Buffalo Ridge Springs Course

Golf Course Overview: Buffalo Ridge Springs Course

Insights From An Insider With Greg Thomas, PGA Head Golf Professional

By Brian Weis

Local and traveling golfers love to research courses before playing them, whether it is to gain some local knowledge or to set an expectation before their upcoming round. Below is an interview with Greg Thomas who shares some valuable insight about the property, its most talked about holes and the signature dish/drink to consume at the 19th hole.

How Does Your Course Differ From The Others In The Area?
Buffalo Ridge Springs provides a great golfing experience with fantastic vistas, free ranging American Bison, beautiful water features and natural rock of the Ozark Mountains. Combined with superior playing conditions and world class service, Buffalo Ridge is the next great golfing destination.

For someone who has not played the course in awhile, has there been any new changes/renovations to the course or property?
Come and play the beautifully transformed Buffalo Ridge Springs Course, formerly Branson Creek Golf Club. The Springs course has been greatly enhanced and improved over the last few years with a complete bunker renovation, new bridges and water features, native prairie grasses frame the course and American Bison roam the ridge above.

What is your course's answer to Amen Corner? (Describe your best/hardest 3 back/back/back holes)
Holes 12, 13 and 14 at Buffalo Ridge Springs are as good a test as you will find anywhere in the Midwest. Playing 477, 462 and 615 respectively, the two par fours and long par 5 all require precise tee shots still leaving you with a good distance into large greens on your approach shot. Keep the ball in play off the tee and par is a great score on all three of these great golf holes.

What is your course's claim to fame, or is there a little known fact that golfers should know about the property?
Buffalo Ridge Springs, designed by Johnny Morris and Tom Fazio, is soon to be introducing two new courses as well. One designed by Gary Player and the other by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. Buffalo Ridge along with the extraordinary Top of the Rock, a Jack Nicklaus 9-hole signature par 3 course, an Arnold Palmer-designed driving range and Tom Watson putting green, we have a golf experience as legendary as the names who designed them.

What tournaments/events have you (recently) hosted or will be hosting?
Buffalo Ridge Springs is home to the PGA TOUR Champions, Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf. Buffalo Ridge Springs and Top of the Rock have been home to the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf the past two years and will again host the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson to name a few April 22-24, 2016. Get your tickets at www.bassprolegends.com

Besides golf, what other amenities do you offer if a golfer wants to spend most of the day at your facility?
Big Cedar Lodge, America's Premier Resort Wilderness Resort, located just minutes away from Top of the Rock and Buffalo Ridge is home to lodges, private cabins, world-class spa, a 100-slip marina and numerous unique dining venues. Visit www.bigcedar.com

Signature sandwich or drink?
Buffalo Ridge Springs offers a variety of sandwiches and hot dogs with a full service bar that makes a mean bloody mary.

Social Media Links - Follow Buffalo Ridge Springs Course

Contact Course
Buffalo Ridge Springs Course
1001 Branson Creek Blvd.
Hollister, MO, 65672
417-339-5430
www.topoftherock.com

Revised: 02/19/2016 - Article Viewed 32,007 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.