Thunder Bayou ranked 4th on list

For the third straight year, Thunder Bayou Golf Links has cracked the Top 5 in Golf Week's Best Courses You Can Play in Arkansas.

The 2014 ranking lists Thunder Bayou fourth behind Big Creek Country Club in Mountain Home, Hot Springs Country Club (Arlington) and Mountain Ranch Country Club in Fairfield Bay. Hot Springs Country Club (Park) rounded out the Top 5.

In 2012 and 2013, Thunder Bayou was ranked third on the list. Last year, Thunder Bayou beat out the two Hot Springs courses, which finished fourth and fifth. Mountain Ranch was first in 2013, followed by Big Creek.

"I am very pleased to even be mentioned in the same conversation with those other great public courses," Thunder Bayou Golf Links greenskeeper Dale Fender said. "They are all great, established properties with much bigger budgets and lots of support. We are blessed that our designers maximized the landscape potential at Thunder Bayou. They took a piece of typically flat delta ground and turned it into a truly great 'natural' golf course landscape. I am convinced that with just a small amount of enhancement, in line with the 'natural' theme , that we could become the very best public golf experience in the state."

A true links style course, Thunder Bayou has been ranked in the Top 100 Best New Courses and is consistently ranked as one of the best public courses in the state.

"This championship course features 5 sets of tees, with yardages ranking from 7,200 to 4,800," an ad in Golfweek reads. "Generous rolling fairways are framed by ample strategically bunkers. Vast native areas provide for lots of wildlife. Golfers have a chance to view everything from bobcats to beavers. Come enjoy the small town atmosphere where southern hospitality begins."

mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com