Payne's Valley

Payne’s Valley might just be the ultimate modern resort golf course. It hits all of the pleasure centers for today’s traveling golfer: massive scale, player-friendliness, impressive scenery, eye-candy design features, premium conditions and ample opportunities to stock up on drinks. It also offers something wholly unique to Big Cedar Lodge: an island-green bonus 19th hole at the base of limestone waterfalls, with a separate tee-side bar, followed by a winding cart ride back up to the clubhouse. On the way, though, there are several compelling holes like the short par-4 3rd and the long pr-4 17th, where the huge corridor width of the holes gets broken down into compartments that require strategic decision-making as well as execution off the tee. Payne’s Valley is as much a serious golf experience as an amusement-ride on grass.

Condition wise, this course was about as well conditioned as I have ever played. There were times I was standing on the fairways and thinking I was standing on Astroturf. Every grass blade was the same width, height, color, not a weed or other turf variety in sight. As for the layout, it's big, wide, and resortish. Not a whole lot in the way of challenge. Kinda hard to lose a ball here and knew this going in. As for the scenery, pretty spectacular. The 3sum I was paired with had golfed all the courses here on this week and all agreed that Payne's Valley was the most scenic of all the tracks there. But they agreed that for challenge, Ozarks National was #1. I golfed Buffalo Ridge Springs here a few years ago and though it was more challenging and scenic than Payne's Valley. As for the drive back to the clubhouse from the bonus 19th hole, I don't need a Disneyland ride after a round of golf, thank you.

Would I recommend playing here? If you've never played it, yeah, it's a fun round and a good started course to prime your game for the other tracks there. Would I run out and play here again? Not anytime soon.

How good of a course this is remains polarizing among the golf cognoscenti. Despite its’ newfound appearance in one publication’s top 100 public play list, some say it’s too easy with not enough trouble lurking off the tee.

It’s a big ballpark. These are among the most generous fairways I’ve seen outside of Scotland. And that may be because you can definitely sense the Old Course’s influence on Tiger’s work here in the Ozarks, particularly on the short par 4s. I surmise Augusta National was prominent in his mind as well, given so little rough.

The closely-mown Zoysia around the greens make chipping and pitching endlessly interesting. Those greens aren’t overly contoured. He relies more on the natural gravitational pull of the surrounding valleys and angles of those greens, as well as a handful of nasty false fronts.

Many critics will opine about what Payne’s Valley isn’t. But what is important is what it IS! A Disney-esque experience for golfers has been created, replete with eye candy and maybe the best 19th hole in the world. It is hands down the best ride back to the clubhouse I’ve ever seen. That’s why full tee sheets abide, despite the hefty greens fee.

I agree with the previous write up. Was not expecting much from the ratings. But it exceeded all expectations.

Really good players will find it boring because it's wide open with a lot of room in the fairways. Every hole is a postcard. The 19th hole might be a gimmick but it was fun to play and the ride after that was extraordinary. Very winding the day we played so it added a little more challenge but I didn't feel it needed any more of a challenge. Played all three courses, Buffalo Ridge and Orarks National and this was the easiest but by no means a walk in the park. I'm from upstate NY so mountains are nothing new but this was an entirely different kind of experience.

Prior to playing this course I ALMOST let the overall 3.4 rating sway me from playing it. Thankfully, I relied on past experience with inaccurate ratings to guide me to give it a shot. The fairways were perfect , ( you can’t get a bad lie!) the greens were quick and true. Bunkers were consistent . The fairways were generous and every other hole is a postcard ! Yes it was a five hour round but just more time to take pictures and replay the previous hole with playing partners ! I’ve played 48 of the golf digest top 100 in the country and believe me - you don’t want to pass this one up !

This course is everything wrong with golf right now. It’s prohibitively expensive, painfully slow (the starter says 5 hours is the goal, it’s often longer), and walking is not allowed. Let me say that again, because there is conflicting information online - walking Payne’s Valley is NOT allowed. Golf is a walking sport, but no one at Payne’s Valley seems to understand that. The reason walking is not allowed is because of the 1.5 mile cart ride through the rock formation from the 19th hole back to the club house. This is the strangest feature I’ve ever seen on a course. Strange in a bad way. Who finishes a round and thinks “I’d like to drive a windy path for 15 minutes up an artificial rock face with fake waterfalls and ponds”. Also the gimmick of the 19th hole island green is just that, a gimmick. We skipped it, after 5 hours I don’t need to hit to another island green - oh yeah, there’s already an island green par 3 on the course! As to the course itself - it’s huge and “pretty” I guess, but the bunkers look good but the sand is poor quality. The greens I found uninteresting. There are no stand out holes that make you think as a player. I wouldn’t play this course again if it were free.

If you’re at Big Cedar play Ozarks National instead, that course is simply incredible.

I really wanted to love this course, given it is a Tiger Woods design and the tribute to Payne Stewart. Out of the three Big Cedar 18 hole course you need to play, I’d rank this as number three.

The first disappointment was the pace of play. When I set up the tee time, I was told to expect 5 hours, but it turned out to be 6, which is ridiculous. The course Marshall’s are the nicest I have met (they give out cold wet mint towels which were awesome with hot and humid temperatures), but they didn’t push anyone.

The second disappointment were the greens. They were the slowest of the three course, primarily because there is so many ridges in them. You basically have to be on the right side of the green each time, or you have a ridiculous putt. Since most people play this course on a one time golf trip without a caddie, you don’t really know where to land the ball on the green (as if you can control it that much anyway).

Positives are that is a wide open and forgiving golf course, and is fun to play. The customer service is awesome, and they are building a new driving range right by the pro-show, although it has not yet opened. The 19th hole (golf hole - not bar) is awesome and the drive back up to the pro shop, while cool, felt a little like going through “It’s a Small World” at Disney. The courses is certainly worth playing once as part of a golf trip, but probably wouldn’t play it again.

Also, $300 is expensive for 6 hours.

Being local, we used to play all the courses in Branson and get tee times the day before playing. Now that Branson has started blowing up on the golf scene thanks to the new TGR design course it's tough to get on so was thankful to get to play it again. The customer service has always been lacking at all the bass pro courses, but they have made a few changes and it was fantastic this time around. It rained about 2 inches right before we teed off so the course was quite soppy but drained ok. Played the course at 6900 yards from the blues. Fun course. Would compare it to Ozarks National in that it's very wide open and you can hit a bad drive and still find yourself in the fairway. A few longer par threes and a couple mammoth par fives along with a couple short risk reward par fours. Course was in great shape. The real bucket list part of the course is after the round ends on the 19th hole and the drive back up to the club house. I personally feel it's the easiest of the three courses followed by Ozarks National and then buffalo ridge. The downfall of Paynes Valley is the green fees (I believe it is $375ish), the pace of play, and one mixed drink on the course is $20!! I still believe that the best course there for a more skilled golfer from both a design & visual appeal standpoint is the original buffalo ridge which is about half the price. If you are traveling to Branson for a golf trip don't forget about some of the other courses down there besides the "big 3". Make sure and play the mountain top par three course. It's my favorite course in Branson from a fun and cost effective standpoint. Ledgestone is a fantastic course that should be added to the mix. Finally, Branson hills (formerly Payne Stewarts course) is a nice course that I Feel is one of the toughest in the state. If you haven't made plans for a golf trip to Branson, do it!!!

The Good: Payne’s Valley, Tiger Woods TGR Design’s newest creation near Branson, MO, is one of the eight Wonders of the World. Created near the highest point of the entire resort and cascading down into the aptly named valley, it has some of the grandest views on a golf course I’ve ever seen. The design is very playable, with wide, fast fairways and huge oval shaped sand traps scattered throughout the 19 (!) hole track. The greens are absolutely huge and very difficult, which is the primary course’s defense. Excellent Par-3 variety, a couple fun “go for broke” short Par-4’s, and picturesque Par-5’s. The staff and overall service is exceptional, which is expected for such a large price tag. The 19th hole island green Par-3 built amongst a sinkhole quarry and the Cliffhanger drive up to the mountain top clubhouse is like a Disney Land ride. In much better shape than I expected for a course in such an infancy.

The Bad: While it’s an expected spectacle given the price tag of $325, it’s still overpriced for an inland golf course. The Par-4’s are mostly straightaway and tend to blend in together throughout the round. Given how new the course is, the driving range specific to Payne’s Valley is not yet completed. In order to warm up, we had to take a 10-minute detour to the Ozarks National practice facility. A 5-hour experience.

The Verdict: Tiger Woods continues to show off his design flair (which significant influence from Beau Welling, formerly of Fazio fame) with a course that is fun, awe-inspiring, and in perfect shape. One of the best golf experiences I’ve ever had, even if severely lightens the wallet.

Best Hole: The Par-5 4th hole has the most severe elevation change from tee-to-green, as well as a beautiful water feature both in-front and left of the huge, thin green. One of the better Par-5’s in all of Branson.

Besides the round taking 6 hours.... my buddies and I had a great time. Fairways are quite wide, similar to that of Mammoth Dunes at Sand Valley. Can putt from anywhere. Marshals did a terrible job of keeping people on pace. Should not have taken 6 hours to play.... 19th hole is by far one of the coolest/if not THE coolest golf hole in the United States. Roughly 140yards out, make sure you pick the right club! Small landing pad! We did have a great time, but pace of play was atrocious. Hopefully this is something that can be fixed in the months & years to come.

First time playing Payne’s Valley. Not another course I’ve played like it in the world. Great layout. Not a hard course from the right tees. Great shape. Pace of play ridiculously slow. Never picked up. But the staff is clueless how to run a golf course. Actually it’s easy to believe none of them play golf. The starter and the pro shop staff didn’t even know if it was cart path only or whether it was open. Our frost delay seemed like it was a sudden and unthinkable natural tragedy. No one knew how to handle it. The starter didn’t have a radio to the driving range that is almost a mile away. Couldn’t call people to the tee. And at the range they had almost a hundred yards available on the practice tee open and yet had only 8 stalls open with 40+ golfers waiting to warm up for two golf courses. Then they ran out of balls. Obviously. And no one was around to refill or direct traffic. In sum the management is awful. The course is great.

Tiger might not get a better piece of land or a better owner to work for than his first public effort in the United States. Johnny Morris, the founder of Bass Pro Shops who owns Big Cedar Lodge, gave Woods the budget to create an epic 19-hole experience in the Ozarks. You read that right. This is an experience, not just a round of golf.

The fairways are as wide as humanly possible, allowing golfers to swing away. It's his green complexes and elevation changes that defend par. The water features at the par-5 4th, par-3 10th, par-5 18th and par-3 19th are stunning. They don't feel like gimmicky, Trump-made waterfalls. They at least fit into the natural terrain, falling off of rocks that characterize the region.

The 19th hole, a 137-yard par 3 to an island green, will be the highlight of the round, followed by the wild cart ride along the cliffs back to the hilltop clubhouse.

Famous Dave's does a nice job serving quality food in the clubhouse. All in all, a day you won't forget.

The course is beautiful. Tried to make tee time online couldn't do it. Website wouldn't let me. Spent an hour on phone just to make tee time. Then got email confirmation saying I didn't have tee time. Had to call again and finally got email confirmation. The staff were not helpful. When you arrive there was nobody to help unload bags. The guy at the door told me to unload the bags over there and just pointed where to put them. Went to pay and you have to download a QR reader app to sign liability waiver. I asked if I could just sign a piece of paper and lady behind the counter told me that this was the modern era and no I could not. My friend I was playing with didn't have one on his phone so had to go through process of downloading it for him to play.. Had to park about 300 yards down hill which was where the carts were located but then had to walk back to the clubhouse only to end up waiting for a cart. Starter finally came to get us(4some). Asked if we had carts. Told him we did not. He brought one in which the batteries were dead. Then gets a cart which had been used and not cleaned and not recharged. Cart died at end of round. Restaurant closed before every one was finished playing with no other facilities close. The course was ok but service was nonexistent. Wouldn't go back. Heard multiple people with similar complaints.

Quite honestly the best course in Missouri public or private and the best course I personally have played. We were fortunate enough to play here during preview play and the conditions of the course and views are simply stunning. Wide fairways make it very player friendly as well. Amazing course!

I played the 13-hole preview loop of Payne's Valley on a gorgeous early-August morning. I must say, the setting of the clubhouse at the top of the mountain and overlooking both the Mountain Top par-3 course and Payne's Valley is absolutely mesmerizing. It is one of the best bag drop locations I've ever seen.

If you want to hit balls, you'll have to take a short cart ride to the excellent practice facility at Ozarks National, so allow a few extra minutes to get there.

The opening tee shot at Payne's Valley is similarly breathtaking: a long but straight and downhill par 4 with a beautiful valley view beyond.

Tiger's design is wide, gently shaped and has more downhill shots than up. Compared to nextdoor Ozarks National, which I played later that afternoon, there are wider landing zones and fewer elevated greens. I suspect Big Cedar's Johnny Morris and Tiger decided to build something more player-friendly that Big Cedar's other two full-length courses.

The whole layout feels rather comfortable. Views are surreal at all times. I'd recommend playing Payne's first before moving up to Buffalo Ridge and Ozarks National on your Big Cedar golf trip.

The course only has 13 holes open and heavy construction. It does not have a driving range so you have to take golf cart across road to use Osage National driving range. Expensive green fees, but course is in great shape with great views.

Got to play this in November as "preview play" (only played the 11 holes that were finished but heard they opened up 14 holes a few weeks later. This will be Tiger Wood's first public course with TGR design. It is expected to fully open in spring/summer of 2020. Being one of the first to play the course, it was of course immaculate. Had some fun holes as well. Was very windy the day we played. Excited to get back out and try it once it's open. An added bonus will be the 19th hole "the rock" which will be a little par three built into the side of a rock ledge you play on the way back up the ledge to the clubhouse. Just from playing the 11 holes my ranking for the three 18 hole courses on the premises are in order, Buffalo Ridge, Payne's Valley, and then Ozark National.