Peninsula GR

Lancaster, KY  (45 mins outside Lexington)

Golf Digest, 7/10

by Matt Ginella, Senior Travel Editor

Difficult as it is to find, Peninsula Golf Resort is one of the better bargains I've encountered in golf.

The hardest part about my job," says Chase Haven, head pro at Peninsula Golf Resort in Lancaster, Ky., "is giving directions to get here."

It's a 45-minute drive from Lexington -- not any more remote than, say, Bandon Dunes in Oregon -- but sure enough, I got lost. My mistake was not trusting my car's GPS on a few turns down small roads.

"Our location is a blessing and a curse," Haven says. "We encourage buddies trips -- in the villas you can cut up and do just about anything."

The course is long enough (6,647 yards) and tough enough around the greens to challenge low-handicappers. Yet there are no forced carries, and the fairways are wide enough to keep high-handicappers in the game, especially from the 6,082-yard tees. Overall it's an excellent buddies-trip venue, though there is just one course, so if you have a four-day trip, the experience might feel repetitive.

The last 15 minutes of the drive to Peninsula Golf Resort are the trickiest, taking you down little country roads without a lot of signage. My advice: Take it slow, watch out for stray farm animals, and if you have a GPS, trust it.