Designer Golf Courses DESIGNER HOMES

The year was 1970 and the Lake of the Ozarks was a pure vacation destination. It offered water sports, fishing, the Strip, go-carts, miniature golf and scads of small resorts. There were a couple of local golf courses, but the Lake was not a golf destination. There was insufficient permanent population to support a premium course.

Harold Koplar had built the Lodge of the Four Seasons and had the vision and marketing acumen to believe that although the permanent population could not support a golf course surely the vacationing public could. In addition, the Lake at that time had what was referred to as a 100-day season from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The only business in the spring and fall was a few fishermen and a 10-day period in October when the World Wide Church of God rented the entire Lake for its annual convention.

There was no discount mall, no Wal-Mart, no Lowe’s, no big bass tournaments. The area simply emptied out the day after Labor Day. Thus, if you owned a resort or vacation-oriented business, you made almost all of your money during this 100-day season. The various Chambers of Commerce were always coming up with ideas to enlarge the seasons, but nothing of significant value ever materialized.

Koplar figured with a championship golf course he could attract golfers all spring and fall and thus enlarge the season and enhance his bottom line. In 1970, Robert Trent Jones, Sr., visited our Ozark Hills and the result was the magnificent signature design of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course now called Witch’s Cove. Koplar owned all of the land surrounding and adjacent to the course, and as a developer realized that vacation homes on the course would be a natural.

Burton Duenke, the founding developer of Tan-Tar-A, wasn’t far behind the Lodge. In 1971, he gave legendary groundskeeper Jim Lewis the go ahead to develop an 18-hole course on Rt. KK where Tan-Tar-A’s snow ski lodge was located. Bruce Devlin was commissioned to design the course, but because of the 1970s gas shortage the course was not completed until 1980. The vacation cottages surrounding the hotel’s Hidden Lakes course had worked out well for the owners, and the rental program increased the hotel’s capacity. The new course’s design also included home sites surrounding the course.

Throughout the 1980s there were no noticeable changes in the Lake-area’s golfing scene, but there were other factors that were slowly changing the essence of the Lake of the Ozarks.

The first was the introduction of the condo developments. Suddenly, a middle class American could own a piece of his vacation dream for a reasonable price. He could have his own place with no upkeep or maintenance. Simply drive to your own place at the Lake and play the entire weekend. Next came the Internet boom. The hi-tech world suddenly allowed many employees to work from home, and what better place to live and work than the beautiful Lake of the Ozarks. Next came the retirees who looked at the area and bought their dream. What followed was all the support workers, the professionals, the hospital and finally the businesses necessary to facilitate the needs of this new permanent and semi-permanent population.

Slowly the face of the area was changing from a vacation area to a primary and secondary home community.

The developers of Osage National saw this and in 1992 opened the Arnold Palmer signature design golf course on the North Shore. It featured not only a championship golf course but condos and golf course residential building sites. Although this development had its growing pains, the primary concept was sound.

The 1990s then took off on what was to be the greatest economic boom of the century, and 1999 saw the opening of Old Kinderhook, a Tom Weiskopf signature course complete with a gated residential community. The Lodge of the Four Seasons then presented the area with Porta Cima, a Jack Nicklaus signature gem that featured not only golf course living but acres of waterfront to the mix. These three clubs all were capitalizing on the idea of country club living.

From the early 2000s forward, the boom reached its full height. Tan-Tar-A opened new holes to retail lots, Seasons Ridge saw a plethora of new homes built on the course and Kinderhook and Osage National saw new home construction balloon beyond expectations while Porta Cima saw its Lakefront lots sell out years ahead of schedule.

The most amazing thing was the size and value of the homes. No longer were we building the Ozark fishing cabin, but rather mega mansions with thousands of square feet and amenities never considered 40 years ago. Subdivisions with swimming pools, tennis courts and golf club connections are commonplace. The small mom and pop resorts are a distant memory. Visitors now stay at the hotels or rent a condo.

Golf packages are hot items and bring thousands of golfers to a Lake that has finally become a golf destination.

The boom continues. One need only to ride through Old Kinderhook, Porta Cima or Osage National to see the new million-dollar homes, the sleek new condos, and the multitude of luxury homes under construction to see that the metamorphous from vacation destination to primary residence has been completed.

With the addition of the new expressway by 2010, and the explosion of retail mammoths, one can only wonder what the next 40 years will bring and what entrepreneurs will be ahead of the curve.

Tags: Arnold Palmer, Golf, Homes, Jack Nickalus, Lake Ozark, Osage, Robert Trent Jones, vacation

Category: Homes