Golf fans gather around the Chatham Hills Golf Course in Westfield. Photo by Mike Botkin.
WHAT A WEEK the LIV Golf Tournament at The Club at Chatham Hills provided. Great golf, down-to-the-wire excitement, crowds of over 60,000 for the weekend, and constant music. My attitude toward the LIV Golf sporting event has changed for the better due to the vibe and mellow atmosphere this tournament exuded.
Everything about the event was top-notch, just as I remember from covering the PGA and BMW championships at Crooked Stick many moons ago. But this time, technology coursed through a link given to fans, providing second-by-second access to scores in an instant. And because this tournament is expected to be the highest-attended U.S. LIV event to date, they’ve already announced its return to Chatham Hills next August.
The Chatham Hills course is not only beautifully laid out, but for mere mortals like me, it is also formidable, a claim backed up by its rank as a top 15 course in the state of Indiana by Golf Digest.
Fans of professional golf are desensitized to the absolutely great shots these athletes hit consistently. To score an eagle, or to chip the ball in from off the green or the sand, is commonplace. Most impressive is the distance these guys blast the ball, with averages of 325 yards. For example, LIV golfers made 40 eagles over the three days, averaged just over 68 strokes per round, and scored an astounding 847 birdies.
The most impressive feat of the event wasn’t about the golfing itself, but how much land this course uses. The property Chatham Hills sprawls on was previously owned by the same family for eight generations and was part of the purchase of the Northwest Territory in 1783. Its 800 acres gave tournament officials plenty of space for fan interaction areas, restrooms, concession stands, hydration stations, and a concert venue that hosted an estimated 50,000 people for two shows.
Chatham Hills is not a course for a non-walker. I count my steps daily and from Wednesday to Sunday, I strode over 94,441 times—about 19,000 steps per day just to watch all the action. Because this course meanders through housing developments, no two holes pass by each other, so there was no finding a point between holes where play on more than one hole could be viewed at the same time. With a shotgun start, fans either found a tee or a green to stay all day to see every player come through or, like me, set out to follow such stars as Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, or Bryson DeChambeau.
As fans swayed to the electric dance music, hip-hop, and top 40 hits thumped out by giant speakers placed throughout the course, the music provided a nice diversion to pass the time while waiting between groups. As LIV advertised, the tunes provide a livelier and more energetic atmosphere, bringing a festival-type feel to the game.
To make Chatham Hills more challenging for this event, new tees were constructed for seven holes, but it is unclear how many were used due to poor weather. But for LIV’s return in 2026, I would expect those tees to be mature and ready to go, increasing the length on this course.