October 2025 – Played Victoria National as the second stop on our Hoosier State golf tour with my usual annual golf gang. My buddy Michael from the Dormie Network set us up and we got a stay at the cabins and access to this private, top 100 golf course and the crown jewel of the Dormie Network. I talk elsewhere (Arbor Links) about the Dormie experience that was again matched here and this was our first private club played on our annual trip (launched 2019). I won’t add anything here about Dormie but again, the group loved it and will likely be a destination consideration for a future trip.
What I will discuss here, before my Victoria National review, are two items, 1) hardest courses I’ve played now updated with this beast of a course and 2) Google Earth of the site now and from its mining days.
How tough is Victoria National? It is honestly one of the toughest courses you’ll ever play. Even Tom Fazio said that when the wind blows here it is too tough to the point of unfair.
I talk on various pages herein about some of the tough courses I’ve played. I kind of list and rank them first in my Bethpage review and again just this year on my Glenmaura review. Even since then I’ve added two to the list: here and Royal Portrush. Certainly, the slope on a course tells you how tough it is but sometimes the slope doesn’t do justice to the course. Forced carries. Bunkers. Green speeds. High grass and tight driving corridors all add up and can make a course super hard for a bogey golfer more than even the slope says.
I’ve checked on GOLF DIGEST that has the definitive ranking of the toughest courses, but even they don’t just rank by slope alone. They also rank based on scratch golfers. Some of their ranked courses (Riviera comes to mind) are tougher for a scratch golfer because of where they play from. For the courses I rank, I play them generally from the white (or 6,300+/-) tees. Also, sometimes when I play a course, I may play up a bit from there or further back which definitely impacts my toughness ranking as when I am hitting driver and three wood all day, that makes a course much tougher for me. Also, how was the rough that day. Wind. Etc.
So without further ado, I bring you my ranking of the toughest courses I’ve played.
- Kiawah Ocean Course (SC)
- Oakmont (PA)
- Pine Valley (NJ)
- Victoria National (IN)
- Ko’olau (HI) CLOSED
- Spyglass Hill (CA)
- Bethpage Black (NY)
- TPC Sawgrass (FL)
- Metedeconk (NJ)
- Butler National (IL)
- Cape Breton Highlands (NS)
- Whistling Straits (WI)
- Royal Portrush (North Ireland)
- Firestone South (OH)
- Winged Foot West (NY)
- Carnoustie (Scotland)
- Glenmaura National (PA)
- Oakland Hills (MI)
- Merion East (PA)
- Doral Blue Monster (FL)
What did Victoria National look like before it was a golf course? So Tom Fazio, when he was designing VN, said he was really able to just follow the mining spoils and build the holes around those man-made dunes and water features made by the cranes hitting the water table and forming “natural” water hazards. Here is a before and after from Google Earth (1992 vs. 2024)
You can see the water features already pretty well formed and almost untouched by Fazio. Honestly, I think this was super creative of Fazio to not try and rebuild what was already there and makes for a really unique golf experience.
To the course.
We played the green/white combos which measure about 6,200 yards and slopes to a ridiculous 141! From the routing above, you can see water comes into play on all but two holes. But, I actually lost TWO balls on the waterless 10th – where we started – because the fescue is also up and if you put a ball in there, it is bye-bye. Make sure you pack extra balls and a retriever! Some of the tees were in rough shape but overall the conditioning was great and as I noted previously, we did the whole experience with dinner in the clubhouse and a stay in the cabins and it makes for an awesome (though $$$$) experience.
Hole One: 376 yards (all from the green/white combos), par four, #13 handicap: Fairly benign straight-away opener. We played it as ten. If you played it truly as one, you would be lulled into a false sense of security. I parred and shot a 95 for the day which actually LOWERED my handicap! Don’t fuck this one up because a hellish string of brutally hard golf awaits you.
Hole Two: 286 yards/par four/#7 handicap: A 286-yard hole is the #7 handicap?!? Well, that’s what you get from this intimidating drive (though not as tough as it looks) then water all along the left and impossible fescue right. Good drive and GIR for a par!
Hole Three: 508 yards/par five/#3 handicap: Tough hole. Tight throughout then the green cuts off to the right which you have a blind approach and a shot just long is in la agua. Luckily found my drive and a nice second shot but my third was short and in the crap just behind here. Lost eight balls on the day and this was one of them.
Hole Four: 311 yards, par four, #9 handicap: Another shortish hole but you see the water all along the left. Area around the tees (here and a few other holes), as you see, is a little shaggy. Minor complaint on what was otherwise a well-conditioned course. Took a bogey.
Hole Five: 145 yards/par three/#15 handicap: Pin was up but beware of the false front with this pin position, I think the other guys in my group all left it short. I put it over the trap right but would three putt for a bogey.
Hole Six: 420 yards/par four/#1 handicap: From the combos we hit this from the greens and thank fucking God. It says there is only a 7 yard distance between the whites and greens but we must’ve played this further up since the whites were on the other side of the water from here. From where we are right here, was not nearly as tough as a bunch of the other holes on VN.
So they kept this cart tunnel either from the old mining days or as a gimmick – there is actually a pisser in the mining tunnel. Neat feature. The tunnel, not the pisser.
Hole Seven: 152 yards/par three/#17 handicap: No room to miss except short. Forget what I did but parred and was putting together a decent string of holes that would collapse on eight and nine.
Hole Eight: 356 yards/par four/#11 handicap: Water to the left which you should be able to outdrive. Not me though, another lost ball.
Hole Nine: 508 yards/par five/#5 handicap: I’ll repeat the approach photo from the top of the page, below. Tough five as the green juts out on a little peninsula and was scared to hit the ball too long and would double but no lost ball!
Hole Ten: 481 yards/par five/#12 handicap: You see the fescue left? Don’t go in it. We saw right where my ball went in and couldn’t find it. Drop two, hit three back into the fescue. Drop four, hit five. On the green and two putt to start with a two-lost-ball double. Grrr. You kind of see the tee box in the foreground. Worst shape of all boxes.
Hole Eleven: 158 yards/par three/#14 handicap: Obvious bail out right but hit a bullet up the left that went just long and stayed dry. As I always say, “a dry ball is a happy ball” and would bogey after my disaster on ten.
Hole Twelve: 317 yards/par four/#16 handicap: One of these things is not like the other. That’s right I didn’t take a shot of the 12th so borrowed this from Golf Club Atlas. Here is what the author said about this hole: The strong player is tempted to take a crack at driving the 12th green by carrying the visible bunker, catching a downward fairway slope and having his ball bound onto the green, which is open in front. Here’s what I say:
The weaker player is sure to put it either in the water or bunkers (I chose water) and lost yet another golf ball.
Hole Thirteen: 345 yards/par four/#18 handicap: Yeah the easiest hole on VN is like being the tallest midget in the circus. Intimidating drive but manageable and would take a bogey.
Hole Fourteen: 388 yards/par four/#2 handicap: Yeah after four easier holes to kick off the back, you hit a tough stretch to close it out starting here with this tight driving hole.
Hole Fifteen: 463 yards/par five/#8 handicap: A short, waterless par five you say? Fuck no. What you don’t see here is the water you must carry from your approach. In the water and yet another lost ball.
Hole Sixteen: 161 yards/par three/#10 handicap: What an intimidating shot. It’s green or death and we played it longer than 161 yards as I would need to hit a three wood. After already losing four golf balls to this point (remember we started on 10), I was well ready to lose another but hit a great three wood to back of green and dropped the birdie putt!
Hole Seventeen: 395 yards/par four/#4 handicap: Would I hit the dreaded PBFU (Post-Birdie Fuck Up) on 17? Nope, despite this being a tough freaking golf hole on a course full of tough freaking golf holes, I would play this like I should. Fairway, GIR, two-putt par.
Hole Eighteen: 390 yards/par four/#6 handicap: You can’t bail out left as the fescue hugs the fairway. Right is a watery grave and a long par four. Short hitters like me should play to the bunkers and keep left on your approach. I didn’t and splash. In all, VN is a great experience and a top ten course. Very hard. But combined with the cabin experience and a dinner in the clubhouse, this should definitely be on your Louisville/Hoosier State golf trip rota.
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