Tiger Woods-Designed Golf Course At Big Cedar Lodge Adds Bar Next To 19th Hole Tee Box

The “19th hole” can take different meanings at different golf courses. At some, it refers to an actual extra hole: typically a fun, par 3 bet-settler of sorts after the standard 18 holes. Perhaps more commonly, it’s popular terminology for the bar, grill room or any post-round gathering spot where golfers can grab a drink.

At Big Cedar Lodge in the Ozarks of Missouri, they’ve combined both at the resort’s newest course designed by Tiger Woods.

A new bar has been added steps away from the tee box of the dramatic closing hole at Payne’s Valley, adding even more “juice” to a thrilling finale. The layout boasts one of the most memorable physical 19th holes in golf, with an island green in a pond at the base of a limestone wall about 150 feet below the clubhouse.

The bar isn’t the only addition at the bonus hole at Payne’s Valley, which is the newest and most expensive of the five courses at Big Cedar ($300 peak season fee for resort guests). There’s also a new elevated tee box with a short walking bridge to the bar along with a new waterfall feature that showcases the limestone cliff.

The enhancements add to the incredible setting around the 19th hole, where recently added golf cottages (complete with a backyard putting green) on the cliffside overlook the course. Payne’s Valley, which plays down and through a valley on one side of the Mountain Top clubhouse, is an homage to pro golfer Payne Stewart, the Missouri resident and three-time major championship winner who died in a 1999 plane crash.

Located in Southwest Missouri, Big Cedar Lodge was created by Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris as a wilderness resort at which families and friends could connect in the great outdoors. In recent years, it has grown into one of golf’s top destinations, with courses designed by names like Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tom Fazio and Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. When Payne’s Valley debuted less than two years ago, it became the first course in the U.S. built by Tiger Woods and his TGR Design team to be open to public play.