A news conference to be held on April 18 in conjunction with the PGA Champions Tour’s Legends of Golf event in Branson, Mo. is expected to include confirmation that Woods will design an 18-hole course, as the latest being developed by Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris to continue to establish the Big Cedar Lodge resort as a golf destination.
Twitter posts on Thursday afternoon, April 13, indicated that a news conference on Tuesday, April 18, will include the official announcement that Tiger Woods will design a golf course adjacent to the Buffalo Ridge Springs course in Hollister, Mo., the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader reported.
According to the website The Fried Egg, which covers professional golf and golf course architecture, the public 18-hole course would take over much of the space that was occupied by the former John Daly-owned Murder Rock Golf Club, sitting between the Buffalo Ridge course and the new Gary Player 13-hole, par-3 course that has been built near that property, the News-Leader reported.
Woods said on Twitter on Wednesday, Apri 12 that “I’ve always wanted to design a public course, and I’m very happy that my TGR Design company will make a big announcement next week.”
There have been reports that the private jets of both Woods and Michael Jordan have been spotted in the Branson, Mo. area in recent months, the News-Leader reported.
A representative of Bass Pro Shops, which has developed golf courses in the Branson area as part of the Big Cedar Lodge resort created by Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris, wouldn’t comment on those rumors, the News-Leader reported. But the representative did confirm that a press conference will be held on April 18 in conjunction with the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf, the PGA Champions Tour event that will be played at the resort’s Top of the Rock and Buffalo Ridge Springs Course.
The area also includes The Ozarks course, a new Buffalo Ridge layout under construction that is being designed by the highly regarded golf course design firm Coore & Crenshaw.
At last month’s media day for the Legends of Golf, Morris talked about how big of a golf mecca the area could be in the future, the News-Leader reported.
“One of the goals with all this is to have the courses complement each other and create enough critical mass of excitement for this to be known as a golf destination,” Morris said. “We’re overbuilding for just the local market. There just isn’t that much.
“Our goal and strategy has to be to attract people from a large area,” Morris added.
Speaking of The Ozarks course, Morris said he envisions it as not only part of a golf destination locale, but as a possible host for higher-level tournaments, including PGA Tour stops, the News-Leader reported.
“That doesn’t come easy, but it’s certainly a goal,” Morris said. “I think the quality of the architecture, and all of the other attention, would be designed to attract the highest level of professional golf competition.”
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