A terrifying video of a tornado tearing through Big Cedar Lodge in Branson, Miss., made the rounds on social media Monday. Big Cedar Lodge has become one of golf’s biggest destinations with three courses ranked inside Golf Digest’s America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses—Ozarks National, a Coore/Crenshaw total redesign of an existing course, ranked 33rd, Payne’s Valley (78th) the first public course designed by Tiger Woods, and Buffalo Ridge, a Tom Fazio design that was the original course at the resort.
The resort confirmed on Tuesday that there was no real serious damage from the flash tornado. In fact, a resort spokesman said that play resumed on the resort's courses immediately.
"A small tornado briefly touched down at Payne’s Valley on May 13," the resort said in a statement sent to Golf Digest. "The area was under no Tornado Watch or Tornado Warning. We feel very blessed that no one was seriously injured and there was no significant damage to the course. Play resumed within minutes after the weather passed and Big Cedar properties remain open today."
Here’s video shared on social media. The first appears to be taken on Payne’s Valley:
Here’s another video that appears to be from the lodge at the resort:
Reports indicate that there was no tornado warning or much time for folks to take shelter. This news follows devastating storms that hit Tennessee in the past few weeks. Our biggest hope is the folks of Branson are OK. Golf, of course, is a secondary thought in times like these.
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