Course Review – Salt Creek (Nashville, IN)

While traveling the state over the last couple of years for the book on Indiana Golf Courses, I saw somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 courses.  Each month I’m going to post a review of one of the courses that didn’t make the cut and get into the book.  This month we will begin with Salt Creek Golf Course in Nashville, Indiana.

The course at Salt Creek is part of a small golf resort.  The area features some of the most beautiful pieces of the Hoosier National Forest.  On site are some condo-style quarters that can be rented for your stay.  A restaurant and bar on site help complete the package.  Nashville is also centrally located between Columbus and Bloomington, both with some attractions that may draw the attention of the traveler.

Salt Creek Golf Course is an interesting little place to play.  Though not long from the tips it does have its moments.  The front nine is fairly flat with some trees that seem to crowd the holes a little.  There are a couple of interesting holes, with the best on this side being the fourth.  The hole is a dogleg from right to left around a small pond.   The longer player can attempt to carry the corner and have a better angle into the green.  But even if the player lays back they will have a short iron approach at the target.

After the turn the course becomes much more interesting.  I would even say that the stretch of holes 10 through 16 might be some of the most fun I’ve had in a while on a course.  The only problem is that the holes are all pretty short par fours, with the exception of the 12th.  The 10th runs along the backside of the bungalows and uphill.  The semi-blind drive clears the hill and runs back down hill and to the right, the perfect hole for my faded drive.  The approach is a lob wedge down to the green unless you run through the fairway and have an awkward lie.

The 11th has a drive over a deep ravine to another elevated fairway and an approach to a green guarded short by a small water hazard.  The par three 12th is a nice par three with an excellent green that is also the largest on the course.  A faded mid to short iron will be the best friend of the golfer on this hole.  It will take the slope of the green and also, if hit the right distance, avoid the bunker protecting the front right portion of the green.

Holes 14 through 16 are also exquisite.  The 14th hole tilts from right to left and almost every drive is going to run to the left side of the landing zone.  The trick is trying to stay to the right because coming into the green from the left is treacherous.  And anything that runs through the green has a steep falloff behind.  The 15th has a gorgeous downhill tee shot to a tight fairway with sand on one side and water on the other.   I errored to the right and made and excellent shot from the bunker that sneaked through the narrow green entrance and saved my par.  The sixteenth then runs back up the hill to an elevated green that runs slightly from right to left with the hill that it is benched into.

The final two holes are on the same piece of property as the front nine and feature the same characteristics.  Quite a disappointing finish after the sporty set of short par fours on the back side.  I think that Salt Creek might have one of the best collections of short par fours I have seen in Indiana.  Unfortunately there wasn’t much more to the course.

The conditioning of the course was perhaps a little too wet for my taste, but I did play after three straight days of rain.  So they get the benefit of the doubt on that.  The greens were fairly straightforward with only a little bit more than subtle contouring being shown during the good stretch of holes on the back.  I would probably rate it similar to Old Capital in Corydon and Stony Creek in Noblesville as they seem to have very similar layouts and styles of holes.

If I was in the area, I might play Salt Creek again as it isn’t a terrible course and not a bad value, especially if you can get a discount of some sort.  But when stuck between Columbus and Bloomington it should be better.  With courses like Otter Creek, which is much better but more expensive, Indiana University and Timbergate within in easy driving distance it needs to become more competitive.

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