Golf Traveler goals to podcast, discussion of Arkansas, Joplin and the Springfield area golf courses. Also mentioned is The Pointe, Thousand Hills, Holiday Hills, Ledgestone, Branson Hills, Rivercut, Galveston Country Club, Old Brickyard, Horton Smith, Bear Creek, The Cove, and many more.
Hi, it’s Golf Traveler with Den Knight. This is my first attempt at a podcast, so we’ll see how it goes. But I would really like to create an opportunity to interact with golfers throughout the United States and those specifically in my area here in Southwest Missouri and try to create some dialogue as to what are your favorite courses and um you know what holes do you need to be prepared to attack and uh be aware of on certain courses. Uh, you know, I often do a lot of traveling. A golf traveler is is kind of my logo. And one of the things I like to do is play courses for the first time. And um it’s it’s completely different opportunity than playing the same course all the time. I have friends I play with that play some of the local municipals and they that’s all they play. And there’s there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m not making a judgment. Uh my point is is that I find a certain amount of um I don’t know intrigue uh in playing a course I’m not aware of. Now granted you’re going to make a lot more mistakes and and playing a course the second or third time uh you know can provide you some quality insight in lowering your score. But you know there’s the element of surprise and and you know and trying to make decisions uh not based on you know having prior knowledge of the course itself. As I’ve been doing these courses I started videoing you know hole by hole to really kind of get an idea of what the course looked like so that I could view it once I got home. And I realized how valuable it was to me just being able to see each hole. Uh, you know, where the tea boxes were, you know, what the greens looked like, you know, what the situation was, was the greens above the tea box, uh, you know, was there obstacles in the way, you know, all the things that we try to, uh, take into account uh, as a golfer when we’re approaching a golf course. Um so in taking these videos I realized that that maybe there’s an opportunity for others uh to see you know view these uh videos and and hopefully gain some knowledge you know before you make those mistakes hopefully or at least have some idea you know what the course may look like, what the holes may look like, what the layout is and so forth. uh you know before you actually go there you know uh and in some ways it might help you decide whether you want to go there or not you know um one of the things that I’m constantly doing is trying to find ways to to affordably play golf every day and you know uh that’s not the easiest thing to do and so I’m often looking for deals and and finding cards and different things that are provided by uh different entities ities out there. And so it provides me the opportunity to play golf courses that normally I wouldn’t play. Um, you know, there’s a card I get that’s called the four states card out of Joplin. I live here in Springfield, Missouri. Springfield’s kind of in the oh southwest corner, if you will, of of Missouri. Um, and Joplain’s even further in that corner. In fact, it’s almost into Oklahoma. Um, but they have a little card I buy over there and it allows me to play a lot of the nine hole municipals uh in and around Joplain and into Kansas and into Oklahoma also. So, uh, it’s opened up an array of golf courses that I didn’t know not only existed, but, you know, were they affordable, were they, you know, worth the effort to play. And so I’ve I’ve made videos of a lot of these courses and we’ll continue to make videos of these courses uh in the future. Um and you a lot of times you can get on them pretty uh inexpensively. Um and dependent on the community uh some of the nine holes are better than others obviously. Um there’s a place called Saroxy that’s not too far from here about an hour drive in in the direction of Joplain. Uh and it’s a little 9-hole municipal there creek and they take a great deal of pride in that course and it’s so much fun to play. The greens are very nice and uh for a little tiny community you wouldn’t expect that. Um, one of the things that I found, uh, visiting my friends in eastern Missouri, I used to teach, I was a teacher for 30 years. And, uh, uh, and one of my joys was teaching in eastern Missouri in a place called Lesterville, and I have a group of boys. Well, they’re men now with families, but we play golf together. And, uh, and there’s a lot of nine homeole municipals out in that area. Salem, Missouri. It’s beautiful country. It’s right along the current river there. And they’ve got a just one of the an exceptional nine hole. Uh Cuba, Missouri, up close to St. Louis and and Sullivan and uh you know uh they’ve now developed some of my uh uh some of the boys there locally have have really worked on the Viburnum course and it’s very fun to play. In fact, I’m playing a tournament there uh this Saturday on July 26 of of 2025. And uh and so it opens up opportunities to play some of these nine home municiples that you may not think of uh along with the bigger courses obviously uh that you play in the larger areas. Um, and you know, I can talk a little bit about some of those. Uh, you know, in fact, uh, I don’t know if you can see this, but Rivercut, you know, Rivercut is one of the top uh, municipal 18 whole municiples in the state of Missouri, and it’s just down the road from me. It’s about 5 miles from my house here in Springfield. And it’s not very expensive. It runs roughly around 50ish, you know, mid50s maybe with a cart. Uh, and for seniors, maybe a little less than that. I think I paid 49 as a senior, unless it’s gone up in 2025. I’ve been there a couple of times, and I think that’s what I paid. So, uh, Riverut is a great option if you’re in Springfield. Uh, if you’re not in Springfield or near Springfield, then you should make the effort to come play anyway because it’s it’s just a fantastic course. Uh, you know, Missouri is really uh lucky just like I’m sure all states, but you know, we’re very fortunate to have some areas uh that have some really nice golf courses. One of them is Lake of the Ozarks. It’s uh not far from here, but it’s up towards St. Louis. And uh Lake of the Ozarks has some really, really nice courses. They’ve got the Oaks uh there at Margaritavville. Uh that’s a real nice resort. And so if you’re going Lake of the Ozarks, uh the Oaks is an excellent golf course to play. Uh a couple others I would recommend is uh it’s right there by the outlet malls. It’s called Bear Creek Valley. This is a real gym to play. Beautiful, beautiful course. Uh and it’s not very expensive either. if you get the Golf Now app, which I obviously have and and I can talk a little bit about that app later, but that app uh will get you on this course uh uh in that $50 range. Uh and then there’s one I played last time I was down there, and this is a Trent uh uh Jones course. Uh that’s called the Cove, and uh you better be ready. It’s pretty challenging. Uh I want to play it again. I wasn’t quite ready for it the first time and didn’t score as well as I’d like, but um it’s a quality course uh and well worth the effort. So, there’s three real nice courses uh in the Lake of the Ozarks area. And the Lake of the Ozarks area has many, many courses besides just these three. So, um, uh, it would be a good idea to, you know, if you’re heading up that way to, uh, check out some of those courses, but all along I44, Rala’s got a really nice course. We played in a tournament in Rala a couple of weeks ago at Oak Meadows. Uh, that’s a really nice course also. So, um, now, if you’re going to head down south uh, from Springfield, uh, one direction you can go is towards northwestern Arkansas. Uh, and one of the nice courses there in a little place by Eureka Springs, which is really a cool place, uh, is Holiday Island. Holiday Island provides a really, really nice 18hole course nestled right in the Ozark Mountains. I mean, the scenery there uh, is spectacular. The holes look out over uh, of the mountain range, and it’s a really pretty course uh, to play. Um, now obviously we don’t live very far from Branson, you know, and uh, and one of the things you could say about Branson is there’s a lot of things to do in Branson. Um, you know, people come to Branson for a lot of different reasons, a lot of great music, uh, a lot of attractions, uh, Silver Dollar City and so on. But one of the greatest attractions of the Branson area is golf. It just simply is. Um, there’s not only great resort courses, but this is where the Johnny Morris uh complex is. And it’s just utter amazing uh to see all the courses that are there. And I can talk a little bit about some of those here in just a minute. But some of the area brands and courses that I would highly recommend, one of them is Holiday Hills. Now, Holiday Hills is not as expensive, uh, but it is your typical 18hole course. It’s not super fancy as far as, you know, all these little gi wizzy kind of things that some of the resort courses try to offer, but it is a they offer a tournament every Saturday, the third Saturday. I’ve played in four, I believe, now. It is so much fun. Uh, especially over the winter. It’s a really good course to go down uh and play in the winter. Uh so I would highly recommend uh Holiday Hills. Another one I’d recommend that was a lot of fun was Ledgestone. Uh it’s a little more expensive. You got to catch it just right. I I caught it on my golf now and got a reasonable rate, but really nice course. Well taken care of. U I definitely would play it if you’re in Branson at Sledge. Um, and then one of the cream of the crop there of of the Branson courses is Branson Hills. This one’s a little tough to get on uh without paying some money. Um, but again, it was considered one of the greatest courses down in that area for for quite a long time. Now, Johnny has uh Johnny Morris uh of Bass Pro Shops. Uh they’ve built uh some tremendous golf courses down there. In fact, they had Tiger Woods a number of years come down uh and design their championship course which is called Payne’s Valley. It’s uh it’s about 500 bucks to get on, so it’s high. Uh they got Buffalo Ridge and Ozark National that run about two 250. Uh and then they’ve got these other courses that are I played their 13hole par three the other day uh called Hill Mountaintop. If you’ll look up mountaintop, you’ll see my video. Really just I mean it’s like you’re in heaven. It’s just an amazing place. Um and uh mountain top’s not too bad. Um you can get on it. I think it’s about 95 for the 13 that you walk. Uh top of the rock I think runs about 90 and it’s a 9hole. It’s a little more amusementy. It’s got some, you know, built-in stuff that makes it look more, you know, mountainy and all that. You know, this area is known for its, you know, it’s outdoors. And so, it’s going to sell that, you know, and everything that it builds, every, you know, everything’s log cabin or whatever. And that and that’s that’s just part of the nature of the Ozark Mountains. It’s a beautiful area. And so, um, that course is a little bit like that. Now, Top of the Rock is just a little bit away from the complex that houses Pain Valley, Buffalo Ridge, Ozark National Mountaintop. Now, they also built just recently and just have uh just opened it. I’ve not played it yet because it’s pretty you’re not going to get on it for a while. Maybe this fall. Uh it’s pretty booked up. It’s called cliffhers, and they, from what I understand, have got some really cool holes on it. Uh, one of them you’re actually hitting out of a kind of a cave area. Uh, and the water, from what I understand, there’s like a small wall of water that comes down. So, I’m not real sure if you hit the I’m not But Cliffhangers is super popular right now. and it’s just a nine-hole walk uh course, but uh again, when you come down here, if you’re coming down to Branson, you’ve got many options. And here in Springfield, too, uh like I told you, Riverut and and Horton Smith, our our local municipal is well worth playing. So, uh you got a lot of different options when you come down this way. Now, if you’re in the Joplain area, I’ve got a couple courses I’d really like to highly recommend. One of them is in Carl Junction, which is right by Joplin, and that’s called uh Brierbrook. Now, Brierbrook is a real gym. It is not a super difficult course, but it’s just fun, and the people are fantastic. I just every time I go to Joplain, I come away thinking how great a community that is. The people there are kind and considerate. Uh they go out of the way. when you get in Branson, you get some of them are a little, you know, touristy and they’re just pushing. Uh, but a lot of them uh in Branson are the hospitality is is something that’s it’s that’s a priority for them also. Um, but I tell you this, uh, this uh, Brierbrook Bri I I would recommend that. And another one there, and I know I’m gonna I never can’t pronounce this properly. Schaffend Decker. Shiff and Decker. Uh, I’ve only played this a couple of times. Uh, but I tell you, it was very inexpensive. This was probably, and I, you know, everybody always says these makes these big declarations, but this may really may have been the most affordable as far as a high quality golf course. I I want to say I paid 40, 39,40. Seriously. uh with cart uh and it is a really nice course and so you know I and it may have been a senior rate don’t get me wrong but whatever it is it’s it’s going to be a bargain for you it’s well worth the trip there no doubt now I uh I know you don’t know a lot about me but I grew up in Galveston Texas I um I didn’t start playing golf actually grew up in Galveston moved to Missouri um to go to college and ended up meeting my wife uh and uh and moved in with her when I was 19. I she passed away in 23 in June of 23. So um but golf was one of those things that I never played. I you know I coached baseball and umpired at the highest levels but I just never played golf. Um, and it wasn’t really till I retired at at at 60, uh, in 2018 that I even played at all. Um, and then it was just, you know, once twice a month maybe, you know, but once Joe passed and I tried to find another way to, um, you know, something purposeful for me, uh, golf kind of fit the bill because she couldn’t play golf. she had shoulder issues and and so she never really developed uh uh I mean I think she had the desire it’s just her body wouldn’t allow her to and so you know um so we didn’t play golf together and so it’s one of those things I can do you know and I don’t have a lot of you know past uh you know memories you know so it’s been a real good path for me it’s been a great great opportunity for me uh to kind you know, create a new path, you know, for a better term. So, but you know, putting that aside, I’ve I’ve really devoted myself to golf. I you know, I play Oh my goodness. I Well, I play a lot. You know, I typically play five to six days a week or four to six days a week. Anyhow, um, and so I’m always playing somewhere and always videoing and and so, you know, uh, that’s why I want to create this channel and and promote, uh, golfing in this area and and hopefully do some other things besides just show golf videos, you know, cuz I’ve got friends that that do, you know, crazy great things. I got a really good buddy that uh built a golf course basically from the ground up. I mean, you know, really had to do everything to make it a quality golf course. And um you know, um would love to talk with him and and let him share some of his ideas with some of those out there uh that think those kind of things are interesting. So, there’s a lot of, you know, good content that can uh that can be explored. Okay. Now, growing up in Texas, I still go down there. And of course, I go down I go down in February, you know, maybe early March and then I go again back in, you know, late September and October. Uh, and part of the reason I don’t go down in between that is because, you know, it’s South Texas and so, you know, when I grew up down there in the 70s, it was hot, but, you know, it’s about 10 times hotter and about 10 times more congested. So, I only go down and play some golf and see my friends and come back home. But I love it when I’m down there. Don’t get me wrong. I It’s, you know, Galveston’s always been part of who I am, you know. So, but on the way down, uh, one of the cool places I play is it’s in Claremore, AR Claremore, Oklahoma. It’s Heritage Hills. And it’s again, very inexpensive, but a fantastic little 18 hole. and it’s right on I 44 as you’re going uh you know out of the state of Missouri uh towards Tulsa. And uh speaking of Tulsa, here’s a cool course. It’s called Canyons. Um it’s got the blow what they call the black goat trail. And there’s one hole that you hit and you literally don’t see the green. It’s down below you. So you hit out into empty space. um and hope you hit the green, you know. So, it’s pretty cool. And uh and another course that has a whole it’s very similar to that in Ferris, Texas, just south of Dallas is the old Brickyard. Uh Ferris, Texas or Ferris Bricks used to be uh you know, an extremely desirable brick. And uh so this brick, this old brickyard’s been converted into a golf course. And so it’s very unusual uh of a golf course, but uh if you’re in Ferris, Texas, just about 20 miles south of Dallas on I44, I mean on I45. Uh but yeah, I would highly recommend the old Brickyard. Um this last time I went down, I found this golf course that I really wanted to play and it was well worth the money. Uh, and it’s a replica of all well of I think four or five to different uh golf courses throughout the United States. You know, famous courses like there there’s three holes from um uh Augusta and uh you know, Oakmont. Uh uh there’s a few there. This is called the Tour 18. And Tour 18 is they had one in Dallas. I’ve not played it, but this one was in Houston, actually just north of Houston. Um, and it’s expensive, but you through my Golf Now app, I got during the weekday in the morning, I got on there and, uh, I think I paid 70 maybe. It wasn’t bad. I mean, it’s usually, you know, 110, 120, something like that. So, um, but if you’re in the Houston area, Conro, I think it was in con no. but it was a little north of Houston. So, uh, but that’s true 18. It was a lot of fun. Really enjoyed it. Um, I think probably the best golf course I’ve ever played, um, was a private course and my friend that I grew up with that I went to school in high school, Jack Brown, um, you know, his family is well to do and he is also and you know, they’re members of the the country club there and so very expens Well, I think I’ll pay 115, but my goodness, it They treat you like you’re a king or a knight in my case. But uh that’s called uh the Galveastston Country Club. Oh my goodness. You know, being private, you’re going to have to have a connection. So, I don’t know why I’m telling you about it, but um maybe just because it’s my favorite course of all time. You know, I played it twice. Um and I played it once pretty well and the other time so so. Uh, one time on 17 I hit off to the left and I walked up there and there’s an alligator that lives one of the little ponds. Well, I don’t know if you call them ponds, just, you know, it’s a bio, you know, a you might call it a kind of lagoon area, but, you know, I grew up down there. It’s in the bio. And so, you know, it’s there’s no trees on this course. There’s some palm trees and a whole lot of water and a whole lot of sand, you know. Uh, but my goodness, it is just an absolutely beautiful golf course and it’s way out on West Island. There’s another good course on Galveastston Island called Moody Gardens. I’ve played it two or three times, too. The thing about Galveston Island is it’s always windy. So, you know, you’re not only playing a Lynx course with a lot of sand and, you know, things of that nature, but you’re having to deal with the wind. So, you know, that’s that that always makes it uh uh just that much more special. And uh I’ve got a friend down there named Johnny Oali. Really good friend that takes really good care of me when I come down. And uh he took me to a course first time I came down. We’ve played it a second time. And again, this course is not real expensive, but it is just absolutely exceptional. and it’s called Eagle Point and it’s in the Baytown area. Um, actually it’s called Oh, I don’t have my glasses on. Um, Mount Blu or something like that. It’s kind of a French name or a lot of things down there are French, you know. Um, but u a lot of fl French influence down there obviously. Uh, but um it is just wow. uh hole one there is just one it’s just a it’s it’s just a beautiful beautiful course so much fun to play and so um uh I I like to play it when we go down there you know and I’ll be going back down in September uh and um I’ll probably want to play it again. I mean there’s a few more down there. There’s one in the wilderness in uh um Lake uh Jackson down there that’s that’s a real gym, too. Uh that I’d like to play again. But uh but you know, uh one of the reasons I want to do this podcast is uh I I guarantee you there’s somebody out there watching this that’s got a really nice course they like. Um and I’d love for you to share that, you know, with me. And I know this isn’t live now. I’m going to have to learn the live stream and, you know, how to create all that and and and do that. Um, but I think, you know, this is going to be a good opportunity. I think there’s a real niche there, uh, for people like you and me, people that want to know more about golf, uh, really golf courses and and different things like that. If you’re anything like me, you have a difficult time watching a lot of videos because one guy says this and the next guy says that. And you know, I was a baseball coach for a number of years and I remember trying to teach my high school kids certain things and I really realized that the the key a lot of times to getting knowledge across is simplifying it. you know, if you can kind of make it uh it’s simple and have them something they can, you know, kind of focus on or register a gauge, um then then you can evaluate whether whatever you’re doing or or trying to adjust is is having value for you. And so I think it’s important for us all to share those ideas, you know, uh because I’m not going to sit here and watch a bunch of videos made by guys that, you know, and I know that’s good stuff, but I think it’s better if it was you and me talking about golf, you know, you telling me what’s working for you and and me sharing some of the things that that I think have worked for me and some of the quality golf courses and and some of those holes to watch out for. Um um and upcoming tournaments. I’ve learned this is another thing I have learned that uh uh playing golf tournaments is just absolute pure joy. Uh for one thing, you got somebody to help you. The other thing is you might win some money. And u and the thing is is the other people are just like you out there having fun. So the camaraderie is just exceptional. And here’s the thing with tournaments that some of you may not know. I didn’t really know this. They make these things called flights, you know, groups basically. Now, these groupings can be, you know, five, six teams. They could be 10, 12 teams, maybe even more depending on the size of the of the field. But what it allows you to do is create um different groups so that money can be won by people that are not exceptionally good golfers. Let me give you an example. Okay, let’s say championship flight. The the championship team wins with a 65. Okay, and the third place had a 67. Well, what if I shot a 69? I wouldn’t get in the money. But B flight first place might be 69. R 68 and 69 might be second. Okay. What if I shot a 72 man? 65 won the whole thing. I’m, you know, eight strokes away or nine strokes, 10 strokes away. Maybe I don’t have a chance. Well, Cight, you might. Okay. And so a lot of times in tournaments, you don’t have to go in there and be a, you know, semi-pro. In fact, you don’t even have to be all that great. You know, you got teammates to help you. Um, then every once in a while, you make a great shot and they’ll be happy for you and you’ll feel like you’re contributing. And then the more you play, then maybe you’ll be the one doing the most contributing and helping your friends along the way. But it’s a great way to share a a fun time. Um, and I totally I I encourage all of you out there to play more tournaments. They sound expensive, but really, you know, I mean, you’re paying 80, 90 bucks. You might win some of it back. You know, we played a tournament a couple weeks ago. It was I think we paid 110 and we got a $100 back. So, you know, of course that’s played one Saturday and you know, cut off for third place of championship was 66, first place for B flight was 68 and we had a 67. So, sometimes you don’t get it, but you know, sometimes you do. And it’s all about the fun. They feed you, you know, typically these tournaments do. And so you get to meet different people and and share, you know, common interests because they’re out there playing golf just like you, you know, and then that way you don’t feel so hesitant to play because nobody’s perfect and nobody’s, you know, if we were we’d be on the tour or whatever, you know. Uh we’re just out there to have a good time. So well, I’ve probably taken enough of your time. I’d love you to subscribe to my YouTube channel. It’s Golf Traveler with Den Knight. Just all, you know, at Golf Traveler with Denise Knight. And my name’s French. I was born in Montreal, but I lived all my life in in the States. J, just haven’t been working up there. But my name is spelled D N I S, just like Dennis, but with one N. Uh, and of course, Nidus, K Ni G-H. So, you know, if you would just go in and golferwith knight, you should get on to my uh my homepage and then that should direct you to this podcast and my videos. I have about 45 right now of courses in this area. Um, and I’m going to continue to add to those. So, again, I’d love for you to uh become a member. I’m going to set up a live feed podcast uh and I’ll get that announcement out there as to when that’s going to take place. That way, you know, if you want to participate, you can. More than likely, it’ll be on Sunday evenings because that’s kind of a downtime for a lot of people. Uh but I have not made that decision as of yet. It may be another day. Uh but again, um stay tuned and I’ll I’ll I’ll let you know. Okay, Golf Traveler signing out.
