Golf Course Overview: Wasioto Winds By Brian Weis

Golf Course Overview: Wasioto Winds

Insights From An Insider With Donnie Caldwell, PGA, 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 Donnie Caldwell, PGA 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?
Wasioto Winds is a links-style course surrounded by the mountains of Appalachia. It is a Michael Hurdzan championship design featuring 18 holes with Northridge Bermuda fairways and bent grass greens. Pine Mountain offers a driving range, large practice putting green, and is home of First Tee Pine Mountain for junior golfers. The course was awarded the #1 Feature on Golf Magazine's Most Challenging Courses of August 2002. Even though it can challenge the scratch handicappers, there is a teeing ground and comfortable yardage for all golfers. This course was recognized by Golf Digest as one of the nation's "Best New Affordable Courses".

For someone who has not played the course in awhile, has there been any new changes/renovations to the course or property?
Wasioto Winds operated with bent grass fairways for the first 15 years of play and has transitioned to Bermuda fairways several years ago.

What is your course's answer to Amen Corner? (Describe your best/hardest 3 back/back/back holes)
Locals call holes 5,6,& 7 "amen corner" due to the difficulty of the risk-reward holes. Hole 5 is a Par Five with water on both sides and a cliff protecting the green side approach. Hole 6 is a picturesque Par Three over water facing the "Narrows" of Pine Mountain. Hole 7 is a Par Five featuring an hour-glass approach with water on both sides. Our advice to play Wasioto's "Amen Corner" is to keep it in play with your most accurate club off the tee and pay attention to the sloping green on hole five since there is still more work to be done on the undulating putting surface.

What is your course's claim to fame, or is there a little known fact that golfers should know about the property?
Wasioto Winds Golf Course at Pine Mountain State Park is unique with 5 Par Fives and 5 Par Threes to offer a challenging and fun variety on the ten million dollar destination.

2002 Golf Magazine - Best New Challenges #1 (August 2002)
2008-09 4-Stars Golf Digest "Best Places to Play"
2007 #3 GolfWeek "Best in State"
2002 "Best New Affordable Public Courses"
Ranked #4 Nationally by Golf Digest Magazine

What tournaments/events have you (recently) hosted or will be hosting? Or any recent awards?
Each year Wasioto Winds gets to carry on the tradition of hosting the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Golf Classic. The event was played in 1966 on the original 9 hole Pine Mountain course and has regained life and excitement for the past twenty years on Wasioto Winds. This event attracts some of the state's best amateur golfers seeking the title as Mountain Laurel Champion. It is offered two weekends before Memorial Day each season.

Wasioto Winds has hosted:
Kentucky Public Links Championship
Kentucky Open Qualifier
Kentucky Am Qualifier

Besides golf, what other amenities do you offer if a golfer wants to spend most of the day at your facility?
Championship Driving Range with landing areas, target areas, and Bermuda teeing ground

Practice Putting Green and short-game area

Putt-Putt golf, swimming pool, and dining restaurant at Pine Mountain Lodge

For the traveling golfer, do you have lodging onsite or partner with any area hotels?
Pine Mountain State Park Lodge with hotel rooms, cottages, and cabins.

What is your signature dish, sandwich or drink at the turn or restaurant?
Kentucky "Hot Brown" or Catfish Platter at Pine Mountain Lodge

"Big Kahuna" deli sandwich: Hawaiian Bread, Roast Beef, Turkey, Black Forest Ham, and Pepper-Jack Cheese - at the golf course is the sandwich of choice at the turn.

Contact Course
Wasioto Winds Golf Course at Pine Mountain
114 Highway 190
Pineville, Kentucky, 40977
606-337-1066

https://parks.ky.gov/pineville/golf/golf-course/wasioto-winds-golf-course-pine-mountain

Revised: 07/08/2021 - Article Viewed 9,227 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.