Tomahawk Lake Country Club

Tomahawk Lake Country Club in Deadwood is one of the most historically significant public-access courses in the Black Hills, a Lawrence Hughes design built in 1934 (Hughes's first solo architectural commission) and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. That combination of architectural pedigree (Hughes later designed the Thunderbird Country Club in Rancho Mirage, CA) and National Register listing is a narrow category among American Golden Age golf courses. The 9-hole par-36 layout plays 3,390 yards through Black Hills National Forest terrain seven miles south of Historic Deadwood. The setting is the calling card, narrow fairways lined by tall ponderosa pines, dramatic elevation changes from tee box to green, and a visual-and-playing experience not easily matched by any other Black Hills course. Golf Digest critic Ron Whitten confirmed this was Hughes's first solo design job, which adds to the course's place in American golf-architecture history. For the Deadwood / Spearfish / Black Hills trip visitor, Tomahawk Lake is the Golden Age pedigree round, paired naturally with Southern Hills (Hot Springs, Richard Phelps) and Hart Ranch (Rapid City) for a three-round Black Hills architectural circuit.