Branson, Missouri keeps getting better with age while preserving the old-time charm that made it famous. Kids and adults alike flock to Silver Dollar City theme park, Dick’s 5 & 10, the live shows, scenic trails, and eleven outstanding golf courses.

Thousand Hills Resort

There are thousands of reasons to love Thousand Hills Resort and Reunion Lodge is one of them, designed for yes, reunions of all sorts – golf buddies, friends, and families. The 7-bedroom villa with a fully equipped kitchen, is a great home base for playing all the courses in Branson, including their own Thousand Hills, designed by Robert E. Cupp with Michael Riley acting as the course architect. The deck and upper bedroom at Reunion Lodge overlook the double fairway of number 14 for entertainment and contemplation of strategy. It’s a wild ride through the hardwood forests with rock outcroppings that define the Ozarks. Number nine crosses a creek before confronting golfers with a sheer rock wall beneath an elevated green. A par here feels PGA worthy. It’s all American with stars and stripes waving both high and low on every flagstick. It’s one of the thousand reasons to consider Branson for the 250th Fourth of July celebration. Pro Kyler Patterson welcomes guests warmly and helps out at Mulligan’s Grill when yummy burger orders pile up.

Big Cedar Golf

Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shop founder, has an incredible imagination and the financial means to bring crazy ideas to life in a resort that comprises six of Branson’s eleven public courses.

Top of the Rock

Top of the Rock is Jack Nicklaus’s quick but challenging nine-hole course where the annual Bass Pro Legends of Golf at Big Cedar Lodge, a PGA Tour Champions event was held for several years. It was the only short course ever played on the PGA Tour. Short but sweet, the first tee delivers an endless view of Table Rock Lake with Jack’s Cabin at the back and Chapel of the Ozarks to the right. Cue the lucky bride and groom. The course meanders through enchanted forests encircling two ponds in the middle with a heron habitually perching on top of a rock. Azaleas were still blooming in late April with hydrangeas budded to take their place. This little nine hole is a story unto itself.

The clubhouse has a stylish pro shop and multiple dining venues, including Arnie’s Barn, relocated from his family farm in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Laden with memorabilia and good food, it leads out to the Buffalo Bar and patio where a sunset canon ceremony is performed every evening to the tune of a bagpiper. A valiant Native American statue on horseback overlooking Table Rock Lake far below has become iconic. Fascinated with Native Americans since childhood, Johnny Morris’ Ancient Ozarks National History Museum tunnels under the clubhouse with the largest collection of artifacts including his own arrowheads and crazy renditions of prehistoric beasts.

Ozarks National

Ozarks National opened in 2019, designed by Coore & Crenshaw. The high plain position exposes golfers to the elements. Watch the wind and hit the fairway or your ball disappears in native grasses as your score soars. Halfway cabins offer complimentary treats like the bison dog and snickers ice cream bars. Adjoining pheasant fields are marked for a possible sporting club, and the long-feathered birds are spotted here and there along with strutting turkeys.

Buffalo Ridge Springs

Buffalo Ridge Springs is the former 18-hole Branson Creek built by Fazio and yes again, herds of buffalo graze the hillsides starting by the clubhouse and practice area. While they roam other areas as well, tee boxes are marked with buffalo skulls. The enhanced wilderness in Big Cedar makes you wonder what is real and what is created, like the water cascading behind the first green and more great water features throughout. Per tradition, the bison dogs and snicker ice cream bars are the complimentary highlight at the snack shacks on course.

Payne’s Valley

Payne’s Valley is Tiger Wood’s fulfilled design dream, paying tribute to the late, great, Ozarkite, Payne Stewart. The contouring variations and dramatic contrasts between greenery, rock work, and water, make 18 holes of pure spectacle and fun. It culminates with a bonus 19th par 3 island green below tall cascading falls over a limestone canvas where a hole in one wins a $1k gift card. From there, Cliff Hanger Drive ascends for a mile up the winding trail, skirting caves and waterfalls to the clubhouse perched atop the ridge with a wraparound patio for panoramic views of many holes. The “19thwonder of the world” claim is spot on.

Cliffhangers

Cliffhangers is the latest addition to the golf menu, and it is deliciously thrilling. Every little par 3 hole is a blast with the most famous being number 3 where golfers tee off behind a waterfall curtain to the green far below. Carts zip across water between holes, as it is cascading everywhere. It’s part golf and part water park amusement ride as the water flows to all 18 holes with cute names like Frog’s Leap with real frogs croaking and music plays throughout. Play rock solidly, or you’ll be bouncing off the rocks and skipping into water.

If you like the cave aspect of Payne’s Valley and Cliffhangers, consider the two-and-a-half-mile Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail in a golf cart with a drive-up Bat Bar. The entire Big Cedar complex is Disneyesque, and progress never ends at Big Cedar. Rumor has it that Johnnie Morris has another vision for a course over the great cavernous expanse and this one will be so thrilling that a waiver must be signed. Yeeha!

Branson’s Attractions

Beyond golf, Branson delivers nonstop entertainment for families and vacationers of every age. The Titanic Museum sensationalizes the experience of hanging on to the ship’s rail as the vessel shifts. Branson Landing is electrified by a Bellagio style fountain show set to music. Parakeet Pete’s Waterfront Zipline is a seated chairlift style ride from the Landing over Lake Tanaycomo to Mount Branson and back, providing scenic views.

Missouri is the “Show Me State” and Branson epitomizes the motto with over 40 live theaters showcasing music, comedy and magic. Relocated city performers and superior local talent have elevated the Hillbilly Broadway theme. While there might be some corn in the acts, it is tasty. The popular Haygoods Show at the Clay Cooper Theater stars six siblings playing 20 instruments with vocals to match. Illusionist Rick Thomas performs mind boggling feats in his Dream Mansion, inspiring the audience to live their own dreams. The Vegas transplant mentored with Siegfried and Roy and though he retired his tigers in Williams, Arizona, his show goes on in Branson.

Then there’s Table Rock Lake for boat tours and Pink Jeep Tours to hit the trails, led by Heather Hermen’s husband. Heather is the new Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and CVB after many years serving in Sedona. Her success there will lend itself to the future of middle America’s most visited destination. There are infrastructure projects, remodeling of the strip, and more movies to be made.

Branson is full of wonders, beautiful countryside, shopping, and world class golf with high end Big Cedar options as well as more affordable, award winning courses and packages. Branson Hills and Ledgestone join Big Cedar’s three 18-hole layouts in Missouri’s Top 10 Courses list (source: Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play by State). Whether arriving by charter at Branson Airport or major airlines at nearby Springfield-Branson National Airport, visitors quickly discover why this Ozark destination keeps drawing travelers back year after year. Explore Branson