Branson had no golf single in the catalog when this guide was built — the fishing and show pages never mention a fairway — so all nine films here are fresh pulls. They needed to be: in one decade the Big Cedar Lodge courses made this a genuine American golf destination, and the films include the two best-known golf channels in the game walking the fairways.

18 Holes at Payne's Valley Golf Course and Inside Big Cedar Lodge

MrShortGame Golf

MrShortGame plays all 18 holes at Payne's Valley, Tiger Woods' first public course design at Big Cedar Lodge — narrating his round hole by hole from the wide valley fairways to the island-green 19th 'Big Rock' hole, with a look inside Big Cedar Lodge around the golf.

Key takeaways
  • Tiger Woods' first public-access design, honoring Payne Stewart
  • Wide fairways and large greens in a dramatic valley
  • The bonus 19th hole is an island green

NLU Crash Course: Payne’s Valley (Big Cedar Lodge)

No Laying Up

No Laying Up's Crash Course on Payne's Valley: the crew plays Tiger Woods' Big Cedar Lodge course the day after the Payne's Valley Cup, breaking down the design — generous fairways, bold green complexes, and the canyon-carved 19th hole — and what a round there is really like.

Key takeaways
  • Filmed the day after the Payne's Valley Cup
  • A design-first breakdown of the Woods layout
  • The 19th hole finishes through a canyon

NLU Crash Course: Ozarks National (Big Cedar Lodge)

No Laying Up

No Laying Up's Crash Course on Ozarks National, the Coore & Crenshaw design at Big Cedar Lodge: a ridge-top routing above the Ozarks — fairways draped over ridgelines, forced carries over ravines — debated and played by the NLU crew on one of America's most acclaimed new public courses.

Key takeaways
  • Coore & Crenshaw's only Missouri design
  • Ridge-top holes with ravine carries
  • Opened 2019; Golf Digest's Best New Public Course

The Big Cedar empire

Payne's Valley, Tiger Woods' first public-access design honoring Payne Stewart, gets two full treatments: MrShortGame plays all 18 holes plus a look inside the lodge, and No Laying Up's Crash Course — filmed the day after the Payne's Valley Cup — breaks down the wide fairways, bold greens and the island-green 19th hole through a canyon. Ozarks National, Coore & Crenshaw's ridge-top routing, gets the same NLU treatment plus Ben Crenshaw himself telling Big Cedar's cameras how the land dictated the holes, 400-foot wooden bridge at the 13th included. Michigan Golf Live tours the whole empire: Buffalo Ridge, the Mountain Top short course and the cliffside Cliffhangers par-3.

The rest of the lineup

The Traveling Golfer's Buffalo Ridge segment — Tom Fazio's course where buffalo graze past the fences — runs as watch footage, as does Thousand Hills' official all-18 tour of its par-64 Robert Cupp layout in the middle of town. The Krystal Palace plays Jack Nicklaus's Top of the Rock par-3 at evening, the first par-3 course ever used in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event, above the lake at dusk.

Golf Heaven in the Ozarks: Big Cedar Lodge, Cliffhangers & Branson’s Best Courses

Michigan Golf Live

Michigan Golf Live's Branson golf special: host Bill Hobson tours Big Cedar Lodge's growing golf empire — Payne's Valley, Ozarks National, Buffalo Ridge, the Mountain Top short course and the cliffside Cliffhangers par-3 — plus the rest of what Branson offers golfers on and off the course.

Key takeaways
  • A full tour of Big Cedar's five golf layouts
  • Includes the new Cliffhangers par-3 course
  • Pairs the golf with Branson's off-course life

Thousand Hills Golf Course Overview Tour - All 18 holes!

Thousand Hills Resort

Thousand Hills Resort's official overview flies and walks all 18 holes of Thousand Hills Golf Course — the par-64 Robert Cupp design in the middle of Branson, minutes from the Strip: rolling Ozarks terrain, dramatic elevation changes and water in play, in one complete course tour. No narration transcript is available; it is presented as watch footage.

Top of the Rock Golf at Big Cedar Lodge Was INSANE

The Krystal Palace

The Krystal Palace plays an evening round on Jack Nicklaus's Top of the Rock par-3 course at Big Cedar Lodge — the first par-3 course ever used in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event — riding the course's lakeside holes and cathedral-like rock formations as the light goes down over Table Rock Lake.

Key takeaways
  • Jack Nicklaus's 9-hole par-3 at Top of the Rock
  • First par-3 course used in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event
  • Evening round above Table Rock Lake

The case for the trip

Explore Branson's official golf-trip film closes the page: four Branson courses ranked among Missouri's best, in-town layouts like Branson Hills and Ledgestone behind the resort names — and a show town waiting when the round ends. Golf by day, theaters by night is the pitch, and the films make it credibly.

Sources: the 9 videos on this page; the Thousand Hills tour and Buffalo Ridge segment are watch films without narration transcripts.

Watch: Branson Golf Guide, guided

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

Behind the Design of Ozarks National with Ben Crenshaw

Big Cedar Lodge

Ben Crenshaw tells Big Cedar Lodge's cameras how Ozarks National came to be: routing a Coore & Crenshaw course along the ridges above the Ozarks, letting the land dictate the holes — including the 400-foot wooden bridge at the 13th — and building a course that sits quietly in its landscape.

Key takeaways
  • Ben Crenshaw on designing Ozarks National
  • The land dictated the routing
  • The 13th hole crosses a 400-foot wooden bridge 60 feet above a creek

Buffalo Ridge Springs, Hilton & Level Steakhouse - Missouri

Traveling Golfer

The Traveling Golfer's segment on Buffalo Ridge Springs — Tom Fazio's Big Cedar Lodge course where buffalo graze beyond the fences: limestone outcroppings, waterfalls, a crystal-clear quarry on the front nine, and a look at the resort's dining. No narration transcript is available via this site's pipeline; it is presented as watch footage.

The Ultimate Golf Trip To Branson

Explore Branson

Explore Branson's official golf-trip film: the case for Branson as a golf destination — the Big Cedar Lodge courses (Buffalo Ridge, Ozarks National, Payne's Valley, Top of the Rock) and the in-town layouts like Thousand Hills, Branson Hills and Ledgestone, with a show town waiting after the round.

Key takeaways
  • Big Cedar's resort courses lead the lineup
  • In-town courses: Thousand Hills, Branson Hills, Ledgestone
  • Four Branson courses ranked among Missouri's best

More Branson essentials

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