Payne's Valley

Tiger Woods' TGR Design firm opened Payne's Valley in 2020 at Big Cedar Lodge, the first fully public-access course Woods has completed. A partnership between Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris, Woods, and the Payne Stewart family (Stewart was from nearby Springfield), the course runs through Ozark valleys and over cliff faces, finishing with a bonus 19th hole that plays through a spring-fed cavern system with ancient waterfalls and bridges over 250-foot cliffs. Golf Digest named it Best New Public Course in America at its opening. In its first year of eligibility, it joined Golf Magazine's, Golf Digest's, and Golfweek's Top 100 Public lists, all three in the same year, a rare triple. USA Today named it America's Best Public Golf Course in the 2026 Readers' Choice Awards, and #3 Best Public Course. For a Midwest public-access bucket-list round, this is the newest entry to the conversation.