Jug Mountain Ranch Golf Course

Overview: Jug Mountain Ranch Golf Course is a public 18-hole, par-72 layout in McCall's East Valley. Donald Knott designed the course to work with the ranch's existing wetlands, old-growth forest, reservoirs and open meadow, rather than treating those features as scenery beyond the fairways. The result is a mountain course with changing textures and broad views toward Jughandle Mountain. Holes move between more open ground and wooded sections, so club selection and landing position matter as much as the headline yardage.

History: The original course opened in 2004 after years of planning and land walks by Knott and the Carey family. Knott's background as a former senior vice president of course design for Robert Trent Jones II informed the work, but the site supplied the design vocabulary: creeks, reservoirs, sagebrush pasture, mature trees and wetlands. Jug Mountain has continued to expand its golf offering with a separate six-hole par-3 course beside the practice area.

Did You Know? A local description divides the 18 holes into six in the meadow, six in the trees and six around water. It is a simple way to understand the course's changing rhythm, because each group of holes presents a different landscape and a different kind of decision. The ranch itself covers about 1,410 acres beneath 8,310-foot Jughandle Mountain, with most of the property kept as open space.