Mountain Ranch Golf Club at Fairfield Bay

Mountain Ranch is Edmund Ault's 1984 championship design at Fairfield Bay, Arkansas, a resort community on Greers Ferry Lake in the northern Ozarks. Ault routed 6,780 yards par 72 through undulating Ozark terrain with mature hardwoods framing tight corridors and deep bunkering defending the greens. At a 140 slope rating, it plays considerably harder than its length suggests. The course is ranked the #1 resort course in Arkansas and has been fixture of Arkansas golf for four decades. Golf Digest placed it inside the top 5 Best in State rankings in 1991, notable for a resort community course competing against private and trail courses. Fairfield Bay as a destination pairs the lake-community amenities with the golf, making Mountain Ranch the anchor round for a multi-day northern Arkansas trip. The course has hosted more than five state golf championships over its history, which speaks to its championship-level defensive characteristics: narrow landing areas, fast greens, and a routing that rewards positional play off the tee. Pair with Big Creek (2000 Thomas Clark/Ault Clark design near Mountain Home) for a serious Ozark golf itinerary that compares Ault's 1980s work with his firm's turn-of-the-century project.