The Top 10 of Hoosier Golf: Ten of Central & Southern Indiana's Top Public Golf Destinations

Below is an interview with Golf Central Magazine travel writer Mike May, the author of The Top 10 of Hoosier Golf: Ten of Central & Southern Indiana's Top Public Golf Destination. The guide explores Southern Indiana as a golf destination. Download the guide below.

What motivated you to assemble this publication on the top golf courses in central and southern Indiana?
I grew up in Indiana from 1962-1977 so this publication is one way for me to bring some much-deserved attention to the finest public access golf courses in my childhood home. You can take the boy out of Indiana, but you can't take the Indiana out of the boy, as they say!

How do the golf courses in central and southern Indiana rank with popular golf destinations in other parts of the U.S.?
While Indiana has a reputation of being a 'hot-bed' for basketball and for auto racing, with the Indianapolis 500 taking place in late May, the central and southern part of the Hoosier state has a very strong set of golf courses which puts Indiana in the upper echelon of golf destinations in the U.S. While Michigan in the summer, Florida in the winter, the Carolinas in the spring and fall, and Alabama's Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail throughout the year are popular places to play, the central and southern part of Indiana deserves to be considered in the same conversation as those other popular golf destinations.

Please inform our readership about the great golf course architects who have helped design and redesign many of these golf courses.
Five of the greatest golf architects in the history of the game - Donald Ross, Pete Dye, Rees Jones, Jim Fazio, and Robert Trent Jones, Sr. - have played a role in designing six of the 10 courses. And, Tim Liddy, a protégé of Dye's, and Hoosier golf legend Fuzzy Zoeller were also involved in getting these courses designed and built.

What are some of the great non-golf activities in central and southern Indiana?
In Indianapolis alone, there's the great Indianapolis Zoo which is located inside the White River State Park and there are a number of world-class museums such as the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, Eijeljorg Museum, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. For sports fans, the NCAA Hall of Champions and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum are must-visits. Of course, the Indianapolis 500 is always held on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. In the summer, baseball fans can visit Victory Field to watch the AAA Indianapolis Indians play ball. Outside of Indianapolis, the Freedom Springs water park in Greenwood is a fun place to be when the temperature rises. French Lick Resort is one of the best resorts in the country for families, whether or not you like golf. If you like to play games of chance, there's a casino on the property in French Lick and there's the Horseshoe Casino of Southern Indiana, which is near the Chariot Run Golf Club in Laconia, in extreme southern Indiana. Down in Brown County, you can enjoy hiking and bicycling in the Brown County State Park, which is the largest state park in Indiana. Also in Brown County, water sports enthusiasts enjoy spending time on Lake Monroe and you can go zip lining in nearby Nashville. In southwest Indiana in Dubois County, the first weekend (Thursday-Sunday) of August is the Jasper Strassenfest. Basically, it's an Oktoberfest celebration in August to celebrate the strong German heritage in Jasper and all of Dubois County. If you are interested in learning about life in Indiana during its early days of statehood, check out the Fort Vallonia Days - always the third weekend of October. Also, in October, Seymour hosts its annual Oktoberfest - usually the first weekend of October. The Corn Maze Beer Fest in Columbus in early October is another fun event to attend. It's where 80+ craft beers are served in a 10-acre outdoor corn maze, which you have to see it to believe it.

What kind of restaurant options do you have in Indiana?
Top-flight restaurants can be found throughout the central and southern parts of Indiana that range from three of the best restaurants in Indianapolis such as St. Elmo's Steakhouse, Harry & Izzy's, and Rick's Boatyard Café to a great German-American restaurant in Jasper called The Schnitzelbank to 33 Brick Street in French Lick, which features many craft beers, a wide selection of entrees, and a special section of basketball memorabilia to honor local basketball legend Larry Bird, who grew up in French Lick. There are delightful family dining options available at the Canyon Inn restaurant in Spencer, which is located within McCormick's Creek State Park, the oldest state park in Indiana. Spencer is just north of Bloomington. And, there's also a great diner in Seymour called Larrison's, which used to be where the original Colonel Sanders would go to enjoy a milkshake. Larrison's hamburgers with fried onions are its specialty.

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