Two days from now, there will be tournament golf organized by the state’s family of golf organizations for the first time in 2020. The Kentucky Golf Association’s Senior Team Championship will begin at Bardstown Country Club on Monday where the 36-hole competition will feature modified alternate shot on day one and four-ball on Tuesday. When the tournament concludes, trophies will be awarded to the top players in gross score and net score for the first time in the new decade.

Reaching this long-awaited point brings forth many emotions. It seems incomprehensible to think back to last Thanksgiving, COVID-19 was not known to a single person on the planet. If you went back in time to tell yourself and whoever you were with during your Thanksgiving dinner that there would be no competitive golf in the Commonwealth until June, sports seasons across the world would be paused or outright canceled, and that you would not be able to eat a meal inside a restaurant for multiple months, what would you have said back then?

So much has changed for Kentucky, its golfers, its facilities and everyone else involved with the sport since the last time Golf House Kentucky conducted a tournament in October 2019. Immense hardships have been endured by many, their families and friends. Not being able to participate in a golf tournament seems extremely arbitrary compared to other dilemmas people have had to tackle, but the ability to compete, socialize and enjoy the game has been sorely missed by all.

Ever since mid-March, the pandemic has made everything feel like a dream that everyone is just waiting to wake up from. The state of Kentucky’s reopening plan has made some aspects of life in the last couple of weeks feel slightly better, but it’s clear there is still a long way to go until things feel “normal” or whatever the definition of “normal” evolves into. The inaugural tournament on the Kentucky Golf Association’s calendar will be another step leading in that direction.

For the 60 players teaming up in Bardstown, and frankly all of Kentucky’s golfers, this week’s tournament feels more significant than most. It’s not as simple as, “Compete and pursue victory” like most competitive golf tournaments are. This is about bringing some semblance of normalcy back to golfers, while still making sure everyone involved in the tournament is safe. The Kentucky Senior Team Championship will produce not just the decade’s first champions, but more importantly hope. Hope that the worst of the pandemic is behind us, hope that normalcy is coming, and hope that as it always has and always will, the joy of golf will bring comfort and enjoyment to all involved.

For first round tee times, click here.

For tournament protocols and safety procedures, click here.