STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

It’s so green.

That’s the word golfers are using to describe the newly renovated Bigwood Golf Course, which recently reopened to the public following several months of renovation.

The tees and bunkers, which were 50 years old, got a complete makeover with sand from Bruneau Sand Dunes trucked in for the sand traps. And a new irrigation system has replaced the old one, which had failed after 53 years, leaving the grass parched and brown.

“We shut down early last fall and went to town,” said Elyse Smidinger, who’s in charge of Golf Operations. “Now the grass is growing and it’s green. And we rerouted the course so golfers end up back at the clubhouse.”

The work was overseen by the course’s new superintendent Chris Gray, who has a degree in turf management from Penn State. The course remodel was overseen by golf architect David Druziky.

The new course is both easier and more challenging, Smidinger said.

“We’ve gone to a link style. Before, if you hit too far to the left or too far to the right your ball would land in tall natural grass. Now the fairways are wider. Right now, it’s rolling a little slow, but it’s getting better all the time.”

The Bigwood bar is still in the process of being remodeled with its opening slated for the Spring 2026. When finished, the dining room will have floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on to Sun Valley Resort’s Bald Mountain.

Outdoor seating will overlook the golf course.

In lieu of the restaurant and bar this summer, a snack shack is being built to provide beverages and simple fare like hot dogs with picnic tables nearby. The putting green can be played by adults and children free of charge from dawn to dusk. There also will be cornhole and a bocce court provided for families free of charge.

The pro shop is temporarily set up in the basement.

The golf course’s renovation is being done by the course’s new owners Christopher and Lindsay Lyle, who moved to Sun Valley from the San Francisco Bay area five years ago. Though she busied herself with volunteer work here, Lindsay Lyle missed the day-to-day life as YouTube’s director of User Operations and so purchased the Bigwood Golf Course a year ago when she saw a For Sale sign outside the clubhouse.

The course was originally designed by the late golf course architect Robert Muir Graves in 1971 as a nine-hole course with a driving range and putting green. It was built on a site that formerly served as an airport and a sheepherding camp.

It’s considered the more affordable of the valley’s golf options with holes that are approachable for all skill levels.

“What the new owners have done to revive Bigwood is fantastic!” said Smidinger.