Golf Travel Guide To Hamilton County Indiana Golf
An Interview With Karen Radcliff, Deputy Director
By Brian Weis
Looking to plan the perfect golf trip to Hamilton County Indiana Golf? Planning a buddies trip or a romantic golf getaway can be a full time job not to mention pressure filled to deliver a memorable experience. Below is an interview with Karen Radcliff, Deputy Director who shares some insider information about golfing and traveling to Hamilton County Indiana Golf, must play courses, a sample itinerary and where you can go for more planning tools.
Give our readers an overview of your destination and why they should consider it for their next golf trip?
Hamilton County, Indiana, is known as Indiana's Premier Golf Country, and for good reason. With 15 diverse public courses and three golf schools, Hamilton County courses offer a wide selection for all levels. Stay and Play packages include overnight accommodations at participating hotels (one, two or three-night stays), confirmed tee times with cart at Indiana's Premier Golf courses, and welcome gift upon check-in and pro shop discount.
Visit IndianasPremierGolf.com for more information.
What are the must play courses in Hamilton County Indiana Golf?
There are eight courses in the area offering experiences worth planning a weekend around.
Bear Slide Golf Club
6770 E, 231st Street, Cicero
317-984-3837
BearSlide.com
Ranked by Golf Digest as one of America's most affordable golf courses and as one of the magazine's nine highest rated public courses in Indiana in 2004, Bear Slides front nine is designed in Scottish links style, while the back nine offers a traditional, rolling, wooded layout with three large lakes and greens of all sizes and slope.
Brickyard Crossing
4400 W 16th Street, Indianapolis
317-492-6572
BrickyardCrossing.com
Located outside of Hamilton County, but its popularity with golfers and unique location as part of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway racing oval make it a natural Stay & Play package course. Designed by Pete Dye, Brickyard Crossing was on the Senior PGA Tour from 1994 to 2000, and offers golfers of all abilities a rare sense of history as well as an exceptional round of golf.
The Fort Golf Resort
6002 N. Post Road, Indianapolis
317-543-9597
TheFortGolfCourse.com
Golf architect, Pete Dye, redesigned this course in 1998 and created an 18-hole championship layout that is both beautiful and challenging for golfers of all experience levels. Players will encounter rolling hills, tree-lined fairways, award-winning wetland designs, and occasional wildlife.
Plum Creek Golf Club
12401 Lynnwood Boulevard, Carmel
317-573-9900
PlumCreekGolfClub.com
Also designed by Pete Dye, Plum Creek offers tees with varying degrees of difficulty. The course features strategically placed bunkers, large greens and multiple water features
Prairie View Golf Club
7000 Longest Drive, Carmel
317-816-3100
PrairieViewGC.com
Prairie View has won accolades for its service and condition by Golf Digest and was given 4 ½ stars in the magazine's ranking of places to play. Prairie View is the first course in Indiana designed by the renowned Robert Trent Jones II Company. Located on 206 acres along the White River, Prairie View offers 18 holes of traditional golf.
Purgatory Golf Club
12160 E. 216th Street, Noblesville
317-776-4653
PurgatoryGolf.com
Purgatory, located in the county seat of Noblesville, has been ranked as one of America's 100 greatest public courses by Golf Digest, a Top 50 course for women by Golf for Women, and a Top 25 course in the Midwest by Great Lakes Golf Magazine. This golfer's favorite offers six sets of tees at every hole and the championship tees make it the longest par-72 course east of the Mississippi River.
River Glen Country Club
12010 Clubhouse Drive, Fishers
317-849-8274
RiverGlenCC.com
River Glen County Club recently made upgrades to its signature par-3 hole over water and added a 60-yard extension to the par-4 hole on 17, offering a course with scenic appear and diverse selection of golf holes to make use of all the clubs in the bag.
Wood Wind Golf Club
2302 W. 161st Street, Westfield
317-896-2474
WoodWindGolf.com
The course has been given 3 ½ stars by Golf Digest and was called "playable, sporty and fun." With bent grass from tee to green, golfers play year round enjoying the rolling hills, mature trees and winding creek
What is the hidden gem and/or best value course?
Three distinct nine hold layouts at Ironwood Golf Club make this club a total golf experience. Watch for online specials for great value.
Can you provide our readers with an ideal itinerary for a long weekend?
Easy to book stay and play packages directly through your choice of hotel offer two, three and four or more nights. No need to check in to the hotel before playing golf. Choose one of the outlying courses along the way, and have your group's golf vouchers delivered for your first afternoon tee time. The Brickyard Crossing is a perfect warm-up for travelers driving in from Louisville or St. Louis. Choose Bear Slide when arriving from Chicago or Grand Rapids. A Purgatory start gets the weekend cooking quickly for golfers hailing from Detroit or Lansing areas. Golfers arriving from Cincinnati, Columbus or Cleveland should put The Fort on their list.
All courses offer replay, but for those wanting to add two separate 18s to their daily itinerary, Prairie View and Plum Creek offer completely different play, yet right down the street from each other. Little drive time and great customer service gets you in and on your way for double the fun.
Wood Wind and River Glen golf courses are easy to drive to from your hotel hub and make great mid trip courses, especially if you book an early tee time and save the evening for steak dinner at one of the local restaurants in Fishers or Carmel.
Hamilton County Golf is right in the center of The Pete Dye Golf Trail. Add an extra day to play an extra PDGT course. With Brickyard Crossing, The Fort and Plum Creek already on your itinerary, you're almost halfway through the trail. Maple Creek is a great value and minutes away in nearby Indianapolis. The Kampen Course at Purdue or Mystic Hills in northern Indiana are perfect for the way home north. And the Pete Dye Course at French Lick is a destination all by itself.
After golf, what are the "must do" things or attractions to see?
Carmel's Arts & Design District not only offers interesting galleries and shops but also great local restaurants and bars. Other gathering spots perfect for food, relaxing and people watching are Clay Terrace, Noblesville Historic Square and Hamilton Town Center.
What is the best time to travel?
Golf season begins mid March or April and runs through the end of the year. September is one of the best weather months in Indiana for golf with low humidity, sunny skies and warm weather. Super saver rates are available on most travel packages in April and October/November.
Anything else you would like to share about the Hamilton County Indiana Golf?
Hamilton County Golf is one of the Midwest's best places to play with affordable golf, great weather and beautiful golf courses. Golfers tend to put Hamilton County Golf on their annual play list because we are so easy to get to and very affordable.
Where can golfers go for more information to research and plan their trip?
Go to IndianasPremierGolf.com for research. Choose a stay & play hotel and call the hotel to book overnights and tee times.
Hamilton County Indiana Golf
317-848-3181
Revised: 09/09/2013 - Article Viewed 40,533 Times
About: Brian Weis
Brian Weis is the Publisher of GolfTrips.com, a network of golf travel and directory sites including GolfWisconsin.com, GolfMichigan.com, ArizonaGolfer.com, GolfAlabama.com, etc. Professionally, Brian is a member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA) and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG). In 2016, Brian won The Shaheen Cup, an award given to a golf travel writer by his peers.
All of his life, Brian has been around the game of golf. As a youngster, Brian competed at all levels in junior and high school golf. Brian had a zero chance for a college golf scholarship, so he worked on the grounds crew at West Bend Country Club to pay for his University of Wisconsin education. In his adult years, his passion for the game collided with his entrepreneurial spirit and in 2004 launched GolfWisconsin.com. In 2007, the idea for a network of local golf directory sites formed and GolfTrips.com was born. Today, the network consists of a site in all 50 states supported by national sites like GolfTrips.com, GolfGuide.com and GolfPackages.com. It is an understatement to say, Brian is passionate about promoting golf and golf travel on a local, regional, national and international level.
On the golf course, Brian is known as a fierce weekend warrior that fluctuates between a 5-9 handicap. With a soft fade, known as "The Weis Slice", and booming 300+ drives, he can blast it out of bounds with the best of them.
Contact Brian Weis:
GolfTrips.com - Publisher and Golf Traveler
262-255-7600