Chariot Run Golf Club, Indiana
Teeing off the par-five 11th at Chariot Run Golf Club in Laconia, Indiana.
If you have been following my journey, you’ll notice my tendency to go the extra mile, seizing any opportunity to add a state on this adventure. This was the case with Indiana, a ways off my route, and I could not have been happier with my decision.
The seventeenth state highlighted in this 50-state series, Indiana has a lot of fantastic golf courses. Nationally renowned facilities like Victoria National, which hosts the Korn Ferry Tour playoff finals, and Crooked Stick, site of John Daly’s unimaginable victory at the 1991 PGA Championship, dominate the conversation. Daily access tracks like the French Lick Resort (both the Dye and Ross courses are highly regarded) and the Pfau Course at Indiana University typically sit atop the public rankings.
I called a few courses in Indiana to gauge the temperature regarding February golf. In the northern side of the Hoosier State, winter golf can dicey. If you’re traveling to the southern portion, courses tend to be open year-round—weather pending, of course. I was in luck, having passed through during a day in the mid-50s. When I called Chariot Run, a course situated southwest of Louisville, Kentucky but north of the meandering Ohio River (sort of like the geographical phenomenon I mentioned in the North Dakota post), they were more than happy to comply with my last-minute request. I chose to play there in part because the staff was exceptionally accommodating in welcoming a solo player on Sunday morning.
Chariot Run was designed by Bill Bergin, whose most famous designs are the McLemore Club, famous for its closing hole that plays against perhaps the most dramatic cliff you’ll ever see on a golf course, and the Auburn University Club in Alabama. Chariot Run was the first original design of his I’ve ever played, and I will be eager in the future to get to others. The whole facility—including the shape and green and white colors of the clubhouse—is an obvious tip of the cap to the area’s local equestrian roots. GolfWeek named Chariot Run the ninth best public course in Indiana and Top100GolfCourses.com has the track listed 26th among all courses in the state.
I arrived right at eleven on a Sunday morning after zigzagging through the winding hills of southern Indiana. I spoke to an extremely amiable pro shop attendant, who helped me navigate the facility with ease. I wish I would have caught his name. Perhaps he may run across this post and see what a great deal he added to my experience. Thank you, friend.
For mid-February, the course was in impeccable condition. The greens rolled at about a ten on the stimpmeter, and the dormant rough and fairways did not affect play in the slightest. I can imagine a world when the course is green in the early summer and the fescue is an aesthetically pleasing golden brown color, like a different genre of an inland Irish links. Trees really only come to play on holes fifteen through seventeen, but errant shots on a few others could head for the deciduous forests. Undulating fairways and subtle movements on the greens make for a fair but tough test.
The course is a mammoth 7200 yards from the tips, but I played the blues, which played at a tricky 73.4 rating and stretched over 6700 yards. Chariot Run’s front nine runs a little together in the way the holes play. Though there are many standout holes on the latter portion of the course, the front suffers a decent amount due to lack of memorability. My favorite hole on the first half had to be the dogleg right sixth, the type of hole where you can cut off as much as you please. The line of aim can be confusing if you’ve never been to Chariot Run. Luckily, there’s an uncomplicated bail out area to the left that will leave a mid-length shot to the green. If you’re a bomber, aim right. The ninth is a solid par four that goes down and back up, stretching to 501 yards from the back tees. I’m not sure why, but hitting shots into a clubhouse backdrop always provides a bit more of a special moment heading in. It causes you to forget just for a moment you are walking up the fairway of the number one handicap on the course.
The back nine is where Chariot Run really shines. The four-hole stretch of numbers twelve through fifteen is truly a remarkable point of your round. It begins with a beautiful, slightly downhill par three with a water hazard off to the left and tall, tall trees behind. Then, a drivable par four awaits you, but so too does a nasty greenside bunker and fescue everywhere else. Hitting a golf shot out of the fescue negates any spin, as I found out the hard way on this hole. Luckily, I knocked my third shot to within six inches for one of my best pars of the day. The fourteenth is a downhill, slight dogleg left with a creek short and right, and everything you hit to the amphitheater bounces hard that way. It’s a 453-yard monster from the tips and rightly so the number two handicap on the course. The fifteenth is a fabulous par three into the trees.
I cannot imagine there are many better public options in the Louisville metropolitan area. I was reminded in more than one way of StoneRidge Golf Club, a top tier public course in Minnesota, when I played here. Grand Falls in Iowa is another place I’ve been that is similar. I could even have a discussion about its resemblance to the nationally ranked Black Sheep Golf Club in Sugar Grove, Illinois.
Chariot Run is a bit off the beaten path, but worth the trip. If you’re in Louisville and cannot get onto the private giants of the area, it’s the obvious choice. Friendly staff, a fun golf course, and an enjoyable atmosphere await you on your visit to Chariot Run.