Country Creek’ s 36 Holes a true family affair in Pleasant Hill, MO.
Feature Story
Country Creek’ s 36 Holes a true family affair in Pleasant Hill, MO.
by Alan Hoskins, feature writer
The largest green in the Kansas City area is the massive double green for the 9th and 18th holes at Hoot’ s Hollow. It’ s double the fun to play!
( Photo by Bill Cromwell)
In 1991, a young Jeff McKee took a piece out of the very foundation upon which America was built to fulfill a childhood dream. He built himself a golf course, then another, and then another, all while surrounding himself with family, friends, and loyal employees.
Today, 34 years later, family-owned Country Creek continues to stand as a symbol of what is truly Americana, feel-good pages of nostalgia lifted right out of Reader’ s Digest, Chicken Soup, and Norman Rockwell. Privately owned golf courses are a true rarity in this day and age.
Inspired by his late father, McKee designed and built Kansas City’ s only 54-hole golf complex( at the time). While it has since been reduced to 36 holes, the support of family, friends, and longtime employees has made Country Creek truly unique and special in an era of golf courses dominated by big management companies.
McKee’ s wife, son, daughter, and sister have all worked at the course for years, serving in various roles for day-to-day operations. McKee’ s maintenance team and dedicated management staff have worked for him for over 30 years, yet another rarity in the golf business.
You get the idea. Country Creek is truly a course for family and friends, and it is a favorite course to play for many longtime Kansas City area golfers. The 36-hole complex is located in the country, hence the name, about 15 miles south of Lee’ s Summit, MO, just east of Highway 291 on State Route P in Pleasant Hill, MO. The
Rock, which is the oldest of the two courses, is located at 21601 E. State Route P. Hoot’ s Hallow is just down the road at 20800 E. 215th Street.
The Rock course opened in 1991. It measures 6,856 yards from the back( black) tees and carries a 71.4 course rating and 119 slope. With Bluegrass fairways, there are a half-dozen holes where ponds or creeks must be carried, with parallel water on five others. There’ s an island green at the end of the fairway on the 524-yard par-5 7th and a large pond fronting the 313-yard par-4 10th.
The Quarry’ s 18-hole course opened in 1997 but was later reduced to nine holes following the 2016 sale of the front nine, which was located across the road from the clubhouse. The back nine subsequently closed a few years later for residential housing.“ A good part to sell; we didn’ t need to have golfers crossing the highway,” says McKee, now 67.“ Probably had too many holes anyway.”
Hoot’ s Hollow, the newest of the courses, was opened about a mile west of the main complex in 2002. The Cadillac of the courses, Hoot’ s Hollow is named after McKee’ s father, Gilbert( Hoot) McKee, who passed away in 1998 after playing a major role in the construction of the first two courses.“ We sold our family rock quarry business in 1990, and my dad asked me what I wanted to do,” says McKee.“ I was only 32 at the time and an avid golfer, so I said I always wanted to build a golf course. Dad said,‘ Okay, I’ ll help you.’ We were farmers, so we had earth-moving equipment and knew a little bit about moving dirt.
16 September 2025 TEE TIMES GOLF GUIDE