When I played Annbriar about a year ago with my uncle John, the first question he asked is why is such a beautiful course located way out here? (It is actually only 10 or 12 minutes from the JB Bridge) The answer is found on the Annbriar website, which tells the story of this course being built by the parents of Ann Nobbe, who met an untimely death in an auto crash in January of 1990. Ann always felt that her parent's farm would make a beautiful site for a golf course, so her parents built Annbriar in her memory. Her parents created a fitting tribute when they hired golf course architect Dr. Michael Hurdzan to design and build the magnificent Annbriar Golf Course.

Tapawingo National Golf Club (www.tapawingogolf.com) is one of the area golf courses designed by one of the biggest names in the world of golf, Gary Player. Just that alone can be a recipe for success, but in today's competitive golf landscape, there has to be more than just a name to keep golfers and events coming back.

As the talent pool of junior golfers continues to grow, it has become increasingly difficult to land a college golf scholarship. Junior golfers ranked in the top 20 or so nationally are naturally on every major college coach's radar, but what about the other guys? When you consider that the NCAA only allows Division I college golf programs to spread 4.5 scholarships across a roster of 10-15 guys, marketing yourself to stand out as a potential recruit is imperative.

Lake Valley Golf and Country Club (www.lakevalleygolf.com) provides the most unique scorecard of all the courses at the Lake. Their 6 – 6 – 6 layout, meaning 6 par 5's, 6 par-4's and 6 par-3's provides ample scoring chances, that is if you can find an uphill putt. Factor in the overall course length of just 6,373 from the back tees and you might think you are about to play a pushover round.

Of all the golf courses you hear about at the Lake of the Ozarks, The Golf Club at Deer Chase is a well kept secret.