The Country Club at Loch Lloyd
My Review
The first few holes at The Country Club at Loch Lloyd are some of the prettiest in the state. Like its sister course, The National, Loch Llod provides a difficult test of your golf skills and is immaculately groomed and maintained. The course is tough, with a 144 slope from the tips. Hazards and trouble abound: creeks, lakes, OB, many, many white fluffy bunkers and large, super-fast greens. The greens have a high level of complexity and if you are able to complete a round with NO 3-putts, you are a better man (or woman) than me. This is a very tough course but also a lot of fun. The beautiful roughs (rarely is “beautiful” used as a descriptor of roughs) are consistent and reasonably short so lost balls are kept to a minimum. Many spectacular homes surround the course which adds to its splendor. Like many finer clubs, there are no tee markers so I got lost a couple of times but this course is not open to the public and members know where they are going.
The original front nine was replaced many years ago but it is still available to members for play. It is called the Sechrest Nine and, if I belonged here, I would play this nine often particularly since it gets much less play. It is much more flat and has bent grass fairways. The fairways are very narrow for the first couple of holes and then it opens up a bit after crossing the road.
If you know someone who belongs to The Country Club at Loch Lloyd, get yourself invited to play.
Eagles’ Landing Golf Course
My Review
Eagles’ Landing Golf Course, in Belton, MO, doesn’t have the money of a private club but is nevertheless very well maintained and groomed, is very playable, yet provides a good, well-rounded test of your golfing skills. The large greens rolled very well and had large sweeping breaks. This course had a larger variety of bunkers than almost any course in Missouri. Some were massive protecting the green and in key locations on the fairway and some were tiny, deep pot bunkers. The fairways are bluegrass, which, if maintained properly are just as good, if not better, than Zoysia. Jay Kennedy is the PGA pro and has this course running on all cylinders. We are fans of this course and recommend that you play it no matter where you live in the KC area. It is not the cheapest course but if you are looking for a new course, give Eagles’ Landing a shot.
Pine Ridge Golf Course
My Review
Pine Ridge Golf Course in Belle, MO is a typical rural Missouri course. It is 9 holes with the fairways and roughs all cut very short so it will be very difficult to lose any balls. There is no sand and minimal water hazards. This a nice little course and is the only game in town, since the next closest course is in Owensville, MO.
Ava Country Club
My Review
Interesting 9 hole course but not very well maintained. The fairways, tee boxes and roughs all need a lot of work. The greens were surprising good with some monster slopes from the back to the front. If you are unfortunate enough to be on the back of some greens you will be hard pressed to keep your ball on the green if the pin is in the middle. There in a sand trap (not very well groomed) in front of every green and some water hazzards. I would not recommend that you go out of your way to play this course, but if you just happen to be staying in Ava visiting a long lost third cousin and looking for a game, this would be your (only) course.
Honey Creek Golf Club
My Review
Honey Creek Golf Club in Aurora, MO was built in 1927 and was purchased by the current owners’, Scott and Lance Welch, grandfather in 1944. Their father took control of the course in 1963 and converted the sand greens to the course’s current Bent grass greens. A second nine was added in 1992. Scott and Lance have been responsible for the course since 2015. You will not find two more committed owners than these two.
Honey Creek has one of the hardest nines in the state. The front nine is ridiculously hard, however, if you can drive consistently straight and over 200 yards you will be OK. For example, on the 6th hole, you must drive over a creek to an uphill green – but there are two huge trees 110 yards from the tee flanking the fairway with no more than a 20 foot gap for you to thread. If you think that sounds difficult, let’s move on to the next hole, the 7th. It runs parallel to the 6th so you must cross the same creek (from the opposite direction) with a 180+ yard drive and land on the right side of the fairway since there is a huge, unforgiving tree guarding the left 80% of the green. 15 foot tall saplings have sprouted out of the creek so getting over the creek is more difficult than it would typically be. Add to that the fairway grasses on the front nine need some TLC and you’ve got the ingredients for a high score.
As much as I like challenging holes, the front nine may be too difficult for my taste. The back nine is much less claustrophobic but it has its own set of challenges . . . primarily that three of the par 4’s are 450+ yards. Yikes! That’ll work for pros but they’re way too long for average golfers like me. This would be easily fixed by simply making them Par 5’s, like they did for the women. The back nine is in much better condition and was a delight to play.
Thank God that there are not many bunkers or water hazards on the front! Regardless, this course is in my head. I want a rematch (and a chain saw)!!!
Blackberry Trails Golf Course
My Review
We have not had the opportunity to play XXXNAMEOFCOURSE in XXXCITYXXX, MO. As soon as we have, we will add it to all of the other reviews of Missouri Golf Courses. Our goal is to provide useful information to golfers around the world about the 500 golf courses in Missouri. We will also take several photographs of the course and replace those posted here so that you will have a good understanding of the course and everything it has to offer. Please visit other sections of this website, which includes a list of the Best Golf Courses in the state of Missouri. Feel free to leave any comments about XXXNAMEOFCOURSE at the bottom of this page.
Albany Golf Course
My Review
While the other courses in NW MO have been burned because of a lack of rain or total course irrigation, Albany Golf Course in Albany, MO is faring slightly better. Their fairways and roughs are still cooked, but not to the same degree. There’s a little green coloring left, albeit not much. The greens look great, however, and have some severe sloping. The tee boxes are green too with fairly nice turf. It seems to be a good overall rural community course with a loyal player base.