Branson or Lake of the Ozarks Golf trail

[AustinLefty]

I'm in the early stages of planning a buddies trip for the summer of 2021. Hopefully we'll all be back to some semblance of normalcy by then. Our foursome consists of one guy from Cincinnati, one guy from Omaha, and two from Dallas. Branson and Osage Beach should .be a relatively easy drive for all of us. The Big Cedar courses in Branson look awesome and to me look like they'd be worth the $150 to $200 green fee for each. Cost may be issue for at least one of us though. Doing a stay and play at either Old Kinderhook or Osage National and playing a few of the other courses on the Lake of the Ozarks golf trail would be less expensive ( $50 to $100 green fees ) but still a good quality alternative. My question for any of you that have played both locations is how big of drop off in quality of courses would the trip to Lake of the Ozarks be from the courses at Big Cedar. Thanks in advance for your advice and opinions.

[JP86]

I've only played Old Kinderhook at LOZ and Buffalo Ridge in Branson. To me not a major drop off but some(I played BR when it was Branson Creek so there have been updates since then). Big Cedar has a deal that you can play Buffalo Ridge and Ozarks Ntl on the same day for a reduced green fee, something like 260$ for both. My buddies and myself  are doing that next month.  Along with the Big Cedar courses you can go play Branson Hills on the north side of Branson its under 100$ to play and a nice course. Payne's Valley looks sweet but the 200+ green fees are a bit much for me. Good luck!

 

JP

 

On a side note Rivercut in Springfield is a good course and only 59$ on the weekend and 49$ thru the week. If you are looking for at least 1 cheaper alternative look there.

Edited August 20, 2020 by JP86

[AustinLefty]

21 hours ago, JP86 said:

I've only played Old Kinderhook at LOZ and Buffalo Ridge in Branson. To me not a major drop off but some(I played BR when it was Branson Creek so there have been updates since then). Big Cedar has a deal that you can play Buffalo Ridge and Ozarks Ntl on the same day for a reduced green fee, something like 260$ for both. My buddies and myself  are doing that next month.  Along with the Big Cedar courses you can go play Branson Hills on the north side of Branson its under 100$ to play and a nice course. Payne's Valley looks sweet but the 200+ green fees are a bit much for me. Good luck!

 

JP

 

On a side note Rivercut in Springfield is a good course and only 59$ on the weekend and 49$ thru the week. If you are looking for at least 1 cheaper alternative look there.

Thanks for your reply. That is all good information. As of now the plan is to meet  in Branson and pony up the dough to play Buffalo Ridge, Ozark National, and Payne's Valley ( assuming all 18 holes will be open by next summer. ) The four of us will all be turning 60 next year so that'll be a good way to celebrate. I've been watching the seniors play at Buffalo Ridge and it looks awesome.

[Rory4Pres]

I played Branson Hills a month ago (was $95/pp after tax) and it was fantastic.  Course is top notch and was in very good condition.  Was top public course in MO 7 of past 10 years I believe.  I recommend as a cheaper route to Big Cedar's courses.  We did the nature trail golf cart tour at big Cedar, total rip off (and lots of fake rock).  Courses looked good from the road though.  

[JP86]

5 hours ago, AustinLefty said:

Thanks for your reply. That is all good information. As of now the plan is to meet  in Branson and pony up the dough to play Buffalo Ridge, Ozark National, and Payne's Valley ( assuming all 18 holes will be open by next summer. ) The four of us will all be turning 60 next year so that'll be a good way to celebrate. I've been watching the seniors play at Buffalo Ridge and it looks awesome.

All 18 of Payne's Valley is supposed to be open this fall. I look forward to Buffalo Ridge and Ozarks National myself.  I will drop a reply/review after playing next month. Like was said above Branson Hills is a very nice course and worth playing while in the area. Good luck!

[AustinLefty]

On 8/21/2020 at 1:08 PM, Rory4Pres said:

I played Branson Hills a month ago (was $95/pp after tax) and it was fantastic.  Course is top notch and was in very good condition.  Was top public course in MO 7 of past 10 years I believe.  I recommend as a cheaper route to Big Cedar's courses.  We did the nature trail golf cart tour at big Cedar, total rip off (and lots of fake rock).  Courses looked good from the road though.  

Thanks for tips guy's. Branson Hills looks like a great option. Ledgestone looks solid as well. It should be interesting to watch the senior tour guys at Ozark National this week. Phil is making his senior tour debut so I'm sure the golf channel will be all over that.

[Rory4Pres]

On 8/23/2020 at 9:16 AM, AustinLefty said:

Thanks for tips guy's. Branson Hills looks like a great option. Ledgestone looks solid as well. It should be interesting to watch the senior tour guys at Ozark National this week. Phil is making his senior tour debut so I'm sure the golf channel will be all over that.

 

That's awesome!  Will be fun to see if he dominates the senior tour or not.  

[AustinLefty]

I was able to watch the first round last night. Phil shot a 61 which gave him a one shot lead. A lot of good players two or three stroke behind. There was literally no wind and the greens were in perfect condition. Therefore there were a lot of low scores. It'll be interesting to see how low they go if the wind stays down today and tomorrow. It may take 20 under or lower to win.

I must say Ozarks National looks awesome on T.V. and the golf channel guys are all commenting on how cool the vistas are there as well as the course being in perfect condition.

 

 

[coachemup]

I live on Tablerock Lake and therefore I am partial to the Big Cedar courses.  Played Buffalo Ridge today and it is in excellent condition.  Played Payne’s Valley this past weekend and it is one of the purest tracks I have ever played.  Ozark National is a fun course and is always in great shape, but it’s pretty boring.  
Branson Hills is a great track and always in great condition.  Ledge stone is fun, but has several quirky holes.  Speaking of quirky holes, don’t play Point Royals or Holiday Hills.  Neither worth the money.

Thousand Hills has some great holes, but also has 9 par 3’s.  Par is 67.

Top of the Rock (9 hole par 3) is as good as it gets for a par 3 course.  The Player course not so much.

 

Top 3 would definitely be:

Paynes Valley

Buffalo Ridge

Branson Hills

[AustinLefty]

On 9/8/2020 at 9:43 PM, coachemup said:

I live on Tablerock Lake and therefore I am partial to the Big Cedar courses.  Played Buffalo Ridge today and it is in excellent condition.  Played Payne’s Valley this past weekend and it is one of the purest tracks I have ever played.  Ozark National is a fun course and is always in great shape, but it’s pretty boring.  
Branson Hills is a great track and always in great condition.  Ledge stone is fun, but has several quirky holes.  Speaking of quirky holes, don’t play Point Royals or Holiday Hills.  Neither worth the money.

Thousand Hills has some great holes, but also has 9 par 3’s.  Par is 67.

Top of the Rock (9 hole par 3) is as good as it gets for a par 3 course.  The Player course not so much.

 

Top 3 would definitely be:

Paynes Valley

Buffalo Ridge

Branson Hills

Thank you for the reply. That is great info to have. It'll be interesting to watch Tiger, J.T., Rory and Justin Rose play at Payne's Valley tonight.

[ateupwithgolf]

I've played Ozark National a few weeks ago, it was gorgeous, course conditions excellent, greens were spotless. Branson Hills is also very good, but not as good conditioned as Ozark, but for the money it's an excellent value. I paid the twilight rate at Ozark which started at 2:00pm which saved like $60 from the am rate. I'm sure Buffalo Ridge would be excellent too, I played it years ago when it was called Branson Creek and it was a must play then. There's also a 13 hole walking only course called Mountain Top at Big Cedar that is stellar. 

[Onlyhug]

I was stationed in the middle of Missouri so I frequented both areas quite a bit for golf. Summer at the lake of Ozarks area gets ridiculously humid because most of the courses are in a valley. I feel like it’s almost impossible to play 36 in one day because of the heat/humidity. You don’t feel it at big cedar because all the courses are on top of a mountain. LOA has an advantage in that there’s actual stuff to do at night that doesn’t involve a 30min drive. Bars, restaurants, strip clubs (they aren’t the best), are all in close range and there are a bunch of good courses for good value (old kinderhook, Ozark National, margaritaville, deerchase, etc). Big cedar has the best courses but will cost a bunch of money and everyone goes to sleep at 8pm. If you guys want to play golf at an affordable price, go to the lake and look at some g-string bikinis, and go to a bar at night, go to LOA. 

[bvan]

Guys

 

I have a group outing(16 guys) in mid Aug this yr. We are playing ON, BR and Payne's. We have Ozark Nat'l 2 times. Should we do BR 2 times instead? Is the wind brutal on top of ON?

 

We have evening rounds scheduled for MT and TOR for drinks and bets...

 

Thanks for any info. Also, we are staying at Angler's Lodge off property, should we go to dtown Branson for better scenery 😉? If so I appreciate any tips.....

 

 

[Tha Carter]

On 5/15/2021 at 8:31 PM, bvan said:

Guys

 

I have a group outing(16 guys) in mid Aug this yr. We are playing ON, BR and Payne's. We have Ozark Nat'l 2 times. Should we do BR 2 times instead? Is the wind brutal on top of ON?

 

We have evening rounds scheduled for MT and TOR for drinks and bets...

 

Thanks for any info. Also, we are staying at Angler's Lodge off property, should we go to dtown Branson for better scenery 😉? If so I appreciate any tips.....

 

 

I would consider Branson Hills instead of a replay on one of the Big Cedar courses.  I've only played ON in the morning and I didn't think the wind was ever too bad.  I prefer ON to BR, but I think the other three on my trip down there preferred BR.

 

Downtown Branson is mostly just families like the rest of the town.  There are like two bars down there open past 10pm, probably not worth the trip.