Mystic Hills Golf Course

Spend the day on one of Indiana’s best with today’s feature: $20 for 18 Holes with Cart and Range Balls at Mystic Hills in Culver near South Bend ($51 Value. Good Any Day, Any Time until October 1, 2016!)

There are only a few names synonymous with some of the best golf courses in the country, and with today’s feature course, Mystic Hills Golf Club in Culver, you’ll get to experience the genius of one of the most well-known: Pete Dye. Designer of such legendary courses as the TPS Sawgrass Stadium Course, Harbour Town, and Whistling Straits, Dye’s signature touch is all over Mystic Hills, bringing together the natural features of the countryside with the sharp eye of one of the era’s best designers to create a one-of-a-kind playing experience that is the highlight of the Indiana golfing landscape.

Playing just over 6,700 yards from the Dye tees (the course’s longest), Mystic Hills takes the best from Parkland and Links-style golf and combines it into one gorgeous 18-hole challenge. Built in 1998 as the tip of the Pete Dye Golf Trail, the course is consistently in pristine shape, and highlights the natural features of the Indiana countryside around every turn. Fairways are long and heavily undulated thanks to the rolling landscape, and large deep bunkers invade many of the course’s landing areas and greensides. There are plenty of mature trees throughout the course, but they mostly exist as the backdrop to greens or borders of fairways, rarely coming into play except on totally errant shots.

The bigger concern at Mystic Hills is the thick and plentiful heather/prairie grass that can quickly turn simple mistakes into lost balls and double-digit scores. These are just one of the reasons why distance control and proper shot execution are so incredibly important here, and what should be your focus if you're at all concerned about shooting a low score.

Rated 73.0/133 from the back set of tees, one of the most challenging parts of your round may be not allowing yourself to be distracted by the breathtaking views of the surrounding wetlands and gorgeous landscape. Just pick up a couple of extra balls at the fully stocked pro shop, and some grub at the snack bar to keep your energy up during your round, and you’ll be just fine.