Once-Private Wyoming Course Now Open to Lodge Guests

Snake River Sporting Club, a private golf club tucked into the Teton Range south of Jackson Hole, Wyo., is no longer off-limits to the public. The club opened the Sylvan Lodge last year, and guests who book a room now get access to a block of tee times on the course.

Who designed the course and when did it open?

Tom Weiskopf, who won the 1973 Open Championship before turning to course design, drew up the routing, which opened in 2006. The front nine runs through cottonwoods, birch and aspen, while the back nine opens into alpine meadows, with tributaries of the Snake River threading through both. From the tips, the course measures more than 7,500 yards and sits above a mile in elevation, a combination the club says adds distance to tee shots.

What are the course's signature holes?

The par-4 2nd plays downhill over a rise toward a contoured green guarded by bunkers, with a feeder bank on the left for shorter hitters. A stream crosses the front of the short par-3 4th, and a lake borders the left side of the 11th, the course's longest hole. The par-3 15th runs closest to the Snake River itself, close enough to watch the current from the tee.

A course built for members only in 2006 is now reachable by anyone willing to book a room.

How do you get there and where do you stay?

The club sits about 40 minutes south of Jackson Hole Airport, reached by a bridge across the Snake River and a private access road through land that was once a working cattle ranch. The Sylvan Lodge, which opened last year, offers a lobby with fireplaces, a rooftop with Teton views, and a concierge service that arranges fly-fishing trips and dining reservations alongside tee times. The property's River Room restaurant serves a seasonal menu that has included elk meatballs, dry-aged New York strip and brioche-crusted halibut.