Golf in Excelsior Springs

Lush greenery, stone-trimmed ponds, and sun-soaked bridges give the 18-hole Championship course its storybook beauty. Designed by notable local architect Don Sechrest, Adams Pointe features challenging elevation variation, scenic holes, and a front nine that includes one of the toughest par threes in the Kansas City area, according to Tee Times Golf Guide. A GPS cart preserves golfers' precious energy reserves as they play through the course's 18 holes (up to a $49 value). Hone skills until they're sharper than the scythe that shreds children's dreams, and knock off a small bag of balls (30–40 per bag, $5 value) on the acclaimed driving range. After the game, celebrate with a liquid of choice: domestic beer, bottled water, or a pop ($3 value).

Deer Creek Golf Club’s experienced staff, plush facilities, and picturesque championship course create an enjoyably mummy-free outdoor experience for golfers of any handicap. After calling to reserve a tee time, ball-banging golf-cart gurus can wreak polite and well-dressed havoc while carefully soft-spiking across all 18 of Deer Creek Golf Club’s holes, which have been designed to test the skills of experienced club-wielders while still giving beginners an exciting, accessible playing field. An included cart rental lets you easily navigate the course’s 6,811 yards of beautiful rolling hillocks, winding waterways, and tree-friendly areas while providing a means of escape from herds of disgruntled deer statues.

An emerald jewel set into the 1,000-acre framework of a residential community, the championship course at Creekmoor meanders along ridges and conceals daunting holes in tree-shaded valleys. The course's lush zoysia fairways and 65 sand bunkers challenge both greenthumb golfers and green-jacket holders as they hunt eagles and birdies across its 18 holes. Their path to glory takes hazardous turns at the crystalline lake that borders hole seven, while prevailing winds push balls off course near the ninth hole—a 660-yard behemoth known as The Monster at Creekmoor. Before launching their dimpled projectiles at that unholy beast, golfers can practice knightly strokes and parries on the course's driving range.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Length of 7,400 yards
• See the course layout

Both awarded a Four Star rating by Golf Digest, the Outlaw and Posse courses at Paradise Pointe Golf Complex hug the jagged waterline of Smithville Lake, jutting out onto peninsulas to incorporate picturesque coves. Sculpted into the landscape in 1982, the original Posse course leads golfers over rolling bluegrass fairways that present multiple opportunities for golfers to appreciate the lake's grandeur and make bets with willing waterfowl. The Outlaw course, characterized by zoysia fairways, large greens, and ample opportunities to bask in the maritime surroundings, was added 12 years later. Wind makes for a formidable foe on both courses, placing a premium on proper club selection and choice of ball flight.

Posse Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Total length of 6,768 yards from the back tees
• Course rating of 71.8 from the back tees
• Course slopes of 125 from the back tees

Outlaw Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Total length of 7,016 yards from the back tees
• Course rating of 74.3 from the back tees
• Course slope of 138 from the back tees

Dynamic golf duo Robin and Mark Nigro help golfers develop optimal swings at Robin Nigro Golf Academy's full driving range, pro shop, and academy. The pair first joined forces when Mark began teaching golf to Robin, then 23, who thrived under Mark's deft training and, in two short years, ascended the ranks from late-starting beginner to a competitor on the Futures Mini Tour. Recognizing their undeniable chemistry, the two joined forces and now foster successful golf skills with lessons tailored to golfers of all stripes, often enlisting technological teaching aids to enhance their swing diagnoses and placate the club's supercomputer overlord.

Those looking for solo practice sessions can take to the outdoor driving range, where clubbers launch balls off of astroturf hitting mats out into a zoysia-grass valley peppered with multiple target areas. With covered, heated hitting bays, the range lets pin hunters work on their power draw or high fade while safely protected from rainstorms or predatory hot air balloons.

Designed by golf great Raymond Floyd, The Legacy Golf Course incorporates rolling hills, woodland terrain, and water features into a challenging 6,776-yard layout. Throughout the round, grassy mounds create awkward lies as golfers strive to keep balls away from water hazards, which come into play on most holes, and ankle-high grasses that hug the course's more remote edges. Golfers must show off their best power-draw, fade, or spitball drive to tame the course's fifth hole, which doglegs sharply to the left and has flummoxed enough players to earn the distinction of the course's most difficult hole.

Players can prepare for their round at the club's practice facilities, which include a grass-tee driving range and practice greens for chipping and putting. The Legacy Golf Course is an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary that works to preserve its ecosystem's delicate balance between flying balls and flying squirrels.

Course at a Glance:

• Designed by Raymond Floyd

• 18-hole, par-72 course

• Length of 6,776 yards from the farthest tees

• Course rating of 73.0 from the farthest tees

• Slope rating of 134 from the farthest tees

• Five tee options