Based on the research that I had done, Cherry Blossom Golf & Country Club is ranked as one of the top public courses in Kentucky. The photo gallery on the website did not have pictures loaded but I figured that I would give it a try while in the area. I got a time for $49 on a Sunday and caught a perfect morning for golf as it was overcast which kept the temperature down for most of the round. The course is a community course on gently rolling terrain so it is not the most interesting layout. In this regards it is similar to the The Bull at Boone’s Trace with a bit less elevation change. It was a quiet morning as far as the number of golfers out and I think the next group in front of me was on hole 5 or 6 when I teed off. Based on this I was surprised to find that the fairways were littered with divots and that the greens had a lot of ball marks in them so it appears that the course gets a lot of play. After I played a few holes I started to wonder how the course gets ranked so high by the golf magazines. The conditions were good besides the all the divots and ball marks and the thick rough was a challenge to play from. Overall the course was a good test except off the tee and the greens gave a big first bounce which put some pressure on where to land the approaches. However, many of the holes were just boring to play which isn’t taking into account that all but a few of the holes were lined by homes. The 1st is a mid length par 4 that has a fairway that must have been 40+ yards wide with another 15 yards of rough on each side. Too often I complain about courses with narrow landing areas, but except for a few holes on the back I think the open layout and a couple parallel fairways took away from the course. It might have been better pinching the fairways in more spots. The 3rd (and a few other holes ) has a fairway which gradually rises maybe a club to the landing area and the 4th is a pretty downhill par 3. The 8th, a 375 yard par 4, is my favorite hole on the front nine as it had some high fescue and an old barn behind the green. If I had a say I think some high fescue in certain spots on other holes could add to the course. The front was pretty bland with all five par 4’s playing between 375 to 406 yards from the Black tees (72.6/136/6842). The back had a few more interesting holes including a tricky green sloping from back to front on the 10th and the 12th which is a pretty par 3 over water to an island green. The stretch of holes from the 15th to the last were without a doubt the best holes on the course. The 15th is probably my favorite hole on the back as it is a shorter par 4 up a hill with a tee shot through a chute of trees. The 16th is a par 3 that drops back down the same hill and then the 17th is an odd par 5 that doglegs right around trouble. The 18th is a long par 4 finishing hole, but it gave some room to miss even with water in play. The course just didn’t excite me while playing it and because of that I wouldn’t be back much if I lived in the area.

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