Getting To Know: Buffalo Ridge Springs By Brian Weis

Getting To Know: Buffalo Ridge Springs

An Insightful Interview With Greg Thomas, PGA 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 Greg Thomas 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
Buffalo Ridge Springs is an 18 hole public golf course(formerly Branson Creek Golf Club). Already acclaimed as the region's top golf course, Buffalo Ridge has been transformed by the guiding hands of visionary conservationist Johnny Morris and renowned golf course architect Tom Fazio. Adding new approaches, water features and bunkers, Morris and Fazio have redesigned the course layout to bring players in close contact with nature, native grasses and free-ranging buffalo from near-by Dogwood Canyon Nature Park.

Buffalo Ridge Springs Course is an 18-Hole, Par 71 public golf course situated in the heart of the Ozarks.

The golf course measures from 7,036 yards from the back tees to 5,032 yards from the forward tees.

Fairways are Zoysia grass while greens consist of lush Bentgrass. First cut rough is Bermuda while second cut is made up of Fescue.

Branson Creek Golf Club was originally designed by Tom Fazio in 1999 and has undergone a major renovation by Tom Fazio along with new owner, Johnny Morris, to revitalize the course with new water features, bunkers and other enhancements which include free ranging bison from near-by Dogwood Canyon Nature Park.

In June 2014, Buffalo Ridge Springs and Top of the Rock hosted the first annual PGA TOUR's newly renamed Big Cedar Lodge Legends of Golf presented by Bass Pro Shops.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
Buffalo Ridge Springs is playable for golfers of all skill levels, with exceptional playing conditions and beautiful vistas of the Ozarks.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
Fairways and Greens

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
Golf Digest- America's 100 Greatest Public Courses

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
#17 "The Cave" is short par 3 with a cave behind the green and water feature guarding the right hand side of the green

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
#2, a long par four which features a cave just off of the tee box. Along the entire left side of the fairway is a natural rock outcropping fitting of the Ozarks.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
Bison Burger

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
Previous course record was 64, held by four different individuals. Since reopening, course record is 68.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 71
Yardage: 7036
Slope: 130
Rating: 73.4

More Information
Buffalo Ridge Springs
1001 Branson Creek Blvd.
Hollister, Missouri, 65672
417-339-5430
www.topoftherock.com

Revised: 03/05/2015 - Article Viewed 32,306 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.