Shangri-La Resort
In the northeast corner of Oklahoma you’ll find Shangri-La Resort, one of the state’s best set of tracks for a buddy trip.
Thanks to an infusion of money, attention to detail and golf that’s as good if not better than many, more ballyhooed destinations two hours to the east, Shangri-La makes the grade and then some with an infinitely challenging 27-hole championship course and a unique, 18-hole short course that wows at every turn.
You may have to look up the Shangri-La Resort on the map and really expand the corner of Oklahoma near where it meets Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri to find it but it’s that isolation and what waits in this little corner of the world that creates excitement for the destination.
The Shangri-La Resort has nothing but its name in common with the fictional village in Tibet’s Kunlun Mountains described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by English author James Hilton.
It is a paradise in its own right, surrounded on three sides by water and located on an isthmus into the expansive Grand Lake O’ The Cherokees about 90 minutes’ drive from Tulsa and a half-hour further from Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The golf here, three separate nine-hole regulation courses (the Champions, the Legends, and the Heritage) and the less-than-a-year-old and highly acclaimed The Battlefield, which is 18 holes of par-3 tests from 100 to 245 yards, makes the trip worthwhile.
Championship courses retain original flair
This resort opened in 1964, with a course (called Old Blue) designed by Donald Sechrest coming on line in the early 1970s. Shangri-La went through several incarnations before being acquired in 2010 by Tulsa manufacturing magnate Eddy Gibbs, who enacted a plan that included updating and adding nine regulation holes to the championship course, as well as building a new clubhouse and adding amenities to develop the resort’s bona fides.
Shangri-La’s ownership group has invested more than $100 million into upgrading accommodations and making the resort a real destination and it shows at every turn. Golf course architect Tom Clark of Ault, Clark and Associates remodeled Old Blue into the Legends and Heritage nine and built nine new holes that became the Champions nine.
Although the original layout is still intact, Clark’s work added fluid movement to the fairways as well as 79 distinctive white-sand bunkers. Brilliant water features were brought into play and the courses’ demanding and varied putting surfaces produce a modern contrast and continuing challenge. The combination of the Heritage and the Legend plays at more than 7,200 yards from the back set of five tees.
Every hole presents a uniquely beautiful picture. Integrating Grand Lake into the design. The routing meanders through rolling parkland landscapes with elevated Bentgrass greens; 14 holes utilize numerous creeks and ponds strategically placed to offer the golfer choices from shot to shot whether to be aggressive or play it safe
The ninth hole at the Legends is called the “The Mickey Mantle Hole,” and is named after the New York Yankees legend who hosted his charity golf tournament at Shangri-La from 1991 until his death in 1995. Mantle once holed an albatross on this iconic par 5, which features two separate greens complexes separated by a daunting waterfall.
The Champions nine plays to a par of 36 and – much like its older sisters – combines the challenge of water, bunkers, and fairway movement with a series of equally challenging undulating putting surfaces.
Highlights include the par-4 third, which offers a tremendous tee shot that looks directly at Grand Lake, with bunkers down the right and a small, three-tiered green that places emphasis on the approach. Then there’s the ninth, a lovely par 4 that features a pond guarding the putting surface. An aggressive drive over the corner of another pond sets up a wedge approach and a chance at birdie to finish the round.
Shangri-La Resort
The Battleground raises the stakes at Shangri-La
The Clark and Kevin Atkinson-designed 3,000-yard Battlefield layout is a short course with plenty of flair and contours, constructed on an exceptional, albeit challenging, piece of land that features better than 100 feet of elevation change across its 80-plus acres. The scenic, strategic course was completed for $15 million with each hole named in honor of an Oklahoma veteran of World War II.
With The Battlefield, Clark conceived an accessible par 54 course with a three-tier design to serve low handicappers with yardages from 130 to 230; the average member and resort guests with yardages from 100 to 210; and a chip and putt, where players can utilize just three clubs for members and guests with families or just for sharpening your short game skills.
It’s a memorable, immersive playing experience from any of the five sets and also offers up-close “Felix Tees” for beginners, youngsters or those wanting to work on their short game. The Battleground also has a 165-yard warm-up area and 10,000-square-foot putting green, and there’s also a practice range and short-game facility at the main clubhouse.
Plenty of things to do off the course
Amenities at Shangri-La Resort include The Anchor, the indoor-outdoor activity park as well as a 119-room resort hotel with 9,000 square feet of meeting space, a medical spa, an indoor pool, an expansive outdoor resort pool with tanning ledge, splash pad and pool bar. There are also a variety of dining options including Doc’s Bar & Grill, The Monkey Grind, The Summit Restaurant, and Eddy’s Lakeside Bar.
Boat and personal watercraft rentals, yacht charters, and Oklahoma’s only parasailing adventures are also offered at the Shangri-La Marina.
“With 45 holes of intriguing, expertly conditioned golf holes and a resort set on a waterfront and water sports oasis, we see Shangri-La going from a ‘best kept secret’ to one of the country’s top-of-mind golf destinations for buddies’ trips, family golf getaways, or large group events,” said Barry Willingham, Shangri-La’s CEO.
All told, the Shangri-La Resort offers an extraordinary golfer’s paradise for casual golfers on vacation and golf aficionados seeking the serenity and isolation of such a remote outpost.
Shangri-La Resort