Getting To Know: Elkhorn Golf Club By Brian Weis

Getting To Know: Elkhorn Golf Club

An Insightful Interview With Tyler Jones, Director of Golf Operations

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Tyler Jones who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
Originally opened in 1974, Elkhorn Golf Club was created in the last collaboration between the famous design team of father and son Robert Trent Jones Senior and Junior. After an extensive renovation in 2004, the club reopened in 2005 and was acquired by the Sun Valley Company in July of 2011. Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed the front nine, which is quite hilly, while Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed the back nine which follows a creek and has a water hazard on every hole but one.

Although Elkhorn Golf Club has memberships, Sun Valley's Resort Guests have access to one of the best challenges of golf that the state of Idaho has to offer. With large undulated greens, 7,214 yards long from the tips, and boasting over 100 sand traps and bunkers, Elkhorn will prove to be a test of your golfing abilities. Your concentration on the game of golf will also be challenged, as the vistas ranging from the Elkhorn hillsides to Sun Valley's White Clouds golf course fight for your attention.

Elkhorn Golf Club also offers guests a 16,000 square foot clubhouse that includes a restaurant and bar. Dine in and watch your favorite games on one of two 60" flat screen televisions, or enjoy a more quaint setting on the large patio that sits in the shade most of the day.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
Elkhorn Golf Club offers an exciting variety of golf holes with spectacular views of the Sun Valley Resort and surrounding Mountains. The golf course is always in excellent condition, with smooth greens and generous fairways to hit off the tee.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
With large undulating greens, it is important to know what quadrant the hole is in when hitting approach shots.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
Elkhorn is a semi-private facility offering a private club feel for the members in a resort atmosphere.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
Hole #5. It is a 650 yard downhill par 5 that overlooks the white clouds golf course at Sun Valley and the Boulder Mountains.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
Hole #10 is a fun golf hole. The creek runs next to the right side of the tee box, crosses over to the left in front of the teeing area, parallels the left side of the fairway and crosses again in front of the green. It's only 392 yards, but requires accuracy off the tee and a fun approach shot to a large green with multiple hole locations to choose from.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
The Elkhorn Grille French Dip on a fressh ciabatta roll, made with Prime Rib is a must have!

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
Former Sun Valley Director of Golf, Doyle Corbett holds the course record with a -11 score of 61

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 7214
Slope: 136
Rating: 73.4

More Information
Elkhorn Golf Club
100 Badeyana Drive
Sun Valley, Idaho, 83353
208-622-2271
www.sunvalley.com

Revised: 09/10/2014 - Article Viewed 32,443 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.