Lexington

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Kearney Hill Golf Links                                                                                                Designed by the revered father-son team of Pete and P.B. Dye, this course is an outstanding municipal track.  It’s an exciting, tough and enjoyable Scottish-style links course, with large, undulating greens and an abundance of water and bunkers. Over the years, Kearney Hill has been named the top public course in Kentucky and one of the Top 100 places to play in the country. And you’re going to love the price. Totally unlike any other golf course in the area, Kearney Hill Links has drawn rave reviews from golfers. It is a Scottish links-style course, characterized by open, rolling terrain, deep sand and grass bunkers and a few trees. The wind is a very important factor in playing the course. Kearney Hill hosted a stop on the Senior PGA Tour from 1990 to 1997. 

Gibson Bay Golf Club                                                                                                         Located just down the road in Richmond is another wonderful muni. While construction of Gibson Bay Golf Course began in the fall of 1991, the course officially opened in April 1993, and, as expected, was an instant success. The City of Richmond wanted to use the golf course, which is located along Richmond's 450 acre Lake Reba recreational complex, as a tool to bring visitors to the area. Groups from throughout the Midwest and the South frequently visit Gibson Bay and become patrons of Richmond businesses, and visit the many other exciting tourist attractions in the  region.  What they got was a great golf course.  Designed by Michael Hurdzan, Gibson Bay Golf Course can accommodate players of all skill levels. With up to five tee boxes on each hole, Gibson Bay can be long enough to challenge even the best golfers, while it can also be short enough to be fun for the novice golfers. All tees, greens, and fairways feature bent grass to provide the best possible playing conditions. Many of the greens are set into hillsides protected by bunkers and strategically placed mounding. Golf Digest awarded Gibson Bay 4 1/2 stars. Golf Week Magazine rated Gibson Bay the 16^th best municipal golf course in America. Golf Digest ranked Gibson Bay as one of the top-25 Super Values in North America.

Penisula Golf Resort                                                                                                                    Another Dye masterpiece is found a little over a half hour's drive south of Lexington near Lancaster, Kentucky. Peninsula Golf Resort, a public championship course named as one of the Top 200 in the nation by Golf Digest, features a challenging and enjoyable mix of short and long holes on 200 acres adjoining Lake Herrington.  Built in 1997, it has already been the host of various professional and amateur events. Lush Bermuda fairways sweep through natural contours and elevations producing many breathtaking sights. Mr. Dye has strategically placed over 60 bunkers around the fairways and greens. The bent grass greens of Peninsula are recognized as some of the best in the country. With their many undulations and swells, the challenge is not over until the last putt is holed. All the greens are surrounded by bent grass approaches and Dye's famous "collection areas" for those wayward iron shots. The championship tees, playing almost 6700 yards, will provide even the scratch golfer with a most arduous task. The middle and front tees play 6100 and 5100 yards respectively. All players of every caliber will enjoy the Peninsula experience.  The Dye-sized greens, strategically placed bunkers and mature trees make Peninsula an intellectually demanding course requiring finesse and strategic shot making. The clubhouse is an elegant 9,500-square foot Southern-style mansion.

Griffin Gate Golf Club                                                                                                          Right in the middle of Kentucky's horse farms awaits a true thoroughbred of a golf resort. Even its designer has impressive bloodlines. Renowned architect Rees Jones, son of the revered Robert Trent Jones, sculpted this very fast track from the surrounding rolling hills. Measuring over 6,800 yards from the back tees and just under 5,000 yards from the forward tees, Griffin Gate challenges beginners and professionals alike. With gaping bunkers guarding every green, water in play on 12 of 18 holes and few flat putts, golfers are chomping at the bit to play at this destination resort located in the heart of Bluegrass country This is another Lexington course that, like Kearney Hill, previously hosted a PGA Senior Tour stop. This semi-private championship course has been named one of the top 75 U.S. resort courses by Golf Digest magazine. It’s one of the more expensive courses in the area, but still a bargain by national standards.

Old Silo Golf Club                                                                                                        Kentucky’s Number One-Rated Public Golf Course. Designed by Champions Tour Player Graham Marsh in 2000, this 18-hole championship design is situated on 209 acres of rolling bluegrass countryside, and is located just 30 minutes east of Lexington off I-64.In addition to Golf Digest awarding the facility as the “Number 1 Public Course in Kentucky” in 2003, Golf Digest also featured Old Silo as the “6th Best New Affordable Public Golf Course in America” in 2002. With its numerous awards and features in Golf Magazine and USA Today, Old Silo offers guests a golf experience that combines award-winning design with world-class service.Somerset Creek meanders through the property and dramatic views add to the aesthetic beauty of the golf course. The golf course features lush bent grass tees, fairways, greens and 98 white sand bunkers.

The Bull at Boone's Trace                                                                                                        The Bull is nestled in the heart of Kentucky horse country and stretches over 120 rolling acres of woods, water and wildlife. The bentgrass tee, fairways, and green surrounds offer some of the best playing surfaces in the world. The roughs are a fescue blend, while the green surfaces are of bentgrass.  It was only a few years ago that this lush land was farmland belonging to Cassius Marcellus Clay.  A few miles from White Hall a steep cliff towers above the Kentucky River, where banks of stratified limestone form a 200-foot crest.  Once young Clay, struggling with a purebred bull, exploded in a blind fury and ran the bull over the precipice.  "That bull has gone to hell," he told a neighbor.  And so the name of the high point on the Kentucky River remains "Bull's Hell."   Great story ... great golf experience.