The post Best golf courses in Indiana, according to GOLF Magazine’s expert course raters appeared first on Golf.

The post Best golf courses in Indiana, according to GOLF Magazine’s expert course raters appeared first on Golf.

For every great course that made GOLF’s 2020-21 ranking of the Top 100 Courses in the U.S., dozens of more must-plays were left on the outside looking in — including at least a handful in your home state. Some of these designs just missed out on a Top 100 nomination, others finished deeper down the ranking, but all are worthy of your time. To shed light on the best courses in every state, we broke out the full results of our Top 100 Courses polling into state-by-state lists. Here’s a closer look at Indiana.

Indiana golf by the numbers:

Number of courses and U.S. rank: 422 (12)*
Number of golfers per capita rank: 33* 
Average public-course greens fees: $ out of $$$*
Average daily temp and rank: 51.7 (25)
Annual precipitation and rank: 41.7 in. (26) 

*Source: National Golf Foundation

Best Indiana golf courses (2020/2021)

1. Crooked Stick (Carmel) 

2. Victoria National (Newburgh)

3. French Lick – Ross Course (French Lick) [3, P]

Book a tee time at French Lick – Ross Course.

4. Culver Academies (9 holes) (Culver) 

5. Warren Course – Notre Dame (South Bend) [P]

Book a tee time at Warren Course – Notre Dame.

6. The Pfau Course at Indiana University (Bloomington) [P]

Book a tee time at the Pfau Course at Indiana University.

7. Sycamore Hills (Fort Wayne) 

8. French Lick –  Dye Course (French Lick) [3, P]

Book a tee time at French Lick – Dye Course.

9. Broadmoor (Indianapolis) 

10. Brickyard Crossing (Indianapolis) [P]

Book a tee time at Brickyard Crossing.

SYMBOL GUIDE

1 = GOLF Top 100 Course in the U.S.
2 = GOLF Top 100 Course in the World
3 = GOLF Top 100 Resort
P = Resort/public golf course

Ed. note: Some courses were omitted from our rankings because they did not receive enough votes.

Course spotlight: Culver Academies Golf Course (Culver), ranked 4th in Indiana. Our Architecture Editor thinks this is one of the very best courses in the Midwest. The fact that it is “only” nine holes is irrelevant to him, as shot after shot, this course possesses a number of fascinating questions that need to be answered. Just one round here will have you scrambling to learn more about the Golden Age design team of Langford & Moreau. Final tip of the cap to superintendent Michael Vessely — turf presentation is appropriately rustic, and preservation of the historical property looks to be in safe hands. For any student of design, Culver Academies is required reading on the syllabus. — GOLF Top 100 Course Rater

How we rank America’s best golf courses 

For the newly released 2020-21 U.S. list, each panelist was provided a list of 489 courses. Beside that list of courses were 11 “buckets,” or groupings. If our panelists considered a course to be among the top three in the country, they ticked that box. If they believed the course to be among Nos. 4-10 in the U.S., they checked that box, followed by 11-25, 26-50 and so on.

Panelists were also free to write in courses that they felt should have been included on the ballot. (We had fewer than a handful of such additions in the U.S. vote).

Points were assigned to each bucket; to arrive at an average score for each course, we divide its aggregate score by the number of votes. From those point tallies, the courses are then ranked accordingly. It is an intentionally simple and straightforward process. Why? Because it invariably produces results that are widely lauded. Like the game itself, there’s no need to unnecessarily overcomplicate things.

For much more on how we rate courses, click or tap here.

Meet our course raters 

We empower and hold accountable a group of 97 well-traveled — and well-connected — golfers/aficionados, each capable of expressing their own sense of design excellence at the highest level. The group is seasoned and experienced — we look for raters who know what’s out there, what’s changing and what’s coming down the pike. And from judging posts across four continents, our panelists are positioned to place courses from different regions around the globe into proper context, one of the main reasons GOLF’s Top 100 Courses rankings are the most esteemed in the game.

Other ranking outlets employ thousands of raters. Our less-is-more approach creates a more meaningful and thoughtful list. Think about it: When you plan a golf trip, do you call every golfer you know for their take? No. You contact a handful of people whose opinions you value most.

Meet our full crew of panelists here.

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The post John Daly’s talented 16-year-old son is already out-driving him appeared first on Golf.

The post John Daly’s talented 16-year-old son is already out-driving him appeared first on Golf.

If you didn’t know that John Daly has a son with some big-time golf game, well, now is the time to get on board.

The two-time major champ and fan favorite recently checked in with TMZ to talk about his son’s game, fresh off John Daly Jr.’s runner-up finish at an elite junior event last week. Daly Jr. was tied for the 36-hole lead at the Dye National Junior Invitational and tied for second place after a final-round 76, which was four back of winner John Marshall Butler. The tournament was held at Crooked Stick in Carmel, Ind., which was the site of his dad’s major breakthrough in 1991. John Daly got into that year’s PGA Championship as the ninth alternate and won.

“I played great,” Daly Jr. told the Indianapolis Star. “It would have been cool to win, but I still have time. Just a couple bad three-putts both days, but other than that I played great.”

“He loved the course, Crooked Stick, man,” Daly Sr. told TMZ. “He loved it. I said, ‘You’re going to love it, you can fly all the trouble.'”

That’s because Little John, at just 16, can already hit it farther than his dad, who was for years one of the longest hitters on Tour.

“Oh yeah, he’s 16 years old and I can’t keep up with him now,” Daly said. “He hits it so far. He pummels it. He’s flying it about 300, 305 now.”

Asked if he has the potential to have a career like his dad, Daly Sr. said “he’s got it in him.”

“We’ll see how college goes,” he said. “He hits it, man, he’s got that sound. That sound of a swoosh in basketball or the perfect pass, post pattern, or that tennis racquet hitting it solid every time. He hits it solid every time. It’s a sound that a lot of people in golf don’t have and he’s got it. He’s had it since he was about 8.”

Big John added that his son started beating him last year. They hit from the same tees and don’t give each other any putts. Competitive? Absolutely.

The post John Daly’s talented 16-year-old son is already out-driving him appeared first on Golf.

The post Hit it hard: John Daly’s driver from Crooked Stick up for auction appeared first on Golf.

The post Hit it hard: John Daly’s driver from Crooked Stick up for auction appeared first on Golf.

It’s been more than 25 years since an unknown blond bomber from Arkansas went from ninth alternate to major champion at the PGA Championship.

And now, you could own the driver that John Daly used to thrill the golf world.

You likely know the story: Daly was so far down the list of alternates that he failed to even show up for a practice round at Crooked Stick Golf Club — but then went on to grip-it-and-rip-it en route to a 12-under 276 that gave him the title by three shots.

According to Green Jacket Auctions, which is hosting the auction, the weapon Daly used that week is “a highly unusual 44 1/2 driver with Cobra composite kevlar head with a titanium shaft.”

At the time of publishing, the top bid was $1,610. But with a week left in the auction, that number is likely to rise. It graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, after all — this thing is darn near priceless.

You can make your bid HERE.

The post Hit it hard: John Daly’s driver from Crooked Stick up for auction appeared first on Golf.