Danny McQueen was introduced to the game of golf when he was fourteen years old by caddying at Picadome Golf Club for golf pro Frank Atkins in 1959. Mr. Atkins soon trusted McQueen to run day to day operations which included pro shop duties and the watering of the course at night. These long days at the golf course only fueled McQueen’s passion for golf, not only in the game, but also in the maintenance and construction of courses.
After serving in the Army Reserves, McQueen attended the University of Kentucky to play golf and received a degree in accounting. Out of college, McQueen took a job as club manager at Spring Valley. Shortly into the job, the golf pro position became available and he was asked to take the position as pro/manager. After more than twelve years as a devoted employee of Spring Valley, McQueen was afforded his lifelong dream of owning/ leasing his own golf course when Woodrow Dawahare offered the sale of his lease at the then Parkway Golf Course. He changed the name from Parkway to Cabin Brook as he remained as the pro/manager at Spring Valley for two more years. Once away from his old job at Spring Valley, he successfully built the business at Cabin Brook by tinkering with the course by building new tees and greens and by planting numerous trees over the next few years.
In 1988, due to the success at Cabin Brook, McQueen was able to purchase the land at was the site for the Players Club of Lexington (currently the University Club of Kentucky). Before construction began at Players’ Club, he was approached to start another project, Andover Golf & Country Club. During the construction phase at Andover, McQueen partnered with Clay Corman to complete the earth moving portion of the course. The use of Clay’s heavy equipment at Andover helped him realize his dream that he could construct his own golf course which began with the Players Club of Lexington. Due to McQueen’s success in golf course construction, he was able to develop some of the newer courses in the area familiar to most who know the local golf scene. These projects include Cherry Blossom and Peninsula along with two other area courses. Over the last several years his family was able to purchase the Peninsula and Golf Club of the Bluegrass (formally Widow’s Watch) along with the buy back of the University Club of Kentucky. This briefly summarizes McQueen’s love for building and operating golf courses which leads into the exciting opening this spring of the Lexington area’s newest private course, Keene Run Golf Club.
The club will be Danny’s last golf project, and since his son, Kent, and son-in-law, B. Frye, thoroughly love the game, he feels it is only appropriate that his last golf course will be his best. Keene Run will be something special that McQueen kids, grandkids, their kids, and the members and their kids will remember him for.
Evolution of Keene Run Golf Club
In 1998 Danny McQueen sold his most successful golf property, Players Club of Lexington, to University Clubs of America backed by Arnold Palmer Golf Management for an unprecedented $8.2 million. Mr. McQueen parlayed this into buying property for a future golf course development. Danny was able to negotiate a deal with Eugene Goss to purchase the land on which the Keene Run Golf Club occupies. After the purchase of the land, Danny contacted an old friend, golf course architect Keith Foster to do several routing plans for the property. Keith had just gained national recognition for his renovations of Southern Hills for the 2001 U.S. Open. Danny and Keith walked the property several times to design the routing that is Keene Run today. Unfortunately, due to Keith’s recent success he was unable to spend the time on the Keene Run project he was comfortable with. Therefore, Keith recommended Drew Rodgers, a UK graduate, from Arthur Hills renowned design firm as a consultant to aid in the final design of the club. An example of Drew’s innovative mind is displayed on #13, a par three featuring a unique biarritz green made famous by legendary architects C.B. McDonald and Seth Raynor. After the course is grassed in, Keith makes his final recommendations which include new tee boxes and bunker renovations which will be implemented this fall.
Course Overview
Keene Run Golf Club is a collaboration of two great golf course architects, Keith Foster and Drew Rodgers and Kentucky Golf Hall of Fame member, Danny McQueen. Together their input resulted in an outstanding golf course featuring each one’s style. The course routing uses the lay of the land to wind through 200 acres with bunkers and streams strategically placed to penalize errant golf shots. Overall, Keene Run can be described as a “big” golf course featuring big greens, big tees, big fairways, and big bunkers.