Links Magazine | The Best Of Golf

When the West Baden Springs Hotel in French Lick, Indiana, reopened in 1902 after it was destroyed by fire the previous year, the hotel was hailed in advertisements as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” With curative mineral springs and the world’s largest dome topping the hotel, the resort attracted worldwide attention and the era’s celebrities, from Al Capone to “Diamond Jim” Brady.

The stock market crash of 1929 put the hotel out of business practically overnight. Today, after a $500 million historic restoration that included the French Lick Springs Hotel (originally built in the mid 1800s) and the new French Lick Casino, the West Baden Springs Hotel is back in its full glory as part of the recently completed French Lick Resort.

Altogether there are 686 guest rooms and suites, two golf courses, an ornate Vegas-style gambling casino, two full-service spas where you can still immerse yourself in the historic mineral baths, and over a dozen dining options.

In April, the resort opened a new Pete Dye Course to complement the 1917 Donald Ross Course, which was part of the original French Lick Springs Hotel. The Ross Course, itself, has just completed a $4.7 million restoration to bring it back to Ross’s original plans.

The hilltop Dye Course, which stretches over 8,100 yards from the tips, features plenty of elevation changes, narrow fairways and, of course, bunkers. The PGA of America will play its PGA Professional National Championship here in 2010.

Summer Travel Specials:
Pete Dye Golf Experience
• One night at the West Baden Springs Hotel
• Two rounds of golf on the new Pete Dye Course
• Use of driving range and practice facility, cart rental, bag storage and shuttle services
Package prices start at $810* per person based on double occupancy (*Forecaddies are mandatory at a rate of $30 plus gratuity per person) Valid through 2009

Hall of Fame Golf Package
• One night at the West Baden Springs Hotel
• One round on both the Dye Course and Ross Course
• Use of driving range and practice facility, cart rental, bag storage and shuttle services
Package prices start at $550* per person based on double occupancy (*Gratuity and caddy fee not included)

Donald Ross Golf Experience
• One night at either the historic West Baden Springs Hotel or the French Lick Springs Hotel
• Two rounds of golf on the Donald Ross Course
• Use of driving range and practice facility, cart rental, bag storage and shuttle services
Package prices start at $249* per person based on double occupancy (*Gratuity and caddy fee not included)

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