to Grow the Game in Nov. 2017 by Chuck Thompson. It felt insulting. But on a trip to Florida later I opened it and COULDN’T PUT IT DOWN. It was an honest assessment; we had seen something similar at the PGA level (from consultants) but nothing had addressed how to get the “casual golfer” to come out more. “Casual Golfer” is sometimes misleading; casual doesn’t mean they can’t play, don’t understand the rules or know how to take care of your course. They’re just “casual” because they’re playing less than 14 rounds of golf because they’re busy. What Thompson said in the book was to offer the casual golfer an affordable membership to get them there (the course effectively a loss leader) and they will enjoy the experience differently than the avid golfer. He nailed it; it dramatically altered our business model, almost immediately. We played 8000 rounds in our first May and June after the program started; and it put us where our volume needs to be with 27 holes.

HAS THERE BEEN ANY DOWNSIDE TO THIS SPIKE IN GROWTH?

We had some early glitches in scheduling (website); we got some feedback about pace of play, course conditions (players not cleaning up after themselves). So we’ve identified the major culprits that affect the course conditions; and we’ve also taken the step to empower our rangers to monitor player behavior. This includes tracking which players are the repeat offenders and warning them; if persistent, a second warning is a letter from me explaining their failure to adhere to good etiquette and that we expect them to comply or risk loss of playing privileges. I hope it never gets to that; I am more hopeful that word gets out the we take care of our course here.

I THINK EMPOWERING THE RANGERS IS HUGE.

We have a fairly intensive bit of training for our rangers on “par time” for holes and how to monitor a group in relation to other groups. We’re going to add a rolling clock behind the counter that is providing an actual pace of play for the course that day (and will update throughout the day), so as you check-in, you will have a good feel for what you’re in for.

I FEEL LIKE THERE ARE A LOT OF COURSES THAT ARE SPENDING TOO MUCH MONEY ON THE WRONG THINGS; MOWING TOO MUCH OUT-OF-THE-WAY AREAS, OVERWATERING, ETC.

I won’t say you’re wrong; 2/3rds of the public courses don’t have the revenue to spend on maintenance they should. One thing that helped us was The Anniverary Membership created more volume, more revenue for us to mow fairways more, tend bunkers more. I do see them (others) mowing more than they should, to a point. You can have things like fescue too long in the wrong places and it slows down play. There’s a few people that are putting too much water out there. But they kind of have to do it with the American version of a green course.

I LOVE WHAT PINEHURST DID TO NUBMER 2 - LESS WATERING, ALLOWING MORE OF THE BROWN LOOK.

I’ve been fortunate to play a lot of golf in Scotland, England, on some of the most famous courses in the world. And while I liked it, I knew that the conditions they have over there would never work in the States. If I did that, I’d be out of business.

WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO GET THE INDIANAPOLIS AREA A PERMANENT STOP FOR THE PGA TOUR?

When I was the President, we worked to get the PGA Championship back to Crooked Stick; with the way the demands have changed, they no longer had the infrastructure to do it again. Indy has always been very supportive for any event we’ve hosted. But it takes a sponsor, someone to want the event in Indy, for their clients. And there’s been some changes to the PGA Tour schedule, condensing and getting more competitive for those spots. The BMW Championship is well supported and the Tour likes it here. We also have the LPGA event -Indy Women in Tech in September at the Brickyard. The LPGA has always been great about finding a good market that is ready to support them.

WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON THE NEW RULES?

I like them; I like the pace of play push. I’ve been a proponent of bifurcation for a long time. I have been maybe the loudest voice against the ban on the achored putter, including all the USGA meetings. They had their own view.

SOME SPEED ROUND STUFF:

FAV HOLE AT LEGENDS? #4 on Middle Nine

TIGER OR JACK? Jack

PEBBLE OR AUGUSTA? Augusta

PRACTICE PUTT STROKE OR JUST GO? Just go

COURSE KIND OF UNDER THE RADAR? Hulman Links in Terre Haute was always one I liked

COURSE THAT SHOULD NEVER GET ANOTHER MAJOR? Chambers Bay (I disagreed! But we had a good conversation about it)

COURSE THAT DESREVES ONE BUT NEVER GETS ONE? Pine Valley

U.S. Senior Open preview

I had the chance in May to visit the Warren Course at ND and join the U.S. Senior Open preview. Weather was (wait for it…) - Rainy. But it held off long enough for us to get a look at the course, and happy to report it drains very well; the staff described how through the years, many feet of sand have been added to the property and it seemed to work. If you’re attending, you will see that they re-routed the course for the championship (and by the way, you SHOULD play there sometime if not, we only have one Coore and Crenshaw design in IN). What was normally the sixteenth, near the clubhouse is now number one; they’ve converted the par 5 tenth to a par 4 and it’s now number four, etc. The greens were immaculate and the rough was dense, if not quite long enough yet (they’re targeting 3 inches or more in the wayward areas). There’s plenty of heather in play, and with almost 2 months between my visit and the tournament, I expect it to be pretty penal. At the press conference, USGA pledged to get the course “firm and fast” and unless we continue with this year’s monsoon season, they should get their wish. The field looks great with some big-time names like Davis Love, Bernhard Langer, Scott McCarron and some local flavor like Chris Smith from Peru, IN; Indiana University Alumnus Shaun Micheel; and UK player Steve Flesch. The drive is very manageable from Indy, and it’s not often our state hosts a USGA event. The course is very walkeable and they’re putting up a lot of infrastructure. Your faithful GolfIndy.info staff will be on-site, posting some updates on social, and getting some copy from a few players. And if you’re of a certain age, you might be surprised to see a ton of names you know from the PGA Tour. Make a plan and come on out.

The trophy is ready!

A glance over to the first fairway

Really solid turf everywhere

Greens are perfect

The golfindy re-launch

We here at golfindy.info wanted to do more. To that end, we’re going to seriously ramp-up the scope of this site and covering central Indy golf (and golf around Indiana that gets our interest). We’re going to get you more connected for free golf in the area, more giveaways, more travel info and more info about goings-on in the central Indy golf scene. We might add some commentary on the college golf scene, the IGA, or maybe a random thought on the pro golf tours. We might post a video. We might make you an offer to join a golf trip or golf outing. We might introduce a new product. Whatever is next, we want you to know it’s going to be from some Indy golfers like you, and we think it will be worth checking out. There’s going to be a new voice for Central Indy golf.

Here’s something important too: if you like what we’re doing, you gotta help us get the word out. The further we can get the message out, the more we can do. Sign up for the Indianapolis newsletter, like, share and comment on our social media.