Golf Course Architecture - Issue 63, January 2021

80 T he US National Hole-In-One Registry states that each year, just 1-to-2 per cent of golfers make an ace. At The Club at Olde Stone in Kentucky, those odds have just improved. In 2019, the club opened a new par- three layout – The Sink Hole – created by golf course architect Jerry Lemons. His brief from developer Jim ‘Scotty’ Scott was to create a course that “could be walked, was fun to play, and would have the opportunity for numerous holes in one.” Lemons designed nine holes that range in length from 35 to 160 yards and, while the set-up dictates the level of challenge, offers many pin locations where balls will naturally feed towards the hole. “We were able to do lots of fun stuff here that you wouldn’t normally do on a typical golf course,” said Lemons. “If you wanted to, you could use your putter from your very first shot.” “All the greens are huge with a tremendous amount of undulation. They’re around eight or nine thousand square feet each. If you miss the green, you’ve hit a really bad shot!” The course may be named after the numerous sinkholes on the site, but its moniker is also a nod towards the improved odds of that elusive ace. Olde Stone set out to track the number of holes-in-one recorded. But Kevin Childers, the director of golf at the club, says they quickly gave up: “There are certain pin positions on those greens that warrant many opportunities.” Two greens have a punchbowl feel, and several others incorporate elements from template holes, including a Biarritz green at the seventh and a fourth hole modelled on North Berwick’s Redan. The Sink Hole is already a hit – with everyone from juniors to PGA Tour professionals. Even multiple major championship winner Brooks Koepka has put it through its paces. “When the nine-hole course first opened, Brooks was out there testing it and loving it,” said Lemons. “I tell every one of those guys before they show up on the property that we have the best short game facility in the world,” said PGA Tour director of instruction Jeff Pierce. “It’s fun when you consider it as just a course, but when you think of it as 15 acres of any shot you can possibly imagine... there’s nothing we can’t simulate, from slopes at Augusta to bunkers at Sawgrass, we have everything they’ll ever see.” GCA Chasing aces New short course gives hope to players pursuing a hole-in-one The sixth hole is one of a few at The Sink Hole where an ace could be recorded with a putter Photos: Daniel Smith HOL ING OUT