Golf Course Overview: Links Golf Course at Rising Star Casino Resort By Brian Weis

Golf Course Overview: Links Golf Course at Rising Star Casino Resort

Insights From An Insider With Jumpei (JP) Okuda, Golf Course Manager

By Brian Weis

Local and traveling golfers love to research course before playing, whether it is to gain some local knowledge or to set the expectation for their experience. Below is an interview with Jumpei (JP) Okuda who shares some valuable insight about the property, its most talked about holes and the signature dish/drink to consume at the 19th hole.

How Does Your Course Differ From The Others In The Area?
We are Southern Indiana's ONLY Scottish Links style course.

For someone who has not played the course in awhile, has there been any new changes/rennovations to the course or property?
Yes. Several new Tee Boxes have been added to the course increasing total yardage by 500 yards.
>From the back tees, we are now playing at 6853 yards.

What is your course's answer to Amen Corner? (Describe your best/hardest 3 back/back/back holes)
>From the back tees, Hole #4, #5 and #6.
Hole #4 plays 214 yards par 3 into the wind with a small target green.
Hole #5 plays 424 yards par 4 with blind tee shot with majority of time into the wind with blind fairway bunkers.
Hole #6 plays 187 yards par 3, into the wind and over the lake.

>From the Regular Tees Holes #12, #13 and #14
Hole #12 plays 552 yards par 5 guarded by large waste bunkers and approach shot plays into a small elevated green.
Hole #13 plays 200 yard par 3 into the wind with adjacent lake the length of the fairway.
Hole #14 plays 311 yard par 4 guarded with adjacent lake to the length of the fairway.

What is your course's claim to fame, or is there a little known fact that golfers should know about the property?
One of Four Golf Courses also having a Casino and Hotel on the property...ONLY Links Course!

What tournaments/events have you (recently) hosted or will be hosting?
Ohio Valley Golf Association Pro Am.
Greater Cincinnati Golf Association Metropolitan Senior Handicap Championship.

Besides golf, what other amenities do you offer if a golfer wants to spend most of the day at your facility?
Casino on Property - 6 food outlets - 3 bars - swimming pool and over 294 hotel rooms available - 24 hour shuttle service

Signature sandwich or drink?
Angus Beef Burger
Double Bogey Beer Special

Contact Course
Links Golf Course
777 Rising Star Drive
Rising Sun, IN, 47040
812-438-4388
risingstarcasino.com

Revised: 03/05/2015 - Article Viewed 35,047 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.