Club at Porto Cima

Overview: The Club at Porto Cima is Jack Nicklaus’s Signature course on the Lake of the Ozarks, where the waterfront and the rolling Shawnee Bend terrain shape the routing. Seven holes play beside or over the lake, while generous landing areas give the course a welcoming first impression before the strategic work begins around the greens. The layout balances broad lake views with wooded and elevated sections, creating a modern resort-community course that remains strongly tied to its Missouri setting.

History: Porto Cima grew from a 1990s development vision around Shawnee Bend and the wider Lake of the Ozarks community. Construction of the 18-hole waterfront course began after the club established a relationship with Jack Nicklaus. The course opened in 2000, and the club emphasizes that Nicklaus was involved from the drafting table through construction and shaping, satisfying the requirements of a Signature Design. Golf Digest named it the No. 4 Best New Private Course for 2001, and the venue later hosted the 2021 Missouri Amateur Championship.

Did You Know? The name is pronounced “chee-ma,” and the course occupies a setting where water is a visible part of the strategy on seven holes. Nicklaus’s involvement was unusually hands-on for a modern development course: the club records that he was present through the construction process and played the completed layout. The result is a lake course whose identity comes from both the designer and the shoreline.