Restoration of Sun Valley Layout Nearly Complete

Architect Dick Phelps has restored a Northwest jewel to its former luster with the completion of construction and grow-in at Elkhorn Golf Club, scheduled to reopen July 2 here in one of the country’s premier four-season recreation areas.

The original course opened in 1973 and was co-designed by the legendary father-and-son tandem of Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Robert [Bobby] Trent Jones Jr. Age and diminished maintenance due to budget constraints had taken a toll over the years on the 18-hole layout, located just 2.5 miles from the base of Bald Mountain, the main ski hill at world-renowned Sun Valley.

The new owners, a Connecticut-based real-estate company, closed the course in September 2003 and charged Phelps with restoring the layout as closely as possible to its original design while modernizing features that needed updating from both maintenance and playability perspectives.

The $3-million project included: a new clubhouse site; numerous green restorations rebuilt to United States Golf Association specifications; state-of-the-art irrigation system; bunker restorations; newly planted Providence bentgrass on the greens, a bluegrass/rye mix on the fairways and tees, with bluegrass in the roughs; and new cart paths.

The owners also hired Troon Golf to act as its liaison with Phelps and course builder Niebur Golf during construction and to manage the course once it reopened.

Phelps restored some Jones-designed tees that had been abandoned over the years and constructed some additional teeing grounds to handle the longer distances golfers hit the ball today. “We also rebuilt a couple of holes because the new clubhouse necessitated shortening a par-5 to a par-4 and then lengthening a par-4 to a par-5,” Phelps said. “I tried my best to match the kinds of slopes, shapes and bunkering that were already out there. We modified some of Trent’s [Robert Trent Jones Sr.’s] bunkers that were very, very large so erosion in the bottoms would not be a problem. But, other than that, we tried to match the Jones’ flavor.

“The course is very well balanced. There is no particular signature hole, but a number that are very enjoyable. I’ve been in this business for 40-something years and the styles Bobby and Trent used are not all that much different from what I have been trying to do. It was fun, exciting. The course always had a great reputation in the Pacific Northwest. This will return it to that point.”

Headquartered in Evergreen, Colo., with additional offices in Scottsdale, Ariz., Phelps Golf Design has received numerous honors, including multiple Golf Digest “Best New” award winners. It also has crafted many courses that appear on “places to play” lists and at least one “top ten” course in California, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Colorado, North Dakota, Nebraska and Texas.