Lake Valley Golf & Country Club

Getting To Know: Lake Valley Golf & Country Club

An Insightful Interview With Daniel Robertson, Head Golf Professional

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Daniel Robertson who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
Mid-Missouri's most unique course design featuring six par 3's, six par 4's, and six par 5's. Well maintained grounds with bermuda fairways and bent grass greens. The fairways are generous and offer every level of golfer an enjoyable round. The greens are quick and feature some tricky contour. Lake Valley offers everyone a fun and memorable round of golf.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
Lake Valley allows players of all abilities an enjoyable, yet challenging day of golf. The course is well manicured and allows for a timely round of golf.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
When in doubt, take less club on your approaches. If you go long or get above the holes you are in for a real challenge. Often you are better off chipping from in front than putting from the back of the green.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
Lake Valley has been voted #1 golf course at the Lake of the Ozarks three different times and has hosted several amateur and junior amateur events.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
There are several scenic and challenging holes at Lake Valley. Most often it is the tricky greens that are talked about and the unique 6-6-6 course layout that is remembered.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
One of my favorite holes is the Par 5 #16 hole. The short yardage on the card is deceiving. The second half of the hole is all uphill with water right and a very large walnut tree guarding the left side. A pond is waiting all down the left side of the landing area just waiting for a late in the round lazy swing. The green features a lot of slope and putting the ball above the hole usually means three putts. All in all, be happy with a par and move quickly to the next tee.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
The Greenside Bar & Grill offers some of the Lake's finest Pizza to go along with daily lunch specials and a nice menu of delectable sandwiches and refreshments.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
Men - Ray Carey - 62 Women - Girlen McClanahan - 70

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 6373
Slope: 124
Rating: 70.9

More Information
Lake Valley Golf & Country Club
367 C.C. Blair Drive
Camdenton, Missouri, 65020
573-346-7218
www.lakevalleygolf.com

Revised: 06/21/2013 - Article Viewed 31,608 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.