Santa Maria Golf Course

Family-owned Mercer County resort 30 minutes south of Lexington, 27 holes (regulation 18 + par-3 nine) on a former tobacco farm in Harrodsburg. Buck Blankenship bought the land intending to farm it, decided there was no money in farming, and built the par-3 in 1964 instead; the championship 18 followed. Blankenship, Kentucky Golf Hall of Fame member, went on to design dozens of Kentucky courses (Fort Knox, Lexington, Frankfort, Owen County, etc.). Lodge + cottages on-site; Buck's 93-year-old daughter Helen "Ree" King still runs the pro shop in the mornings and rides the lawnmower in the afternoons. The trail's most personality-laden stay-and-play option, halfway between Lexington and Maker's Mark.