The Fort Golf Club
The
Fort Golf Course showcases the best of what
Indiana golf has to
offer. Located just minutes from downtown
Indianapolis, famed golf
course architect
Pete Dye took this 238 acre natural setting and
created an 18 hole championship layout that is both beautiful and
challenging.
The 7,148 yard, par 72 design features tree lined
fairways, rolling hills, and the Dye trademark undulating greens. With
multiple tees beginning at 5,045 yards, golfers of all skill levels
will face the challenge they desire.
In addition to our outstanding
golf course, The
Fort Golf Resort & Conference Center offers top
quality practice facilities, private or group golf instruction, a
fully-stocked Golf Shop, men's and women's locker room, golf packages
with lodging, and corporate or charity golf outing capabilities.
Course History
During
the Civil War, the Indianapolis Arsenal supplied munitions to federal
troops. Located near the State House from 1861 to 1865, the War
Department later moved the arsenal east of downtown to Woodruff Place.
By 1901, the War Department planned to close the arsenal.
In
March of 1901, Lieutenant Colonel Russell B. Harrison came back to
Indianapolis to bury his father, President Benjamin Harrison. Russell
felt strongly that some military presence should remain in the city to
honor the tradition the arsenal played in fighting slavery and
maintaining the Union.
On June 28, 1904 the War Department
issued General Order No. 117 officially announcing the purchase of land
for "military purposes...about nine miles north-easterly from
Indianapolis." In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt dedicated Fort
Benjamin Harrison, in honor of our 23rd President and city resident.
The
post represents the first effort to create a "national" army out of a
collection of state militias. The post served multiple roles as troop
reception center, classroom, and soldier support facility during all
major military conflicts from WWI to Desert Storm. The park includes
the Camp Glenn Historic District which housed the Citizens Military
Training Camps from 1935 to 1940, and hundreds of prisoners of war in
1944-1945.
Rumored shutdown of Fort Benjamin Harrison Military
Reservation became reality in 1991 through the Base Realignment and
Closure process. In 1995 the U.S. Department of the Interior approved
the State of Indiana's request to convert 1700 of the 2500-acre post
into a state park and nature preserve.
This decision led to
The
Fort Golf Course. The course was redesigned by Pete Dye and Tim Liddy.
In 1998,
The Fort Golf Course was third under "
Best Affordable New
Public Courses" in
Golf Digest. Today The Fort is considered one of
Indiana's best public golf courses and we look forward to seeing you
there.
