When a kitchen fire burned down his restaurant in July 2021, Pendleton Hills owner David Bay was already exhausted.
Since purchasing the fledging Pendleton County Country Club in 2018, Bay and his staff reinvigorated it into a local hot spot, drawing visitors from Northern Kentucky and beyond to rural Pendleton County. Besides the 18-hole golf course, the crown jewel of his golf club was The Hills, a restaurant and bar that hosted events, live music and other social activities.
Pendleton Hills persevered through the COVID-19 pandemic as Bay diversified the golf club’s offerings. The Hills offered food delivery services to residents from Pendleton County up to Alexandria. Despite the challenging and unforeseen circumstances, Pendleton Hills was trending toward profitability. The fire ground that momentum to a halt.
The fire proved to be a debilitating, but not fatal blow, for the entrepreneurial Bay. In the wake of the event, he considered selling Pendleton Hills – even testing the interest of some prospective buyers. Ultimately, he vowed to rebuild.
“I was mentally beat up at that point – thought about selling the place,” Bay told LINK nky. “Even took some offers – wasn’t good enough. Then one day I decided, ‘you know what, this is a beautiful location; if you can’t figure this out, you need to not call yourself an entrepreneur.’ You’ve just got to get in and figure it out.”
Three years after the fire, Bay has finally revealed his grand vision for Pendleton Hills. Dubbed the Pendleton Project, Bay and his staff want to turn the location into a premier glamping, recreation, and golf destination. Glamping is defined as camping with access to more luxurious amenities.
The property already features an 18-hole golf course. With the Pendleton Project, Bay wants to add 110 Recreational Vehicle parking bays, 23 themed cabins and 11 treehouses. In addition, Pendleton Hills will add a fitness center, pickleball courts, cart barn, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, and a brand new clubhouse/restaurant with a pro shop, bar and game room.
An evening view of The Hills restaurant. Photo provided | David Bay 
The interior of The Hills restaurant. Photo provided | David Bay. 
Pendleton Hills’ future pro shop. Photo provided | David Bay 
Pendleton Hills’ future cart barn. Photo provided | David Bay 
Photo provided | David Bay 
An overview of Pendleton Hills’ future RV park and camping area. Photo provided | David Bay
Bay hopes the ambitious project will revitalize Pendleton Hills, helping the club serve as a beacon for a rural community looking to stand out.
“There’s nothing like what we’re building,” Bay said. “There may be some versions that are maybe a little bit close, but our location is going to be entertainment-driven. If you want to camp where you go out and you want to just be by yourself in the woods, that this is not going to be that.”
During the planning process, Bay hired an outside consultant specializing in campgrounds to survey Pendleton Hills. According to Bay, the firm found that the property’s rolling hills and idyllic scenery made it a prime location to develop into a glamping destination. He said the camping experience will resemble campgrounds around Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio.
The campground will be constructed on the site of Pendleton Hills’ driving range. Once completed, Bay anticipates they will draw customers from Northern Kentucky, Cincinnati, and Lexington. If all goes well, he hopes it could become a destination for campers as far as Indianapolis and Cleveland.
“All three pieces of the puzzle fit together nicely,” Bay said, “Each one helps the other, and it solves that problem of bringing people in to spend money from outside of this area. Then it makes all the nice amenities that we have possible.”
Rachael Wright, Pendleton Hills’ vice president of business development, said it was important for the business to offer a diverse array of services to draw in families, young people, and visitors from outside the community. She emphasized the importance of being adaptable.
“It’s thinking outside of the box, as ways of just changing and adapting and making your original plan work, but work better,” Wright said.
Bay and his staff are also looking to enhance the club’s golf experience. Although Pendleton Hills will lose its driving range, it will gain four golf simulators inside the game room. Club professional Bruce Oldendick will continue offering lessons as usual, but will now have access to new technology that can measure things like swing speed.
Oldendick has been a member for 56 years and has witnessed the ups and downs of the former Pendleton County Country Club. However, he never imagined the club would be slated to undergo such a renovation.
“We call him David Disney because of his ideas,” Oldendick said.
Apart from the business, Bay wants Pendleton Hills to positively impact the local community. He recently hired Susan Rath, a former principal within the Campbell County School District, to build the framework, and then lead, Pendleton Hills’ prospective jobs training program.
Bay and Rath are angling for Pendleton Hills to work with local public school districts and colleges to offer educational programs in fields such as event planning, horticulture, social media marketing, entrepreneurship and restaurant management.
As of now, Bay said he is looking to start construction in the spring of 2025. If all goes well, he anticipates the development could be finished in 15 months. On the financial side, Bay said funding for the project is “good to go.” He estimated the project will cost approximately $18 to $20 million.
