Branson/Tri-Lakes News: Golf projects make headway

The estimated $10 million course will be constructed north of the 18-hole LedgeStone Championship Golf Course inside StoneBridge. Steve Redford, owner and CEO of Branson-based Missouri Partners Inc., announced the plans June 19 at the LedgeStone clubhouse.

“We believe it’s necessary for the future for the growth we see in play,” Redford said.

Golf fees will probably go up for LedgeStone members, but Redford would not give an exact amount. He said that once the new course is built, it will be turned over to the property owners’ association to operate. Redford said Shawnee, Kan.-based Chuck Ermisch Golf Design LLC will design the course. Ermisch Golf redesigned LedgeStone’s No. 10 and No. 18 holes in 2006 and has worked with Nick Faldo Design.

The proposed golf course comprises 300 acres on the north side of StoneBridge along Roark Creek Valley, according to Rick Billington, MPI’s vice president of sales and marketing. The acreage, under contract for purchase from an undisclosed source, also would be used to develop about 100 homes and 40 lodges with an estimated price tag of another $10 million, Billington said. The land-use plan was designed by Branson’s Yung Design.

The new property purchase will give MPI 2,500 acres at StoneBridge.

“StoneBridge is by far our largest project,” Redford said. “Its annual sales far exceed any other project.”

StoneBridge was originally developed by Cooper Communities in the 1990s, and Redford said his company purchased the unused acreage in January 2000.

Royale renovation

The golf course at Pointe Royale Condominium Resort on State Highway 165 in Branson will undergo a $1.5 million facelift, according to Branson city permit records.

Pointe Royale Director of Golf Jeff Walster said this is the first major renovation of the 18-hole course since it opened in 1985. The clubhouse was rebuilt four years ago.

Chuck Ermisch, in collaboration with Snyder Brothers Golf Construction Co. in Pleasant Hill, has been designated to renovate the course, which will close July 7 and reopen in March 2009, Walster said.

On the list of changes are the refurbishment of all 19 greens, the reworking of the surrounding bunkers and the reconfiguration of seven tee areas. The course also will be resodded with a Pencross grass mix that Walster said is more tolerant to heat and resistant to disease.

Financing for course improvements will come from the 955 property owners in the Pointe Royale Property Owners Association. “Members have assessed themselves to do this,” Walster said.

Payne’s pals

The 18,000 square-foot clubhouse for the Payne Stewart Golf Club is expected to open July 1, and the first nine holes of the new golf course is scheduled to open Sept. 1, according to club golf pro Bob Allen. Both the clubhouse and course are part of the Branson Hills residential development on Branson Hills Parkway near U.S. Highway 65 in north Branson.

Allen said that Tom Hoch Designs in Oklahoma City, Okla., designed the facility’s interior, which includes a 2,000-square-foot pro shop, a Payne Stewart memorabilia display, a public bar and fitness center. A swimming pool and two tennis courts have been built on the grounds of the clubhouse, which faces the 18th hole.

Membership options include the invitation-only founder’s club, which has a $25,000 initiation fee and $300 monthly dues; charter membership, which is $15,000 for the first 25 members and has $300 monthly dues; and corporate membership, which is $25,000 for two members and has $600 monthly dues.

Other levels, including a district membership for residents within 50 miles and social memberships, are detailed at www.paynestewartgolfclub.com.

“Memberships are going to double in price toward the end of July,” Allen said.

Allen said the Payne Stewart Golf Club is under the development of Branson Hills Golf Co. LLC, a partnership of HCW LLC executives Rick Huffman, Marc Williams and Santo Catanese and Stonegate Realty Co. LLC President Mark Elgin, in Vestavia Hills, Ala., near Birmingham. Huffman said Hilton Golf would manage the clubhouse and course.