Clifferhangers, The Most Dramatic Par 3 Set To Open July 4, 2025 By Brian Weis

Clifferhangers, The Most Dramatic Par 3 Set To Open July 4, 2025

By Brian Weis

Big Cedar Lodge, America's Premier Wilderness Resort, today unveiled details for Cliffhangers, an extraordinary new 18-hole par-3 golf course.

A true labor of love, the utterly stunning, absolutely unique golf experience appropriately named Cliffhangers, was created by visionary conservationist Johnny Morris and his son John Paul. The result of their efforts is an unforgettable, over-the-top, bucket list golf experience in the majestic Ozark Mountains. What was originally planned as a practice facility exploded into an extraordinary 18-hole, par-3 adventure course after Johnny and JP, continued walking the terrain, realizing just how stunning the land truly was.

The new one of a kind adventure course, Cliffhangers, is the sixth course at the award-winning golf resort and is located adjacent to Tiger Woods' acclaimed Payne's Valley. Cliffhangers will open on July 4, 2025, and reservations are available now.

Set high in the rugged beauty of the Missouri Ozarks, Cliffhangers is far more than a round of golf-it's an unforgettable experience. The course lives up to its name with dramatic elevation changes, breathtaking views, and holes ranging from 60 to 170 yards, all meticulously carved into the region's iconic limestone cliffs and flowing creeks.

"This is golf on the edge-literally," said Johnny Morris. "We wanted to create something that celebrates the natural wonder of the Ozarks while delivering an unforgettable adventure for every golfer."
Golfers will traverse steep mountain trails and lush zoysia approaches leading to undulating bent grass greens, each hole offering a new surprise. The course itself is a signature loop the likes of which have never before been seen in golf. Players will drive carts through cascading waterfalls, cross through swift flowing creeks, and journey into a dramatic cave system-culminating in a tee shot launched from inside the cavern through a waterfall!

"Cliffhangers reflects everything we love about nature, adventure, and golf," said John Paul Morris. "It's wild, fun, and unlike anything in the game of golf today! We hope you'll come pay us a visit and play Cliffhangers and experience what true Ozarks hospitality is all about!"

REDEFINING DESTINATION GOLF
Big Cedar Lodge was honored to be recently named the #1 Golf Resort in America by USA Today and on May 30th, Forbes named Big Cedar the Best Family Golf Resort in the United States. Golfers from around the globe are making the journey to the Ozarks to experience what can only be found here-a unique blend of rugged natural beauty, thoughtful course design, and genuine, friendly hospitality.
Big Cedar Lodge has become a premier destination for golf by attracting some of the world's leading course architects, including Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Tom Fazio, Gary Player, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.

Cliffhangers marks Big Cedar's third par-3 course, joining the exclusive ranks of legendary Top of the Rock-the first-ever PGA TOUR-sanctioned par-3 course designed by Jack Nicklaus-and Mountain Top, a Gary Player design known for its 13 scenic walking-only holes. Together, these courses highlight Big Cedar's ongoing commitment to redefining the short course experience. There are high expectations for Cliffhangers to become a bucket-list course for anyone who loves the game of golf.

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Revised: 06/04/2025 - Article Viewed 112 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.