Courtesy of Victoria National
Courtesy of Victoria National GC
Victoria National Golf Club
Newburgh, IN • Private
Victoria National Golf Club
2000 Victoria National Blvd
Newburgh, IN 47630-8488
United States
Overview
Built atop Peabody Coal Company’s long-abandoned Victoria strip mine in southern Indiana, Victoria National was a simple routing for Tom Fazio. He just followed the corridors (the perfect width for fairways) that existed between mining spoil mounds (long since overgrown with trees) and some 40 acres of fingery lagoons that had formed as steam shovels carving out coal deposits hit the water table. Chosen as Best New Private Course of 1999, Victoria National stunned most panelists. One gushed it was, “the most unusual, unpolished and unpretentious Fazio design ever.” Another called it, “probably the hardest Fazio course I’ve played. More penal than Pine Valley.” Fazio concurred with that assessment. “It’s U.S. Open-quality now,” he said soon after it opened. “If the wind blew, it’d be too hard.”
About
Awards
Ranking history:
100 Greatest: Ranked since 2001.
Highest ranking: 21st, 2005-'06.
Previous ranking: 53rd.
2025-'26 ranking: 60th.
Best in State: Ranked first since 2001.
2025-'26 ranking: 1st.
Panelists
Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists
100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES
Shot Options
Character
Challenge
Layout Variety
Fun
Aesthetics
Conditioning
Reviews
Review
“This is the hardest course I have ever played. Beautiful design with great variety, forced carries, and decisions to be made.... mostly about what shot to hit to keep the ball in play. Fairways are of ample width, but once missed, you are punished heavily with water hazards or deep unplayable fescue that you'd be lucky to find your ball. As such, bring extra balls. The only truly unfair spot was the approach to the long par 4 17th. approaching that green with a hybrid or long iron, one must avoid a huge mound of fescue just off the left fringe of the green and a deep bunker which protects the right."
Read More2025
Review
“This is one of the hardest golf courses you will ever play. If you are nor controlling the ball, you will need to bring a lot of them."
Read More2025
Review
“This is a tough track! soft conditions after some rain made it even more challenging. A true test for even the best players. The course is surrounded by water, but it's only in play on several holes unless you're far off-target. The design is very straight-forward. You see what challenge is in front of you. No hidden hazards or blind shots if you're in the proper position. Loved #14 with it's narrow fairway and then a long second shot to a green perched on a ledge. No room to miss short. A very challenging hole. Par is a great score. Hard to imagine this is a former mine site given the lush conditions and natural setting. A great course to test your game against a course that challenged the pros. Dormie Network provides an exceptional level of service that really stands out. This is an amazing golf course built for serious golfers. Get here if you can."
Read More2025
Review
“Victoria National is a very challenging course that would challenge even the most skilled golfers through a variety of forced carries, various water hazards and long grass which catch wayward shots. The holes that stood out to me were the par 5s on the front nine. The 3rd hole offered an interesting option on the 2nd shot - to thread a tight needle into the green or lay back for a third shot and the 9th hole, which offered a great retreat as it appears much more open than everything else on the front 9, but offers great strategy as the golfer approaches the green. The closing stretch from the 14th through 18th holes will test the champion golfers meddle down the stretch. The 14th requires an accurate tee shot followed by a precise iron shot to an elevated green. The 15th requires a strong shot and again gives the player an option of covering water to the green or laying up short or to the right. The 16th is essentially an island green par 3, with a smallish green given the lengthy carry required and 17 and 18 require navigating around ponds on the course. A very challenging test, which was designed to host and test the very best players in the world."
Read More2025
Review
“Ruthlessly challenging course on virtually every hole. While distance isn't overly intimidating, precision off the tee is critical as the obstacles are everywhere. Water factors in on 13+ holes, heather on more than half, thick rough, elevated greens, deep bunkers with high lips and undulating fairways abound. In spite of the challenges, the views are incredible and each hole is well conceived and routed well to take advantage of the topography and wind direction. The green surfaces are fair and have a variety of available pin locations. It is an exacting and exhausting round of golf. Bring your golf balls, but leave your ego at home."
Read More2024
Review
“Very difficult but beautiful."
Read More2024
Review
“Extremely difficult Tom Fazio design in an abandoned quarry in southern Indiana. Must be long and straight to score well here. Beautiful routing which will require all the shots in your bag. Private club in the Dormie network. Don't pass up any opportunity to play here."
Read More2024
Review
“This Tom Fazio design is built on an abandoned strip mine replete with lagoons that remain from the coal mining operation of last century. The course itself is beautiful as the routing takes you through a parkland setting over bridges and waterways that gives you a sense of serenity. With warnings of how difficult the course plays, the front nine lulls you into a sense of complacency with its somewhat generous fairways and gettable holes including several short par 4s. My caddy described the back nine as a "beautiful beast" and he was right as fairways narrowed, and the penalty for missed fairways and greens intensified. Holes 14 through 18 are known as "the gauntlet" and the hardest stretch of holes on the Korn Ferry Tour. #14 is statistically the hardest par 4 in Korn Ferry HISTORY. After finishing the gauntlet, I felt as though I had survived this stern test of golf... barely."
Read More2024
Review
“Wonderful golf course. I got a chance to play with a caddie and in a golf cart. Much better experience walking the fairways with a caddie. Also help with lines off the tee and finding golf balls. This course is very demanding off the tee. There is a little room off the fairways but not much. Any balls in the heather/fescue are almost unfindable and for sure inplayable. Once you get off the tee the course is much more manageable. Greens are fairly flat but can run quick. Very well manicured in all areas. Playing surfaces are perfect. Only reason i ranked a 4 and not higher is the difficulty of the course. Can make for a long day for some."
Read More2023
Review
“A really unique test of golf that challenges a variety of golfers skills sets. Unfortunately conditioning did not match the quality of the golf courses. The fairways were very soft (most drives left blow out pitch marks). While the greens were firm, the surfaces were bumpy and suffering from Cicada Killer Bees nesting in the greens, leaving significant dime size holes in several greens."
Read More2023
