Golf History in Missouri

Steeped in history, the 9-hole Kenwood Golf Links in Hyde Park was a true pioneer. It was the 17th golf course in the United States and one of the first established west of the Mississippi. Though a fire destroyed the clubhouse a year after it opened, the club’s spirit remained intact. The members reorganized to form the Kansas City Country Club, eventually relocating to the area near present-day Loose Park. That is where they built a larger, more expansive facility.¹

Established in 1892, the St. Louis Country Club is among the oldest in the United States. Although now renowned for its golf, it was originally founded in Berkeley as a polo club—a heritage still reflected today by the horseshoes and mallet in its logo. After relocating to Clayton in 1895 and debuting its first golf course a year later, the club moved to its permanent home in Ladue in 1913, officially opening the new course in 1914. (See 1914 Below)

The history of the Kansas City Country Club begins in 1896, making it one of the oldest clubs west of the Mississippi. Its original 18-hole course sat on land owned by Hugh Ward until 1926, when the lease finally ran out. This transition cleared the way for J.C. Nichols to develop the area into the famous Country Club District, while the club itself crossed the state line to establish its new roots in Kansas.²

Bellerive Country Club is one of the most prestigious courses in the country. The club dates to 1896. It made a name for itself when they opened a 9-hole course in 1897 in north St. Louis, known as The Field Club on the Bissel property on Bellefontaine Road. The named changed to Bellerive and moved to a new location in Normandy in 1910. (See more of Bellerive in 1959)

Back in 1898, Tower Grove Park was home to a unique bit of St. Louis golf history. A 6-hole course was established there specifically for women who were fed up with being sidelined at their husbands’ club, the St. Louis Country Club. It went by two different names—the Carondelet Park Links Club and the Tower Grove Park Golf Club—though nobody is quite sure why. They even built their own clubhouse on the northwest corner of the park, but the club ended up closing its doors just five years later in 1903.³

If there is a “secret” center of Missouri power, it’s the Log Cabin Club. Founded in 1899, this Ladue landmark is famous for having only a handful of members and a strictly private atmosphere. While it started as a 9-hole course, a 1911 agreement with the adjacent Bogey Club created a full 18-hole circuit across two distinct properties. It was the preferred hideaway for U.S. Presidents seeking a quiet place to talk shop with Missouri’s elite. Notably, it also holds the title of the oldest course in the state that has never moved from its original location.⁴

As one of Missouri’s oldest private golf institutions, Algonquin Golf Club has a nomadic origin story that many current members might not realize. The club originally debuted in 1899 (and operated through 1901–1903) within the Webster Park neighborhood of Webster Groves. During those early years, the “clubhouse” was famously just a leased room in the Missouri-Pacific railroad station. Rapid residential development eventually forced a move, and in 1903, the club commissioned renowned architect Tom Bendelow to design a new 9-hole course on the Glendale border. The facility eventually expanded to a full 18-hole championship layout in 1914.⁵

The St. Louis Amateur Athletic Association course got its start in Forest Park in 1898 near the Forsyth Avenue and Skinker Boulevard. It expanded in 1901 and became the area’s first 18 hole course. This expansion occurred at the location of the current Forest Park Golf Course. It stayed there for a short period. In 1902, it moved to the other end of the park to accommodate the 1904 World’s Fair. In 2010, the course was refurbished and renamed as The Highlands Golf and Tennis Center.

Did you know Missouri is home to the first Olympic golf course in the United States? Established in 1901 in Normandy, Glen Echo Country Club was built as the ultimate “getaway” for the city’s power players. It was so exclusive and high-traffic that it boasted its own train stop for easy access from downtown. Beyond its role as a social hub, it made sports history as the host of the 1904 Olympic Golf Tournament. That championship legacy didn’t stop at the turn of the century, either—the club has remained a professional-grade venue, hosting the LPGA’s finest over the decades.

Established in 1901 and designed by Robert Foulis, Normandie Golf Club stands as one of the oldest public courses west of the Mississippi still operating on its original site. While it maintained its status as a private club for over eight decades, it transitioned to a public facility in 1984. The course holds a significant place in sports history as the host of the 1908 Western Open—the first professional golf tournament ever held in the St. Louis area—won by four-time U.S. Open champion Willie Anderson. After decades of decline, the club entered a transformative era in 2021. Under the “Normandie Reimagined” initiative, the Metropolitan Golf Foundation acquired the land from the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL), and Jack Nicklaus announced he would donate his design services to lead a total refurbishment of the historic grounds.sted the Western Open, which was the first professional event held in the area.

The story of the Sedalia Country Club is a fascinating window into the early days of Missouri’s sporting culture. While many clubs were born from private estates, this one shared its cradle with the Missouri State Fair.

In 1903, the State Fair Board granted permission for a rudimentary course to be carved into the fairgrounds, a move that signaled golf’s rising popularity in the Midwest. The club was officially formed in 1905, and the full course opened a few years later.

Today, the course stands not just as a place for a Sunday round, but as a legacy of civic pride. This blend of agriculture and athletics reflects the unique character of Sedalia’s history—a place where fair traditions and the “royal and ancient game” have walked hand-in-hand for over a century.

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The Evanston Golf Club was located where Swope Park currently sits and was Kansas City’s first public golf course. The club was organized several years earlier in 1897 in Fairmount Park. It moved to Evanston in 1901 and took its name there. It was relocated again to a rural area southeast of Kansas City in 1905.⁷ The area is now the location of Southeast High School.

The Springfield Country Club opened in 1907 a few blocks west of what is now Phelps Grove Park. The club operated for three decades until the clubhouse burned. John Q. Hammons bought the land and developed it with street names reflecting the history including Fairway Avenue and Country Club Terraces.⁸

Westwood Country Club is known as one of the Big 4 elite clubs in St. Louis along with Old Warson, St. Louis Country Club, and Bellerive. The club was originally started in 1907 for Jewish families because they were excluded form other clubs in the area. The club started in Glendale where Westborough Country Club now sits. It moved to its current location in 1928. The members purchased a large plot of farmland further west for a new course.

A country club worthy of local VIPs and visiting dignitaries was finally opened Jefferson City in 1911. The Jefferson City Country Club was first designed to have 150 members. This included 100 from the immediate area and 50 from outside the area. This was a time when there were groups still trying to move the capital out of the city. The club intended for the 50 spaces for “outsiders” to be filled with people supporting Jefferson City. They were in favor of keeping it as the state capital.

The Bogey Club is another exclusive club in St. Louis where it is incredibly tough to become a member. Even their web site spells it out. “Membership is limited and offered by invitation only to the city’s top corporate and civic leaders.” The course in Ladue was designed by golf course architect Robert Foulis. It became a place where regional leaders gather to play golf.

The origins of Oakwood Country Club date back to 1893, just not as a golf club. The Progress Club used it as a “summer home.” This group consisted of Kansas City Jewish leaders in the Progress Hill neighborhood. In 1912, it became a golf club. These families formed Oakwood Country Club because they were excluded from other country clubs in town.

St. Joseph Country Club was formed in 1898, but moved to its current setting in 1912. It may seem like a surprise that St. Joseph has such an upscale clubhouse. This happened so early in Missouri’s history. However, the city has a history to support it. In the late 1800s, there were more millionaires per capita in St. Joseph than any city in America, so the area had the wealth to support such a club.¹⁰

The Forest Park Golf Course has become one of the finest urban golf courses in the Midwest. The course sits on the same ground where the Triple A golf course was prior to the World’s Fair. The first nine opened in 1912, the second nine in 1913, and the third nine in 1915. A lawsuit in 1922 changed its status. It became one of the few courses in the state that allowed black golfers to play (see 1923). The course that meanders through the park was redone in 2004 and became known at the Norman Probstein Golf Course.

The legendary St. Louis Country Club dates back to 1892 when it was a polo club. They built their first course in Clayton. It was getting too congested, so they moved again to Ladue on land owned by the St. Louis Archdiocese. The bought the land and opened their new course in 1914. Since then, St. Louis Country Club has remained one of the most exclusive private clubs in St. Louis and the course is often ranked as one of the best private courses in America.

The Mission Hills Country Club opened in 1914, but this story has a bit of a twist. The course was built mostly in Kansas, with a smaller part in Missouri. Liquor laws are the blame for this oddity. Kansas had strict liquor laws in place at the time, but Kansas City was much more lenient. So the clubhouse in Missouri so members could drink freely.

The city of Excelsior Springs was affluent in the early 1900s. It was also a popular tourist destination. This was thanks to the nearby springs. They capitalized on that notoriety in 1915 when they built an 18-hole course. They then added another 18 holes. The Great Depression knocked out tourism and money for greens fees. Today, the Excelsior Springs Golf Course remains 18 holes.

Hillcrest Golf and Country Club dates to 1916, but has deeper roots in Kansas City. In 1912, James Dalgleish managed the Evanston Golf Club nearby. He then began working with golf course architect Donald Ross. Together, they created a new private course just south of Swope Park.

First of all, no, Adolphus Busch did not establish Sunset Hills Country Club. He was not excluded from joining other private clubs in the area.

The actual story is he realized St. Louis needed a club in South St. Louis County. So he built the Sunset Inn as a supper club. Then his son, August Busch Sr., began acquiring land for the golf club in 1910. The plan to build was developed in 1915 and completed in 1917.¹¹

A judge named Arthur Hough set aside land for the Jefferson City to use as a public park in 1917. One year after that, a course started to take shape. It became the first public golf course in the city and is the only municipal course within the city limits. The Jefferson City Country Club was interested in the land. They had considered buying it before it became a public golf course.¹²

The Oaks Country Club was formerly known as Mexico Country Club. It opened in 1920. It has been a staple in the historic mid-Missouri community for more than 100 years.

The “Original Country Club”, as some locals call it, is one of the most historic courses in mid-Missouri. Columbia Country Club was the first private club in Columbia and dates back to 1921. Legendary PGA players Ben Hogan and Sam Snead played the course in 1942. Their game brought much deserved attention to the private course.

Kirksville Country Club was founded in the 1920s as the golf course boom across the midwest got into full swing. It started as a 9 hole course, but has expanded to 18.

Cape Girardeau Country Club opened in 1921. The club itself was built on the highest point on the land, but was destroyed in 1963. A luxurious new club was built to replace it.

North Hills Country Club opened in 1922. Other private country clubs were located nearby at the time in north St. Louis County. It started as North Hills Country Club and has hosted some of the top Tour events in the country.

Ben Hogan won the PGA Championship at Norwood Hills in 1948. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

The Schifferdecker Golf Course opened in 1922. It had 73 charter members who paid annual dues of $2.50. The course also sits alongside Route 66 for some added history.

Black golfers begin making efforts to play golf on public courses in St. Louis. Most notably, four men began booking tee times in Forest Park after applying for “golf permits” in 1922. A judge granted the black golfers access to the course on Monday mornings. They had to be off the course later in the day when the bell at the clubhouse rang.¹³ This initiated a movement. The love of golf spread through the black community as more courses across the state integrated.

The first public golf course in St. Louis County opened in 1924 in Creve Coeur. The 9-hole Creve Coeur Golf Course remains open to the public today.

One of the first courses in Northwest Missouri opened in St. Joseph in 1925. The Fairview Golf Course in St. Joseph remains a municipal course that is still in operation nearly 100 years after it opened.

The West Plains Country Club was founded in 1926 and is one of the oldest clubs in southeast Missouri.

The Lake of the Ozarks has many historic courses. It surprises many that Eldon Golf Club was the first. This was an era when tourists began flocking to the lake after Bagnell Dam was completed. Local businessmen built the 9-hole golf course to attract tourists. Due to that development, locals also benefited from the area’s newfound popularity.

Missouri-native Horton Smith claimed the honors at the inaugural Augusta National Invitational, which later became known as The Masters. The 25-year-old Springfield native pulled through with a one stroke victory. He won the event again two years later, also making him the first two-time winner of The Masters.

Swope Park has been at the center of golf in Kansas City for decades. It’s no surprise that Swope Memorial Golf Course is in the history books as well. The public course was designed in 1934. It became the only public course in the Kansas City area to host a PGA Tour event. This event was the inaugural Kansas City Open in 1949.

Another Springfield native, Herman Keiser, won The Masters in 1946. That means in the first 12 years of the historic golf tournament, someone from Missouri won 3 of them. Keiser went on to win several more tournaments, but 1946 was his only “golf major” victory.

The Show Me State made history at the St. Louis Country Club in Ladue 1947. A professional golf match was broadcast on television for the first time ever. Lew Worsham defeated Sam Snead in a playoff to win the U.S Open. KSD-TV produced the live broadcast that was seen across the St. Louis area. That set the stage for national broadcasts to begin in 1953.

The Kansas City Open was a PGA Tour golf tournament. It began in 1949 at Swope Park Golf Course. The tournament continued for nearly a decade at courses across the area.

The last of the Big 4 Elite courses came into reality in 1954 as Old Warson opened in Ladue. The goal was to design a course to get national recognition. And that is exactly how Robert Trent Jones ended up back in St. Louis. Since then, the course has become one of the premier private courses in Missouri. It has hosted numerous high profile tournaments. That includes the Ryder Cup in 1971.
Fun Fact: The 1971 Ryder Cup team that played at Old Warson included Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Lee Trevino.

Bellerive Country Club moved from Normandy to its present location in 1959. The Robert Trent Jones course opened the following year and wasted no time in letting the world see how magnificent the course was. In 1965, it hosted the U.S. Open and became the youngest course ever to host a major golf championship. It also went down in history as the first golf tournament with a Sunday finish as previous events typically finished on Saturday.¹⁵

1962 is the year that the golf boom began at the Lake of the Ozarks. Dogwood Hills Golf Club was located not far from Tan-Tar-A. It featured a driving range and grass greens. Believe it or not, this was a big attraction for tourists at the time because many courses still had sand greens. When a hotel was built in 1984, it became one of the first courses to offer a “stay and play” vacation option.¹⁶ The course closed after 52 years in 2014 as developers gobbled up the land.

Fun Fact: You can still see remnants of the course along Highway KK and along some of the holes on The Oaks Golf Course at Margaritaville.

Hord Hardin was a golfer, golf ambassador and lawyer who left an enduring legacy on the sport. He grew up in St. Louis and graduated from Washington University. Hardin went on to be President of the USGA and Chairman of the Masters Tournament. He was truly one of the most powerful men in the sport for several decades.

Fun Fact: Hardin was the club champion at Bellerive Country Club 22 times.

Tom Watson was a star in high school at Pembroke-Country Day School, winning the Missouri State Amateur Championship four times. On the PGA Tour, he won eight major championships but was especially dominant in the British Open. He won the first of five British Opens in 1975 and kept on winning. Another Missouri twist happened during his final British Open victory in 1983 when he defeated fellow Missourian Hale Irwin by one stroke.

The Robert Trent Jones “Cove Course” opened at the Lodge of Four Seasons in 1979. The course was a stunning addition to courses at the Lake of the Ozarks and helped drive golf tourism in mid-Missouri through the 1980s.

Nobody knew it at the time, but the young man with the great golf swing would be famous in just a matter of years – and not for golf. Jack Wagner of Melrose Place fame was a great athlete before he became a Hollywood heartthrob. He attended St. Francis Borgia High School in Washington before attending East Central College in Union, then Mizzou. He is a two-time winner of the American Century Championship and even started a TV show on ESPN called “Off Course.”

Innsbrook Resort and Country Club became a game-changer when the course opened an hour west of St. Louis near Wright City in 1981.

The 1989 PGA Championship was the 71st PGA Championship held at Kemper Lakes Golf Club. Payne Stewart of Springfield burst onto the scene with the the first of his three major championships.

There is perhaps no better golf story in history than that of John Daly in 1991. He was the 9th alternate for the PGA Championship and wasn’t supposed to play. But his name was called and he answered the challenge. The 25-year old Helias High grad took advantage of his opportunity and shocked the world when he won the PGA Championship at Crooked Stick Golf Club  near Indianapolis. Daly was named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 1991 as well.

Big Cedar Lodge made golf history when the Jack Nicklaus-designed course opened in 1996. Top of the Rock is one of the most beautiful Par 3 courses in the country, all thanks to Johnny Morris. They even brought in Arnold Palmer’s barn from Latrobe, Pennsylvania to be a part of the experience.

The Springfield-Greene County Park Board opened the public course called Rivercut in 1997. In 2009, Golf Digest selected the course as the Number 1 municipal golf course in Missouri.

It was the story that captivated and shocked the nation. On October 25, 1999, a phantom plane was streaking across the country as people watched it play out on TV. The airplane cabin lost pressure and everyone on board died due to hypoxia. When the plan finally crashed in South Dakota, investigators announced that Payne Stewart was on board. He died just four months after he won the U.S. Open. At the time of his death, he was in the Top 10 World Golf Ranking and third on the all-time money winning list.

A gem of a course opened in 2000 thanks to Jack Nicklaus. Developers crafted the Club at Porto Cima through the woods along the coast of the Lake of the Ozarks. Golf writers often list the club as one of the best private courses in the Midwest.

Shoal Creek Golf Course opened in 2001 to rave reviews. The Kansas City Parks and Recreation agency owns the public course that looks more like an elite private course. Golf Digest has rated it a 4-Star Course. Golfweek has ranked it as one of the Top 10 Public Courses in Missouri.

Dalhousie Country Club in Cape Girardeau may be a relatively new club, but it has shot to the top of many rankings. Golf Digest named it the Best New Golf Club in 2003, one year after it opened. Here are other honors:

• Best New Private Clubs – Golf Digest 2003
• 4-Time Golf Digest #1 Course in Missouri
• Rolex Award- Ranked as “Top 1000 Golf Courses in the World”
• Golfweek 2014 “Top 200 Modern Courses in US”
• ​Golf Inc. 2009 “Top Clubhouse of the Year”
• ​Two-time Golfweek Course of Distinction

Tom Watson added another significant victory when he defeated Carl Mason to win the Senior British Open in 2003. This was Watson’s first of three Senior British Open victories including 2003, 2005, and 2007. 2003 was a banner year for the Kansas City golfer. That year he also won the Champions Tour Player of the Year.

Murder Rock Golf Club opened in October of 2007 with national attention thanks to the famous name behind the project. John Daly built an 18-hole golf course among the picturesque Ozark hills, but it lasted only a few years. It garnered awards from golf publications including “Best Courses You Can Play” in 2010 and 2011 from Golfweek Magazine. But the most memorable moment was when Daly showed off his new course to a local TV station, KOLR 10, and played shoeless and shirtless.

PGA Tour Stan Utley grew up in Thayer and played golf at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He led Mizzou to the Big 8 Conference championship, and was named All-American twice. He had some success on the PGA Tour, but saw even more success as a teaching pro. Golf Digest named him as one of America’s 50 Greatest Teachers as voted on by golf pros from around the country.¹⁹

Stone Canyon Golf Club opened in 2009 and quickly became a destination course in the Midwest. Golf Magazine named the public course in Independence one of “Best New Courses You Can Play”. Three years after it opened, the Greg Norman designed course was named “One of the Top 3 Best Public Courses in Missouri.”²⁰

This was the purchase that changed the course of Branson golf. Branson Creek was a Tom Fazio course that opened in 2000. So when Johnny Morris bought the property to expand his footprint in the golf industry, everyone knew big things were on the way. He also purchased nearby Murder Rock just weeks before. The courses were redesigned completely. However, they kept same amazing views as when it opened as Buffalo Ridge in 2014.²¹

Big Cedar’s Top of the Rock is one of the most spectacular par 3 courses on the planet. Of course, when Johnny Morris picked Jack Nicklaus to design the course, you knew it would be amazing. The course made history in 2014 when it became the first par 3 course in PGA history to host a Champions Tour event.

Tiger Woods came to the Ozarks with fellow PGA Tour players Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, and Justin Rose to debut the most anticipated golf course opening in Missouri history. Payne’s Valley was a joint project between Woods and Bass Pro founder Johnny Morris. It is named in honor of Missouri golf legend Payne Stewart. As soon as the course opened, it was immediately on many lists as one of the top courses in the country.²²

Peter Malnati captured the heart of the golf world after winning the Valspar Championship. The Mizzou alum’s tearful interview following the victory went viral on social media. It had been 9 years since his previous victory and his perseverance resonated with the fans.