Indiana Golf ready to tee off on new HQ at Fort Ben

The governing body for golf in Indiana is preparing for construction of its new headquarters in Indianapolis. Indiana Golf plans to build the facility, which will be known as the Pete and Alice Dye Indiana Golf Center, on the grounds of The Fort Golf Resort at Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park.

The organization is in the midst of a $6.5 million capital campaign for the 13,000-square-foot facility and has raised $4.3 million to date.

The facility will feature administrative space for the organization, which manages the Indiana PGA, Indiana Golf Association, Indiana Women’s Golf Association, Indiana Golf Course Superintendents Association, Indiana Golf Foundation and First Tee-Indiana.

It will include a new indoor golf academy, a short-game practice facility and an upgraded version of the Indiana Golf Hall of Fame.

Plans call for ground to be broken on the Pete and Alice Dye Indiana Golf Center next spring and for construction to be complete by spring 2025.

Indiana Golf, formerly known as the Indiana Golf Office, was headquartered on 51 acres next to The Legends Golf Course in Franklin from 1993 to 2021, when it moved into a temporary office at 9795 Crosspoint Blvd. in Indianapolis.

Indiana Golf Executive Director Mike David told Around INdiana Reporter Mary-Rachel Redman that the organization’s old facility in Franklin became obsolete after it stopped hosting its summer camps, so the search began for a more centralized location.

“We looked at several sites, but we landed here at the Fort for a number of reasons, and a central location is fantastic for us,” David said. “It’s a Pete Dye design and having the Pete and Alice Dye Indiana Golf Center here fits very well. It’s a public facility and a good public facility. So a lot of those things kind of led us to the decision that, you know, this makes total sense.”

David is looking forward to the new Indiana Golf Hall of Fame.

“We’re really excited because the new hall of fame’s really going to tell the story the history of Indiana golf,” said David. “Our old hall of fame had trophy cases and a lot of trophies and plaques and things. This is going to be much more interactive, and it’s going to walk people through who influenced the game in Indiana and what impact they had and who won championships and what golf has meant to the state.”

The namesakes of the new center, Pete and Alice Dye, were renowned golf course designers who developed numerous courses around the globe, including nearly two dozen in Indiana.

The duo built their first course, a nine-hold course now known as Dye’s Walk Country Club in Greenwood, in 1962. Other notable Indiana courses designed by the Dyes include Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel and The Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort.

Indiana Golf aims to complete its fundraising effort by summer 2024. In addition to the new HQ, the campaign will support capital improvements to various First Tee program sites, a Dryvebox Mobile Golf Simulator, and scholarships for young people to attend First Tee-Indiana programming.

David said it will provide an opportunity for Indiana Golf to continue to introduce the game to new players.

“The more we can do right now to get golf clubs in people’s hands and make sure people know that they have an opportunity to play, I think it’s critical for future.”

More information about the capital campaign can be found by clicking here.

Golf continues to be a major economic driver for the state of Indiana. Earlier this year, the National Golf Foundation released the results of a study that showed golf generates more than $2 billion in annual economic impact for the state and supports more than 23,000 jobs.

Big golf events continue to be held in Indiana. In June, the Senior LPGA Championship took place at Sultan’s Run Golf Club in Jasper. On Tuesday, the U.S. Golf Association announced the 2028 U.S. Senior Open Championship will take place at Crooked Stick in Carmel.