Golf Course Overview: My Old Kentucky Home Golf Course By Brian Weis

Golf Course Overview: My Old Kentucky Home Golf Course

Insights From An Insider With Jonathan Earnest, Head Golf Professional

By Brian Weis

Local and traveling golfers love to research courses before playing them, whether it is to gain some local knowledge or to set an expectation before their upcoming round. Below is an interview with Jonathan Earnest 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?
It is located on the property once owned by the Rowan Family that is now known as My old Kentucky Home. The course has a nice mix of open and tree-lined holes on both nines.

For someone who has not played the course in awhile, has there been any new changes/renovations to the course or property?
Most bunkers have been recently transitioned to the drainage-friendly "Billy Bunkers".

What is your course's answer to Amen Corner? (Describe your best/hardest 3 back/back/back holes)
15, 16, & 17. #15 requires an accurate tee-shot with trees on the left and trees and a hillside falling away to the right. #16 is a long Par 3 (over 200 yds from the back tee) over a ravine from an elevated tee. It is the signature hole on the course. #17 is a dogleg right from another elevated tee, with a creek that you must cross twice, once from the tee, and again on your approach.

What is your course's claim to fame, or is there a little known fact that golfers should know about the property?
The Mansion from the Stephen Foster Song "My Old Kentucky Home", for which the Park and Golf Course are named, is visible as you play holes 12 & 13. The course winds through the old Rowan Estate, including behind the Mansion on those two holes.

What tournaments/events have you (recently) hosted or will be hosting? Or any recent awards?
We are the Home Site of the Bourbon Open, which has been played for over 75 years. Usually played in May, for the second year in a row, it will be played in September this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Besides golf, what other amenities do you offer if a golfer wants to spend most of the day at your facility?
A visit to the Mansion at My Old Kentucky Home State Park.

For the traveling golfer, do you have lodging onsite or partner with any area hotels?
We have a campground right next to the golf course.

What is your signature dish, sandwich or drink at the turn or restaurant?
Hot Dogs from Boone's Butcher Shop

Contact Course
My Old Kentucky Home Golf Course
668 Bardstown, Kentucky, 40004
502-349-6542
parks.ky.gov/golf

More Information »

Revised: 07/08/2021 - Article Viewed 7,205 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.