The Kentucky Department of Parks is offering additional details about the potential closure of the golf course at Pennyrile Forest State Park.
Tourism, Arts, and Heritage Cabinet Executive Director Anita Hatchett emailed Your News Edge to share that park leaders, including Commissioner Russ Meyer, have met with local legislators, county judges, and others to discuss park investments and the golf course’s potential closure.
Hatchett said the golf course was built in a floodplain and suffers from significant damage during rain events, washing out the cart path, damaging bridges, and causing other damage, leading to long closures and expensive repairs to make the course safe and playable. She added that, with those challenges, the course is the least played and lowest quality among the Kentucky State Parks golf courses, requiring at least $2-3 million to be brought up to standards, yet persistent issues remain.
Pennyrile Forest State Park sees the smallest “stay and play” rounds of golf across the entire Kentucky Parks system. Of the 5,862 “stay and play” rounds of golf played in the 2023 fiscal year, just 13 were at Pennyrile. Hatchett said the golf course has just one full-time employee who, if the course were closed, would be moved into a similar role at the state park or another park course and that the course brings in the least revenue and has the highest cost per round among the Kentucky Department of Parks courses.
Hatchett added that a final decision on the Pennyrile golf course has not been made and that all options are being explored.
She said they are committed to the park and its community, having previously invested in the campground and planning future investments in beach refurbishment, accommodations upgrades, and dam restoration.
