Sun Valley Golf Course is a resort golf complex in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

of the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, located in

Sun Valley, Idaho Sun Valley is a resort city in the western United States, in Blaine County, Idaho, adjacent to the city of Ketchum in the Wood River valley. The population was 1406 at the 2010 census, down from 1427 in 2000.Big Wood River The Big Wood River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. , accessed May 4, 2011 river in central Idaho, United States, that is a tributary of the Malad River (which in turn is tributary to the ...

, which flows southwest toward the resort and city of

Ketchum Ketchum may refer to: Towns, cities, and, geographic features * Ketchum, Idaho, United States * Ketchum, Oklahoma, United States * Lake Ketchum, Washington, United States * Ketchum Glacier, a glacier in Antarctica * Ketchum Ridge, a large ridge i ...

. Opened as a nine hole course in the resort's first summer of 1937, it was traditionally known as "Sun Valley Golf Course," and expanded to 18 holes in the early 1960s. After

Earl Holding Robert Earl Holding (November 29, 1926 – April 19, 2013) was an American businessman who owned Sinclair Oil Corporation, the Grand America Hotels & Resorts, the Grand America Hotel, the Westgate Hotel in San Diego, California (directed by ...

purchased Sun Valley in 1977, the golf course underwent a redesign by

Robert Trent Jones Jr. Robert Trent "Bobby" Jones Jr. (born July 24, 1939) is an American golf course architect. He is the son of golf course designer Robert Trent Jones and the brother of golf course designer Rees Jones. Background Jones was born in Montclair, New J ...

and reopened in 1980. The par-72 course plays at from the back tees, with a

course rating A golf handicap is a numerical measure of a golfer's potential that is used to enable players of varying abilities to compete against one another. Better players are those with the lowest handicaps. Historically, rules relating to handicaps have v ...

of 72.9 with a

slope rating The slope rating of a golf course is a measure of its relative difficulty for a bogey golfer compared to a scratch golfer. It is used by handicapping systems to equalize the field by accounting for the likelihood that, when playing on more difficu ...

of 138. The approximate average

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. At its base is the Sun Valley Club, the sizable golf clubhouse for the resort, with a practice facility and an 18-hole putting course. The

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

memorial is west of Trail Creek's eighth tee.

White Clouds

The White Clouds Course opened in 2008, on the former land of the Sun Valley Gun Club. The newest of the courses, the nine-hole layout has impressive views and severe elevation changes over its and is the most difficult, with a course rating of 37.5 (75.0 for 18 holes) and a slope of 145. Also designed by Jones, it is named after the

White Cloud Mountains The White Cloud Mountains are part of the Rocky Mountains of the western United States, located in central Idaho, southeast of Stanley in Custer County. The range is located within the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA) and partially within ...

in adjacent Custer County.

Elkhorn Golf Club

Elkhorn Golf Club is south of the other two courses, southeast of

Dollar Mountain Dollar Mountain (6638 ft., 2023 m) is a ski hill in the western United States in south central Idaho, part of the Sun Valley ski resort. The treeless Dollar caters primarily to beginner and lower intermediate skiers; the primary mountain fo ...

, and opened for play in 1975. It varied between being a semi-private and private club, then was acquired by the resort in 2011. Elkhorn is a split-design of Robert Trent Jones Senior and Junior; the father contributed the hillier front nine and the son the back, which is laden with water hazards. Also par 72, the tips measure with a rating of 72.7 and slope of 139.

Killebrew-Thompson Memorial

Sun Valley hosts the Killebrew-Thompson Memorial (KTM) golf tournament each August to help fund

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

research. Launched in 1977 by

baseball hall of famer The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-re ...

Harmon Killebrew Harmon Clayton Killebrew Jr. (; June 29, 1936May 17, 2011), nicknamed "The Killer" and "Hammerin' Harmon", was an American professional baseball first baseman, third baseman, and left fielder. He was a prolific power hitter who spent most of hi ...

of Payette and former congressman Ralph Harding, it originally honored

Danny Thompson Daniel Henry Edward Thompson (born 4 April 1939) is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. He has had a long musical career playing with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson and John Mart ...

, a teammate of Killebrew's with the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

who continued his major league career after being diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

, and died at age 29. Notable participants that first year were

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

, House Speaker

Tip O'Neill Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill Jr. (December 9, 1912 – January 5, 1994) was an American politician who served as the 47th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987, representing northern Boston, Massachusetts, as ...

, and hall of fame slugger

Mickey Mantle Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Commerce Comet" and "the Mick", was an American professional baseball player. Mantle played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York ...

. Following Killebrew's death from

esophageal cancer Esophageal cancer is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include difficulty in swallowing and weight loss. Other symptoms may include pain when swallowing, a hoarse voice ...

in 2011, his name was attached to the event.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sun Valley Golf Course Sun Valley, Idaho Golf clubs and courses in Idaho Buildings and structures in Blaine County, Idaho Tourist attractions in Blaine County, Idaho 1937 establishments in Idaho