Mockup. A design concept, not affiliated with any real golf course. Ridge Hollow is an invented name, and the phone number, address, hours, green fees and scorecard yardages below are placeholders.
Lawson, Missouri · Public, 18 holes
Open and forgiving for three holes, then the oaks close in and the creek starts crossing in front of you. Walk it any time you like. Walk-ups on a weekday are usually out inside twenty minutes.
The course
One through three are open and forgiving, and the third is reachable in two downwind, which is how a lot of rounds start optimistically. Then the trees close in. Four and six both bend right off the tee, and the creek crosses in front of the fifth at 280. Eight and nine climb back to the clubhouse, and the ninth plays a full club longer than the yardage says.
The back nine goes out along the ridge, turns at the longest stretch on the course, and comes downhill to finish. Thirteen and sixteen are the two holes that decide most matches. Eighteen is drivable for the brave and a bogey for most of them.
Local rule: the creek left of five and fourteen is a lateral hazard. Play it as marked. Walking is permitted at any time, and the range is open with the course.
Scorecard
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yards | 402 | 168 | 521 | 374 | 431 | 355 | 190 | 498 | 408 | 3,347 |
| Par | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 36 |
| Index | 7 | 17 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 13 | 15 | 5 | 9 | — |
| Hole | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yards | 386 | 512 | 163 | 418 | 347 | 205 | 440 | 534 | 350 | 3,355 | 6,702 |
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 36 | 72 |
| Index | 10 | 4 | 18 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 12 | — | — |
Rated 71.8 / 128 from the blues.
Three that decide it
Hole 5 · Par 4 · 431 yards · Index 1
An elevated tee down a mown corridor with mature oaks both sides and the creek crossing at 280. Long enough that laying back leaves a genuinely long second, short enough that going at it is only mostly stupid. This is the hole people remember about the front nine.
Hole 12 · Par 3 · 163 yards · Index 18
A hundred and sixty three yards straight across the wooded hollow, which is the shot every visitor photographs and roughly half of them then hit into the trees. The green slopes hard back to front. Being above the flag here is worse than being short of the green.
Hole 18 · Par 4 · 350 yards · Index 12
Downhill, three hundred and fifty yards, and the clubhouse porch looks straight down it. The card calls it the twelfth hardest hole on the course, which is true right up until somebody is watching. Take the iron. You will not take the iron.
Green fees
| Weekday | Weekend & holiday | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 holes, walking | $17 | $21 |
| 9 holes, riding | $25 | $29 |
| 18 holes, walking | $26 | $33 |
| 18 holes, riding | $40 | $48 |
| Twilight after 4:00pm, riding | $22 | $26 |
| Senior 62+ and junior 17-, 18 riding | $31 | — |
Visit
The one time worth calling ahead is a weekend morning before ten. Everything else, turn up.
Lawson, Missouri
Public, 18 holes
Carts stay on the path through the fourth. Greens were rolled Tuesday, not aerated.
7:00am to 8:00pm, seven days
Range open with the course. Walking is permitted at any time of day.