Reviewed by: ProV1Steve, Shoots in the 70s, from Missouri

Summary:
Golf Course: 18-hole, par 70 public course. Pointe Royale has Bermuda fairways, fescue rough, and bent grass greens. There is a nice clubhouse with a bar and restaurant/deli facility. The pro shop is stocked with a reasonable amount of equipment and clothing.

Layout: This resort style course winds throughout an extensive condo and town home community. Homes line almost every fairway, which is a shame for such a nice course. In the early 1990’s, Pointe Royal was completely secluded in the woods, and provided a tour stop for the Hogan Tour. There are 12 water hazards in all on the course. The wood line comes into play on several fairways, so driving accuracy is important. There are only two par fives on the golf course, which is fairly short at around 6000 yard from the tips.

Tees: There are four sets of tees (championship-black, men’s-blue, senior’s-white, and lady’s-red). The championship tees bring fairway bunkers and ponds into play, but the blues allow golfers who can hit the ball 250 yards or so to blow it past any trouble. This usually leaves less that 100-yard approach shots on many holes. Twenty or so yards separate the black and blue tees on most holes. The lady’s tees give a reasonable distance break to the women.

Condition: Good. The Bermuda fairways are in good shape—the ball sits nice and high. The greens are quick and many of them are tiered. Several other greens slope away from the fairway. Hitting the ball onto the proper position on the green is very important. Tee boxes and bunkers are in good condition.

Pace of play: It took just a little over four hours to play on a weekday, so pace of play was excellent. Pointe Royale has a reputation for reasonably paced rounds of golf.

Quirks: The only thing that could possibly be called a quirk at Pointe Royale comes on the ninth and eighteenth holes. The tee boxes sit in a low area fronted by a pond, and require tee shots to reach fairways that are elevated 75 feet or so, with blind landing areas. These tee shots could be a bit dangerous for groups still playing in the fairways.

Practice facility: There is no driving range or warm up facility such as cages with nets. Branson’s nearest driving range is about thirty minutes from Pointe Royale so warming up before a round is problematic. The putting and chipping green is large, and is much faster than the speed of the golf course greens. There is no practice bunker.

Customer Service:
Customer service is okay. Only one person works the pro shop. There was not a starter, or a marshall on the course.

Reviewed by: David, Shoot in the 100s, from Oklahoma City

Summary:
Beautiful resort/ residential course in the Ozark hills. Well maintained, lush grass tees begin each hole that ends on bentgrass greens as tight and smooth as astroturf. Variety of holes at varying elevations. Lots of elevated tees mixed in with several where you're playing up such a steep hill to the green you end up feeling like a mountain goat. As you might guess, golf carts are mandatory. The par 3 12th hole was a favorite with a highly elevated tee and a small lake with a fountain guarding the green. Another interesting pair of holes are the parallel 9th and 18th, requiring a good drive from the men's tees over a medium size body of water to the top of a hill so steep the cart path zig zags to the top. Only when at the crest of the hill do the greens become visible.

Customer Service:
Tee time was easy to make a day in advance. Staff was very friendly and accomodating.

Similar Courses Played:
None