Discovering HOPE and Great Golf at Weissinger Hills

We’re joined by Bryan Slone, PGA, the general manager of Weissinger Hills Golf Course in Shelbyville, Kentucky to unpack how history, location, and day-to-day hospitality turn a local course into a true travel stop for golfers coming from Louisville and beyond. 

The most meaningful aspect centers on PGA HOPE, a free six-week program for veterans built around instruction, support, and camaraderie, plus how listeners can help fund it through sponsorship. 

Bryan shares his own path from learning the game at age four to becoming a PGA Professional, then gets practical about what visitors actually want to know: where the course is, what it costs, and why so much of the play comes from out of town. If you’re searching for a public golf course near Louisville, or a Shelby County getaway that pairs well with touring the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®, this one fits. 

If you enjoyed this conversation, subscribe, share it with a golf buddy or a veteran in your life, and leave us a review so more people can find Kentucky Hidden Wonders.

🎙️ Kentucky Hidden Wonders is presented by ShelbyKY Tourism.

🥃 Plan a visit to Your Bourbon Destination® at www.visitshelbyky.com. Located in the heart of central Kentucky and less than an hour from Louisville and Lexington, ShelbyKY is the perfect Kentucky getaway. Complete with two great distilleries, action-packed outdoor adventures, and the best vacation rentals near Louisville, put ShelbyKY at the top of your list when planning a Kentucky Bourbon Trail® trip, romantic couples retreat, or a whole-family vacation.

🎙️ Kentucky Hidden Wonders is hosted by Janette Marson and Mason Warren and edited by Ethan Fisher. 

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Transcript

Meet Brian Sloan And His Path

SPEAKER_03 0:22

Welcome everyone to Kentucky Hidden Wonders. Our guest today is Brian Sloan, who is the general manager of Weisinger Hills golf course right here in Shelby County. Brian, thanks for being with us.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Oh, thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_03 0:36

Absolutely. So for those of uh uh folks that are not familiar with Weisinger, first um tell them a little bit about yourself and how you got started in golf and um what brought you to Weisinger.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Okay. I I started playing golf at the age of four. Typically, my usually going out with my grandfather and my father at the time, and uh started playing, loved it, played all other sports too, you know, just like football, basketball, baseball. But golf is one that I really had a passion for. And I had a golf professional that I owned the course where I grew up in Georgetown, and he meant a lot to me. He treated, you know, he was like a father to me all the way through up, and he he'd always helped me with this golf swing. And I worked for him. That was my first job there, and uh when I was 12, and he really just instilled me the work ethic and the love and the passion for the game, and that's kind of how I got into junior golf and going to college, played at uh Sanford University in Birmingham. That's where I went. Uh transferred out of there later on and uh played a little bit of Georgetown College as well. Uh and then just joined the Marine Corps right there, and then got into the golf business during all that time.

SPEAKER_03 2:01

So and you've got some fancy credentials too, I do believe. Uh well fancy, fancy to me, the PGA golf. Yeah. So yeah, talk talk a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

I became PGA member, um turned professional in '93 and uh worked my way through the PGA program, uh became PGA member uh and got certain, you know, some loved it. You know, it's been 30 33 years, you know, being in the PGA. So it's uh it's definitely something that I love and I couldn't imagine doing anything else.

SPEAKER_03 2:39

And you're definitely a pro.

From 1910 Barn To Golf Course

SPEAKER_02 2:40

Yes. So there is uh a a lot of history uh at kind of where the Y Singer Hills golf course is now. Can you fill us in on that? I know a little bit of it, but uh can you tell us the whole story? Whole story?

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Uh well or as much as you know. Okay, like the the the big barn that we're in, the clubhouse, it was built in 1910. Okay. And it used to be one of the largest barns in the state of Kentucky. Uh it was a massive dairy operation. I think it was part of the Ungelata farm initially, and I think it was, I was told it was over 2,000 acres. And it started as a mule barn, like you know, World War I. And then it trans kind of got into the the big dairy operation. I mean, it was a massive dairy dairy operation back in the day. Uh, you can still see a lot of the you know, where the dairy operations and the all that are in the barn, which is pretty neat. And then if you go upstairs, which no one really has access to, but you can still see the the old um list that they had for the hay that ran that whole length. I mean, it it's it's massive. There's a I think people used to play basketball up there. I mean, it's it's it's a big, big place.

SPEAKER_03 3:58

Okay, so now I'm gonna ask to go upstairs next time. I'm there. We have a ladder right now, so oh well, I'll see if maybe I can make it.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

So just get the video out, you know, when you're all doing it.

SPEAKER_03 4:10

Maybe not.

unknown 4:12

We'll see.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

So when did it so it was uh part of Ungulata Farm? When did it become a golf course? When did it make that transition?

SPEAKER_00 4:20

In uh 1989, Rick Crawford and um Jack Ridge decided to build Ungelata, and it was the Ungulata golf course, and they built that then, then the city bought it in '92. Okay, and that's when it changed over to Weisinger Hills. Uh Weisinger comes from uh the gentleman that owned it. It was uh Colonel Harry Weisinger, and that's just where that name came from.

SPEAKER_02 4:47

Okay, gotcha. And so for people that aren't familiar, where is it in Shelby County?

SPEAKER_00 4:53

It's right off 64. If you're you know, it's between exit 35 and we're located on 53. That always confuses me. But uh, if you're going down the interstate and you look over, you see a big water tower and it's got the saddlebred horses on top of it, that's that's on our golf course.

SPEAKER_03 5:11

Gotcha. There's a lot of golf courses everywhere. Of course, we've got more than one here in Shelby County. In your opinion, what makes Weisinger stand out above all the other golf courses?

Why Weisinger Hills Stands Out

SPEAKER_00 5:26

I think it's just us being a public golf course, we get, you know, we're we're playing 35 to 40,000 rounds annually. We got a lot of traffic from the interstate, you know, and probably about 80 to 85 percent of that play is from out of town. So it's it's easy access. I'll have a lot of people say that you know, they can come from Louisville, play our golf course, and get back, you know, quicker than what they could somewhere closer to them. So that part's of it good. Uh the prices we have are very fair. You know, we have senior rates Monday through Thursday, uh, which are$40. That includes card,$45 for regular play, then weekends$58. And we do Twilights, uh a nice driving range. So, you know, very large practice screen that a lot of people like. And it's just a good place that people can come either hit balls, practice, or game. Uh, we come there and play golf. It's a course that doesn't beat you up, and you know, it's very user-friendly. We have houses kind of on some outskirts of it, but there's a lot of play where there's you won't see houses at all. So it kind of gives you that feel like you're you know out being able to enjoy a nice round of golf without worrying about hitting a window somewhere.

SPEAKER_03 6:46

I love that the numbers you said about 80 to 85 percent out of town. I mean, golf and it mason, I know you'll uh attest to this too, is very important to tourism, bringing people in and getting them involved and doing things. So thanks for um giving us those numbers. It's good to hear.

SPEAKER_00 7:04

And you know, we get a lot of a lot of bourbon tour people that are coming through the area. I mean, that's a that's a big deal. You know, they come, they'll play golf, then they'll go on the bourbon tour. So they'll have the vans picking them up and dropping them off. So it's it's uh growing every year.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

And ideally they golf and then do bourbon, not around.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

Hopefully, yeah, yeah.

Lessons For Beginners And Groups

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Uh so for those like myself that are just that know nothing about that. I'm not a golfer, I don't really know how to, wouldn't even know where to start. What kind of, you know, do you have a lesson program, things like that? What do you can you talk about that a little bit?

SPEAKER_00 7:39

Yeah, we do lessons. We have individual lessons, you know, they they typically run for us$75 a lesson, or we do a series of three for$200. Uh, I have myself on staff. I I teach the bulk of the lessons. Uh also an assistant Daniel Eisman, may have heard that name. He plays a lot, probably the best player in our section. So uh when he's available, he's definitely giving lessons. And then I've got a new assistant this year, Cameron, that uh he'll be starting in that progress and giving lessons this year. So we give a lot of those. We have junior programs that we do, uh PJ Junior League that uh Daniel runs. Um we also support a lot of junior tours and everything that come through the area.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

How many? So if someone is starting from scratch, like how many lessons would you say that they need to do? Like, what's kind of that investment like or time investment, I should say?

SPEAKER_00 8:37

You know, usually if somebody's just beginning and it depends on how much practice time they're getting in, I'll kind of start them off with the three and uh go over some fundamentals. There they they might need to go for an extra set just to kind of get the basics because it gets very coughs hard, you know, and it it's one of those that you know you're gonna get out of it what you put into it. So it depends on where you want to go. You don't have to be the tour player, but you can definitely be a beginner and and learn to start having fun. You know, lessons is one part of it, getting out there and and playing a golf course and kind of putting what you've learned into into play isn't a big key. Learning the management of it, the etiquette of it, you know, your pace of play. And it's kind of like tell people it's it can seem overwhelming to the people who are just starting it, but you know, you can you don't have to start off at the championship golf course. I mean, here in Shelbyville, we've got Clear Creek, the executive course over there, that's a great learning spot, uh, and kind of graduate up to where it doesn't feel so overwhelming to a lot of the people. Gotcha.

SPEAKER_03 9:44

Can you do uh groups as well? Like if people wanted to learn, but they don't want to do it by themselves. Absolutely themselves. Is it groups available?

SPEAKER_00 9:52

Yeah, so I I mean I'll have people reach out and do some group lessons. We might have like anywhere from three to six people, you know, because you don't want to get a whole lot more than that because you want to give them some hands-on experience, and uh that way everybody kind of gets gets involved. I'll do couples lessons, I'll do some small group lessons. So occasionally we'll do in the past, I've done some large group clinics, you know, to where we might just be focused on one thing, like how to hit your target at 100 yards or some chipping and just kind of give some tips and things for those that probably have played to, you know, kind of get better at what they're doing.

SPEAKER_03 10:30

So I would need how to find out where the darn hole is, you know, like you're looking, you're standing there, and I'm sure there's like math or something involved, you know, that the hole has to be somewhere out there. So yeah, I would be starting ground level, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

Yeah, and that th those are those are very easy questions. You're like, where to the T box, you know, what do you do there? What markers are you looking for? What do the different color flags mean? You know, for us, we do red, white, blues, red meaning the pins in the front of the green, white's middle, blues back, you know, and but every course is a little bit different on that. But you know, there's always little you'll pick up little nuances as you continue playing.

Signature Holes And Course Challenges

SPEAKER_03 11:10

So well, before we do another golf scramble, I think we're gonna we'll probably call you. I did notice on the website there was uh it's had its own little section about a um signature hole that something special about this signature hole. What was um I think it was like hole two or something, or was there anything special that makes Weisinger stand out? I just noticed that that on your on your website.

SPEAKER_00 11:37

There's a few. Number two is typically our the longest par four we have on the course. It's tough, you know, it's all uphill, and you've got water on the left of it, out of bounds on the right. Uh typically it it's truthfully, it's probably closer to the par five if you play it on the back part of it. So it it's uh it's probably one that gets talked about a lot, you know. Then I to me, I think one of our prettiest holes is our tenth hole. You know, it runs along our the lake that we have and um just kind of contours that all the way around. It's a short hole, but it's it's probably one of the prettier ones that I really like. Um 17 gets talked about a lot because it has a green that's very, very sloped from back to front, and it can be quite difficult, especially on the like the windy days we've had recently. So it's it's uh some people kind of walk off shaking their heads on that one.

Pro Shop Food And Patio Plans

SPEAKER_02 12:33

Gotcha. Uh so obviously, great golf course. Uh, and you said the clubhouse is in the the historic barn there. So what's in there? Do you have you know food store?

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Yeah, so in the barn, obviously we we have storage, but kind of the main point, the clubhouse, the pro shop's in the front, the concessions area is in the front. So, you know, we do have a grill that we grill burgers and dogs outside. Uh starting April 1st, we typically do our homemade chicken salad, which is a big fan favorite for all of our players. Uh patio is on the front, and we just had an addition we added to our patio, kind of curves around and kind of faces toward uh our 10th T. Okay. So, you know, we're hopefully eventually gonna be renovating that clubhouse. Oh, okay. So that's that's uh something we're working on now, trying to get some drawings and hopefully get everybody on board.

PGA HOPE Golf For Veterans

SPEAKER_03 13:31

Oh, that's exciting. Very exciting. Now, at the beginning of our interview, you mentioned that you were a veteran. Yes, and so veterans probably are very near and dear to your heart. Um, so uh talk a little bit about veterans and all that veterans can um expect when they come to Weisinger.

SPEAKER_00 13:50

Yeah, so Kentucky has put on uh the PJ Hope, and there's 11 chapters, I believe, that we've got in this section. And something that I always I wanted to get involved, and we didn't have this have it in at Weisinger yet. So I I reached out and seen about if we could. I think that following year we were able to kind of get the the funding to where we were able to host the PGA Hope program at Weisinger. And that helps all any veteran. It's a free clinic, it's six weeks, so we meet every Thursday night from 5:30 to 7. Uh typically I've got five to six other instructors there with me, PGA professionals that have been certified in PGA Hope Training. And we break off in the groups and we try to rotate, whether it be from driver, irons, chipping, putting, short game, bunker play, and on-course experience that we do. So we try to keep at about a four to one ratio between us and the veterans, and it's it's a lot of fun because we get all the different branches out there and having come from the military, it was you get to poke fun at other branches. So we all have a good time, and it's uh a lot of good camaraderie. You know, the men and women that have served and and sacrificed a lot at the it's just a good rehabilitation that kind of helped them feel like they're there with people that have similar backgrounds and you know they can get comfortable and has have a little fun.

Public Play Season Passes And Hours

SPEAKER_02 15:31

Gotcha. Uh so change of gears just a little bit. Is the course uh open to the public? Do you need a membership? What's what's that kind of like for a visitor that wants to come play? Uh what does that look like?

SPEAKER_00 15:44

Sure. So open to the public. Uh we do also have what we call season passes. So people can buy season passes, and that's basically kind of discounted green fees. So we have a five-day plan, which is a Monday through Friday or seven-day plan. Uh typically we have about 120 of those, you know, that we sell.

SPEAKER_02 16:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

And but they get a two-week window as far as making tea times, the season passes do. And whereas general public would be a one-week window. Gotcha.

SPEAKER_02 16:15

And so you are open seven days a week.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

Absolutely. Okay. That's the only day we close are going to be Christmas Day and Thanksgiving Day. Oh, wow. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 16:23

That's very, very good.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

Or unless it snows.

SPEAKER_03 16:26

Yeah. But I've seen golfers no matter what the weather is. I gotta tell you, you guys are out there all the time. There's some diehards. Definitely. Circling back to the veterans. Um, so veterans that are listening uh right now, um, how do they get involved with uh uh veterans hope?

SPEAKER_00 16:43

You have to register online. So you go to you can go to pgaho.com or you can go to the golfhouse, Kentucky Golfhouse website, and there's a link there for PGA Hope. Uh you can look at find a chapter that's close to you. You know, if it's YSinger, look up YSinger, we're on there. It'll have a registration button, and they can get on that list and show up that night. Like we start ours April 16th, is and I've already got signups coming. So typically we'll be we're probably gonna be limited to about 20 to 24 this year, as far as what we can have. And people that have already gone through it, um they they get graduation card, PGA hope cards that they can carry around. I know like we offer$5 discount for the ones that graduate to the round, and other courses can offer similar discounts, or they might do free bucket of balls somewhere or something of that nature. So, and it could also help. It used to help in kind of getting in some of those events, you know, like uh tournaments like this goes and that sort of thing. But I think, you know, some there's different rules that apply depending on where you go.

SPEAKER_03 17:51

And you might have already sat and I apologize. Um, is there a charge for veterans to do that? It's free. Wonderful. It's free, fabulous. And then uh normally, I think I saw on the website there might be special pricing for veterans on a normal day, correct?

SPEAKER_00 18:09

If they're active military or active reserve, they definitely get that$5 discount. If they're PGA Hope graduates, they also get that$5 discount. So it's it's it's helpful. Every little bit helps. Um, so that's you know, the big things is on the programs, on all the PGA Hope programs, it's all free of charge for them. Uh, it's a great initiative that was done by the PGA of America. I know so there's, of course, you're always still looking for funding, you know. So there are sponsorships available. So for somebody listening that wants to get involved and donate money or sponsor a program, there's different levels that they can do that at. So that's something that if they want to reach out to me, I could guide them in the direction to where because it'd be nice, you know, if I could get one involved, I could do another hope event, you know. So it that's be very helpful, and there's a lot of veterans that would really appreciate that as well.

SPEAKER_03 19:03

Absolutely. Thanks for offering that.

SPEAKER_02 19:05

So you've kind of teased the uh the patio renovation and the clubhouse renovation and things like that, but is anything else uh exciting coming up for Weisinger?

SPEAKER_00 19:15

Uh yeah, well, we do we typically try to upgrade a lot of things, you know. Each year, I mean, we'll try to do something to kind of invest and make it better. Uh like last beginning of last year, year before we did uh a new artificial T line with uh so the mats are it's definitely a lot more padded and everything, so it doesn't beat you up. It's a nice surface. That was a good good start to that. Uh some of our bunkering, you know, like uh we had some renovations done several years ago, and we have a big bunker on our ninth hole. That's it's uh quite a challenge for a lot of people to get over. It's pretty steep. So, you know, we might be trying to soften that a little bit. I don't know if I'm gonna remove totally remove it, but I like to soften it a little bit to where it's maybe a little more playable for them. But course, course wise, that's that's kind of where we are right now. You know, in the future, I'd like to maybe change out some of our fairway grasses, you know, but that's kind of in a little bit longer range plan, maybe a five-year plan.

Upgrades Contact Info And Success Story

SPEAKER_02 20:22

Gotcha. Uh so if someone wants to learn more or schedule tea time or get in contact with you, how do they do that?

SPEAKER_00 20:28

Uh, they can call the course, you know, at 502-633-7332. They could send me an email at WHGC1234 at gmail.com. And name's Brian, so they can always ask me anything. I'll I'll try to guide them in the right direction. Perfect.

SPEAKER_03 20:47

Well, I want to come over for the chicken salad also. It's worth it. Definitely. One last question going back to the veterans. I'm just so interested in your veteran program. Um, do you have any success stories about any particular veteran um that has been involved over there?

SPEAKER_00 21:08

Uh you get some that come in, especially like um, I think one of the stories I've I've had some come in with the dogs, anxiety dogs, and you know, help them out because you know they're they're going through a lot. And at the end of the six weeks, we do a little ceremony and we have food, we go out and play. But, you know, that person just really came up and and told everybody just how much that program has helped them and just all the camaraders they they've the love they've shown each other and just really made them feel special and to be able to come out and just gave them that they want to keep going with it. So I mean that part was a little more kind of at the center of my thought, you know, when that those questions come up. But there's a there's several. You know, that you can kind of go through. And I think the the biggest thing is them enjoying and feeling the love from everybody. I mean, they're all there supporting each other. I've never had any issue with any of the the participants. I mean, there's they're there to help. You know, and even the ones that graduate, they come back to help the others. You know, and I I think that's something different than a lot of clinics and everything that you have. But uh they're there for each other for sure.

SPEAKER_03 22:29

Oh, well, that that is fantastic. And once again, thank you so much for offering that program. Thanks for being with us today and just sharing a little bit about Weisinger Hills golf course. And it does stand out among the golf courses, definitely. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

Thank you.