Ozarks National
Coore & Crenshaw let loose on the high Ozark ridgelines at Big Cedar Lodge — a strategic, ground-game thrill with panoramic mountain views. Missouri's top-ranked course you can play, and the beating heart of the Internet Invitational.
If Payne’s Valley is Big Cedar’s showman, Ozarks National is its purist. Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw routed it along the high ridgelines above Branson, letting the Ozark terrain dictate the golf — tumbling fairways, strategic bunkering, and sweeping mountain views from nearly every tee. It opened in 2019 as Golf Digest’s Best New Public Course in America, sits atop Golfweek’s Missouri rankings, and has become the main stage for golf’s richest internet tournament. This is the one the architecture crowd drives to Branson for.
| Yards | Rating | Slope | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tips | 7,036 | 73.9 | 131 |
| Regular | 6,510 | 71.3 | 126 |
How it plays
Pure Coore & Crenshaw: wide off the tee, demanding on the approach, and all about angles. The fairways roll and feed, the greens are big and full of movement, and the smart player thinks a hole backwards from the pin — the aggressive line opens the green, the safe line leaves a half-blind pitch. At 7,036 yards and a slope of 131 it isn’t backbreaking on paper, but the elevation changes and the exposed ridgetop wind make club selection a genuine puzzle. Read the ground, use the slopes, and let the course feed your ball where it wants to go.
Coore & Crenshaw let the Ozark ridgelines write the golf.
Where it bites
The exposed ridgetop stretches, where the wind has its say and a missed angle leaves an awkward recovery. The par-4 16th is the honest No. 1 handicap, and the back nine — the stretch the Internet Invitational contests — has the drama and the risk-reward the pros and the creators both feast on. Stay below the hole, respect the big greens’ contours, and take your pars where the ridge gives them.
The pedigree
Ozarks National announced itself as Golf Digest’s Best New Public Course the year it opened, and it hasn’t slipped since — #1 in Missouri by Golfweek, a fixture on America’s 100 Greatest Public list, and now the televised home of the Internet Invitational’s biggest matches. For a Coore & Crenshaw design you can simply book a tee time on, that’s about as good as the résumé gets.
Plan your visit
It’s at Big Cedar Lodge near Branson, a few hours from Kansas City, St. Louis, or Tulsa and an easy pairing with Payne’s Valley and Buffalo Ridge on the same property. Book through the resort — guests get the best rates and priority — and plan a multi-day stay, because nobody makes the Ozark drive for a single round. Take a caddie or a cart, and give the back nine the respect the Invitational field gives it.
Who should play here
Architecture travelers and anyone who wants Coore & Crenshaw strategy without a private-club invitation. Ozarks National is wide enough for the nervous and deep enough for the obsessive, with greens and angles that reward thought over power — and views that make the whole Ozark detour worth it. If you’re building a modern American golf-trip list, the heart of Big Cedar belongs on it.
Full scorecard — Ozarks National (Ozarks tees)
Par 71 · 7,036 yards · 73.9 rating · 131 slope
| Hole | Par | Yards | Handicap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 517 | 8 |
| 2 | 3 | 167 | 18 |
| 3 | 4 | 345 | 14 |
| 4 | 4 | 446 | 2 |
| 5 | 4 | 352 | 10 |
| 6 | 3 | 216 | 12 |
| 7 | 5 | 543 | 6 |
| 8 | 3 | 178 | 16 |
| 9 | 5 | 597 | 4 |
| 10 | 4 | 469 | 13 |
| 11 | 5 | 531 | 9 |
| 12 | 3 | 254 | 11 |
| 13 | 4 | 480 | 3 |
| 14 | 4 | 450 | 5 |
| 15 | 4 | 407 | 15 |
| 16 | 4 | 481 | 1 |
| 17 | 3 | 144 | 17 |
| 18 | 4 | 459 | 7 |
| Total | 71 | 7,036 | — |
Hole-by-hole yardages and stroke indexes are illustrative.
Ozarks National, quickly
- Who designed Ozarks National?
- Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. It opened in 2019 at Big Cedar Lodge and was named Golf Digest's Best New Public Course in America that year.
- How much is a round at Ozarks National?
- 2026 rates are split: resort guests pay $190 in the shoulder and peak starts at $275; public peak starts at $350. Carts are included. Those are not one combined band.
- Is Ozarks National where the Internet Invitational is played?
- Yes — it's the main stage. The YouTube-golf Internet Invitational at Big Cedar contests matches on the back nine of Ozarks National, alongside Payne's Valley and Buffalo Ridge.
- How is it ranked?
- Golfweek ranks it the #1 'Best Course You Can Play' in Missouri, and Golf Digest places it among America's 100 Greatest Public Courses (#46 in 2025).
- Can you walk Ozarks National?
- You can, and it's a rewarding walk, though the Ozark elevation is significant and carts are included in the rate if you'd rather ride.
We may earn a commission on the tee-time link above — we only point you where we’d book ourselves. Scorecard figures are illustrative.