To
play the French Licks Parings Resort & Spa’s Donald Ross-designed Hill
course is to enter a 140-acre time capsule, where you will find yourself on the
most intimate possible terms with Ross and his design principles.
Ross
himself scouted the area and hand-selected this hilltop site, two miles
southwest of the town center and the renowned resort and hotel. It looks quite
as it did in its infancy—a framed photo in the clubhouse confirms as much. Stand
on the 1st tee and sweep the panorama. With few interior trees on the property,
nearly half the holes are visible.
Built
on the site of a fort, French Lick achieved prominence due to its natural
springs, which were rich in minerals. The property’s first hotel was erected in
the 1830s and was an instant success, attracting travelers from hundreds of
miles away to partake of the “miracle waters.”
Around
the turn of the century, fire destroyed French Lick’s original, somewhat
ramshackle accommodations and a much more elegant hotel took its place. The
resort sits on 2,600 acres in the Hoosier National Forest. Lush gardens abound on
the property, and its walkways—shaded by century-old trees—are perfect for an
early evening stroll.
Other
amenities include four restaurants and two pubs, an ice cream parlor, bowling
alley, equestrian and bike trails, and outdoor and indoor pools (the latter
housed in one of the nation’s first retractable domes). There’s also the famous
spa.
In
French Lick’s heyday, guests included Bing Crosby, Lana Turner, Al Capone,
Douglas MacArthur and Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman. Its luster began
to fade in the late 1940s with the demise of a popular (not to mention illegal)
casino. Today, much of its charm has been restored, and a larger-scale,
multimillion-dollar renovation is planned to fully resurrect the resort’s
splendor. Ironically, the project will include the return of casino
gambling—legal, this time.
Throughout
the decades the Hill course has remained virtually unchanged, although its
original par of 71 has been reduced by one with the shortening of the three-shot
14th to a par 4.
Opened
in 1920, the Ross creation received almost immediate acclaim when it hosted the
1924 PGA Championship. A photo in the clubhouse shows the contestants and if you
look closely, you’ll notice that the mischievous Hagen appears twice. Because the wide photo was
snapped in sequence, Hagen was able to hustle from the far left over
to the far right just in time—and on the right he sports a huge, knowing grin.
