Princeton Golf Club (Maxwell) – tornado recovery

[John Mayhugh]

 On December 10, a powerful tornado passed through western Kentucky, devastating many communities. One of those was Princeton, KY – home to a course with 9 Perry Maxwell holes. Maxwell was born in Princeton and designed a 9 hole course for the community after he had moved to Oklahoma. 9 more holes were added in the 50s (I think).
 
The tornado destroyed a neighborhood adjacent to Princeton Golf Club. This video gives you some sense of the damage. You can see glimpses of the course at around 1:30, 4:30, & 6:10.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H441-UYqyY
 
Immediately after the tornado, the city asked the golf club for help. From a Louisville newspaper (article behind a paywall) https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2021/12/22/kentucky-tornadoes-western-kentucky-gets-creative-to-deal-with-debris/8931820002/
 
Hours after a tornado bulldozed through this city of just 6,200, Mayor Dakota Young made a request he never thought he would. Could he set the community’s golf course on fire and build a landfill under it? Nearly 100 homes had been destroyed during the Dec. 10 storm, including dozens in a subdivision abutting the Princeton Golf & Country Club. The open land would be a convenient place to burn vegetation and dump demolition debris as the city attempts to quickly rebound from the destruction. Young knew it was a wild pitch. But when he approached the golf course’s board of directors, each unanimously agreed.
 
Of course they did. While Princeton isn’t a world class course, the people sure are. Watching from a few hours away, I’ve been impressed with the community spirit and resilience on display throughout Princeton and other parts of Kentucky.
 
The Maxwell portion of the course is holes 1 & 11-18. That portion of the course was mostly spared. The landfill and a huge burn area are around holes 2 & 10.
princeton cc aerial by john mayhugh, on Flickr
 
 
The second green before:
princeton 2 gr by john mayhugh, on Flickr
 
 
And now:
princeton landfill by john mayhugh, on Flickr
 
 
Some ground level photos of the cleanup efforts.
https://www.courier-journal.com/picture-gallery/news/2021/12/21/kentucky-city-builds-landfill-golf-course-amid-tornado-clean-up/8981184002/
 
The perspective isn’t quite the same, but this is of the 17^th green, and then just left of it on Friday.
pcc 17g by john mayhugh, on Flickr
 
_DSC3341 by john mayhugh, on Flickr
 
 
Like Maxwell, I was born in Princeton. I moved away after college. Princeton GC was the first private course I ever played, and when I was a kid with no golf background, there was a sort of mystique around private courses and country club people. Turns out this golf course and its leadership is about the best sort of neighbor anyone could have. I’ll be looking forward to seeing the community and golf course rebound from this. I know they will.

[Peter Pallotta]

A poignant story, John, in so many ways, and a fine tribute to your hometown, and to the good and decent people of Princeton, Kentucky. To think that a private golf club might also serve as the centre of a caring community is a warming thought. I hope that your friends and family and 'touchstones' there were not badly hurt or damaged.

[Nigel Islam]

Crazy. I just stopped by there on my way home from us playing Rolling Hills John. Kind of looked around a bit and spoke to a few people. Everyone was so nice. I had played there years ago, but after we had spoken of the course earlier I figured I should review my memories. That tornado was very weird indeed. Our weather in Evansville was so mild that night.

[Mike Hendren]

John, knowing that Maxwell designed 9 holes with my affinity for small town golf I visited a few years ago and enjoyed the solid bread and butter golf course.  It literally pains me to see the devastation to the neighborhood and it must be hurtful for you especially having grown up there.  So often small towns are not where we are from but rather largely who we are.  I'm confident the residents there and throughout Kentucky are the salt of the earth. 


Bless you and Bless them.


Mike

[John Mayhugh]

Thanks for the comments. The storm missed relatives and close friends of mine, so no real impact on me personally. I'm just appreciative of how everyone has handled bad times. 

[Anthony Gray]

 Nice to see the community banding together. I have strong Kentucky roots and remember the terror of the flood in 1977 in southeastern Kentucky. So tragic. Glad your family is ok John.


 Anthony

[Dale_McCallon]

John,


Really interesting how they have taken advantage of the course and it's proximity to a lot of the damage.  I've spent some time in Mayfield volunteering and the damage is massive and can take one's breath away.  Not that it matters in the scheme of things but the CC there was missed by maybe 1/4 mile?? 


My only experience at Princeton CC was a wedding I attended.  Fairly formal reception(at least for these parts) and then all of a sudden a surge of folks exit towards the putting green.  Go outside and find a pick-up truck next to the green with kegs loaded up in the back of it. 


To everyone who has commented...they are correct.  The outpouring of support and donations has been touching and small town people who are normally independent to a fault have gathered around each other to pick themselves up.  It's sad that it took such a tragic event to bring out the best in people; we really need to be willing to offer that kind of support year-round.

[John Mayhugh]

Dale,
Princeton definitely has it easier than Mayfield or Dawson. The cleanup and rebuild challenge in Mayfield seems immense.

[Nigel Islam]

    John mentioned Dawson Springs, Ky which was also hit very hard by the storm. As John has already put a golf architecture perspective on the region, I will add another bit. Several years ago Sven had found an article discussing a William Langford design for a hotel associated with Dawson's Springs. Dawson Spring had hosted both the Pirates and Reds for Spring Training in past years, and had maintained several hotels that capitalized on the spring water. Alas this hotel did not last very long, and was converted into a Tuberculosis Sanitorium. I believe only nine golf hole were completed, but the building had remained. In 1962 it was converted to a mental hospital. One a mild winter day, I decided to drive the 90 minutes into the town and stop by the library. I was able to deduce that the golf course was actually located at the mental hospital. Of course being a typical Golf Club Atlas member I decided to walk around the grounds where I was able to make out some old tee and green remnants. I immediately texted my findings to Jason Thurman who subtly suggested that I should promptly leave the grounds due to the fact I probably belonged there as a resident...


Anyway my point is that I will always remember my days in Dawson Springs and Princeton for how nicely the people treated me. I hope you will keep Mayfield, DS, Bowling Green, (where 2 other Langford courses were built as well!) and all the other little towns in Kentucky in your thoughts and prayers. These are good people and the damage was immense.

[Chris Clouser]

When researching the Maxwell book, I found the folks at Princeton to be some of the nicest people I met in my journeys.  They set me up to go around the course and play with their pseudo-club historian.  When they found out I had come down with my wife and kids to make a family vacation out of the trip they offered to host them at the club the entire day.  They were more than happy to help me, something I didn't get from every club.  I am not shocked by their willingness to help out the community in a time of need.