Big Cedar is worth the trip

For those who have yet to make the journey to Big Cedar, the pristinely manicured Top of the Rock is the only course located on the main property. It offers stunning views, situated high above Table Rock Lake and a short drive from the main lodge, cottages and cabins spread across a sprawling property that has a host of casual and fine dining options, family amenities, and outdoor activities – from fishing, tubing, and boating to hiking, biking, and horseback riding at the nearby Dogwood Canyon Nature Park. 

But for the dedicated golf-trippers, Big Cedar in recent years added golf cottages located near the other four courses, on a ridge below the Mountain Top clubhouse. These were sorely needed, as Buffalo Ridge, Mountain Top, Ozarks National and Payne’s Valley are all in proximity to one another but about a 15-minute drive from the main Big Cedar resort property. The Payne’s Valley cottages are designed for golf groups, with full kitchens, private patios and stone fireplaces that are perfect for socializing. Most importantly, they solidify Big Cedar as a premier multicourse getaway for traveling golfers. 

While many vacationers drive to Big Cedar, the primary fly-in option is through Springfield, Missouri, just over 60 miles north. Just a few miles away from the golf courses is the regional Branson Airport, but it has limited commercial flight options. 

The three 18-hole championship courses at Big Cedar are very different from one another, with distinct looks and feels, and the short courses are anything but pushovers. Both Top of the Rock and Mountain Top have a couple of holes that stretch to 200 yards or more from the back tees, with challenging carries and plenty of visual intimidation. 

Cliffhangers will be shorter than the other two but promises to have a lot of tricky wedge shots on a 50-acre routing draped across a limestone cliffside with about 400 feet of vertical descent. The holes will step their way down the side of the cliff just below the Mountain Top clubhouse, so to suggest that considerable drilling and rock moving is required in its creation is an understatement. 

With all the big-name golf architects at Big Cedar, the name behind the newest course is a bit unconventional. Resort owner Johnny Morris, the founder of Bass Pro Shops, has taken the lead on the design process at Cliffhangers along with his son, John Paul. They’ve got outside help as well, with input from Tim Jackson and David Kahn, the designers of another wild Par 3 course with a lot of visual and strategic drama: the fearsome Bad Little 9 at PXG founder Bob Parsons’ private club, Scottdale National in Arizona. 

Cliffhangers will have plenty of excitement, with greens situated on the sides of steep drop-offs, atop a shelf perched above water, or alongside a water feature that’s cascading down the cliff face. The new course will finish adjacent to the 18th and 19th holes at Payne’s Valley, at the base of the towering limestone wall, meaning golfers will follow the same winding cart path that snakes its way along and through the cliffside to the Mountain Top clubhouse high above. 

Golfers are required to sign a waiver before playing Payne’s Valley, in large part because of the thrilling ride that comes after putting out on the island green 19th hole. The terrain at Cliffhangers is even more severe, especially between holes on what will be a riding-only course.

Morris created Big Cedar to connect guests from the Midwest and beyond with the great outdoors and provide memories inspired by his childhood adventures at Table Rock Lake. Cliffhangers is the next step in his labor of love, as Big Cedar continues to get bigger and better.