West KY

[smashdn]

I don't expect this thread to get much action as West KY is not exactly a hot bed of golfing activity nor courses of particular renown. 

 

But I would offer up if you are in the Land Between the Lakes area there are three that I can recommend as at minimum places to get out and stretch your legs a bit.  Two are Ky State Parks courses and one a privately-owned, public course.

 

Mineral Mound State Park course is on the northern shore of Lake Barkley near the town of Kuttawa (cuh-tah-wuh).  There are a few holes that play along the lake but most are winding through the woods and negotiate some pretty tricky hills and ridges.  My two gripes about the course are firstly, it is about 2 hours away from me, secondly the bent greens have a tendency to get a little rough in the summer due to heat stress and on some holes lack of air circulation.  I don't know what hole they consider their signature hole but my favorite is the par three seventh that play along the old foundation of the Willis Machen mansion that was shelled by Union gunboats during the Civil War. 

 

Second course is also a state park course, the Boots Randolph Course at lake Barkley State Park.  This course is mostly flat and routed along a small feeder creek that runs into Little River and then into Lake Barkley.  Again, you aren't going to find outstanding examples of course architecture but the golf is solid.  

 

Last course is the public Arrowhead Golf Course between Cadiz (kay-deez) and Canton along highway 68-80.  It winds through some housing, down along the Little River and through some wooded sections as well.  The two nines have completely different attitudes but the course provides a good mix of more open and narrow holes, challenging driving holes and breather holes.  Overall this is a course that asks a lot of different shots from you during the round.

 

West Ky, while no Mecca by any stretch is not a complete waste land either.  If you find yourself traveling through on I-24 and need to get out and swing the club, there are you three options.