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5/19/04 - Best greens in Indy. Many are small, subtly contoured but roll very well. Fairways are usually well maintained. Long front nine and shorter but more strategic back nine. Provides a challenge to the better golfer but not so difficult to frustrate the beginner. Easy on the lost ball category as well. Usually not crowded so easy to get around in 4 hours or less.

6/30/03 - Well-kept and is a good challenge. Staff are particularly helpful and friendly. Overall, a great deal for golf in Indy.

3/27/03 - Great value as a member, not so as a guest. Good mature layout. Great greens. Good mix of short and long holes. Plays longer than yardage due to bluegrass fairways that don't run like bent. But lush thick fairways great to hit from, even more so for the higher handicap. Need to be long on the front 9, and accurate on the back nine. You'll use all your clubs on this course. Well placed fairway traps, minimal green traps. Fun finishing holes. Fast play! May be best bang for the buck for members of any private course in state.

Architect Ron Kern's Notes

TWIN LAKES GOLF CLUB REMODELING COMPLETE

Ron Kern, Regular Member
American Society of Golf Course Architects

For the first time in two years, members and guests at Twin Lakes Golf Club, Carmel, Indiana, will not be getting their spikes muddy.

Twin Lakes has undergone extensive remodeling in conjunction with a Davis Homes LLC real estate project. The housing surrounds the existing golf course and does not adversely affect play. Sales of homes have been brisk.

Twin Lakes Golf Club agreed to accept storm runoff from the development. This resulted in construction of seven new lakes and the expansion of one lake.

Bunkers have been relocated and reshaped throughout the golf course. Many tees were rebuilt, enlarged and elevated to provide better visibility of the golf holes. Trees have been planted to provide definition and beauty.

The fairway on hole number five was relocated to the right about 150’ to provide safety for the adjacent home lots. New tees were constructed, but the existing green complex was used. Two new lakes flank the approach to the green. The biggest changes to the golf course are the new finishing holes (16, 17 and 18), the relocated first hole, the new practice range and new short game practice area.

Davis Homes LLC proposed housing on the existing practice range. Therefore, a new practice range had to be constructed on the existing golf course. To make this possible the first hole and the last three holes had to be reconfigured and the maintenance facility had to be relocated.

The new first hole is a short par five (485 yards from the champ. tees) down a rolling fairway that features four bunkers and a grassy hollow. From about 170 yards out from the green, the new hole joins the old fairway and plays to the existing green.

The new sixteenth is a short (155 yards from the champ. tees) par three over a lake to a three level green. A bunker flanks the front right of the green.

The new seventeenth is a shortish par four (335 yards from the champ. tee). The tee shot can be played short of a large fairway bunker on the right side of the fairway for the easiest angle to the green. Or the player can drive to a narrow opening for a short pitch over a right geeenside bunker to a small green.

The new eighteenth is a par five that can be reachable in two by the longer player. It measures 515 yards from the champ. tees. A series of four bunkers down the left side of the fairway and a lake to the right, which starts about 140 yards out from the green, narrows the second shot landing “areas” as one gets closer to the green. The green is a punchbowl with two small additional levels, one left protected by a bunker and one to the right protected by the lake.

The new practice range is a tremendous improvement. Players hit from an elevated tee to an area that features three small “target greens”. The short game practice area features a large green with two practice bunkers and areas to practice chip shots and short pitch shots.

A newly remodeled pro shop and food service area along with the remodeled golf course are all part of the great, new improvements to Twin Lakes Golf Club.

TLGC is an underrated test of golf. Its length and tricky greens make for an enjoyable test for the better player as well as the less skilled player. It was designed by a founding member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, Bill Diddel.

Ron Kern's website is at http://www.ronkerngolfarch.com