Bardstown has three proper 18-hole courses within half an hour of Court Square, and the best known sits inside a state park about a mile from downtown. Play the Kenny Rapier course at My Old Kentucky Home State Park for history, value and a walkable tee time; play Bardstown Country Club at Maywood when you want length and a real test; and drive 30 minutes to Lincoln Homestead State Park in Springfield for a 1957 Maxwell design. All three take public players and stay open year-round when the weather cooperates.
Which Bardstown golf course should you play?
| Course | Layout | Length | Character | From Court Square |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| My Old Kentucky Home Golf Course | 18 holes, par 71 | 6,351 yards | Rolling state park course, bentgrass greens, opened 1933 | About 1 mile |
| Bardstown Country Club at Maywood | 18 holes, five tee sets | 7,200+ yards from the back | Long and links-flavored, opened 1995 | About 10 minutes |
| Lincoln Homestead State Park | 18 holes, four tee sets | Not published | Perry and J. Press Maxwell design, 1957 | About 30 minutes |
| Bourbon & Bunkers | Indoor simulator | n/a | Private bar and cocktails | About 10 minutes |
If you have time for one round, make it the state park course. It shares a park with Federal Hill, the rate is state park friendly and you are five minutes from lunch downtown. Serious players with a full weekend should add Maywood.
My Old Kentucky Home Golf Course: the one you can nearly walk to
The state park course first opened in 1933 and is named for Kenny Rapier, a Bardstown native who served as Kentucky’s Commissioner of Parks. It plays to par 71 and 6,351 yards from the longest tees, with a course rating of 69.5 and a slope of 119. Those numbers tell you what to expect: fair for a mid-handicapper, with enough movement in the ground to keep a good player honest. The park calls it the top course in the Kentucky state park system, and it has earned some bragging rights.
The state park golf page mentions newly renovated bunkers, “interestingly contoured bentgrass greens and the occasional scent of nearby bourbon production.” That last part is not marketing whimsy. Bardstown’s distilleries and rickhouses are close enough that on a still, humid morning the air can smell faintly of cooked grain and charred oak.
What to know before you go:
- Book tee times online through the “Book A Tee Time” link on the parks.ky.gov golf page, or call the pro shop at (502) 349-6542.
- Green fees are not posted online. Call for the current rate, especially if you want a cart.
- The pro shop rents clubs, pull carts and riding carts, and has a snack bar, beer service and a lounge.
- State park rules ban alcohol that was not bought at the park, and personal coolers are not allowed on the course.
- Winter hours, which run through March 1, are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. Warm-season hours are longer, so confirm the first tee time when you book.
The course shares the park with the Federal Hill mansion and the outdoor amphitheater, which makes for an easy golf-and-history day. Play in the morning, then catch an afternoon tour at My Old Kentucky Home, where tours run on the hour until 4 p.m. In summer you can stay for an 8 p.m. performance of The Stephen Foster Story a few hundred yards away.
Bardstown Country Club at Maywood: the long test
Maywood opened in 1995 on the eastern edge of town. It was designed by David Pfaff of Carmel, California, and later renovated by Spencer Holt, a protégé of Arthur Hills. From the championship tees it measures more than 7,200 yards, and Business First magazine once ranked it the fourth most difficult course in the Louisville area. Don’t let that scare you off: there are five sets of tees, and the forward set plays about 4,600 yards.
The club is semi-private and family owned since 2002, and it takes public tee times through its online booking system. The practice facilities are the best in the area: a range of 300-plus yards with more than 20 hitting stations, six target greens and a 10,000-square-foot putting green. PGA instructors give lessons at $45 for 30 minutes or $90 for an hour, which is a smart spend if your swing needs a tune-up before a golf weekend.
Rates for the April 1 to October 31 season have run about $57 on weekdays and $67 on weekends, cart included, with a $39 weekday senior rate. From November through March the price drops to roughly $30 weekdays and $40 weekends. Confirm when you book, since rates change. The first tee time is 7:30 a.m., and The Grill at Maywood serves from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and until 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Lincoln Homestead State Park: a Maxwell course in Springfield
About 20 miles east on US 150, near Springfield, Lincoln Homestead’s course was designed by Perry Maxwell and his son J. Press Maxwell and opened in 1957. It has four sets of tees, Bermuda fairways and bentgrass greens, and it plays year-round. Call the park at (859) 336-7461 for tee times and rates.
The setting is the draw here. The course sits on land farmed by Mordecai Lincoln, uncle of the president, and the park also preserves the Francis Berry House, where Nancy Hanks worked as a seamstress while Thomas Lincoln courted her. The historic buildings open from May through September for a small fee, so a summer round can end with a short walk through Lincoln family history. The Springfield and Lincoln Homestead day trip covers the rest of the town.
When the weather turns: Bourbon & Bunkers
Kentucky rain has a way of arriving right at your tee time. Bourbon & Bunkers, the golf simulator lounge at The Trail Hotel on New Haven Road, is open every day from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Its private bar holds up to 20 guests and pours craft cocktails, so it works well for a golf group, a bachelor weekend or anyone who wants to hit balls with a drink in reach. Prices are not published, so call (502) 393-4150 to reserve a bay. If you are staying at The Trail Hotel, it is right downstairs.
Disc golf: free and brand new
Bardstown’s newest course costs nothing. The nonprofit Naturally Bardstown opened the 9-hole Tulip Grove disc golf course in the picnic area of My Old Kentucky Home State Park in September 2026, and the Kentucky Standard reported that the grand-opening tournament filled all 64 spots. Each hole has a “Nature Notes” sign about the trees and wildlife around it. A back nine is planned before the end of 2026, along with a two-mile hiking path. Bring your own discs.
Lincoln Homestead State Park has an 18-hole disc golf course with turf tees, and its pro shop rents and sells discs. Parkway Baptist Church in Bardstown also has a course. For more free outdoor time around town, see the parks and walking trails guide.
How to plan a golf weekend in Bardstown
A two-course weekend is easy: play Maywood on Saturday morning when you are fresh, and the state park course on Sunday. Book early for fall weekends, when Bardstown fills with bourbon travelers, and especially for Kentucky Bourbon Festival weekend in mid-September.
Summer tee times go fast in the early morning for good reason. Central Kentucky afternoons in July and August often reach the 90s with heavy humidity, so take the first slot you can get and carry more water than you think you need.
Plenty of golf trips here end at a distillery. Play first and taste later, never the other way around, and settle who is driving before the first pour. The distillery tours guide helps you pick an afternoon tour, and the responsible drinking guide covers Kentucky’s rules and how to get back to your room safely.
Where to stay and eat near the courses
The state park course is on Loretto Road, a short drive or a long walk from the downtown inns and motels along Stephen Foster Avenue. Maywood is a few minutes east of downtown, and The Trail Hotel puts you next to the simulator. Compare neighborhoods in where to stay in Bardstown. After your round, head downtown: the best restaurants in Bardstown are clustered within a few blocks of Court Square, and most have a long bourbon list waiting for the 19th hole.
