All five courses across four days, anchored by Tiger Woods and Coore-Crenshaw championship layouts, with a rest-day canyon excursion built in.
4 Days
Bucket List Trip
$2000–$3500/person
5
Moderate
This itinerary covers the entire Big Cedar course collection across four days, which means five courses from five different designers played in a sequence that balances the championship walking rounds with the shorter layouts and a canyon excursion that provides a non-golf reset. The routing through the collection is deliberate: the two championship 18-hole walking courses are separated by a rest day that includes a par-3 round and an afternoon at Dogwood Canyon. The estimated cost of $2,000 to $3,500 per person covers four nights at Big Cedar Lodge, five rounds at resort guest rates, two off-course activities, meals, and a rental car.
Fly into Springfield-Branson National Airport and drive the 60 to 70 minutes south to Big Cedar Lodge. The drive through the Ozarks establishes the landscape context before the first round, and the terrain you see from the highway is the same terrain you will play through for the next four days.
Morning tee time on the Coore and Crenshaw design. Ozarks National routes across exposed ridgelines with panoramic views that extend for miles, and the walking-only format through this terrain provides a physical and visual experience that is fundamentally different from Payne's Valley.
Morning round on the Jack Nicklaus par-3 course at Top of the Rock. Nine holes through limestone cliffs above Table Rock Lake, with several holes stretching beyond 200 yards, provide a concentrated short-game test that functions as a physical recovery day between the two championship walking rounds.
Morning round at Buffalo Ridge Springs, the Tom Fazio 18-hole design with the resident bison herd. Cart play is included, which provides a welcome change after the walking rounds at Payne's Valley and Ozarks National.
Check out of Big Cedar Lodge and return to SGF, a 60- to 70-minute drive. Flights from Springfield connect through major hubs with reasonable frequency.
Big Cedar Lodge is the correct accommodation for this itinerary. The resort-guest green fee rates across all five courses save approximately $500 or more per person compared to non-guest rates, which more than offsets any premium over off-resort lodging. A rental car is recommended for the Dogwood Canyon excursion and for flexibility between the courses and the Top of the Rock complex. The resort shuttle system covers the main routes but operates on fixed schedules. For shoulder-season visitors in April or October, the same itinerary runs 25 to 39 percent less expensive on green fees alone.
$2000–$3500
per person
4 Days
3 nights
5
courses included