Blackthorn Golf Course

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Blackthorn Golf Course was built in 1994 and was nationally ranked by Golf Digest magazine as one of the best new golf courses in the US. It is located in South Bend, Indiana. Blackthorn Golf Course is a challenging par 72 golf course which runs 7100 yards. This course is welcome to all different type of golfers from the more experienced golfer to the person who is just starting out at golf.

[edit] Scorecard

All yardage is from black tees

Hole 1-Par 4 - 410 yards/374 yards

Uphill drive that must carry a bunker. A well-hit drive will leave a 160-yard shot in (6 or 7 iron) to a relatively small green guarded by a bunker front left.

Hole 2-Par 4 - 336 yards

Longer players may wish to attempt to drive the green but must carry a group of bunkers on the right dogleg. Most players will use a fairway wood and then a pitching wedge to a small and narrow green.

Hole 3-Par 3 - 203 yards

A long iron off an elevated green to a two-tiered green.

Hole 4-Par 5 - 554 yards

A driver to a generous landing area but the players might want to keep their drive on the left side of the fairway. The second shot is a long iron or fairway wood off a 75-foot plateau to a well-bunkered landing area. From there, it's a pitching wedge to a very small, well-bunkered green.

Hole 5-Par 4 - 465 yards

Augusta National has "Ike's Tree", at number 17, Blackthorn has "Mike's Tree" (for architect Michael Hurdzan), a 270-year-old oak tree that sits smack in the middle of the fairway. Players will want to hit a drive left of the tree to leave themselves a 2 or 3 iron shot into a small green.

Hole 6-Par 4 - 400 yards

This relatively straight-away hole has a large landing area and turns slightly to the right. The green is small and the right side of it has a Pinehurst-type collection area if a ball rolls off. After a drive, most players will have a 7 or 8 iron left.

Hole 7-Par 5 - 549 yards

The tee ball must come out of a wooden chute to a deceptively large landing area. A well-struck drive will afford a player an opportunity to go for the green in two. However, the long and narrow green is fronted by bunkers and backed by a bunker and a collection area. The green is receptive to only a high, soft shot, so must players will lay up and have a little flip wedge in.

Hole 8-Par 3 - 183 yards

Most players will hit a 4 or 5 iron from the tee to a very narrow green. There is a bunker and hazard in front and long grass to the back.

Hole 9-Par 4 - 445 yards

An uphill drive that plays best to a fade down the left side of the fairway. A good drive will land on top of a plateau and leave a 160-yard downhill shot to a generous-sized green. Water, bunkers, and fescue grass guard a right-side pin placement.

Hole 10-Par 4 - 365 yards

Most players will hit a long iron off the tee, but those who dare may care to cut the dogleg left and drive the green that is heavily bunkered and protected by fescue. A huge tree and huge bunker, though, dominate the dogleg.

Hole 11- Par 4 - 428 yards

The drive must be kept left of a 200 year-old black walnut tree toward a huge waste bunker (that also comes into play on holes 6 and 12). The second shot is going to be a long iron or fairway wood over the waste bunker to a very small, well-bunkered green. In front of the green at the left is a Hurdzan specialty - a well-hidden pot bunker.

Hole 12- Par 4 - 412 yards

You are given two routes to the green on this hole that is divided by bunkers. The best entrance is the left one but it is also the most difficult to hit. Most players will aim to the right of the bunkers but have a middle iron to a flat green protected by a huge front bunker.

Hole 13- Par 3 - 217 yards

A long iron or fairway wood tee shot to a slightly depressed green that sits in front of a waste bunker. A miss-hit can still get a kick onto the front of the green or end up in a collection area to the right.

Hole 14- Par 4 - 436 yards

A demanding drive must not stray too far left. There's pond trouble and trees that block the approach to the uphill, undulating green - perhaps the most severe putting surface on the course. A tee shot that strays right will find one of a number of bunkers. Either way, the second shot is a long one.

Hole 15- Par 5 - 526 yards

To get home in two, a player must hit a long and straight drive between the bunkers on 14 and bunkers left on 15. A second shot must carry a series of step bunkers uphill to a very narrow entrance. Players who don't choose to go in two will want to hit left of the step bunkers to allow a better approach to the green, which is guarded in front by bunkers.

Hole 16- Par 3 - 137 yards

Close your eyes and you'll think you're at Pine Valley because the hole is backed by a series of pines and is fronted by a huge gorge. The green is protected in front by bunkers.

Hole 17- Par 4 - 433 yards

This hole will remind some of Oakmont - a long, narrow, tree-lined rolling fairway to a large, L-shaped, well-bunkered green. A U.S. Open type hole. A golfer must hit the fairway with a driver to allow a long-iron or fairway approach.

Hole 18- Par 5 - 534 yards

A good drive must be left of the bunkers. From there, if a player elects to go for the narrow green in two, the shot can't stray left because of water or right because of bunkers. Most players will elect to lay up to 100 yards and then pitch into the long, humped green.

[edit] 1995 Golf Digest Best New Public Courses

1995 Best New Public Courses

1. La Cantera G.C., San Antonio, Texas, Jay Morrish & Tom Weiskopf.
2. Kiva Dunes G.C., Gulf Shores, Ala., Jerry Pate.
3. Missouri Bluffs G.C., St. Charles, Mo., Tom Fazio.
4. Blackthorn G.C., South Bend, Ind., Michael Hurdzan.
5. Kirkwood National G.C., Holly Springs, Miss., Ed Connor, Tracey May & Harris Gholson II.
6. White Columns G.C., Alpharetta, Ga., Tom Fazio.
7. Timarron C.C., Southlake, Tex., Baxter Spann & Byron Nelson.
8. Rock Hollow G.C., Peru, Ind., Tim Liddy.
9. Cooks Creek G.C., Ashville, Ohio, Michael Hurdzan, Dana Fry & John Cook.
10. St. Marlo C.C., Duluth, Ga., Denis Griffiths.

5 star Chicagoland Golf

The Best Golf Course in Indiana Indiana Business Magazine, 1998 Reader's Survey

4 1/2 stars Golf Digest, "Places to Play" Since 2002