Bourbon tasting flavors inaugural Bluegrass Hickory Open

Bailey Weigandt reports:

The weather was perfect and over 30 players from nine different states joined in for a great weekend of golf at the historic Owl Creek Country Club where the perfect fairways and greens awaited the competitors.

Two titles were up for the taking, The Davies and The Bartlett trophies. The Davies Trophy goes to the winner of the Men’s Open Division, and was named after the Owl Creek Course designer, George Davies. The Bartlett goes to the winner of the Women’s Open Division, and was named after a founding member of Owl Creek CC, Mai Hill Bartlett, who started a prestigious women’s tournament at the club in the early 1930s.

There were eight divisions with the Ladies being represented by a field of five players. The Ladies Open and Bartlett Trophy was captured by Bailey Wiegandt (Louisville, Ky.) with a total of 168. In the Net Division Jean Bradshaw (Louisville, Ky.) won after a tight race with Barb Kopec (Niceville, Fla.).

The Men’s Open Division and Davies title was captured by Brandon Ferren (Louisville, Ky.) in his first hickory tournament with a score of 150. Michael Simon of the host Owl Creek Country Club took the Net. The Senior Division was won by the Ambassador of Hickory Golf from Neenah, Wisc., Bill “Ernie” Ernst, followed by Bill Geisler (Winter Park, Fla.) in the Net Division. Larry Woods (Louisville, Ky.) won the Super Seniors followed by Dave Brown (Omaha, Neb.) with the Net Division.

Everyone had a great time at the Jim Beam Distillery with the extra treat of dining with Mr. Baker Beam. That was followed by a special event with Mr. Beam in the private Knob Creek Distillery for a tasting, tour and bottle signing of his newly released 13-year-old bourbon. The weekend started with a private tour of the Churchill Downs and viewing of the movie the “Greatest Race” along with all the artifacts in the museum. Our host hotel, the Mariott, provided a great setting for our Saturday evening social and our Monday night banquet. The awards luncheon at Owl Creek was fabulous both in food but also in atmosphere and the pampering of a welcoming staff. A special “Shout Out” to Head Pro Daniel Utley, who handled the scoring, tee box yardages, and organization of play.

Plan to join us next year for lovely golf, bourbon tasting and a horses weekend in October.