In 2000, Jim Scott told a group of potential designers he wanted to build the finest golf course in all of Kentucky, an ultimate test for the best golfers in the world. Six years later, Scotty—as he is known to just about everyone who meets him—had reached his goal.
The course, designed by prominent golf course architect Arthur Hills with assistance from associate architect Drew Rogers, was everything Scott had hoped it would be and more. The Zeon Zoysia fairways and bentgrass greens are among the features that have made the 7,333-yard course (from the back gold tees) at The Club at Olde Stone the talk of the South.
To call Scott an entrepreneur might be a disservice to a man who has built a top-tier reputation by constructing interstates, roads, buildings and a world-class golf course.
After searching near and far for the perfect spot for his dream course, he shelled out $1.23 million for 520 acres of rolling hills and a bluff here and there. He wanted more than 18 holes of luxury golf; he wanted a golf community. While 225 acres would accommodate the course, the remainder would be used for a clubhouse, homesites, a green space, a swimming pool and tennis courts.
“I looked for two years before we got going,” Scott recalled. “I wanted something for our area that would be upscale and rival anything else around.”
Building the kind of course Scott wanted on his land just off Old Scottsville Road on the outskirts of Bowling Green would require deep pockets. In the beginning, golf course experts estimated that building a course on par with Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville would conservatively require $18 million. But for the complete package, there was the issue of providing access to the golf complex from the four-lane Scottsville Road. Drakes Creek, a nearby waterway, needed a bridge, which was built before anything else.
“Access was very important,” Scott said. “The back way, Old Scottsville Road, wouldn’t work due to the winding and narrow road. We also had to get zoned in the city so we could serve alcohol, since the county was dry.”
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Scott knew he had only one shot to make a first impression with his golf course. That’s why he took his time selecting a designer. Toledo, Ohio-based Arthur Hills Designers, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer were three at the top of Scott’s list. Any of those three, he reasoned, would give his new course instant credibility and recognition.
Hills had a good track record in Kentucky, with Fox Run Golf Course in Kenton County, Persimmon Ridge Golf Club in Shelby County, and The Champion Trace course at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville to his credit.
“Hills didn’t want homes on the property,” Scott said. “But we reached an agreement. I told him I want the best golf course in this region of the country. ‘What’s your budget?’ he asked. ‘I don’t have one,’ I said.”
Ground was broken in 2004, and The Club at Olde Stone opened for play in 2006.
Several celebrities from the Nashville area are members at Olde Stone, but none carry as much prestige as Kenny Perry, a resident of Franklin in Simpson County. The former PGA star—who has his own course in Franklin, Country Creek Golf Course—has become familiar with Olde Stone.
“I was blown away when I first saw the course,” said Perry, who has played some of the best golf courses in the world. “It can compete with any of them. It’s a beautiful place to hang out for five hours.”
Olde Stone’s course certainly has become one of the most distinctive layouts in the nation, drawing national tournaments over its 20-year history.
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Scott began his career working summers as a surveyor in Logan County for the Kentucky Department of Transportation. He attended the University of Kentucky, majoring in engineering. Once out of school, he continued with the KDOT for four years as part of his engineering program payback.
“I worked for R.E. Gaddie Paving before going out on my own in 1972,” he said.
The result was Scotty’s Contracting and Stone.
Looking back on the early stages of the Olde Stone’s development, Scott said he went about it the wrong way.
“I had already bought the land before I decided I should do a feasibility study,” he recalled. “I had this lady with Harvard credentials come in. She spent two weeks … talked to everybody about golf, homes … everything. She gave me her report when it was complete. She said not to build this upscale course in Bowling Green. It was still a Walmart town, and I’d be lucky to get 125 members.”
Scott built it anyway.
What the study didn’t take into consideration was the interest from the surrounding communities.
“I didn’t think about it either,” Scott said. “Today, we have 600 members and about 275 homes that have been built.”
For a kid who grew up on a farm in Logan County, the now 89-year-old is quick to realize how far he has come in life.
In July 2022, Olde Stone hosted the U.S. Girls’ Junior Golf Championship. “NBC was here televising it,” Scott said, “and I admit I got a little emotional when they talked to me … just thinking how far we have come.”