Golf Guide: Indianapolis - IN

In addition to having once been named the most affordable city in America, Indianapolis has earned a reputation as one heck of a sports haven. The Indiana Pacers have flirted with greatness and filled arenas, the Indianapolis Colts captured a Super Bowl victory, and, from a national perspective, the city is practically synonymous with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and its premier event, The Indy 500.

Yet even if visitors have no interest in motorsports (gasp!) and would rather spend their Memorial Day Weekend hitting the links than cheering on the open-wheelers in the Old Brickyard, the residents of Indianapolis will likely overlook this character flaw. Of course, the Pete Dye golf course that actually allows golfers to play four holes inside the Speedway, Brickyard Crossing Golf Club, is best played on either side of the Indy 500. If, however, golfers also happen to be racing fans, this course may officially be heaven.

The Indianapolis region, though, has so many courses to choose from that traveling golfers will either have to return time and again or move to the city in order to play even a quarter of them. For example, golfers can choose on their first visit to play nothing but public Pete Dye courses.

Or golfers may choose to play a course by another big-name designer, Robert Trent Jones Jr. Prairie View Golf Club, considered by some to be the region's best daily-fee course and facility, is a stunning beauty, featuring 90 bunkers, five lakes and a stream, so golfers should prepare themselves to be challenged.