Circle City Chili Dipper- Indy Golf Thread

[DrOldSchool]

Bear Slide

Purgatory

Prairie View

Fort

[Bob Cat]

Like the guys have already stated, they're all good but I want to throw an adder here for Bear Slide.

GREAT deck out back for relaxing with a CO while watching folks come up 9.

And if you play BS, tradition in my circle is to try to hit the water tower over the road from #3 tee.  Boooongggg

[axeme]

13 hours ago, HoosierHacker89 said:

Fort 

bear slide 

purgatory

prairie view 

 

i ranked these based on which courses I’d want to most given the opportunity. You could put them in about any order and not be wrong.  
 

I do think prairie view is a step below the rest these days due to the fraternity vibes.  The fort depends on conditions , but if it’s getting love it’s the best course. maintenance is the biggest variable for it. 

I look forward to weighing in after my group plays them next week. We got tee times Tuesday-Friday at, in order, Bear Slide, Prairie View, Purgatory, and The Fort. Anticipating a great week of golf!

[ROOK16]

Played Hickory Stick, Bear Slide, and The Fort over the weekend.  All of them are in great shape.  The fairways at Hickory were firm and you were getting a good amount of roll out on tee shots.  Had a guy in the group behind us drive #1 as we were putting.  The greens at all three were very receptive for approach shots and rolling great.  @DrOldSchoolwhenever you get that back taken care of, you need to give The Fort another go.

[Bob Cat]

Played in a scramble at Eagle Creek on the Sycamore side yesterday.  GREAT time.

Possibly the best condition I've ever seen it in.

Love the staff there.  Shout out to Matt and Shawna!

[DrOldSchool]

The Pines course looked nice a few weeks ago when I drove past. Sadly that may be the only way I'll see a golf course until next year 😢

 

Gonna make you guys pick up my tees from now on. Old back can't handle such strain. 

[HoosierHacker89]

Are there any courses around that use actual caddies? I’ve heard the Dye course uses a forecaddy, but i don’t think I’ve ever played a course that uses them. 
 

 

[Bob Cat]

Crooked Stick for sure.

[StudentGolfer4]

Crooked stick does. Sagamore has tried in the past. It’s rare from what I’ve heard. 
 

Meridian Hills and Highland do. Most of theirs are high school kids. Woodland usually has some for their member guest. Not sure what their program looks like on a daily basis. 
 

Dye course requires a forecaddie for your first round of the day. If you play more they aren’t required for subsequent rounds as long as it’s on the same day. 
 

Wood Wind and Prairie View both offer the service. Never seen one or know anyone out there that’s had one though. I do know a kid from Wood Wind that won the Evans Scholar though. 

Edited August 1, 2022 by StudentGolfer4

[HoosierHacker89]

Thanks for the info! I was just curious as it’s not something I’m really familiar with around the city. Buddy of mine used to caddie up at a course in the region, but I don’t remember which course it was. 

[Justmuckit]

Anyone played either of the Purdue courses or Rock Hollow lately? Planning to play those three plus Bear Slide and Purgatory when we come to town later this month.

[Bob Cat]

We've received plenty of rain lately so I'd expect them all to be in top shape.  Great list... enjoy!

[StudentGolfer4]

Played Kampen at the end of May.  Course was in good shape. Never been disappointed up there. 

[axeme]

On 7/26/2022 at 11:18 AM, axeme said:

I look forward to weighing in after my group plays them next week. We got tee times Tuesday-Friday at, in order, Bear Slide, Prairie View, Purgatory, and The Fort. Anticipating a great week of golf!

 Back from our week in Indy. Unfortunately, another guy and I took home unpleasant cases of Covid that started asserting itself the last day and has had me laid up since Friday.

 

But back to the golf:

We all enjoyed all four courses and wouldn't hesitate to play any of them again. I'm not going to d a thorough review of them as most of the people on this thread are familiar enough with each. I'll give a general impression of the conditions when we played. I was surprised by how few other golfers we saw in front of us and behind us except Friday at the Fort where it was pretty jammed up. We had a few singles play through us the first three days (BS, PV, Purg.) but for the most part it felt like we had the courses to ourselves. The pace at the Fort was tolerable except when it slowed to a crawl deep in the back nine on a very hot humid day.

 

Bear Slide: beautiful course, has a great rustic feel, course in great shape, although the greens were a bit battered by unrepaired ball marks and a few of them had a bunch of small animal footprints. I thought the back nine was oddly laid out. Looked like they needed a bit more room. Loved the terrain, though.

 

Prairie View: We all loved the layout and the course conditions were flawless, except for the greens. The greens had been punched recently, so there was that plus the attendant fertilizer granules and sand particles on every green took the fun our of putting. Otherwise, a fun round, just disappointing that we hit the week of (necessary, I'm sure) aeration. Courses really ought to discount their green fees somewhat during aeration or at least tell you when you make tee times.

 

Purgatory: best overall condition of the four courses, from tees to greens. Greens were exceptional, too. Smooth and quick enough. We really enjoyed our round there, partially because it wasn't as hot as the other three days, but it's a great track. (Didn't hurt that I had my best round of the summer here.)

 

The Fort: conditions were very good, layout was varied and interesting, we had no real complaints except for the pace of play and the heat noted above.

 

I don't want to say The Fort was my least favorite course of the four because it's a fine course that I'd love to play again if I ever get out that way, but if I had to rank them...

 

1. Purgatory

2. Bear Slide (one of my group ranked it first, another third behind PV)

3. Prairie View (even accounting for the bad luck of getting punched greens)

4. The Fort

 

As it always is, our experience last week is colored by a number of personal factors. We might rank them totally differently another time. As I said, we were impressed by all four courses and would do them over without hesitation.

[HoosierHacker89]

Ugh…pace of play at the fort. It’s the Achilles heel of the course. I remember one year we played like a 5+ hour round in the afternoon midweek. I couldn’t believe how slow it was. I love the course, but that keeps me from playing it regularly.

 

Thanks for the review axeme. We are spoiled to have tons of great courses around the city, and I hope you enjoyed your trip. Realistically I think your right on the order for any of those courses it comes down to personal preference more than anything. 

[Justmuckit]

May have to scrap the Purdue portion of the trip. I've sent numerous requests to book two days worth of all day packages with no response. I call and they won't let me book more than 7 days out.

 

Judging by the tee sheet for next week, it's going to be impossible to get 36 booked there for one day, much less two. Disappointing.

 

EDIT: Called back and Katie was a huge help - she checked to make sure they don't have any events either day, and she said as of now we should be ok. Just hate to rent a house and then not be able to get on the courses that are the only reason we're even looking to stay in Lafayette.

Edited August 13, 2022 by Justmuckit

[StudentGolfer4]

Played Crooked Stick this past week. Not the first time I’ve been out there but I’m always surprised just how firm the course it. I try to explain it to buddies and have a hard time doing so because there’s nothing in the area similar. It’s hard to explain because it’s not muni firm where the course just hasn’t been watered but it’s different.  I would say Sagamore is probably next in line for most firm course around? 
 

Hit a great almost full 58 degree wedge from the fairway only to see it bounce chest high and go over the green. Par 3, 13th I hit a pw right over the pin and it releases 10 yards off the back of the green. It’s definitely by design but takes some time to get use to. A lot of shots around the green that am would be 4-5 ft at most places roll out to 10-12. 
 

Really good course, just pure golf. Would be a great place to play every day. Challenging but definitely fair and required a variety of shots. Funny how many other holes on dye courses around the state are variations of holes at crooked stick. 

[halliedog]

I'm going to get into Indy Tuesday and want to play Eagle Creek Sycamore one more time.  Anyone interested in joining me either Tuesday late afternoon or Wednesday Mid-morning? 

[Bob Cat]

11 hours ago, halliedog said:

I'm going to get into Indy Tuesday and want to play Eagle Creek Sycamore one more time.  Anyone interested in joining me either Tuesday late afternoon or Wednesday Mid-morning? 

 

I def would but cannot.  Sycamore was in great shape a cpl weeks ago.  Enjoy.

[Bob Cat]

On 8/13/2022 at 9:19 AM, Justmuckit said:

May have to scrap the Purdue portion of the trip. I've sent numerous requests to book two days worth of all day packages with no response. I call and they won't let me book more than 7 days out.

 

Judging by the tee sheet for next week, it's going to be impossible to get 36 booked there for one day, much less two. Disappointing.

 

EDIT: Called back and Katie was a huge help - she checked to make sure they don't have any events either day, and she said as of now we should be ok. Just hate to rent a house and then not be able to get on the courses that are the only reason we're even looking to stay in Lafayette.

 

If you like sushi, I've heard Lafayette has the best around because of the local Subaru plant.

Pizza:  Arnie's

Steak:  Mountain Jack's.  Used to be a small chain and this is the last one standing.

Bar Food:  DT Kirby's.

 

[Pigator5]

35 minutes ago, Bob Cat said:

 

If you like sushi, I've heard Lafayette has the best around because of the local Subaru plant.

Pizza:  Arnie's

Steak:  Mountain Jack's.  Used to be a small chain and this is the last one standing.

Bar Food:  DT Kirby's.

 

yep, I live around Lafayette. If you have any questions on where to go or what to eat, just let me know! Mountain Jack's is good but if you want, McGraw's Steak Chop & Fish House is a better high end Steak place from my experience.  Triple XXX is a great tradition to get cheeseburgers from Purdue, and there are a lot of local spots to try. 

[Justmuckit]

Thought we were gonna have to pivot from Purdue earlier, but turns out we have to pivot from Rock Hollow. They are holding their member/guest the weekend we’re there. 
 

Coyote Crossing also has an event that Saturday, so can anyone make a recommendation semi-close to Lafayette for our Saturday round. I haven’t been able to talk the group into the 4 hour round trip to play the Warren Course at ND.

[StudentGolfer4]

Bummer about Rock Hallow and Coyote Crossing.
 

I can’t vouch for it but I hear good things about Harrison Hills. It’s semi close to Purdue. Langford and Moreau front nine gets really good marks and Tim Liddy did the back 9. (Ok so it’s not quite as close as I thought. Phones showing 35ish mins)
 

Trophy Club is worth a play. It’s just south of Purdue on 65. 40-45 mins from parking lot to parking lot. 

Edited August 17, 2022 by StudentGolfer4
Drive time

[Justmuckit]

I think I talked the group into making the trip to Warren…

[Justmuckit]

Finally, this trip is officially booked. 36 Thursday and Friday at Birck-Boilermaker, 18 at the Warren Course on Saturday. Fantasy football draft on Saturday night.

 

Now just have to hope the weather doesn’t screw us over.

[HoosierHacker89]

Sounds like a great trip! You'll love Ackerman. One of my favorite courses in the state. I really need to make the trip up there again. Kampen is a beast, and I have never played Warren. Let us know what you think of each course. 

[Bob Cat]

153 holes in the last 7 days.  🤪

Most of them in MI (36 hls at each):  Bella Vista (was Blackberry Patch), Coldwater CC and The Medalist.

Sultans Run this past Tuesday was in the best shape I've ever seen it.  Just keeps getting better.

Highland CC, yesterday, was lush and beautiful as always.

 

I need a nap.

[Cameron Detour]

All, in town (Fishers) and looking for a game tomorrow, 9/2. Anyone down to play?

[Justmuckit]

Sorry for the delay in responding - the trip was great. Perfect weather, amazing courses.

 

You know the courses are great when all four guys in the group had different favorites. Sadly, my view of the front 9 at Warren is probably skewed thanks to the THREE HOURS it took to make the turn. 

 

Ultimately if I could make a composite course out of the back nine at Kampen and Warren that would be my favorite. Ackerman was a blast as well - was there for the first week of school and let's just say on Friday, Greek Row was *vibing*

 

We really want to try Michigan next year, but this trip is making it a tough decision. We all want to go back ASAP.

 

Well played, Hoosier State.

[Bob Cat]

^ 3 hour 9?  As a Hoosier ambassador, my apologies.  Come again.