Big Cedar Lodge ranked #1 Family Golf Resort in North America By Brian Weis

Big Cedar Lodge ranked #1 Family Golf Resort in North America

GOLF Magazine ranks Big Cedar Lodge at the top of its Top 100 Resorts list for 2019-2020

By Brian Weis

GOLF Magazinehas named Big Cedar Lodge, America's premier wilderness resort, as the number one family resort in North America in its Top 100 Resorts issue for 2019-2020.

The premier golf magazine's Top 100 Resorts ranking is the first, most comprehensive review of elite destinations in North America and the most expansive editorial project the publication has undertaken. The list, which will appear in its October issue, was compiled by GOLF Magazine editors, course raters and valued readers who evaluated and considered hundreds of resorts.

"We are humbled to be recognized by GOLF Magazine with this incredible honor," said Johnny Morris, founder of Bass Pro Shops and Big Cedar Lodge. "Golf at Big Cedar Lodge is an opportunity for people from around the world to experience the natural beauty of the Ozarks. We hope this achievement inspires even more families and golf enthusiasts to come experience our genuine Ozarks hospitality and world-class golf courses."

The recognition adds to Big Cedar Lodge's list of growing resort and golf accolades, including Buffalo Ridge (Tom Fazio design) recent honors as the "Best Public Course in Missouri" by Golfweek. Big Cedar Lodge currently has three other award-winning courses in addition to Buffalo Ridge - Top of the Rock, a Jack Nicklaus Signature design, Mountain Top Course, a family-friendly 13-hole par-3 short course masterpiece designed by Gary Player that features dramatic limestone rock formations and some of most breathtaking views in the region, and Ozarks National, the newest 18-hole course designed by renowned architect duo Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.

Soon, Morris and Tiger Woods will unveil Big Cedar's fifth golf course - Payne's Valley, a 19-hole course built to showcase the region's natural beauty and to honor late, local golf legend Payne Stewart. It is the first public golf course in the U.S. by Woods and his firm, TGR Design. With Payne's Valley, Woods and Morris will offer a course where players of all skill levels will be able to enjoy the game with each other in the beautiful Ozark Mountain landscape with kid's tees located further down the fairways. The course will also feature a spectacular and breathtaking 19th hole affectionately known as Big Rock at Payne's Valley.

Morris has personally spent countless hours walking the courses, ensuring golf development at Big Cedar Lodge helps connect people to nature as well as future generations to the game. This commitment to conservation extends to the level of care given to protect the natural environment and surrounding ecosystems of the resort's five nature courses, which has drawn the attention of the National Audubon Society. Earlier this year, Audubon awarded Big Cedar founder Johnny Morris with its prestigious Audubon Medal - one of conservation's highest honors - for his lifelong commitment to conservation.

Currently, Morris and Big Cedar are working with Audubon to obtain Audubon Signature Sanctuary status, an environmental education and certification program for properties that follow comprehensive sustainable resource management principles. Johnny Morris achieved signature status with the Top of the Rock course 15 years ago, one of fewer than 100 courses in the world to earn the designation at the time. A resort-wide sanctuary status designation would be the only one of its kind to encompass all aspects of golf development and the greater development of Big Cedar Lodge.

Big Cedar Lodge is a 4,600-acre lakeside wilderness resort with premiere nature-based experiences for the entire family, such as fishing, shooting, nature excursions, water sports, horseback riding and more. The resort has two marinas on Table Rock Lake and multiple family-based attractions and amenities including the Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum and Lost Canyon Cave & Nature Trail. Families can also enjoy Fun Mountain, offering 50,000 square feet of endless entertainment including a full arcade, underwater-themed bowling, laser tag, a golf simulator and more year-round for kids of all ages.

Revised: 10/02/2019 - Article Viewed 11,665 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.