In the late 1990s, a group of businessmen from Independence, Kansas were looking for a new real estate investment. The focus soon became Grand Lake O’ Cherokees in the far northeastern corner of Oklahoma among the foothills of the Ozark Mountains.

Located approxiamtely 31/2 hours southeast of Wichita and 31/2 hours south of Kansas City. This wide deep 63 mile long lake with over 1300 miles of shoreline captured their attention as a great centrally-located destination to develop luxury housing and a golf club that could be offered at a reasonable price. Patricia Island Estates & Golf Club was born. The area selected was the last 323 acres of the Dixon Hereford Ranch (Dixon family of Coffeyville, Kansas) just west of Grove, OK right on the lake. This peninsula has over one mile of shoreline and big open pastures with great views across Grand Lake.

After the lakefront real estate had begun to sell, the decision was made to add an 18-hole championship golf course to the development. After interviewing a number of different golf course architects, Tripp Davis of Norman, OK was selected to design the course. Tripp is a graduate of OU with a degree in Landscape Architecture, was an All American golfer at OU, and a member of their first national championship team. Tripp worked closely with the owners to provide a golf course that is beautiful, fun, challenging and offers many "risk versus reward" opportunities during a round of golf.

Patricia Island Golf Club provides areas to lay up and avoid a hazard, but golfers are rewarded for the good shot that challenges the hazard areas. Even holding your par is difficult on the tiered undulating large L-93 bent grass greens if the ball is not close to the pin in regulation. Fast, true and fun to putt, the greens have been called "Awesome" by Golf Digest evaluation panelists and most of the customers that play them. The fairways are Midlawn Bermuda developed by OSU and KSU for this particular climate zone. This grass is fine bladed and grows very upright to give a lie similar to Zosia, but easier to hit through for the less accomplished golfers. The grass greens up earlier and stays green longer than native Bermuda. The grassing for the rough is U3 Bermuda, which is very common to the climate zone in the Grand Lake area.

The course is a combination of open links style with deep native rough in some areas while other holes offer more traditional golf through mature trees and along Grand Lake. The practice area includes a driving range, chipping green and putting green. There is an indoor hitting area complete with bi-directional video for those taking a lesson from the teaching pro. Customer service is important to all employees here so you feel welcome from the start. The 7,500 square foot club house offers a tournament facility upstairs where you have a view of the course and a mile across Grand Lake. The large proshop is down stairs with a large covered patio, card room, etc.

Each hole is described by the Architect and posted on a sign at the teebox. The most challenging hole is probably the 475 yard Par 4 17th. Pin placement is really the key on this course due to the size and undulation of the greens. One example is the short Par 3 11th , which looks quite easy at first glance. Tripp Davis designed this hole to dramatically change its look and difficulty as the pin and tee boxes move toward the right side. The tee shot must be very accurate or par may prove difficult. The 10th is a short Par 4 styled after the postage stamp at Saint Andrews. Though short, if the drive is hit too far, golfers will again find it very difficult to get close, especially with the pin on the left side behind the bunker. Tripp Davis believes that over the years the Par 4 #12 will become known as one of the best Par 4’s in Oklahoma. To look at the original architect drawings and a description of each hole, visit www.patriciaisland.com and click on the golf course.

Besides the natural beauty of Grand Lake, the best thing about the Patricia Island Golf Club may well be the price to play. Open to the public, this semi-private championship course costs only, in season, $45.00 weekends and holidays and $36.50 weekdays for 18 holes, including your share of cart rental. There are also twilight rates, dog days rates, and special tournaments. Currently, there is a special PATRICIA ISLAND GOLF PACKAGE available. For as little as $180, players can get 2 rounds of golf with cart, a room at the Best Western Timerridge Inn for two people, $30 food credit at one of three local restaurants, and $100 in gambling credit ($50 each for two people) at the Grand Lake Casino (just 15 minutes from the motel). Boat rentals, a trip to a winery, a tour of Lendonwood Gardens, Har-Ber Village Antique Museum (the largest outdoor display of its kind) and many other activities are available as well.

For more information on Patricia Island Estates & Golf Club, visit www.patriciaisland.com or call 800-495-LAKE.