This Somerset adult playground has 100 bourbons and a golf simulator

Kentucky golfers can now hit the fairways of iconic courses like Augusta National, Pebble Beach, Valhalla and more — all from inside one Pulaski County bar.

Birdies & Barrels, a two-story adult playground in downtown Somerset, opened in March 2022 and features more than 100 bourbons and a handful of golf-themed cocktails to go along with a top-of-the-line simulator with access to over 3,200 courses.

According to owner Anthony Cox, the golf simulator — which also includes local courses like Keene Trace, Woodson Bend and General Burnside Island — has been a hit for everyone from the casual player to the serious golfers looking to work on their game when they can’t make it to a real world counterpart.

“People will come in to work with our professional to improve their game or just get a few rounds in when the weather isn’t cooperating outside, but we’ll also have parties book the space where I’ll just set them up on a 100 yard closest to the pin challenge too,” says Cox. “It’s fun for everyone.”

With pricing available at $40/hour (or $100/hour for a group of four), $150/month, $300 for four months or $500 annually, it’s a relatively accessible experience as well that helps to further broaden the reach of a sport with an already global impact. Cox said he’s also working to start golf scrambles, tournaments, leagues and more via the simulators to further build engagement between the bar’s customers and the technology at their fingertips there.

What’s on the menu at Birdies & Barrels?

While the simulator is the primary attraction, Birdies & Barrels’ golf-related hijinx doesn’t stop there. Its bar also takes a swing at your taste buds with several par-fect cocktails like the Who’s Your Caddy (Maker’s Mark, peach purée, fresh lime juice and ginger beer), the Peach Passion Arnold Palmer (Knob Creek and Passion Peach Tea Lemonade) and the Par 3 Punch (El Jimador, Triple Sec, mango purée, fresh lime juice, pineapple juice and sour mix).

It also showcases a limited selection of beers and bevy of bourbons that range from FKNG (For Kings Not Gods) to Pappy Van Winkle, Ten Day Bourbon, RD1 and more with a preference for barrel selects — as the bar’s name implies.

“I’ve done three Buffalo Trace barrels at this point, a Jack Daniels single barrel, Limestone Branch, Dark Arts, Blanton’s and several others,” says Cox. “There’s nothing like a good bourbon tasting experience at one of the distilleries where you get to leave with a small batch creation that nobody else has.”

All those libations need some food to pair with it though, and fortunately Birdies & Barrels has that covered as well with barbecue every other weekend and free pizza and wings on NFL Sundays. Regular partnerships with local food trucks that set up outside two big garage doors that open to the adjacent Maple Street — an area he’s been in discussions with city officials about shutting down to automobile traffic to create a walkable outdoor patio — also take place.

“I’d like to have a permanent food tenant one day just to have more continuity and consistency within the business, but with current space limitations it’d likely be a mobile setup like a permanent food truck out front,” says Cox. “Or if another space opens nearby we’ll look into expanding into a kitchen there.”

More to do in downtown Somerset

Since Birdies & Barrels’ opening, downtown Somerset has experienced a massive resurgence.

The century old Virginia Theatre reopened just a few months after Birdies & Barrels and other spaces like jazz bar The Emerald Hound and newly launched Southern Vines Wine Bar have since settled there too. Horse Soldier Bourbon is also in the midst of a massive distillery project nearby and the Golden Duck entertainment space was just announced in the former Jarfly Brewing building.

All of this leaves Cox not only excited for the future of Birdies & Barrels, but for the future of Somerset as a whole too.

“Cities from London to Louisville have similar places, so why not us,” questions Cox . “My hope is that what’s building here will lead to people bypassing a trip to Richmond or Lexington for a night out in addition to pulling more of the Lake Cumberland and Highway 27 traffic in as well.”

Birdies & Barrels

Where: 201 E Mt Vernon St, Somerset

Hours: Monday-Thursday 4 p.m.-12 a.m., Friday-Saturday 1 p.m.-1 a.m., Sunday 12-11 p.m.

Online: Facebook.com/profile.php?id=100067390641083