Elkhorn Ridge Golf Club

Elkhorn Ridge Golf Club in Spearfish, South Dakota is one of the Black Hills region's architectural highlights, a Patrick Wyss design that opened in 2009. The 18-hole par-72 layout plays to a stout 74.6 rating and 137 slope, notably challenging for a public-access Black Hills course. Wyss routed the course across genuinely dramatic terrain: the front nine is nestled on the side of a mountain overlooking Centennial Valley, while the back nine winds through the Polo Creek Canyon with rock wall backdrops framing multiple holes. The canyon holes on the back nine are the property's architectural signature, Polo Creek runs through the fairway sequence with dramatic rock outcroppings serving as both visual spectacle and natural hazards. The elevation changes between the two nines create completely different shot-making puzzles, downhill approaches from the front-nine mountainside, then uphill and sideways shots on the back. For the Black Hills trip visitor, Elkhorn Ridge is the must-play pairing with Spearfish Canyon Country Club and Boulder Canyon Country Club, three legitimate Black Hills public 18s within 30 minutes of each other.