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The Stearns Heritage Golf Course A McCreary County Treasure
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Submitted by McCreary County Museum
The Voice proofreaders “over corrected” in last week’s Glimpse of the Past and mistakenly changed the correct spelling of “dyeing” to “dying!” (As in dyeing fabric green!) The Voice apologizes for the error.
In the early 1920s, McCreary County had been a county in Kentucky for only a few years, having become a county in 1912. There was a desire by a few Stearns employees to play golf. Due to the rolling terrain, a cow pasture in the only available spot was selected as the site of the golf course. On this same cow pasture, General Burnside camped with his soldiers during their 1863 march from what is now Burnside. Welsh (pit) ponies used for pulling coal carts also once grazed there. The initial layout consisted of two holes about two hundred feet apart. Tin cups were sunk in the ground. Barbed wire encircled the new ‘course’ to keep the cows off the putting surfaces. However, the barrier was often breached, and golfers found their shots embedded in soft cow dung. The golfers, however, were not discouraged and moved forward with the formation of the course. The Stearns Heritage Golf Course is the second oldest 9-hole course in Kentucky, and one of which we should all be proud.
Improvements were eventually made to the course by sprinkling sand on the clay surface of the greens, and areas were cleared for additional holes. After some time, the nine greens constituted a 9-hole golf course, and a club was organized with elected officers and dues. When Bridge Fork was dammed, a water line was laid from the pond through the golf course to the coal chutes, and water became available for grass greens. Par was 34 until McDonald Smith, a famous golfer, suggested No. 4 green could be made into a sporty par-5 hole. His suggestion was quickly adopted, and par became 35.
In the early days of the golf course, play was more social than athletic. Saturday evenings found local families enjoying picnics, and minor contests were organized. The Stearns Invitational was started as an Open Tournament. However, it was soon discovered that a few professional golfers entered and took all the honors and top prizes, so it was changed to an Amateur event. The first winner was Billy Burke in 1926. Billy was a pro at the Danville Country Club, and shortly after his victory at Stearns, he became the Kentucky Open Champion and went on to win the U. S. Open. He eventually played in the Masters at Augusta. The second winner was Ernest Morris, who was a pro at the Lexington Country Club. The third winner was Louis Wiechman, pro at the Danville Country Club. In 1929, the Amateurs took over.
The clubhouse was funded by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1936. A kidney-shaped, state-of-the art pool was also constructed in the 1930’s and was the first swimming pool in McCreary County. The course has remained largely unchanged for over one hundred years and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in September of 2015.
The beautiful, naturally rolling course is a treasure of which all McCreary Countians can be proud. The clubhouse and patio at the Stearns Heritage Golf Course may be rented for events and offers a unique setting with ample parking due to the completion of a new parking lot in 2022. For information on golf course rates and cart fees, visit https.//stearnsgolf.com or call 606-376-2666.
For additional information, contact Debbie Kidd-Trammell at dtrammell@historicstearns.org.
Posted in A Glimpse of the Past