Belterra opened in 2001 to wide acclaim. It was selected as one of the top new courses to open that year and finds itself on many best casino courses list. True to Fazio’s style, Belterra shows off his artistic flair and visually appealing architecture. There’s is no shortage of beautiful holes as each one stands out as delectable as the one before it.
(The 478/454 yard par four fifth is an incredibly difficult golf hole. There’s not much room for error so playing it as a three shotter might be the optimum strategy.)
(The 464/437 yard par four ninth is best played down the left side to obtain a preferred angle, otherwise one is coming over the fall off on the right.)
Belterra is a continuous eighteen hole course with 1-3 & 18 on the casino side of the road, and 4-17 playing across the street. The playing corridors are very wide with generous fairways inviting players to free will it off the tee. Usually one side of the hole contains all the trouble, but there’s plenty of room on the other side plus the containment slope to kick balls back into play. The real challenge is attacking the greens which are often angled with bunkers fronting specific lines from the fairway. The huge greens have multiple pinning locations that are sufficient to withstand the large amount of play Belterra gets.
(The 193/174 yard par three twelfth is a beautiful hole with nice sight lines to the green. The player can envision any shot and has the room to execute it. The water hazard extends down the left and will catch any ball that drifts too far in that direction.)
(The 392/368 yard par four thirteenth doglegs left around a massive fairway bunker that consumes the entire hillside. Note how most of the visible fairway angles with the lower area on the right. One must carry it to the upper half to have a view of the green...
...it’s best to avoid this insidious hazard although hitting driver to carry it to the flat brings it into play.)
(The 155/130 yard par three fourteenth is a good birdie opportunity. The only frightening pin position is the back right corner.)
The par fours are the headliner at Belterra. From the 6,465 tees, seven of the eleven are 393 yards or longer, and four of those play uphill. The shots required to reach these holes in regulation are stout. A few you can chase the ball on, and on others you can err long, but there’s two or three where laying back and trying to up n down is the best option.
(The 465/435 uphill par four fifteenth is another beast of a hole. This pic shows the view from 100 yards short right. Most approaches will be coming over that left trap. Plenty of room is given to play this short and rely on your wedge game to save par.)
(The uphill 423/396 yard par four seventeenth is a cracker of a hole. The approach must be very precise to avoid the sand...
...the rear pin positions are challenging to reach. A par here is a terrific score.)
Belterra was designed to accommodate gamblers golfing at the casino. Obviously not all of them are going to be single digit players.
To shorten the par fours, all one has to do is move up a tee box where it plays just under 6,000 yards. Regardless of which tees are chosen, the one constant is Fazio’s ability to wow the player with great views. Each hole is separated by long grass and trees, and the effect makes you feel isolated like you’re the ones on the course.
(The tee boxes at Belterra are surrounded by trees and vegetation to give the golfer a sense of nature...
....some are even highlighted by a stonewall to add to the ambiance.)
Belterra is located in what my friends call the Goldilocks Zone. In the winter, Cincinnati is regularly 7-15 degrees warmer than northeast Ohio and Belterra is almost an hour south of that, so it is the perfect place for an affordable spring golf trip. It’s also one of the best courses in the greater Cincinnati area too. By the way, it barely qualifies as Indiana since the entire drive is in Kentucky until you get off the freeway and the last half mile goes over a bridge that welcomes you to the Hoosier State. I give Belterra a solid 6 (very good)(worth driving two hours to play). If you like to gamble then you won’t mind the extra drive time.
(The 522/501 yard par five eighteenth is a classic do or die finisher. It has all the elements needed to provide for a dramatic ending. With eagle to double bogey in play, anything is possible.)
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