74 REPORT Spicing up a Kentucky classic Kevin Hargrave has rebuilt greens and widened playing corridors at Lexington Country Club, which has reopened for play. The golf course at Lexington Country Club was originally designed in 1912 by Tom Bendelow, but was being tinkered with before a shovel even hit the ground. The club feared Bendelow’s design may be too difficult for average players so made minor modifications before construction began. Several more designers have reworked the design since then, including Pete Dye in 1961 and Benjamin Wihry in 1975. “Hardly anything remains of Bendelow’s routing,” says Kevin Hargrave, the latest architect to make his mark on the Kentucky course. “Our aim has been to make Lexington more interesting and to set it apart from the other golf courses in the area. The changes we’ve made give the course bigger scale, make it more appealing to the eye and gives it some much needed oomph!” Hargrave, who has worked alongside Keith Foster for 28 years as his lead design associate and has also built a portfolio of his own, revamped the masterplan in 2022 with the intention of completing work in phases. But contractor NMP Golf Construction was hired in 2023, and the club elected to complete all 18 holes in a single season. Green complexes were to be a major focus. “We weren’t able to relocate The sixteenth green was rebuilt to make it more visible from the fairway. Its slopes were also softened to add more pin positions Photo: Kevin Hargrave
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