Municipal golf shines brightly in Kentucky, with a county-owned facility ranked as No. 1 among all public-access layouts in the state. That makes it one of a small handful of states with municipal layouts ranked among their best public layouts.
Golfweek ranks courses by compiling the average ratings – on a points basis of 1 to 10 – of its more than 750 raters to create several industry-leading lists of courses. That includes the popular Best Courses You Can Play list for courses that allow non-member tee times. These generally are defined as layouts accessible to resort guests or regular daily-fee players.
Lassing Pointe Golf Course (pictured atop this story) in Union is No. 1 on that public-access list in the Bluegrass State. Built by Michael Hurdzan and opened in 1994, Lassing Pointe is owned by Boone County in the far north of Kentucky, near the borders with Indiana and Ohio.
Heritage Hill in Shepherdsville ranks No. 2 among Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play in Kentucky. The layout was designed by Douglas Beach and opened in 2007.
No. 3 in Kentucky is Kearney Hill in Lexington, followed by No. 4 Cherry Blossom in Georgetown and No. 5 Marriott Griffin Gate Resort & Spa in Lexington.
Kentucky also is home to a strong private club scene, with Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville topping the Golfweek’s Best Private Courses list in the state. The Jack Nicklaus-designed Valhalla also ties for No. 80 among all of Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses opened in or after 1960 in the U.S.
