This week, I visited the Branson, Missouri, area. Among the courses I was fortunate enough to play were:
- Big Cedar Lodge's Ozarks National (Bill Coore / Ben Crenshaw, 2018)
- Big Cedar Lodge's Mountain Top (Gary Player / Jeff Lawrence, 2017)
- Big Cedar Lodge's Buffalo Ridge Springs (Tom Fazio, 1999)
- Thousand Hills (Bob Cupp / Michael Riley, 1996)
- Pointe Royale (Brian Ault, Thomas Clark, 1987)
- Branson Hills (Chuck Smith / Bobby Clampett, 2008)
I was also able to see a few of the grassed holes on Tiger Woods' and Beau Welling's new course at Big Cedar Lodge, Payne's Valley, which is slated to open in late 2019.
I have included some brief thoughts below about the courses, along with some photos and videos that I took.
Big Cedar Lodge - Ozarks National The newest (completed) course at Big Cedar Lodge is slated to open to the public on November 1, 2018. Not surprisingly, this Coore / Crenshaw design is good. Very good in my estimation. I haven't visited a ton of Coore / Crenshaws prior to my round here, so I am going to avoid comparing it to their other designs. However, I will say that this appears to be a difficult piece of terrain and the architects did a masterful job navigating with their routing. It's a very walkable golf course, whether the golfer chooses to carry or push (I believe a caddie program will be introduced in the future). Additionally, the course's width is impressive (with no "first cut" of rough) and it provides golfers a myriad of options on virtually every shot.
The fairways are generous and most have a "preferred" side to the green, as slopes run off into hazards, fescue or bunkers. Strategy is key...one cannot just get up and blast their drive anywhere and be expected to reasonably succeed. The greens are also very good: subtle, yet challenging. There are a few "bold" greens, No. 12, a par-3 with Redan-like qualities is one that comes to mind. They are also pretty large. I don't know the average square-footage of the greens, but golfers will need to be fairly good lag putters to shoot a decent score on this course.
Personally, I was most impressed with the par 5s and their strategy. For whatever reason, it has generally taken a lot to impress me on par 5 designs, but these did not disappoint. On each par 5 (there are three), I was challenged to determine the best direction from the tee and shot options on the lay-ups and approaches to the greens.
The course stretches to 7,036 yards, but we rightly determined it plays longer than the card yardage. I am not the world's longest golfer, so we played from the 5,903 yardage (there is also a 6,510 and a 5,025 yardage). The 5,903 was plenty for myself and my fellow golfers. I estimate it played a little closer to 6,200 yards. I really hope that people, particularly men, don't let their egos get the best of them and play the wrong set of tees. I think the 6,510 would have been too much for me and would have really diminished our enjoyment of the round. We were challenged plenty at our set of tees, and had plenty of mid-to-long irons into the greens. As we played the 5,903 yardage, myself and one of my playing partners made eight birdies between the two of us, along with plenty of pars amongst the others. Our group ranged in handicaps from approximately 5 to 25.
Some photos from my round are below.
Ozarks National No. 1 - Par 5, 517 / 495 / 449 / 414
Ozarks National No. 3 - Par 4, 345 / 322 / 286 / 267
Ozarks National No. 5 - Par 4, 352 / 306 / 248 / 161
Ozarks National No. 7 - Par 5, 543 / 513 / 442 / 378
Ozarks National No. 8 - Par 3, 178 / 153 / 134 / 87
Ozarks National No. 9 - Par 5, 597 / 549 / 516 / 453
Ozarks National No. 10 - Par 4, 469 / 399 / 391 / 369
Ozarks National No. 11 - Par 5, 531 / 516 / 501 / 369
Ozarks National No. 12 - Par 3, 254 / 213 / 175 / 133
Ozarks National No. 13 - Par 4, 480 / 462 / 442 / 330
Ozarks National No. 14 - Par 4, 450 / 440 / 410 / 388
Ozarks National No. 16 - Par 4, 481 / 428 / 380 / 326
Ozarks National No. 17 - Par 3, 144 / 134 / 114 / 91
Ozarks National No. 18 - Par 4, 459 / 425 / 401 / 360
Big Cedar Lodge - Mountain Top This Gary Player / Jeff Lawrence 13-hole par-3 course opened in 2017. I enjoyed the course very, very much.
First of all, the course is walking only, which is a huge plus for me, especially considering it's a resort course. I believe you can carry, but they provide complimentary push carts, which I recommend. While it is an easy walk, there are some very unique bridges to help golfers traverse a couple of the rock formations on the course (I've included a couple of links to videos of the bridges below).
There is virtually no rough on the golf course (I say virtually because there is technically some heavier stuff in some areas, but it is mostly out of play). Being that the course is only greens and fairways, and kept fairly firm, it gives golfers tons of options to play all of their shots. In our group, we played lob shots, bump and runs with irons, hybrids and woods and even teed off with putters on some holes. Furthermore, being on top of a mountain really brings the wind into play on all the holes.
The greens are very good as well. They are bold, but in no way unfair, in my estimation. They ran very true for us and I believe were the perfect speed for the amount of slope they have. They do range in size from medium to large, depending on the length of the hole, which range from 82 to 221 yards.
Additionally, while some shots can be challenging, our group determined it is a very fair and fun golf course for all skill levels. As previously mentioned, our group ranged in handicaps from approximately 5 to 25 and everyone had a blast. On the par 39 course, the lowest score in our group was a 1-under-par 38 and the highest was a 51, which I would say is pretty solid for a 25. I believe our group had seven birdies, plus a hole-in-one (not me, but I came within an inch after the ace was made).
My round at Mountain Top was one of the most enjoyable rounds I have had in some time. Our group laughed and had a wonderful time all around the golf course, and because we were able to walk together, rather than ride in golf cars, we were able to see more of each other and have more conversations.
Some photos (and video) from my round are below.
Mountain Top No. 1 - Par 3, 105 / 76
Mountain Top No. 2 - Par 3, 221 / 75
Mountain Top No. 5 - Par 3, 110 / 90
Mountain Top No. 7 - Par 3, 123 / 100
Mountain Top No. 8 - Par 3, 196 / 90
Mountain Top No. 10 - Par 3, 195 / 89
Mountain Top No. 13 - Par 3, 95 / 75
Video of walking bridge from Nos. 3 to 4:
https://youtu.be/VFPKR0-dz3s Video of walking bridge from Nos. 9 to 10:
https://youtu.be/ze2Cpujgofo Big Cedar Lodge - Buffalo Ridge SpringsThe course was originally named Branson Creek, but is now owned and operated by Big Cedar Lodge. This Tom Fazio design was generally wider than the other T.Faz layouts I have played, and presented more shot options. The terrain can be severe in spots, generally with elevation change tee to green, but I never thought a hole was unfair. It would probably be a semi-challenging walk, but doable. The greens were pretty good in my opinion. They did not look overly undulating or difficult, but they were tough reads, which actually made it fun...nothing was a "gimmie!" However, our group found that birdies are possible, and pars aplenty! It also offers some wonderful views of the surrounding mountains.
Some photos from my round are below.
Buffalo Ridge Springs No. 1 - Par 5, 578 / 547 / 521 / 497 / 460
Buffalo Ridge Springs No. 5 - Par 4, 449 / 418 / 386 / 369 / 296
Buffalo Ridge Springs No. 9 - Par 3, 198 / 179 / 164 / 143 / 126
Buffalo Ridge Springs No. 10 - Par 4, 377 / 356 / 328 / 318 / 281
Buffalo Ridge Springs No. 15 - Par 4, 366 / 348 / 332 / 309 / 268
Thousand HillsThousand Hills was a treat! A shorter course for sure, but I would not personally classify it as an "executive" course. Many, if not all, of the holes required some solid strategy from the golfer and the land was pretty good as well. My favorite hole, No. 5 (pictured below) runs along a steep hillside and encourages the golfer to hit their drive closer to the ravine for a shorter shot from a flatter lie. On top of that, the green is very good. Our group had a wonderful time playing this course, which sits inside the Branson city limits.
Thousand Hills No. 5 - Par 4, 350 / 287 / 245
Pointe RoyaleThis course is a solid golf course that was both fun and challenging. I believe it is semi-private and it definitely had a member-club vibe, which I loved. It felt that the golfers took a lot of pride in the facility and the course and it was in great shape. It's one of those courses where one needs to pull of their shots to be wildly successful, but it also allows for misses; it's not overly punishing. I could see living in Branson and visiting the club and course daily and being very content.
Pointe Royale No. 9 - Par 4, 395 / 371 / 210
Branson HillsBranson Hills surprised me, if not only for it's terrain. It's a severe piece of property, but the course does a pretty good job traversing it without feeling disjointed or playing overly difficult, particularly for higher handicaps. It was also in great shape for us (sense a trend in Branson?
). There were a lot of fun holes, and a couple of very fun par 5s. I guessed correctly that this is a very popular course for both local golfers and out-of-towners.
Branson Hills No. 1 - Par 4, 464 / 439 / 433 / 403 / 342 / 342
Branson Hills No. 2 - Par 3, 227 / 215 / 208 / 180 / 180 / 93
As a bonus, a few images of a couple of the grassed holes from Payne's Valley, as seen from Mountain Top are below.
