Rattling off the names of golf organizations is a game you could play with a friend for hours. PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, USGA, R&A, PGA of America, and on and on the list goes. Golf has always been unique in this sense compared to other sports. At least in the USA, for basketball the list is basically the NBA, WNBA and the NCAA’s influence on the collegiate side. In all fifty states for golf, there is some combination of local organizations that play a role in the sport to go along with the over-arching governing bodies in the USGA and PGA of America. Kentucky is one of the more unique in how that is structured. As you can see here, our organization is Golf House Kentucky. What is not obvious and oftentimes confusing is what Golf House Kentucky exactly is and how it is structured.

To begin, let’s establish what State Golf Associations are. There are 59 in total with every state containing at least one. For most states, with Kentucky being in this group, there is one Golf Association for only that state. Indiana and Tennessee are also like that, but then there are cases like Ohio where they have a total of four that focus on specific areas of the state. There are also a few instances such as the Washington Golf Association where they cover all of Washington in addition to the northern part of Idaho. Every State Golf Association is “parented” for lack of a better word by the USGA. The State Golf Associations conduct local and sectional qualifiers for USGA championships, offer official USGA handicap indexes for golfers in their area and conduct their own golf tournaments for amateurs. In Kentucky’s case, that comes in the form of the KGA Am Series and events like the Kentucky Amateur, Kentucky Mid-Amateur and the like.

“The KGA’s mission, in conjunction with the USGA, is to grow, administer and facilitate the playing and growth of the game in Kentucky,” Dave Nicholas, Kentucky Golf Association President stated. “By providing handicap services, course rating services, Rules of Golf information, and state-wide golf competitions, we are able to accomplish this.”

Shifting to PGA Sections, there are 41 of these with the premise being similar to that of State Golf Associations with the USGA, except they are conjoined with the PGA of America and concentrate on PGA Member Professionals as opposed to amateurs. The makeup across the country is relatively similar in that some states, like Kentucky, have their very own Section. Some states, such as California or Florida, are divided into Northern and Southern Sections. The Tri-States Section contains a part of Pennsylvania, a part of Maryland and all of West Virginia to make up its lines. The tournaments each Section conduct are for the Membership’s benefit while the bigger ones serve as qualifiers for the PGA of America’s Championships, with the PGA Championship each May being the crown jewel for the top players to reach.

“The mission of the Kentucky PGA is to promote the enjoyment and involvement in the game of golf and to contribute to its growth by providing services to PGA Member Professionals and Associates in the golf industry,” Craig Heibert, Kentucky PGA Section President explained. “We strive to grow the exposure, interest and opportunities within the game of golf while enhancing the quality of life for all Kentucky PGA Members.”

Now let’s connect the dots as to how this comprises Golf House Kentucky. We’ll take another state, such as Nebraska, and find there is a Nebraska Golf Association and a Nebraska PGA Section, just like Kentucky. The two organizations certainly have a helping hand in growing golf across the Cornhusker State, but they have two separate staffs and two completely different offices. You might be able to tell, just by looking on this website, that is not the case in Kentucky. The Kentucky Golf Association, Kentucky PGA Section and Kentucky Golf Foundation are each housed under one roof and share the same staff members.

So how did this come to be? In 1978, the Kentucky Golf Association and Kentucky PGA formed KGA-PGA Inc. This is an umbrella organization which enables the two bodies to share staff, office space and equipment among other things. In 2002, the organizations’ alliance truly began to show itself when the Kentucky Golf Foundation was launched. The KGF is a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization created by the leaders of the two bodies. Among its chief purposes was to create the long-awaited Golf House Kentucky building.

In April 2003, plans were formally announced to begin a fundraising campaign for the building’s construction. $1.6 million was the goal and $200,000 was immediately donated by the KPGA. Other golf organizations, both in Kentucky and from afar, would soon follow suit. Ground was broken in the fall of 2005 on the perimeter of Persimmon Ridge Golf Club’s driving range. Lawren Just, the Club’s owner, donated the land specifically for the building’s creation, which had been a long-time dream of her late-husband Elmore. Elmore, who had a key role in Persimmon Ridge’s development, went to lengths such as making sure water, electricity and sewer lines would lead to a potential site, and this was multiple decades in advance of the building’s approval and building. The street which leads to Golf House Kentucky is Elmore Just Drive, a tip of the cap to him on his vision coming to fruition.

It was during the 1990s when the idea of a “Golf House” started to materialize in the golf administration world. Indiana, Tennessee and Virginia all did it. Kentucky’s Executive Director at the time, Mark Hill, saw Golf House Kentucky as an example that could be set for smaller states this was an idea that could be done, telling Mike Ridge in a 2003 issue of Kentucky Golfer that “even on a modest budget, a state can show its dedication and commitment to golf within its borders.”

Indiana is the only other state who has its State Golf Association and PGA Section aligned in the way like Kentucky does. While other states also have a Golf House, they only serve as the office to the organizations without any sharing of resources in the format Kentucky and Indiana do. This unusual alignment has come to prove dividends for the game of golf in our state.

“By pooling financial and physical resources, we have been able to collaborate on projects like Youth on Course and the Kentucky PGA Junior Tour,” Dave Nicholas said. “These are only a sampling of the benefits this long-standing relationship has created. The partnership helps both the amateurs and professionals in the state, in turn benefiting all golfers in Kentucky.”

“The partnership with the KGA and KGF is to better serve all golfers in the Commonwealth,” Craig Heibert exclaimed. “The great work that is achieved through this partnership such as the extensive tournament program for amateurs and professionals, the Kentucky PGA Junior Tour, Youth on Course and many other services allow for golfers all across the state to experience the great opportunities through the game of golf.”