Persimmon Ridge Golf Club

Detailed description of Persimmon Ridge Golf Club

Persimmon Ridge Golf Club, is a Private, 18 hole golf course located in Louisville, Kentucky.

Persimmon Ridge golf course first opened for play in 1989. The course was designed by Arthur Hills.

The 18-hole championship lay-out takes you through woods, over creeks, around lakes and through a 120 foot elevation change during your round. Persimmon Ridge is ranked one of the most challenging golf courses in the region. The par-72 course plays to 7,113 yards. The course rating is 75.4 and a slope rating of 144.

This is a story about a golf course, a dream, true love and Lawren and Elmore Just. Elmore owned the Louisville Golf Co., maker of persimmon wood golf clubs, and dreamed of building a course.

In 1986 the Justs purchased land for a golf course, actually enough land for several courses. They hired Arthur Hills to design a course for the site. He designed a 36-hole master plan, but only 18 holes were built. The course first opened for play in 1989.

Affected by the Savings & Loan failures of the ’80s, their finance company was sold to a national company that was not interested in the master plan. They had a choice; sell the course, or the land surrounding the course. To prevent encroachment on the course and prevent run-away development, they sold the course in an effort to preserve what they loved.

The “new owners†of the course an offsite golf conglomerate, neglected maintenance and allowed the course to deteriorate. In 1988 the course was resold to another management company, the Golf Trust of America. Right away the relationship between them, the Justs, the staff and the club members improved, and the course began showing signs of improvement as well. Golf Trust was a real estate investment trust that was purchasing courses across the U.S. and considered Persimmon Ridge one of its 'gems'. As it turned out, the REIT purchased more courses than the portfolio could manage and began losing money. In the fall of 2000, the manager of Golf Trust called the Justs and told them the REIT would be liquidating its assets, and asked the Justs if they would like to re-purchase their golf course. They were in a position to do so and jumped at the opportunity to repurchase their dream

When the Justs bought back the course, projects were tackled, starting with the bunkers and continuing with a renovation of the driving range, several tees and holes, the cart path and the planting of more than 200 trees.

Elmore Just never got to see the culmination of all the changes. Only two months after the purchase, Elmore walked off the 18th hole, had a heart attack and died at age 53.

Elmore's love of the course is visible still today. Trees that he guarded during construction of the course in order to protect their roots still stand strong. The lakes and ponds that he stocked with fish still provide enjoyment to those who toss a line. And he will forever watch over the course he loved so much, as he is buried adjacent to the 7th green, where Lawren created a family cemetery at his death. Members place a golf ball on his grave when they birdie the 7th hole. Today, there are more than 500 golf balls at the site.

More than four million dollars of improvements have been done at Persimmon Ridge since the re-purchase in 2001. These include renovations of the bunkers, new cart paths, fairway distance markers, new golf carts, new maintenance barn, new cart barn, new pavilion, plantings of over 200 trees, new residential pool, tennis courts and playground, and a new 8,000 square foot addition to the clubhouse. Work has also begun on building the third nine holes of the original 36-hole layout.

Lawren and their 5 children have vowed that the course will maintain its natural beauty, just as she and her husband and their father always dreamed it should be