The most aptly named golf course in Kentucky is ready to host the state’s crown jewel in golf. Triple Crown Country Club in Union will host the Kentucky Open for the second time ever; seventeen years after its first hosting which was won by J.B. Holmes in 2003. The Union facility spreads across the subdivision of the same name, making it one of the largest golf courses in terms of acreage in the state.

This is Triple Crown’s thirtieth anniversary after opening in 1990 under the eye of Gene Bates. Bates had been the Vice President of Design & Construction Services for Jack Nicklaus Design in the 1980s and assisted with the design of Nicklaus courses like Valhalla Golf Club and Muirfield Village Golf Club. Bates has led the design of two other golf courses in Kentucky; both being neighbors of Triple Crown which are Summit Hills Country Club and Devou Park. In all, Bates has designed golf courses in thirteen different states and five other countries.

Steve Flesch, a past Kentucky Open champion and multiple-time winner on the PGA Tour has led some modifications to the facility ever since it opened for business. The changes have primarily been shifting bunker placements and adjusting drainage movements, but Triple Crown has always been a well-regarded layout and listed as one of the state’s best golf courses multiple times.

John Kells, PGA General Manager at Triple Crown describes the back nine as being an exciting stretch to determine a champion as many of the holes on the inward nine contain risk-reward possibilities, while the front nine is a more traditional test with some of the course’s hardest holes.

“Holes 4 and 8 generally play the most difficult of any hole here,” Kells described. “Both are longer par-fours where you just want to take your par and head to the next tee. Then that risk-reward nature really shows itself on holes 10, 13, 15 and 17. The way the leaders navigate those holes in the final round could dictate who ends up walking away with the trophy.”

“Triple Crown has a lot of shallow greens so I’ve always believed that players who can control their distance exceptionally well with irons and wedges find success here. The greens are flat though, so the trouble is primarily all off the tee. If you keep the golf ball in front of you and figure out the nuances of the greens, you’re going to have a really good week.”

Kells predicted -9 to be a reasonable target score for the champion at the conclusion of the 54-hole championship and added those who break 70 in a given round will “walk out with a really good taste in their mouths.”

“I just hope the course’s first-time players this week really enjoy their time here and learn how good of a golf course it is,” Kells added. “I truly believe it’s one of the best in Kentucky.”