GOLF
Did you know? THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT GOLF AT LAKE OF THE OZARKS Story by PAUL LEAHY ost of our readers know there are multiple great golf courses that dot the landscape of Lake of the Ozarks, but did you know there are facts and obscure tidbits about our favorite courses? Golf has been part of the Lake of the Ozarks since 1934 with the opening of nine holes in Eldon. Seventy years later the final golf course was opened in 2004, the Golf Club at Deer Chase. Three courses have closed over the years, Bay View Golf Club, Dogwood Hills Golf Course, and Sycamore Creek Golf Club. The Lake is still home to 243 golf holes, encompassing 13 different facilities. Just shy of 300,000 rounds are played annually with approximately 70 percent of those rounds coming from visitors spending time at the Lake. The economic impact golf has had on the region is unquestioned and the Lake area would be a totally different place without its golf facilities. There are 15 PGA of America member professionals and many more PGA apprentices working at the Lake’s courses. Combined experience of these members is in excess of 225 years. We are blessed to have so many experienced professionals providing us with excellent instruction and unique golfing experiences. Did you know that two airplanes have used fairways at golf courses to land their planes? A plane had to make an emergency landing on the finishing hole at Dogwood Hills when it was on approach to the Grand Glaize Airport. Another plane had engine trouble and made an emergency landing on the Sycamore Creek Golf Course. In both instances the pilots, passengers and golfers were uninjured and the pilot even managed to miss all the hatchery ponds scattered
AL GRIFFIN PHOTO
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In 1994 Lake of the Ozarks hosted the National PGA Professional Championship. A three-person sudden death playoff decided the champion. Sammy Rachels (pictured) took home a $32,000 first-place check.
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P HOT O P ROVIDE D BY PAUL LE A HY
The Club at Old Kinderhook is one of many golf courses in the Lake area that was once farmland.
