Green Grass in Blue Grass Country
By Steve Eubanks (Posted 4-24-08)
One thing about the rolling green meadows of Kentucky: if the land is good enough for a horse farm, you can bet it would make a great golf course. Gentle topography, yawning old-growth trees, meandering streams, and rich soil are all trademarks of Bluegrass Country, and part of the reason that horses and golfers alike trod the ground here.
The best horse people have been in Kentucky forever. But in the last couple of decades some of the greatest golf course architects have also discovered the state. Kentucky has now earned a reputation as a great golf destination and a region that has hosted some of the most dramatic events in recent history.
Valhalla: Home of the 2008 Ryder Cup Matches
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When the PGA of America purchased Valhalla Golf Club east of Louisville and immediately announced that it would host the 1994 PGA Championship, there were plenty of groans from jaded traditionalists. Valhalla was a fine course, they said, but it was no Winged Foot. Designed by Jack Nicklaus, the place was more akin to Shoal Creek than Oakmont, and the greens had those distinct case-of-the-mumps mounding features as synonymous with the 1980s as Def Leopard and the “A-Team.” There was even a power-line easement running through the back nine!
But despite the early criticism, Valhalla has turned out to be one of the most dramatic major championship venues in recent times. In the final major of 1994, Phil Mickelson held a three-shot lead after 36 holes, which he promptly blew by playing the weekend two-over par. Kenny Perry and Mark Brooks both shot 5-under in the final 36 and finished in a tie, which was settled by the last sudden death in PGA Championship history.
Brooks made a birdie on the par-five 18th to win, and Valhalla had its ticket punched as a bone fide major championship course.
Still, the critics weren’t satisfied. Eye rolling abounded when the PGA announced the return of their championship to Kentucky in 2000. Compared with Pebble Beach, which hosted the U.S. Open that same year, and The Old Course at St. Andrews, site of the Open Championship, Valhalla looked like the stringy-haired girl with a handsewn dress at the ball.
Then came a duel for the ages, the final round showdown between Tiger Woods, looking to become the first man since Ben Hogan to win three majors in single season, and unheralded and unknown Bob May, a slightly balding California guy who looked more like a tax accountant than a Tiger killer. The two separated themselves from the field in the final nine on Sunday, matching birdies in a slugfest that was worthy of the first Rocky.
Tiger had to make a tough downhill nine-footer on the final hole to tie May, which he did. That was followed by two more birdies in the three-hole playoff. You know the replay you’ve seen a zillion times of Tiger chasing his ball and pointing as it falls in the hole? That was at Valhalla in 2000. It remains one of the most dramatic final rounds in major championship history, and one of the reasons the course will host the Ryder Cup this September.
Once again, there will likely be critics. And once again, the drama will prove them to be misguided, snobs, or both.
Persimmon Ridge Golf Course
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Believe it or not, Valhalla is not the toughest course in Kentucky; it’s not the hardest in Shelbyville. That distinction goes to Persimmon Ridge, one of Arthur Hills’ most impressive designs and a course that, for most, requires a dozen balls and a lot of patience.
The history of the place reads like an off-beat episode of “Twin Peaks.” The course was originally the lifelong dream of a local businessman named Elmore Just, a friendly but quirky artist who built his company, Louisville Golf, into the nation’s leading manufacturer of persimmon golf clubs. At its peak, Louisville Golf provided club heads to Wilson, Spalding, MacGregor, and The Ben Hogan Company, among others.
Just, who could best be described as that affable kid from shop class who occasionally wore his shoes on the wrong feet, built Persimmon Ridge about the same time as an oddity known as the metal wood was showing up in players’ bags. A wood-working artist who never realized that his industry was changing, just saw his business sink faster than the Lusitania, and with it, the fortunes of his stellar club. He sold Persimmon Ridge to an investor out of Connecticut named Bill Rosso, who also happened to be the chief fundraiser for the America’s Cup. Never happy with the way his baby was being managed, Just spent the rest of his life working to get his club back, which he finally did just months before falling over dead on the back nine from a heart attack.
Through all the bizarre and sometimes comical turmoil, Persimmon Ridge remained one of the most challenging tests in the region, a course that has been recognized by every major golf magazine for its design, and by every great player in Kentucky for its difficulty. Through good times and bad, it has withstood all tests and continues to take on all comers. It is one of the Bluegrass State’s greatest hidden gems.
Big Blue Course at University of Kentucky Club
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As a basketball institution, for years Kentucky treated its golf like its football program -- as a nice pastime to fill the void before the opening tip-off and after the Final Four. No more. J.B. Holmes, one of the tour’s most exciting young guns, was a Wildcat, and, like football, golf has taken on new pride and prominence in Lexington.
Nowhere is that more evident than at the Arthur Hills-renovated Big Blue Course at the UK Club. A shot-makers paradise, the tight, rolling fairways and undulating greens require the type of creativity and shaping that has become all but extinct with today’s hard balls and harder club heads.
The members love to show off the place. So if you’re in the state for any reason, this one should definitely make your must-play list.