Sag Hollow Invitational draws strong field for 20th annual tournament

Forty golfers filled 10 foursomes at Sag Hollow Golf Club for the 20th annual Sag Hollow Invitational, a June 12-14 tournament that opened with an 18-hole scramble. The field was a strong turnout for a rural county event, and the format gave local players, friends and families a chance to turn a golf weekend into a reunion.

The winning team finished at 15 under par, a score that underscored how competitive the invitational has become even as it stays rooted in community tradition. In a county where school sports and government meetings often dominate the calendar, the tournament has become one of the more durable gatherings on the local schedule.

Sag Hollow sits at 1205 Sag Hollow Road in Booneville and describes itself as a 9-hole course with newly renovated greens, Bermuda fairways and white sand bunkers. Kentucky tourism material says the course was a community effort and places it about 30 miles south of Natural Bridge State Park and 30 miles north of Buckhorn Lake State Park, putting the club in a stretch of countryside that already serves as one of the county’s most visible recreation corridors.

State material says Sag Hollow opened in 2007 and covers 125 acres. The layout includes nine championship tees and eight shorter tees, a setup that helps the course handle larger event fields and makes the invitational format possible on a site that is smaller than a full 18-hole facility. The course’s clubhouse also kept the event accessible, with sign-ups handled by phone at 606-593-4653 or in person there.

The invitational’s staying power is easier to see against its own history. The 18th Sag Hollow Invitational drew 85 golfers in six flights, and the 19th annual tournament in 2025 was scheduled for June 6-8 before full results showed Shawn Tipton winning the championship flight at 140 over two rounds. The course has also hosted other county events, including the 2023 14th Region All “A” Classic Golf Tournament, adding another layer to its role as a local sports site.

For Owsley County, the 20th invitational was more than a scorecard. It showed that Sag Hollow remains a place where recreation, travel, and familiar faces still meet on the same tee box, and that a community-built course can keep drawing people back year after year.