I Played A Homemade Backyard Golf Course. Things Got A Little Weird. 

As someone who is always looking for unique experiences within golf, visiting a homemade course was right in my wheelhouse.

Boy, did I get the full experience.

The homemade course in question is Lightning Bug Par 3 about 45 minutes south of Nashville, out in the country of College Grove.

There is a tremendous albeit uncelebrated history here. A gentleman named Bill Blackburn, drawing on his background in the turf industry, built this the nine-hole par-3 layout back in 2004 so his daughter could practice. She later went on to play college golf so his idea worked. The course has long supported the Jesse Frank Junior Golf Scholarship Fund and often hosts community events.

Operating out of a former milk barn on private farmland, Lightning Bug has sustained itself through “Mr. Bill” and local volunteers who keep the place running. This is as homegrown as a course gets and it’s nothing like your typical muni.

That much was evident as soon as I pulled in.

A golf course with no clubhouse, starter or tee times

Navigating through country backroads, I finally came to the course’s entrance but I was sure I was lost.

This narrow gravel roadway tucked in between towering trees was not a pathway to a par-3 course. This was someone’s home and I was about to get a shotgun pointed in my face if I went down this path.

However, the GPS was adamant. And after having a moment to process my surroundings, I finally noticed the small sign that indicated Lightning Bug Golf Course lived here.

The road was so narrow only one car could pass comfortably. If a car came from the other direction, it took some gymnastics for both vehicles to get by.

But traffic? That wasn’t exactly a concern on the humid summer day I showed up.

After getting to the end of the driveway, I noticed a small chipping range. You could take a few balls out there and hit full-length wedge shots. There was a small putting green under a tree. Next to them, there were a few very unofficial parking spaces.

The only structures around were a couple of barns and sheds. A house sat on the other side of the pitching range.

Hear that? Complete silence. Two other cars were in the driveway and I could see a couple of golfers walking in the distance. That’s about it.

No clubhouse. No starter. No tee times. Just an honor box where you put in $10.

I found a handwritten sign about 20 feet from where I parked: “I’m tired of asking. 1) Pay prior to playing. 2) Hit/play from mats. 3) No alcohol. Period. If any of this is an issue, then please play at a different location.”

On the back of that sign, there was another message: “This is our home and while Lightning Bug was never intended for public play, we have made it available for the community for almost twenty years … Some sixteen years with no fees whatsoever! However, and with a great deal of frustration, the following must change immediately or there will not be a LBGC going forward. All players must pay at the HONOR BOX prior to playing. There are NO alcohol or tobacco products allowed on the property! Play from designated tee boxes (red or blue tees). If there is a hitting mat at your tee box, please tee from that mat! Repair all divots when playing from turf and sand bunkers. I ask each of you, one last time, to respect our wishes and follow these simple guidelines. For those that have been loyal supporters at LBGC, we thank you for your many years of help, support and friendship.”

Wow. Talk about sending a message. I’m all in on this.

Can we get the riffraff out of here? Come on, guys.

Hey, this course is a service to the local community. It’s not here to make money. It doesn’t have infrastructure set up to monitor players. Respect the grounds. Leave it better than you found it.

I slipped a $20 bill into the honor box and headed off to what I thought was the first tee.

A wonderfully odd par-3 course

Save for the opening preamble near the practice putting green, there isn’t much signage at Lightning Bug.

I wandered past the barn and found a tee marker with the No. 1 on it. Sweet, I’ve made it.

Well, it turns out I actually teed off on No. 3. The two tee boxes were close together with greens in opposite directions. After I finished my “first third” hole, I reached No. 4 and sat in confusion trying to figure out where Nos. 2 and 3 had gone. Perhaps they had disappeared into the fescue? Nope, I had just turned the wrong way.

This is literally the first time this has ever happened to me on a golf course in three decades of playing.

Speaking of the fourth hole, I hit a pull hook into the yard of the lone house I mentioned. After reading the stern message on the first tee, I ain’t playing it from there. Best behavior only.

How would I describe this homemade golf course?

It’s amazingly weird. Many of the holes have some kind of quirk.

There is one hole, No. 7, that has an old cabin you can just about hit on your backswing (see feature image at the top of the story). An overhanging tree next to the tee box necessitates that you either hit a punch shot or start a full wedge at the left edge of the green and cut it towards the hole. So, so, sick.

No. 8 is among the narrower chutes you will see on a golf course. Thankfully, it is merely a pitching wedge approach and the blue sky awaits a solidly hit shot.

Old rusted farm equipment is in play on No. 6. A couple of tee boxes are up near the main barn.

It feels like how it sounds—you are playing golf on a farm.

The greens are all slow but in fairly respectable shape given the circumstances. It doesn’t look like a hard course on paper but the corridors can be narrow and there are nasty places to miss.

It would be a terrific place to bring a junior or a novice who wants to be exposed to golf in a setting that isn’t super formal. It’s an easy walk and all the greens are super close to the next tee box.

And I’ll reiterate that it’s in phenomenal condition given the minimal maintenance budget. I’m actually not sure why the mats are out there because all the tee boxes are in great shape.

I love how places like this exist

Is Lightning Bug a strange place? Yes.

But I say that as a compliment. This is the type of facility that makes golf incredibly cool.

There are little places like this all over the world. You will almost never hear about them unless you seek them out for yourself.

In the case of LBGC, I’m glad I did.

Do you have an “honor box course” in your town? Tell me all about it, because I’m obsessed with these places now.