Buffalo Ridge Valley Course
My Review
Buffalo Ridge Valley Course in Branson is currently closed for renovations. Formerly Murder Rock Golf Club. I have not yet had the opportunity to play this course. As soon as I have, I will update this listing.
Buffalo Ridge Golf Course
My Review
I love this course! Buffalo Ridge Springs Course is my new favorite course in Missouri, public or private. This course is simply spectacular. The Ozark Mountains apparently make an excellent canvass for creating golf course masterpieces and Buffalo Ridge is the Mona Lisa of Missouri golf courses. The views are stunning and every detail was considered when designing and maintaining this course. The current owner of the course is Johnny Morris, the $4 billion founder of Bass Pro Shops. He obviously has the money to do everything first class and he spared no expense with Buffalo Ridge Springs Course. Formerly Branson Creek, Buffalo Ridge is a very playable course with challenges lurking everywhere. It seems like the course is 90% sand traps, considering the amount of time I spent in the bunkers, but if you can navigate around the hundreds of these little miniature Sahara Deserts and the plethora of lakes, creeks, waterfalls, etc. you can score fairly well. The wide and lush fairways are fairly forgiving and there are not a ton of OB’s. They warned me beforehand that they had just aerated the greens but they still putted fairly true and were pretty darned fast. I actually loved the greens and can’t wait to play them again next year when they should be even faster. I have never been to Branson and broke out in a rash when driving down Main Street, but it is definitely worth the drive (even if you have to fight the Presleys’ Country Jubilee and Andy Williams traffic) if you have the opportunity to play Buffalo Ridge Springs.
Branson Hills Golf Club
My Review
Formerly Payne Stewart Golf Club, Branson Hills Golf Club is one of the most noteworthy courses in Branson, Missouri. It is a beautiful and demanding course. This course tests every element of your game. There is a premium on positioning your drives in the right spot and many of the approach shots are long, uphill and over sand traps that guard the pin. The greens held well but were fast with severe breaks. Easy to 3 putt if you lose concentration. Thanks to Super Starter, Jim Beasley, the course marshal introduced a combo tee (half silver and half orange) this year that was perfect for my game. It was almost 5,900 yards. And, we needed every bit of the extra yardage. Many of the locals believe this is the hardest course in Branson and I agree. Branson Hills Golf Club truly is a special course and I would highly recommend playing it while you are in Branson. With the other great courses in town, such as my favorite Buffalo Ridge Springs, Branson should be considered a golf destination.
Hail Ridge Golf Course
My Review
Hail Ridge Golf Course is actually quite nice, particularly for a public course in Boonville, MO. The fairways and greens were thick, reasonably manicured and as soft as a baby’s behind. It is not a terribly hard course, unless you have a difficult time hitting straight because there are large areas of native grasses (really tall and thick) that come into play on every hole. Also, there is minimal sand except the one trap protecting the front of the 18th green. Actually, make that 2 traps. There is a second one I would have never noticed on the back side of the 18th green had I not hit my ball into it . . . If you are driving between KC and St. Louis and have some extra time, I would definitely recommend playing Hail Ridge. And, it is just a half a mile north of 70. I asked one of the employees why the course is called Hail Ridge and he said: “Because it’ll give you Hell sometimes.” Nice answer and true.
WingHaven Country Club
My Review
WingHaven Country Club in O’Fallon, MO is the only Jack Nicklaus signature course in St. Louis (there’s another, Stonewolf, just across the Mississippi river, in Illinois, but this is MOgolftour.com not ILgolftour.com).
Like many Nicklaus courses, WingHaven favors Nicklaus’ favorite shot: the power fade. If you are right-handed and you like to draw the ball, strap in, because generally, you’ll be a long way from the green. No one knows why Nicklaus intentionally punishes the right-handed draw, but I suspect it’s because of a lifetime of insecurity that 19 major wins did not diminish (only kidding, obviously).
Anyway, Jack created a course that plays like Scottish links on several holes in which the player can keep the ball low and approach greens via the ground, the way one might at St. Andrews or Carnoustie. And other, American-style holes in which the only way to par is by flying the friendly skies (which, ironically, is not even American’s slogan).
WingHaven has ample fairways, but water and mounding will narrow them in the key landing zones, and many areas of tall native grasses will punish errant shots like they’re recalcitrant prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
Like many suburban golf courses, WingHaven is surrounded by homes; all part of the WingHaven subdivision. Presumably, semi-private membership packages are available to those who live nearby and/or play it often.
Well designed. I would totally be a member at WingHaven if I lived in the vicinity. Some very challenging and fun holes. On the day I played, there was a private party at a home on the course and they had a live band playing classic rock and roll, which you could hear on most of the course. I loved it. The course had nothing to do with it, but it added to the ambiance. Play WingHaven if you get the chance.
Whitmoor Country Club – North and South Courses
My Review
Whitmoor Country Club in St. Charles County offers two beautiful 18-hole courses with different personalities and challenges.
Designed by Karl Litten (who was one of the first guys to bring sod to the Arabian Desert when he designed Emirate’s Golf Club in Dubai), Whitmoor’s architecture incorporates both St. Charles’ rolling terrain and its building boom.
Here’s what the two courses have in common (aside from zoysia tee boxes and fairways, bentgrass greens and fescue rough): no flat lies, and nearby back yards to the neighboring houses surrounding and snaking through the property.
Here’s how they’re different: the North Course adds a significant amount of water to add to the challenge; it seemed to have more lakes than the state of Minnesota.
Both courses are attractive, deceptively difficult, but fair and eminently playable. With an abundance of native grasses, ducks, geese, herons and deer, Whitmoor offers a lovely retreat from the workaday world. The nearby houses (which means lots of white stakes precariously close to the fairways and greens) do detract from the natural beauty, but aside from a few dozen back yards full of trampolines and jungle gyms, and more satellite dishes than the Karl Jansky Very Large Array in New Mexico, the natural beauty of the golf courses does more than compensate for the man-made distractions.
The greens were a bit fuzzy, but because of the sloping terrain, it’s imperative to be on the low side of the hole. The last time I played there I had a 5-putt green. Yikes! But, all in all, a great golf experience and a great club in the St. Louis / St. Charles area.
Westwood Country Club
My Review
One of the 4 elite courses in St. Louis. Westwood Country Club, in St. Louis, is a great course and has a wonderful club house. The men’s locker room is totally old school. The course is very mature and there are many areas on the course to get into trouble. There are obviously traps, but not very many, if any, fairway bunkers. There are a few lakes/ponds on the course with minimal creeks and they do not come into play on too many holes. There is one island tee box which is unique and very pretty. The best part about this club is that it is only two miles from my house. Westwood Country Club also has an executive course that is one of the nicer executive courses in the state. I recently had dinner there and the food is as good as any of the nicer restaurants in town. The course is understated and is simply a good, solid course.
Westborough Country Club
My Review
Westborough Country Club, designed by famed golf course architect, Gary Kern, in St. Louis is a nice private country club. Like Algonquin, its evil twin on the opposite side of Berry Rd., WCC has squeezed in the holes and the course is obviously very tight. Nevertheless, I like the course and always enjoy playing here. The grasses are generally in excellent condition. Even the roughs. WCC is a great club, course and membership community. If you are looking for a wonderful, unpretentious and welcoming private golf club you need to consider Westborough.
Tower Tee – Golf & Recreation
My Review
Tower Tee was shut down a couple of years ago to make room for a new neighborhood but it somehow pulled itself out of the ashes of our minds and completely reinvented itself. Opening in 2022, the new Tower Tee is a very nice golf and athletic entertainment center with a new and improved driving range, mini golf course, batting cages, 9-hole par 3 course, short game practice facility, soccer golf, snack bar, etc. Our ratings are low, but only because it really isn’t a golf course so it is difficult to rate it on the same scale. But, the entire concept is slick and you really do need to check it out. Take the whole family because there is something for everyone there . . . even a playground for the future golfers in your family.
Tapawingo National Golf Club
My Review
Designed by Gary Player, Tapawingo National Golf Club is one of the nicest and most popular public courses in St. Louis. Each of the 9 holes have a different look and personality. Tough course but fun. Since most holes are not contiguous to other holes, there will be plenty of opportunities to lose a few balls. The greens are in excellent condition for the most part and there are varying distances of tees for all levels. It is definitely one of the more challenging courses in St. Louis. Feel free to leave any comments about Tapawingo National Golf Club at the bottom of this page.