The Donald Ross Course

Few American resort complexes carry the historical weight of French Lick, the southern Indiana spa town that drew presidents, celebrities, and high-rollers during its Gilded Age and Roaring Twenties heyday. The Donald Ross Course at French Lick Resort sits squarely within that legacy — Ross himself designed it in 1917, and while the course underwent a careful restoration, its bones reflect the master's characteristic philosophy: crowned greens that shed poor approaches, subtle fairway contours that reward thoughtful positioning, and a routing that works with the hill country terrain rather than against it.

The course plays through the wooded ridges and valleys of the Hoosier Hills, offering a quieter, more contemplative round than its flashier sibling, the Pete Dye Course nearby. The par-70 layout asks for precision over power, and Ross's hallmark crowned and contoured putting surfaces will punish anything but an accurate ball-striker.

French Lick itself is a legitimate American golf destination, and this course is the one that connects the resort to its real roots.