Golf Course Reviews - Golf Club of Indiana

Nice Professional-Quality Spread, Still Outside the Range of Indy Sprawl

Golf Club of Indiana
(317) 769-6388
I-65, NW of Indianapolis, Whitestown exit (Exit 130)
Zionsville, Indiana

This one I come into from a road trip, same trip as for Colovista, but on the way "home."  The day is misty and on the cool side, 50 degrees, if that.  I’d stayed the night before in an (adequate) Super 8 off I-70 in a burg named Cloverdale, a commuter distance from the course.  Travel NW on I-65 from the 465 loop around Indianapolis, turn left at Zionsville exit, look on the left and you’re there.

When I first pass, it takes me a minute to recognize it as a golf course.  The actual layout sits back from the road quite a distance, and the entry reminds me of taking a driveway into Grandma’s old farmhouse.  The tract has had its day in the sun—hosting regional PGA qualifying tournaments and several senior The Classic charity events—and I believe still has ties to one or another of the tours.

As Jack Nicklaus says on their home page, "As nice a facility as I’ve seen in the country to come out and play daily fee golf."

Again, this is going to be solitary golf in practice mode.  I’ll put an asterisk by the scores I report, to attest to the occasional wild-man shot off the tee or chunk in the fairway I choose to regard as "aberrational."  Since I’m practicing, and it’s cold and windy, what the heck, I’ll also play from the tips at 7151 yards!  Yikes.

Staff is majorly friendly as I enter and rapidly sets me up for eighteen with a cart; I also have to buy some balls so I pick a new Nike box that’s on special and the total comes to $78.  Timing isn’t the best at first, as two women have teed off in front of me.  In front of them is a threesome of guys who don’t look especially suited to strong play.

But no one is behind me, like, forever.  So during the first three holes or so, I hang back, hit two balls, take my time locating the balls, don’t do anything to overtly spook the chicks.  The ladies are also not yet very proficient at the game, nor do they seem to have mastered the idea of efficient pace.

Note  -  The nice thing about most women on golf courses—in my experience—is they try to be aware of their social surroundings and move as fast as they can to stay out of your way.  Guys are usually abysmal in such matters, especially when drinking.

And the girls would let me through, too, except they keep getting faster.  (I believe on #3 they pick up—"picking up" means taking your ball and going to the next teebox.)  So, at hole #3, both the groups in front of me are moving just as fast as I’d ever want them to.  I like to play two balls, redo an errant putt or chip, take my time, have the course to myself.

Note  -  For you new golfers, keep in mind your responsibility is to stay £ 3/4 of a hole behind the group immediately in front of you and to stay ³ 3/4 of a hole ahead of the group in back of you.  Remember, in golf, etiquette is not a four-letter word.

This is turning out pretty well; I actually birdie the par-5 second hole, after a modest drive, seven-wood, and a four-iron to 11 ft.  It’s so early in the season, I’m elated my swing is producing such good results.

The 3^rd hole is a 231 par 3 into a slight wind, and I nail a three-wood, I mean absolutely nail a three-wood as well as I’ve ever nailed a three-wood, and the ball stops up in front of the green by about 20 feet.  In fact the second ball does the same thing.  This doesn’t bother me, even though I bogey the hole, because who cares when you hit a three wood like this.

Four and Five are long, five being a 464 par-4 monster, slightly into the breeze, which, needless to say, I don’t reach in two.  Six comes back as a par 5—by the way, this is flat Indiana farm territory—which I par.

Seven is interesting.  A Hispanic greenskeeper/groundskeeper stands back in the trees surrounding the green as I make my approach shot.  I miss the green to the right, pin high, leaving a 30-ft chip.  The man still stays back in the trees, so I say howdy, and assure him I’m not so bad that he needs to worry about me hitting him with this chip.  But you never know.  Don’t think he’s an English major.

Eight and nine come in by the clubhouse and pavilion.  You can see the clubhouse here; it was built as a farmhouse in 1870.  These old buildings, refurbished, are a national treasure.  It definitely adds esthetic and special-moment value to the golfscape.

Coming around the turn I’m at 40* strokes, feeling pretty good, especially about my woods and irons.

As I proceed to the 10^th I see headquarters has committed the cardinal sin, sent someone out on the back nine in front of me!  A threesome—could be the threesome in front of the ladies, who only played nine—followed by a single guy.  Whatever, the single guy is obviously interested in hurrying along and stays right on the tail of the threesome.

I revert to rope-a-dope mode, giving up some time/real estate and hitting two balls.  Still  no one even close behind me.  The weather hasn’t changed.  Pretty soon the three followed by the one becomes the one followed by the three, and they’re a hole or two in front of me.

I love this back nine, though there’s nothing really exceptional to point out what’s so special about it.  It’s still long, fairly straight, but the landscaping is perfect and the hazards are well maintained.  It gets down to the quality of the grounds, really.  It’s not what one would call naturally scenic, unless you’re a farmer.  This course has done the most with what it has:

Recall how Colovista was all beat up by the carts.  Well, GC of Indiana seems to have the right amount of growth and/or the correct grass to minimize wear.  The fairways are beautiful, even on such a dreary day... maybe especially on a dim-view day like this where the colors become so much richer.  I did take a photo on the back, but unfortunately did not capture any flowers.

I feel increasingly well connected on the back, and am beginning to groove as the groups separate from me up front.  The quality of my golf holds up at either end of the back, but lets me down in the middle.  (Does this mean I have a pain in the middle of the back?)

On the par-4 15^th that returns me across the clubhouse area to the final holes, I’m off to the right of the green in two.  I need to carry a high bunker to land on a downslope away from me.  The lie is fluffy so I use a flop shot and wind up with a 20-foot bender putt coming back.  It reminds me of the Tiger Woods putt at the Masters, hole #16, two weekends ago.  It goes up left and then slowly snakes back to the right, teeters on the hole to drop in.  I even see the Nike swoosh!

My little special moment for the day.

And I come in on 18, a long 438 par-4 into the breeze, with a three wood to the green.  Gosh that feels good.  Making the birdie putt would even be better, but you can’t have everything.  Game, set, and match, plus I’ve hoofed it—even with the cart—a lot of steps.  On the back I card a 42*.  Total: 82*.  Now’s the time to check out the amenities before getting back on the road to Michigan.

It’s a relatively dead day for GCofI, so no one’s in the clubhouse.  I chat for a while with Clair who’s minding this part of the store.  This isn’t a gourmet-meal sort of clubhouse, no one’s going to shine your golf shoes or hand you a towel in the men’s room.  I mean, it’s not Oakland Hills Country Club.  Thank goodness!

The people here are super friendly and courteous to everyone, even itinerant, solitary golf bums like me.  No airs, no special privileges, it’s like your family owns a golf course and you actually get along with one another.

Note  -  Not to be putting down Oakland Hills, a private club that would certainly never have me as a member—even if I could afford it.  You can’t fault them for that.  In fact I know a very nice person, a barmaid actually, who works there.  So everybody’s people, and one of these days someone will invite me to play as a guest.

Thus, the old-shoe comfort level at GCofI is high.  They have a panoramic view from those windows you see in the photo above.  Unfortunately, they don’t have any local microbrew beer.  She points me to Budweiser Select® , which is Bud’s big-corporate attempt to compete with the modern good, fresh, local-beer and homebrew movement.  Bud takes a big ol' swing... and whiffs.  But it is beer.

I ask Clair if they do outings, since I’m in a league from Michigan.  She becomes more solicitous, and gives me her card.  The course has a large covered pavilion and is clearly set up for big events.  As mentioned above, GC of Indiana has served as a qualifying course for the PGA Tour, and has held several important events with many well-known professional golfers.  It has the length and the condition of a top-notch professional course.

It’s probably too far away from Detroit area for our league (roughly a five-hour drive), but anyone in the vicinity should give Clair a shout.

That’s the end of it, back to the A4 and a long drive home.  No pun intended.