$13M golf course honors Payne Stewart

Within the Branson Hills development, an 18-hole Bobby Clampett-designed course will honor Springfield-born professional golfer Payne Stewart, who died in a plane crash in 1999.

Each hole will represent a different trait Stewart demonstrated in his life, said G. Kim McDonald, president of marketing with HCW Development Co., an affiliate of Branson Hills Development and developer of the course. Plaques will mark each hole, describing a moment of Stewart’s life on or off the golf course that showcased his character.

“It’s a very unique situation to be able to say the sixth hole is called ‘Integrity,’ and this is why,” McDonald said. “Clampett really wants to say this man was a unique individual, and his integrity and honesty and character traits were second to none.”

Clampett, a former professional golfer, is a course designer based in North Carolina and a commentator for CBS and Turner Broadcasting System.

The $13 million, 7,215-yard course is expected to open in fall 2007.

The Branson Hills development will be approximately 1,100 acres, comprising adult living, a gated community, a hotel, a town square with retail space and 500 homes, bungalows and condos.

Branson Creek, Top of the Rock

Meanwhile, two other Branson golf courses are under construction, both scheduled for completion in 2006.

At Branson Creek, where houses and townhomes surround a two-acre lake, Murder Rock Country Club is nearly half finished. Branson Creek Golf Course already sits inside the 7,000-acre development.

Holes one through 10 of the 18-hole course have been shaped, according to Frank Landis, general manager of project developer Branson Development LLC. The back nine holes will be shaped next, and then a 9,000-square-foot clubhouse will be constructed.

Landis said the course will cost about $20 million by the time it is completed Sept. 1 and should be open by spring 2007.

Landis calls the course a “homeowners’ course,” because those living in Branson Creek will receive preferred rates and tee times, though the public is welcome to play.

“The intent is for it to be an incredible amenity for the Branson Creek residents, but also a very sweet golf course,” he said. “Everyone in the area that’s a golfer will be really pleasantly surprised at how nice this comes out.”

The Murder Rock name bears some historical significance, Landis said, and isn’t meant to give a menacing impression.

“It has to do with the Civil War legend --– it was a place on the old Springfield-to-Harrison stage road where a bandit used to rob people,” he said.

At Top of the Rock golf course at Big Cedar Lodge, a nine-hole, par-3 practice course is being added, while Top of the Rock sits closed until spring. A kitchen fire at the lodge’s restaurant in June forced the course to shut down while repairs are made.

“There’s just so much construction at the restaurant that it was becoming unsafe for guests to be up there, so we just shut it down till we have all the renovations done,” said Shari Beckley, director of marketing for the lodge.

The 10-acre practice course is Arnold Palmer-designed, with 12 target greens ranging from 45 yards to 305 yards. Beckley said the “upscale driving range” will be set among streams, waterfalls, ponds and bluffs.

“The views up there are just spectacular. You have such great landscapes to look at,” she said. “You’ve got great hillsides and you overlook (Table Rock Lake).”

The practice course is scheduled to open in the spring.