MONKEY ISLAND, Okla. - The sign is small and doesn't stand out among the steel fences and bustling trees that line the side of the road, and its simple nature hardly previews what's to come.
It reads "Monkey Island," a dancing ape next to the letters greeting motorists as they whiz by. The road travels a few miles down a peninsula that reaches into Grand Lake o' the Cherokees in Northeast Oklahoma, a man-made body of water that has since become a summer haven for boating and other water activities. While there won't be any live primates waiting at the end of the road, there is a hidden gem of resort golf.
At the end is Shangri-La Resort, which features 27 holes of golf, a stellar hotel and amenities for the entire family, from a pool to numerous restaurants and more. Before reaching the resort, The Battlefield par-3 course will catch an eye with its tumultuous terrain, tempting colors and stellar layout.
Opened in 2023, The Battlefield is one of the newest short courses in the U.S., built with golfers of every skill level in mind. The layout can be fun for a novice while challenging for an everyday golfer.
Tom Clark and Kevin Atkinson designed the 80-acre track, which winds players through natural creeks and falls, while exposed rock outcroppings and railroad ties hold the land together.
"It's a diamond in the rough, man," Shangri-La director of golf Ryan Snyder said. "It literally is Shangri-La. Shangri-La is an imaginary paradise on earth, and that's exactly what we have here in Northeast Oklahoma."
Meanwhile, Shangri-La Resort's 27 holes sits at No. 3 in Golfweek's Best 2024 ranking of public-access courses in Oklahoma. The Battlefield debuts at No. 14 on Golfweek's Best public-access ranking of short, non-traditional or par-3 courses in the U.S.
On every tee box stands a black sign with a look into the past. Each has the yardage from the five sets of tees at The Battlefield, but the each sign's biggest draw is just beneath those numbers.
For all 18 holes, there are names of Oklahoma service members who served in World War II. Along with their names are their hometowns, in which branch they served during the war and their years of birth and death. And a fitting touch is a QR code for golfers to scan and learn more about the heroes for whom the holes are named.
The Battlefield was constructed to honor veterans, and a lot more than those on the hole markers are glorified. Additional vets are honored with weekly displays in The Battlefield clubhouse, which sits on top of the hill overlooking the property.
Clark and Atkinson designed The Battlefield, a short course that can stretch to 3,000 yards, to include holes as short as 100 yards or up to 245. It's far from a pitch-and-putt showcase: The layout is creative, and the piece of land on which it was constructed for $15 million brings out the natural beauty of the contours and features of Grand Lake.
"It's basically cut out of that valley," Snyder said. "They moved some trees, didn't move a lot of land or rock. It's pretty natural in the way it flows through that valley. A lot of humps and bumps on the greens, and it makes it really interesting."
The Battlefield includes up-close "Felix Tees" for beginners or those wanting to work on their short game. The short course, which is separate from the 27-hole championship golf course, also has a 165-yard warm-up area and a 10,000-square-foot putting green. There is also a practice range and short-game facility at the main clubhouse.
And the short course isn't the only way Shangri-La is honoring military veterans. On the far end of The Battlefield sits the newly opened Legacy of Liberty Memorial Park, which is another World War II memorial near the 15th green and 16th tee box of The Battlefield.
The park features a life-size replica of the statue of Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima, a special memorial honoring the legendary Native American Code Talkers and a variety of World War II equipment including a Jeep, an ambulance, a P-51D Mustang fighter plane, a Higgins Boat and DUK boat, a Sherman tank, a 5-inch 38-caliber Naval Gun, and M8 and M20 armored cars.
In total, there are a dozen exhibits that honor specific Oklahoma heroes of World War II - including the names of the Oklahoma heroes who utilized this equipment.
The Battlefield takes Shangri-La to another level of resort destinations, but that doesn't mean it wasn't stellar before. Look no further than the three nine-hole layouts that each give a unique challenge and offer views of Grand Lake o' the Cherokees.
The Legends Nine is perhaps the best and includes the "Mickey Mantle hole." The closing par 5 uniquely features two separate greens complexes separated by an iconic waterfall. One of the greens is an island feature surrounded by water.
The hole was named after the New York Yankees legend, who hosted his Mickey Mantle Golf Classic charity tournament at Shangri-La from 1991 until his death in 1995. Mantle once carded an albatross on the hole.
The Legends Nine, the Heritage Nine and Champions Nine would not be what they are today without Eddie Gibbs.
In the late 2000s, Shangri-La was struggling. Once a bustling getaway in the '70s and '80s, a constant turnover with management and other factors led to the resort's downgrading to one 18-hole golf course, Old Blue, and some activities at the marina.
In March 2010, Gibbs - at the time owner of Tulsa-based Ameristar Fence Products - purchased Shangri-La Resort. He dreamed of creating a world-class golf resort, and Shangri-La was his canvas.
The Old Blue course underwent immediate renovations, which included rebuilt tee boxes and sand traps. At the same time, work began on a massive 13,000-square-foot clubhouse that opened in July of 2011. It included an 85-seat restaurant, bar, lounge, fitness center and golf shop.
Two new golf holes were created to make way for the clubhouse and adjacent practice facilities, including a new driving range. Crews also cultivated a new nine-hole golf course, the Champions 9, on the site of the former Gold course, which closed two years before.
As for the Heritage and Legends nines, the Don Sechrest layout is still intact, but the changes included adding fluid movement to the fairways, white sand bunkers, water features and challenging putting surfaces.
"The three nines at the main at the clubhouse, Heritage, Legends and Champions, out of those three nines I would say that Legends is probably the toughest," Snyder said. "However, they all pose their significant challenges for every golfer. And we've got five sets of tees, so you can play it from just about anywhere and it's player-friendly for everyone."
Integrating Grand Lake into the design, 14 holes utilize numerous creeks, and ponds are strategically placed, offering golfers the chance to be aggressive or play conservatively. There is a good amount of left-to-right and right-to-left holes, as well as elevation changes throughout the property, including elevated putting surfaces. There are 79 white sand bunkers throughout the course.
When it came to the greens, the goal was to stay true to the original design and provide diverse surfaces. Although the extreme slopes of the old greens are gone, new and challenging features have taken their place. The greens are natural to the topography of the peninsula and give unique challenges that are different on each hole.
"It's really easy to get to for the quality of golf that you get," Snyder said. "It's not like flying into Chicago to play somewhere there. Or Los Angeles to play out there. You can get those world-class destination golf quality conditions at Shangri La and spend 10 percent of the money."
Think Shangri-La is a resort for only golfers? Think again.
While the 45 holes of golf are some of the best in the region, other amenities focus on the entire family.
There's a 119-room resort hotel with an indoor pool, while the 6,500-square-foot outdoor resort pool with splash pad and tanning ledge is perfect for hot summer afternoons. Don't forget the luxury spa and a full-service marina on the water at Grand Lake o' the Cherokees. The resort includes six dining and cocktail restaurants to satisfy any cravings.
The Shangri-La Resort Hotel opened June 1, 2017. In July 2021, a $12 million indoor/outdoor activity park was added. The Anchor, a 6.5-acre facility with 11,000 square feet of indoor arcade and sports bar options, added year-round entertainment. The facility offers virtual reality activities and simulators for shooting and golf, including Trackman, along with numerous pickleball and tennis courts, a basketball court and an iconic mini-Fenway wiffleball park.
"It's a place where we bring people here and we hope people come here to relax and get away from the hustle and bustle," Snyder said. "And it's not that way at a lot of golf courses."
In sticking with the military theme, Shangri-La unveiled a 20,000-pound replica of one of the anchors from the USS Oklahoma, which was sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The monument includes names of all 429 sailors and Marines who died on the ship.
For anyone worried there won't be enough to do, good luck not coming back a second time to experience everything you didn't on the first trip.
"Our conditions, as far as the state of Oklahoma, are second to none," Snyder said. "Everything is really, really plush. And this place is special."
Special doesn't do Shangri-La justice.