Sun Valley Resort Golf Course (Trail Creek Course)

Overview: Trail Creek Course is Sun Valley Resort's 18-hole mountain layout, playing to par 72 and 6,974 yards beneath Bald Mountain, the Pioneer Mountains and the Boulder Mountain Range. Robert Trent Jones Jr.'s redesign is visible in the strategic bunkering, water features and tree-lined fairways, but the course remains closely connected to the resort's original landscape. The front nine crosses Trail Creek repeatedly, while the back nine opens into a broader alpine setting with long mountain views.

History: Sun Valley's golf story begins with construction in 1937, when William Bell designed the original course for the young resort. The routing was later expanded and reshaped, and Robert Trent Jones Jr. carried out the major redesign that reopened the modern Trail Creek course in 1980. Keeping those chapters separate matters: the directory's 1937 date reflects the property's early golf history, while today's playing character owes much to the Jones redesign.

Did You Know? The front nine includes seven crossings over Trail Creek. Those crossings are not simply scenic interruptions; they repeatedly bring a moving water line into the strategy of the hole and help give the opening half its identity. On the back nine, the course shifts away from that concentrated creek sequence and uses the surrounding mountain landscape to frame the longer views.