Hilton Branson Convention Center

Did not realize this was no longer Payne Stewart Golf Club and was sad my buddy (first time at the course) didn’t get to see the Payne memorabilia. The course is still incredible. Really tough, but gorgeous. The pace of play on the back nine was what nightmares are made of. Took almost two hours to play the final 5 holes. And they charge a $129 green fee and make you buy bags of range balls. So dumb. Charge $139 and give me the range balls. Nickel and dimming patrons at that level green fee seems short sided.

Extremely pretty course with some elevated tees, rolling scenery and mansions scattered along the sides. All the staff were uniformly friendly. Challenging but still very accessible to a poor golfer (me). Would love to play again some day.

The Good: Branson Hills GC is a beautiful, demanding design from Chuck Smith & former PGA player & commentator Bobby Clampett. Surprising elevation changes with as picturesque of views as you’ll find in the Midwest, particularly with the rock cropping and water features. One of the tougher courses that I played on my annual golf trip, it is one of the more difficult approach shot tracks out there. Starts off with a jaw-dropping downhill Par-4 opener, superb Par 5’s and nice collection of Par-3’s. Excellent conditions and large, undulating greens that putt true. Nice clubhouse with full restaurant and bar, as well as amenities that include several on-site restroom areas and GPS on carts. Nice driving range and good practice facilities. Decent value, especially compared to the overpriced Big Cedar courses.

The Bad: The greens, while they putt really true, didn’t hold well at all during our round. Can be considered too demanding of a golf course for high handicappers as most holes don’t have any place to bail. The driving range was awkwardly placed far from the first tee. The staff at the restaurant and the golf shop were working really hard, but weren’t overly friendly.

The Verdict: Branson Hills is a Top 5 public golf course in Missouri that I’ve played and a great addition to a Big Cedar trip. Some holes seemed to be hard for the sake of being hard, but otherwise it’s a very enjoyable experience.

Best Hole: The long, downhill Par-5 5th hole is one of the most amazing holes you’ll find in Branson. Make sure to take a picture from behind the green!

The golf course is in perfect condition the staff is wonderful I definitely recommend

Great course! Good value for the price. Pro Shop was friendly, efficient. Course is in awesome condition and has multiple elevation tee shots. Would play again!

Very nice and somewhat challenging course. Lots of scenic veiws, staff and facilities our top notch! You won't be disappointed!!

This was an impressive course for accuracy and distance control. Makes you think through every shot. Familiarity will help next time!

Nice value given other resort courses in the area. Good fun layout

Beautiful course. Definitely worth a try. The pace was a little slow but with an afternoon tee time we expected as much.

First, the pace of play was completely unacceptable. They booked us up against an outing, giving us the old “you’ll never catch them” routine. It took 7 holes and 75 minutes to catch them. Three hours after that, we finally gave up and left the course ... on the 14th hole. It was infuriating.

I found the course itself to be a disappointment, given it’s reputation. Tees, fairways and greens were fine, but the conditioning of the grounds outside of the fairways was shoddy, plagued with crabgrass and bare patches. Aesthetically it just wasn’t pleasing.

The layout was not fun, with tons of blind shots and sharp doglegs. Despite the elevation changes, it felt monotonous. A grind. One hole after another featured a downhill tee shot followed by a steeply uphill approach. Wet conditions limited the rollout on tee shots, and then your long, uphill approach shots were to greens that mostly had no place to miss. As a result, the course played very long. In all, a pretty big disappointment even if you don’t count the glacier-like pace of play.

Sorry Branson Hills. We waited two years for a vacation, and you ruined our day with your thoughtless scheduling. We won’t be returning.

We added this course to our golf trip to the big cedar courses as our warm up round and was not disappointed. Staff was awesome and course as in great condition and very picturesque. Have the camera phone ready to go.