Big Cedar Lodge, the Bass Pro Shops resort above Table Rock Lake, has assembled the densest collection of big-name golf design in the Midwest, with courses by Tiger Woods, Tom Fazio, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, and Jack Nicklaus all within a few minutes of one another. That Ozarks cluster anchors one of Missouri’s three golf regions. St. Louis brings a 1914 Charles Blair Macdonald layout and two Robert Trent Jones Sr. courses with deep championship history, while the Lake of the Ozarks splits the middle of the state with Nicklaus and Weiskopf designs on opposite shores. The eleven courses below each cover architect, yardage, green-fee range, and access notes for visiting golfers.
Ozarks National
Built on the bones of a defunct course, Ozarks National is the work of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, who widened the fairways and routed new holes across the limestone ridges south of Branson. The par-71 layout opened on May 1, 2019, stretches to 7,036 yards with a 73.9 rating, and includes a 400-foot wooden bridge that carries golfers 60 feet above a creek between the 13th tee and fairway. It was named a Best New Public Course for 2019 and has held a place among the country’s top 100 public courses every year since. Holes ride along ridgetops and out onto fingers of land that fall into wooded ravines, and the tilt of those holes puts a premium on shaping shots off the tee.
Green fees run roughly $190 to $275 by season, and play is tied to a Big Cedar Lodge reservation. The resort covers more than 4,600 acres above Table Rock Lake, with lodging that spans lodge rooms, cottages, the four-bedroom Buffalo Ridge cottages added in 2021, and the remodeled Angler’s Lodge near the water. Six pools, marinas, the Cedar Creek Spa, and horseback riding fill out the grounds. Springfield-Branson National Airport is about 45 minutes north, and the practice facility beside the clubhouse also serves Payne’s Valley and the resort’s par-3 courses. Conditions are cleanest from April through October.
Payne’s Valley
Payne’s Valley was the first public-access course Tiger Woods designed through his TGR Design firm, and it carries the name of Springfield-born major champion Payne Stewart. The par-72 layout runs 7,170 yards over wide fairways and large greens, and it ends on a bonus 19th hole designed by Johnny Morris, an island green ringed by streams and waterfalls spilling down exposed rock. Its grand opening in September 2020 was marked by the Payne’s Valley Cup, an exhibition pairing Woods and Justin Thomas against Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose. The course ranks consistently among the best in the country.
A round requires a Big Cedar Lodge reservation, with green fees around $325 and forecaddies on hand through the season. A memorial to Stewart, the two-time U.S. Open champion whose life ended in a 1999 plane crash, sits on the property. The resort’s lodging, restaurants, Cedar Creek Spa, and three other championship layouts make this the simplest one-stop golf trip in the state, with Springfield-Branson National Airport the nearest commercial gateway. The course holds up best in April through June and again from September into October, since the Ozarks bake at midsummer.
Buffalo Ridge
Tom Fazio first laid out this course in 1999 as Branson Creek Golf Club. After Johnny Morris bought it in 2013, he brought Fazio back for a 2014 redesign that added waterfalls, water features, and exposed rock. Now called Buffalo Ridge Springs, the par-71 layout plays 7,036 yards on zoysia fairways with a 73.4 rating and 130 slope, and a herd of North American bison grazes the pasture beside the opening hole as the routing threads limestone outcrops with not a single house in sight. From 2014 through 2019 it co-hosted the PGA Tour Champions Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf alongside Top of the Rock.
Green fees generally run about $135 to $275 by season, with the best value off-season. Buffalo Ridge keeps its own clubhouse and practice area about 1.5 miles north of the main Big Cedar campus, and stay-and-play packages open up lodging across the resort. The clubhouse handles food and beverage and houses a pro shop. Springfield-Branson National Airport is roughly 45 minutes out. Late spring and early fall play firmer and cooler than midsummer, though it is worth checking for the March and September aeration weeks before booking.
Top of the Rock
Jack Nicklaus finished Top of the Rock in 1996 as a nine-hole par-3 course on a bluff above Table Rock Lake. When the PGA Tour Champions Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf moved to Big Cedar in 2014, the layout became the first par-3 course ever used in a Tour-sanctioned event. Its holes reach beyond 200 yards across lakes, cliffs, and rock ledges, and the complex sits next to an Arnold Palmer practice range and a Tom Watson-designed Himalayas-style putting course covering more than an acre. The grounds hold Audubon Signature Sanctuary status, and the par-3 hosted the Legends through 2019.
The course is open to the public, with green fees around $125 for lodging guests. Dining happens at Arnie’s Barn, a 150-year-old structure moved from Arnold Palmer’s backyard in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, that now holds his memorabilia and the pro shop. The Palmer range lets players hit into the cliffside terrain before a round. Springfield-Branson National Airport is the nearest commercial option, about 45 minutes north, and the season runs April through October, with golden hour over the lake making late tee times worth chasing.
Branson Hills Golf Club
Chuck Smith designed Branson Hills with PGA professional Bobby Clampett as his consultant, and the course opened in June 2009 as Payne Stewart Golf Club before taking its current name. The par-72 routing runs 7,324 yards from the championship tees across six tee sets, with the forward set at 5,323, over A-4 bentgrass greens and Meyer zoysia fairways, and the opening tee shot falls about 130 feet to the fairway below. Each of the 18 holes carries the name of a moment from a Missouri golfer’s career, with tags like Trevino’s Tease, Payne’s Pit, and Chelsea’s Kiss.
Green fees generally land between $175 and $225, with tee times bookable 60 days out. The clubhouse holds the Many Faces of Payne sports bar and the glassed-in Payne Stewart Museum, which displays items lent by Tracy Stewart, among them five Ryder Cup bags and clubs from his biggest wins. Branson Hills sits inside a 1,200-acre gated community about seven minutes from the Branson Convention Center, and visiting golfers tend to stay at Branson Landing’s Hilton properties or in community rentals. Springfield-Branson National Airport is 45 minutes north, and the course is at its best from April through October.
LedgeStone Country Club
Tom Clark’s LedgeStone opened in 1994 inside StoneBridge Village, about 15 minutes from downtown Branson. The par-71 layout reaches 6,881 yards from the back tees and 4,906 up front, with bentgrass greens, tree-lined zoysia fairways, and the steep elevation changes that Ozark mountain golf tends to demand. The signature 15th drops sharply downhill to a three-tiered green and counts among the steepest holes in the state.
LedgeStone is open to the public under the StoneBridge Village Property Owners’ Association, with green fees of about $80 to $120 by season and time of day. The clubhouse sits beside a water feature and houses the pro shop and the LedgeStone Grille. The club runs no lodging of its own, but StoneBridge Village offers third-party rentals, and Branson’s hotels and the Hilton properties at Branson Landing are within 25 minutes. Springfield-Branson National Airport is the nearest commercial option, and April through October brings the best weather.
Bellerive Country Club
Robert Trent Jones Sr. completed Bellerive’s championship course for a Memorial Day 1960 opening, and the club hosted the U.S. Open just five years later, where Gary Player beat Kel Nagle in an 18-hole playoff in 1965 to complete the career grand slam. The course measures 7,547 yards from the championship tees at par 72, dropping to par 71 for tournaments with the 10th played as a par 4, and carries a 76.3 rating and 141 slope. Rees Jones renovated it in 2006 and again in 2013, swapping his father’s bunkers for his own style, lengthening the routing, and rebuilding the bunker complex. The major-championship roll call is long: the 1992 PGA (Nick Price), the 2018 PGA (Brooks Koepka, whose 264 set a record), the 2004 U.S. Senior Open, the 2008 BMW Championship, and the 2013 Senior PGA, with the BMW returning in 2026 and the Presidents Cup booked for 2030.
Bellerive is private, with membership by invitation and access generally limited to members and guests outside tournament weeks. The clubhouse handles dining on several levels, and practice facilities and event space round out the property. The club sits about 20 minutes from downtown St. Louis and 25 minutes from St. Louis Lambert International Airport, and visiting golfers tend to choose between downtown hotels and Clayton-area boutiques. May through October plays best, when the zoysia fairways and bentgrass greens hit their stride.
St. Louis Country Club
Charles Blair Macdonald designed St. Louis Country Club in 1914, with Seth Raynor handling construction, which makes it one of only a handful of Macdonald-Raynor courses anywhere and the architect’s westernmost work. The par-71 layout plays a modest 6,542 yards but leans on the template holes Macdonald gathered on a research trip to Scotland, including a Redan from North Berwick, a punchbowl from the Old Course at St Andrews, and a blind approach drawn from Prestwick. A restoration led by Brian Silva from 2000 onward reintroduced Macdonald’s original features. The course hosted the 1947 U.S. Open, where Lew Worsham edged Sam Snead in a playoff, plus the 1921 and 1960 U.S. Amateurs, the 1925 and 1972 U.S. Women’s Amateurs, and the 2014 Curtis Cup.
The club, founded in 1892 as a polo club, is private and invitation-only, and the USGA counts it among the first 100 clubs in America. A full-sized polo field still hosts matches in front of the clubhouse and doubles as the driving range. Bentgrass fairways set it apart in a transition zone where most clubs run zoysia or Bermuda, and the course favors spring and fall. It sits 10 miles west of downtown St. Louis in the Ladue suburb, about 20 minutes from St. Louis Lambert International Airport, with visiting golfers clustering around Clayton and downtown hotels. Late April through October plays best.
Old Warson Country Club
The second Robert Trent Jones Sr. course in St. Louis County, Old Warson opened on April 15, 1954, a year after construction began on 180 acres bought by a group of local businessmen. The par-71 layout plays 6,946 yards from the back tees with a 74.5 rating and 144 slope across undulating, tree-lined ground, showing off the elevated greens, runway tee boxes, broad bunkers, and repeated doglegs that Trent Jones counted as his signatures. The short par-4 14th is one of the most praised holes in the state, its elevated tee shot carrying a lake to a narrow landing framed by water and sand. Old Warson hosted the 1971 Ryder Cup, where the United States beat Great Britain 18.5 to 13.5 in the last edition to feature Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Lee Trevino on the same side, along with the 1999 U.S. Mid-Amateur, the 2009 U.S. Women’s Amateur, and the 2016 U.S. Senior Amateur.
The club is private and invitation-only, and Hale Irwin, the three-time U.S. Open champion and a member since 1977, is the most prominent name on the roster. The course is at 9841 Old Warson Road in the Ladue area, about 20 minutes from downtown and 25 from St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Practice facilities are extensive, the clubhouse covers dining and events, and members’ guests typically stay at Clayton boutiques or downtown St. Louis chains. April through October offers the most reliable conditions.
The Club at Porto Cima
Jack Nicklaus’s only signature course in Missouri opened in July 2000 on the western shore of the Lake of the Ozarks. The par-72 layout plays 7,060 yards across five tee sets, with seven holes running along or over the lake and a four-hole closing stretch that hugs the shoreline. The 15th is a hard par 5 whose green juts into the water, forcing an approach decision few Missouri courses can match. It has held a top-10 spot among the state’s best courses every year since opening.
Porto Cima is private and run by KemperSports, and membership opens the course, the 17,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style clubhouse, and the neighboring Yacht Club, a 118-slip marina with a pool, fitness area, tennis and pickleball courts, and a poolside cabana. The Grille Room, Sandtrap Lounge, and a patio over the 18th green handle dining. The club is about three hours west of St. Louis and two hours south of Kansas City, with the Lodge of Four Seasons 20 minutes east providing lodging for invited guests. May through October plays best.
Old Kinderhook
Tom Weiskopf routed Old Kinderhook in 1999 on the west side of the Lake of the Ozarks as the centerpiece of a 700-acre planned community. The par-71 course plays 6,726 yards over zoysia tees and fairways and bentgrass greens, working valleys, waterfalls, hills, and water hazards into the surrounding Ozark terrain. It welcomed its first round in May 1999 and has hosted more than 300,000 golfers since, and it ranks among Weiskopf’s stronger solo designs.
Green fees generally run $65 to $115 by season, the resort plays year-round, and an 84-room lodge overlooks the course. The Trophy Room serves dinner and the Hook Cafe handles breakfast and lunch, with the lodge 10 minutes from the Ozarks Amphitheater. Amenities include three saltwater pools (one indoor), a private boat ramp on the Big Niangua arm of the lake, a winter ice rink, and Spa 54. Daily-fee tee times open 30 days out, and lodging guests book first. Camdenton Memorial-Lake Regional Airport takes small craft, while commercial flyers come through Springfield-Branson or St. Louis Lambert. April through October plays best.
Planning Your Trip
The Big Cedar Lodge complex, with Ozarks National, Payne’s Valley, Buffalo Ridge, and Top of the Rock, plus the nearby public LedgeStone and Branson Hills tracks, fits comfortably into a four or five day trip from a single lodge or cottage base, with arrivals through Springfield-Branson National Airport. St. Louis Country Club, Old Warson, and Bellerive sit close together on the west side of St. Louis around Ladue, Town and Country, and the Clayton corridor, served by St. Louis Lambert International. The two Lake of the Ozarks courses, Old Kinderhook and Porto Cima, split the middle of the state and make a natural halfway stop on a road trip between the two metros.
Green fees span a wide range: under $100 at LedgeStone and Old Kinderhook, about $325 at Payne’s Valley, and various points in between. April through October is the broad season, with the Big Cedar courses holding up best from late spring into early fall and the St. Louis tracks peaking in May and again from September into October. With this much golf packed into a few tight clusters, Missouri rewards a trip built around one region at a time.
