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M.urphy<J':!nen . illionaire founder of Bass Pro Shops Johnny Morr is is keeping his bets with golf . Despite the Nationa l Golf Foundat ion numbers that the game is in decl ine, Morr is is forging ahead, steadi ly improving Big Cedar Lodge (bigcedar.com) in Ridgedale, Missouri, as a premier US golfing destination . While greens fees at Pebble Beach start at $495, playing a round at Big Cedar can cost less than $100. In the mid -1990s, Morris hired Jack Nicklaus to design a picturesque par-3 course called Top of the Rock, also in Ridgedale; and in the 2000s, when he acquired the Buffalo Ridge 'Springs Cou rse in Holl ister, MO , he brought on Tom Fazio for the renovation. Morr is cont inues to partne r with the top cou rse designers but also recogni zes the future of the sport . When Gary Player came on board, Morris requested Aimil andbdD'W: a 13-hole short course. Mountain Top, Big Ccd:trI. odgc opening this year, will take two hours in Ridgcd:ilc, Missouri M.urphy<J':!nen . J.iomtop: Wa lter 11:igen; PebbleBc:ich; Arno ld P1lmcr THEPLAYBOYS OFGOLF Will the sport ever see such captivat ing showmanship and interest again? olf's first touring professionalWalter Hagen knew like Myrtle Beach,South Carolina,and Scottsdale, Gmore than how to hit a ball into a little hole.In Arizona, came into tl1eir own. the aftermath of WWI, he traveledthe United States Then, in 1997,a young player named Tiger and abroad dressed to the nines, albeit a bit disheveled, Woods won his first major chan1pionship at the proving a champion golfer could make a living playing Masters. Like Palmer's,Wood s' popularityforever the sport. The Haig, as he came to be altered the sport. "Tiger made golf known, made headlinesas much for cool and brought [the game] to the winning as for showing up to goU youth of America,"says Funk. clubs in wrinkled tuxedossuggestive "Everybodyloved Tiger of being up all night socializingat Woods,"says Kenny Perry,14 -time the hottest celebrityparties. Some winner on the PGA Tour."l he historians insist such stories are true, media couldn't even get a ticket while others suggest Hagen wasjust when (Woods] was going strong. pbying the part. As he wrote in his Spectatorshipwas unreal; people autobiography:"It pleased the public flockedto him." to think I lived the easy,carefree life, During Woods'reign, Oregon's the playboyof gol£ Frankly,I was Bandon Dunes opened for play, happy to support both those illusions and other heraldedcourses such since I was making money out of the as South Carolina'sKiawah Island showmanship." Golf Resort and Georgia'sR eynolds From its infancy in the late 1800s Lake Oconee built new coursesand to the present day,golf in the United made striking renovationsto their States has evolvedalongside its most existinglayouts. 0 influentialplayers. As American In the opposite fashion of J golfers became known around the Hagen, Woods'clothes in the ~ world, the developmentof world- 2000s,supplied by ike on behalf ~,_ class resorts and golfingdestinations of the largest endorsement ever garnered North America staying signed by an athlete, were always ~.. po,ver in a sport long dominated by pristine.Though, as the world " Europeans. North Carolina'sPinehurst learned in 2009, his nocrurnal ------------- 3 pioneered the golf resort model in activitieswe .re assuredlymore : 1895. As Hagen and contemporaries scandalous. By the end of the year 1 like Francis Ouimet and Bobby Woods, a married father of two, s" "Emperor"Jones made headlines, checked into a sex addiction clinic t courses on California'sMonterey as his entire stable of endorsement Peninsula-Pebble Beach Golf Links deals fell apart. and Cypress Point Club-famously All drama aside, the game has opened in 1919 and 1928,respectively. yet to see an athlete with Woods' Arnold Palmer'scharm and talent ability to captivate the country in in the 1950s and '60s further galvanizedthe public at showmanship and skill. large."He had charisma and created an atmosphere Season after season,new generations of where people wanted to watch," says Fred Funk, the PGA Tour pros quietly challengeeach other for winner of the 2005 Players Championship."Golf championship titles as avid fans look on. But the was an aristocraticsport, a rich man'ssport, but attention of the massesis elsewhere.According to Arnold Palmer made it fun. He pur the game of golf statistics from the ational Golf Foundation, the on the map." number of rounds of golf played per year is After dueling with Jack Nicklaus for severalyears, in decline. Palmer evenruallypassed the torch co the Golden '1t's alwaysbeen a middle-classand up sport,"says Bear,whose 18 major championshipsover a 20- ChampionsT our playerBrad Faxon."You need time year period immortalized him as one of the game's and money,and we're trying to introduce the game to all-time greats. It was during Palmer's and Nicklaus' millennialsthat have neither."Thegan1e of golf in the heydaysthat ocher American golfing destinatfons United States has reached a crossroads. -S. T.'I> M urphy<J':!nen . ' to play, opposed to the four -plus hours hitting recovery shots . Woods avo ids to fight . (Here they can) go out and p lay it takes to play 18 holes. "The rout ing designing holes that force p layers to and have fun and just enjoy being kids." of th is course is what makes it specia l," hit shots over hazards. Once again Woods grew up learning to play go lf on says Player, exp laining that the course br idging the gap between enterta ining pub lic cou rses, which is why he says he is intended for fam ilies and newcomers, the elite and inspiring the masses, is passionate about the pro ject at Big though experienced players will still find he belie ves mo re go lf courses today Cedar Lodge . it challenging from the back tees . "You should allow amateurs of all ability Woods' app roach also aligns with can play all 13 ho les, but if you want a levels to play qu ickly and without the Morris ' broade r vision for the resort. quick one -hour game with your children, hassle of need ing to search for the ir "We are not investing in go lf as part of it's simp le to play a few holes. We can balls after an errant shot. a resident ial development strategy; it's no longer rely on the standard 18-hole In Apr il, Woods announced a quite the oppos ite," he says. "We are course to attract players ." project at Big Cedar Lodge . Preliminary investing in a collect ion of cou rses in The course's playabi lity, espec ially for groundwork is under way, and the hopes that we can create a dest ination, beg inners and higher handicappers, is course is forecasted to open in 2019. not on ly for go lf, but for gett ing peop le a characterist ic that exper ienced go lfers Like his Texas course Bluejack Nat ional, connected to nature." say is critical for the longev ity of the this new venture, named Payne's game's success. "Over the past 20 years, Valley (in hono r of the late U.S. Open the architectural side of go lf became champ ion and Missouri native Payne PLAYING AROUND the sensationa lism of the game," says Stewart), will featu re The Playgrounds . Champ ions Tour player Brad Faxon Jerry Pate, the 1976 U.S. Open winner. The short, lit par-3 course gives youth be lieves that golf part icipation numbe rs "Everybody tr ied to outdo the other and adults the chance to have fun wou ld be higher-and perhaps less architect, so the golf courses became playing go lf in whatever fashion they alarm ing- if they also included the time very d ifficult for average players." want. "Every hole, yo u can either chip and money that go lfers spend at dr iving Not surprisingly, the architect most it or you can putt it (from the tee]," ranges . "When yo u and I go hit balls fo r comm itted to reversing the trend Woods says. "You also have the abi lity an hour and talk, that's us part icipating," of diff icult courses is Tiger Woods to play cross-country go lf. It's called he says. (tgrdesign.tigerwoods.com ). Courses The Playgrounds fo r a reason." By that log ic, nice driving ranges that in Mexico's Cabo San Lucas and "How many of ou r kids now look make it more enjoyable to pract ice or hit outside Houston, Texas, have wide, up and see the world?" he asks. a casual bucket of balls are as important smooth fairways and green complexes "They're always looking down and to the game's futu re as player-friend ly that g ive players multiple opt ions for typ ing th ings. That's what we're trying cou rses. Fred Funk, the winner of the M.urphy<J':!nen . WORTHTHEEXPERIENCE If go lf really is becoming a faster, less exp ensive game, you wouldn't know it from eith er of these high -end off ering s. PLAY WITH THE PROS compete.Entry feesfrom $25,000 for a twosomeand $40,000for a Team up with two ChampionsTom playersat the April16-- 22, 2018, foursome.Day passesfor spectatorsare availablefrom S25 . BassPro S hops Legendso f GolfPro-Am at Big Cedar Lodge (bassprolegetuis.wm).Participants play two of the Ridgedale,MO, FIT TO BE TRIED resort'scourses-an 18-holechampionship design by Tom Fazioand Buyingbespoke PXG clubs requiresan appointmentw ith one of the a 9-hole,par-3 layoutby Jack company'smaster fitters based in 28 locationsthroughout the country.