World-renowned golf course designer Pete Dye, often called the “Greatest Modern Day Architect,” sketched his early vision for a special sort of golf course in French Lick on a napkin at a local restaurant.
His vision has now been etched into the hilltops near West Baden Springs Hotel, and in June 2009 the 18-hole Pete Dye Course at French Lick opened as one of the premier championship Indiana golf courses.
Having built golf courses all over the world including great coastal sites, this course arguably could be considered Dye’s best inland site offering golfers 40-mile panoramic views of the countryside in all directions.
Dye aimed for this to be a “walkable” course, and golfers are sure to feel Dye’s signature sting as they tee off from vista-to-vista on this 18-hole masterpiece. The Pete Dye Golf Course has been selected as the host site for the 2010 PGA Professionals National Championship.
Read what Matt Ginella, senior editor of travel for Golf Digest, and the The Wire, a daily golf newsletter, had to say about the golf course and it's opening.
Superintendent Russ Apple and Pete Dye talk about the challenges of building Dye's latest course, which features drastic elevation changes, phenomenal vistas and unique bunkers.
With the course located in the rolling hills of French Lick, construction crews cleared land, changing grades as much as 50 feet and strategically routing holes to effectively construct the course on this severe terrain.
The Thomas Taggart turn-of-the-century mansion serves as the course’s clubhouse and full service pro shop. Taggart was the famed owner of the French Lick Springs Hotel and Chairman of the National Democratic Party. The mansion is perched atop the area’s highest point at almost 1,000 feet above sea level.
| Tees | Yardage | Course Rating | Slope Rating | |
| Red Tees | 5151 | 65.4 | 118 | |
| White Tees | 6115 | 70.6 | 130 | |
| Blue Tees | 6701 | 73.3 | 135 | |
| Black Tees | 7254 | 76.2 | 139 | |
| Gold Tees | 8102 | 80.0 | 148 |
| Tees | Yardage | Course Rating | Slope Rating | |
| Red Tees | 5151 | 70.5 | 120 | |
| White Tees | 6115 | 76.9 | 130 |
Golf Digest - America’s Best New Public Course 2009
Golf Magazine - Best New Course of the Year 2009
Links Magazine - Rated One of The Best New Courses 2009

View the Pete Dye Course Live WebCam