The Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Kentucky Mid-Amateur is heading to Paducah for the first time in its quarter-century history. Paxton Park Golf Course will be the site of the 26^th edition of the Championship, which takes place August 24-25. It’s also just the second time the tournament will cross into the central time zone, as a visit to Owensboro Country Club in 2011 is the only previous time this event has gone west.

Paxton Park is eager to host and be the stage for a historic edition of the State Mid-Am. Quietly, the facility has written an interesting history itself in eighty years of existence. The golf course opened for play in 1940 as a product of Kentucky’s Works Progress Administration from the Great Depression. George Goodman, who was the state’s WPA Director from 1934 through 1941, donated the land that became Paxton Park to provide jobs for citizens of Paducah.

Paxton Park became a city-owned golf course as a result and has been that way ever since. George Davies, a native of Great Britain, was on-site to oversee the golf course’s construction beginning in 1939 before its opening the next year. Some modifications have been made to the golf course since then, which Danny Mullen, PGA Head Professional estimates to be four or five thorough redesigns. Among them was a complete shift in the 10^th and 11^th holes to make room for an expanded road which borders the golf course, and a more recent change in 2012 where the facility transitioned from 328 Bermuda grass greens to ultra-dwarf Bermuda greens.

“We were looking to upgrade our putting surfaces, but the facility couldn’t afford a shift to bentgrass,” Mullen recalled. “We took a trip to Memphis Country Club which had ultra-dwarf and they were phenomenal, which inspired us to make the change. Lots of golf courses in this area have made the switch since then because of how good it is.”

At the same time, Paxton Park also added water to the golf course for the first time. Prior to 2012, a couple of ditches on the golf course were left barren until the decision was made to fill those spots with water. That upgraded the challenge for several holes, but the prevalent challenge to Paxton Park is its large number of trees. Over 2,000 trees stand on the golf course’s property which defend the golf course from its back tees, measuring at just 6,600 yards.

“Players who stay out of trouble and manage their golf game are always the ones who play well here,” Mullen described. “The winner of the Irvin Cobb Invitational typically finishes between two-under to four-under in that event which is also thirty-six holes, so I think you can expect the winner of the Mid-Am to shoot around the same number.”

The Irvin Cobb Invitational is another key element of Paxton Park’s long history that has helped shape the golf course it has become. Notable golfers such as Cary Middlecoff, Bob Goalby and Jay Haas competed in the tournament at least once. While the event is now primarily composed of native Kentuckians competing in it, the facility helped shape the careers of two future PGA Tour winners and senior major champions. Kenny Perry and Russ Cochran both called Paxton Park their home golf course in their childhood. As Mullen said, “For a little golf course in western Kentucky, that means a lot.”

Another page in Paxton Park’s history will be completed on Tuesday night, with the State Mid-Am joining the list of notable state championships the club has hosted. It will go alongside Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Kentucky Amateurs contested there in 1949, 1961 and 1974 along with the 1959 and 1973 editions of the Kentucky Open.