Harrison Lake Country Club in Columbus, Indiana, is entering its first full golfing season since the completion of a renovation by architect Tim Liddy.

The course reopened in August 2022 following the renovation of the short game area, relocation of the driving range, and construction or renovation of all eighteen holes over the previous two years.

Liddy’s plan involved some rerouting and the introduction of five new holes – which now play as the seventh, eighth, ninth, sixteenth and seventeenth.

The topography of the course meant that several holes had blind spots, which Liddy, an ASGCA Fellow, addressed without making drastic changes to the landscape. “The new holes remove the blindness of the approach shots,” he said. “On one hole we placed the new green just short of a hill rather than up and over, and for another we reversed the hole to play down the abrupt hill and use the hilltop as the landing area, instead of hitting up and over it. We also expanded fairway corridor widths using newfound edges of the property to provide new approach angles into green sites.”

One of the new holes is the eighth, a 165-yard par three that plays over a deep swale. The green site was lowered around eight feet and Liddy describes it as a “visible Dell hole”.

Read more: Tim Liddy provides an insight into the par-three eighth in the Winter 2021 issue of By Design magazine.

Bob Haddad, the owner of Harrison Lake, believes that keeping courses family- and beginner-friendly is key. “Courses need to be designed for the average golfer,” he said. “They need to be challenging, yes, but also fun. Investing in the course and in the practice facilities with a ‘family and friend fun’ approach is the best path to future success.”