Thursday, June 06, 2002
Golf Course Spotlight: Otter Creek
Indiana's links masterpiece treats local golfers
By Carey Hoffman
Enquirer contributor
Eighty miles west of Cincinnati, in the unlikely setting of a 39,000-person city, sits one of the nation's most renowned architectural meccas.
Columbus, Ind., ranked No.6 on a list of the United States' best architectural destinations, features a library designed by I.M.Pei, a sculpture by Henry Moore and a church by Eliel Saarinen.
When, in 1964, the opportunity arose to extend that legacy with a golf course, the first choice for the architect was obvious — Robert Trent Jones, the most celebrated golf designer of the post-World War II era.
Jones' creation remains a treasure to Tristate golfers today. More of Otter Creek's customers come from Cincinnati than any other surrounding market. What draws them is an exquisite, classic course that replicates the aura of a fine club better than any public course this side of Longaberger Golf Club.
There's no substitute for maturity and, after almost 40 years of growth, Otter Creek's two original nines, known as the North and the West, are prime examples. Huge, beautiful trees mark the route of each nine through ideal golfing terrain.
Jones used the trees to set up a golf venue that impresses most with its completeness. Otter Creek passes every test, whether it be strategic or aesthetic. The design features 18 distinct holes, all with their own unique feel.
Jones designed with the philosophy that each hole should be a hard par but an easy bogey. To achieve that result at Otter Creek, he dug out 85 bunkers filled with imported North Carolina sand across the North and West nines, most of them oversized with steep faces. To score on the course, you cannot afford to frequent those hazards.
Multi-tiered greens are the other first-line element in Otter Creek's defense arsenal. Like the bunkers, the greens are oversized. With their maturity, they also are exceptionally fast, so that an approach played into the wrong part of the green means major putting trouble. The right approaches are almost always well rewarded, however, as the greens putt very true.
Notable holes include No.5 on the North, an elegant, 616-yard par-5 that flows ribbon-like parallel to the creek for which the course was named, and the No.2 and No.4 holes on the West nine. No.2 is a 341-yard par-4 that presents a tempting risk/reward dilemma, with its short length wrapped up in surroundings filled with penal possibilities. No.4 is a 191-yard par-3 over water dubbed “Alcatraz,” and Jones considered it one of the best holes he ever designed.
Otter Creek also added a third nine, known as the East, in 1995. Rees Jones, the son of Robert Trent Jones, was the architect behind the expansion. While still a formidable challenge, the terrain was not as favorable as that of the original 18 holes, so the aesthetics are not as strong.
The new nine is a mix of woodland and links styles and is dominated by two huge lakes that make the par-4 Nos.3 and 7 holes standouts. The East nine is worth playing, but the quintessential Otter Creek experience remains the original North and West nines.
Otter Creek's mettle as a test of golf has been proven through its extensive history as a tournament course. The Indiana Amateur has been contested on the course 26 times, and in 1991, the United States Golf Association brought its national Public Links championship tournament there.
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Golf Course Spotlight: Otter Creek
