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Sun Valley Golf Course
Rating Snapshot
About
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | 71 | 6607 yards | 69.8 | 124 |
| White | 71 | 6197 yards | 68.1 | 119 |
| Gold | 71 | 5689 yards | ||
| Red (W) | 71 | 5160 yards | 68.8 | 105 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue M: 69.8/124 | 416 | 200 | 500 | 453 | 720 | 375 | 180 | 367 | 160 | 3371 | 428 | 295 | 366 | 191 | 417 | 189 | 525 | 440 | 385 | 3236 | 6607 |
| White M: 68.1/119 | 393 | 175 | 480 | 430 | 710 | 350 | 145 | 337 | 140 | 3160 | 407 | 270 | 355 | 160 | 395 | 165 | 510 | 415 | 360 | 3037 | 6197 |
| Gold M: 67.3/117 | 380 | 160 | 450 | 410 | 571 | 315 | 125 | 317 | 130 | 2858 | 360 | 258 | 330 | 150 | 375 | 157 | 496 | 375 | 330 | 2831 | 5689 |
| Red W: 68.8/105 | 366 | 152 | 415 | 350 | 561 | 271 | 110 | 312 | 125 | 2662 | 333 | 221 | 307 | 95 | 340 | 151 | 429 | 322 | 300 | 2498 | 5160 |
| Handicap | 12 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 18 | 14 | 16 | 3 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 5 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 9 | |||
| Par | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 36 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 35 | 71 |
| Handicap (W) | 9 | 13 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 15 | 17 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 16 | 6 | 18 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 14 |
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Reviews
Reviewer Photos
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Photo submitted by YRusa22sm5k4f4jae8J3 on 11/05/2025
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Photo submitted by u000003622125 on 10/21/2025
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Photo submitted by u314163553702 on 10/17/2024
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Photo submitted by jrii13 on 10/27/2019
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Nice view Photo submitted by rgood55 on 10/28/2018
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Photo submitted by WEBARBNAG on 06/19/2018
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Photo submitted by u00000993196 on 06/03/2015
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Photo submitted by u00000993196 on 06/03/2015
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Photo submitted by u00000993196 on 06/03/2015
Always Good
I really like playing Sun Valley, it is a challenging course the greens are always smooth and quick. The staff are always very helpful and friendly. It is nice to get out there and be away from homes and fencing and still be able to concentrate on the game.
Great surprise
With the location being very rural, I did not expect much. But, the Gary Kern Design is very unique and has quite a few memorable holes. I would definitely make Sun Valley a regular. Really enjoyed the round.
Thank you so much for your great review of our course. We really appreciate it. We are so glad you enjoyed your time with us out here and Sun Valley and liked the course. We look forward to seeing you again soon!
Course was awesome
Course was great really enjoyed it will be back very soon hole 5 the par 6 by far longest hole ever played greens were in excellent shape staff very friendly enjoyed it looking forward to playing again
Thank you for your great review of our course. We really appreciate it! We are so glad you had a great time and can't wait to see you again soon!
Great option off the beaten path
I'll admit that I had modest expectations on my first visit to this course. Now you won't mistake the experience here for a private club our premium gulf coast golf as Sun Valley shows obvious signs of wear, especially around the clubhouse. However, for most golfers it's all about the golf, right?
A quick tour: nice couple of warm-up holes before biting off three challengers including the brutes which are the long par 4 fourth and the monstrous PAR 6 fifth. Count me in the camp that views this as a gimmick hole,, but it is a unique experience. The course then settles in as a series of par 3's and 4's - only one par 5 the rest of the way - featuring many great shortish par 4's and dramatic elevation changes on the par 3's. This is not a walking course! The loan par five on the back nine is quite narrow which highlights the superior vistas on the inward 9. Take a pause on the 12th green to admire the views!
Greens were perfect and only a wee bit on the slow side. Typical and smart for the heat of the summer in the Midwest.
Fairways generous enough for the novice to average golfer. A nice variety of holes and tee positions.
Rough not overly lengthy, again a move to help find errant shots and keep the round moving.
Bunkering was the weakest on course aspect. Not sure if that was a true sand or some sort of clay and sand mix. Hard and crusty in the few I "observed". I suggest avoiding them!
Staff was friendly and welcoming.
I most certainly plan to return and if you are in the St. Louis area I suggest the short trip northwest. No 5-5 hour round here as pace of play was unrushed, yet brisk.
Thank you so much for your great review of our course. We really appreciate it! We are so glad you had a great time. We hope to see you again soon!
Thank you for the great review of our course. We really appreciate it. We look forward to seeing you again soon!
Thank you for your great review of our course. We really appreciate it. Please come back and visit us soon!
John edwards
Last time I played there they had a bad storm the day before. They did a great job cleaning up. I'll play there anytime I get a chance.
Thank you for your great review of our course. We really appreciate it. Please come back and see us again soon!
layout
This is a fun layout and really something that a lot of folks can enjoy.
Thank you for taking the time to review Sun Valley Golf Course! We are so glad that you enjoyed your round. Please come out to see us again soon.
Outstanding country golf course
My wife and I really enjoyed the Sun Valley Golf Course this past week. It has some rather unique holes which makes it a real pleasure to play. We hated to see the golf day end. We will definitely play there again...
Thank you so much for taking the time to review our course! We are so glad you enjoyed the course! Come back and see us soon.
Decent Layout, Poor Conditioning, Slow Greens
A Gary Kern Design, I like most of the holes. I would redesign 3-4 of the holes and get rid of the silly Par 6 they think is such a novelty. It is actually pointless since you have to land your ball only 50-75 yards in front of the tees that used to be a par 5, so now you are playing a par 5 from the deck instead of driver off the tee. They are trying to get Zoysia started on some of the holes which will help since the fairways lack decent grass turf. The tee boxes are worse and really should be sodded with Zoysia. A decent layout but it is obvious they have no money to spend on course maintenance. A good place to take young kids to play and learn the game, but not a memorable golf experience for regulars. Pretty vistas, with some work this course could be a solid venue.
Thank you so much for your feedback on our course. We have received a lot of positive feedback since we’ve purchased the course in 2005. You are correct in that it is a Gary Kern design, and yes, Gary was involved in transforming Hole #5 to a Par 6. He really liked adding the distance to play 720 yards and the primary landing area being between 200-250 from the back tees. Shorter hitters can land it short now that we have piped in the first creek. We installed the two fairway bunkers on the right and replaced the irrigation heads throughout the entire hole. It can be a very difficult tee shot when hitting downhill with OB to the left of the entire hole and woods to the right. Most people have trouble placing their tee shot in the area that you mention. Zoysia was striped in back in 2008 on all the Par 4’s and Par 5’s on the front nine. They are now 100% zoysia. The back 9 has large zoysia circles that continue to grow around the sprinkler heads that will eventually take over the entire fairways. This was started back in the 90’s. The tee boxes are mostly bluegrass and can have a little trouble with the extreme heat and heavy rains. We have spent a considerable amount of money on the course, but we also feel it’s important to offer affordable golf to this area. A few improvements you might not be aware of beside the zoysia conversion include a new irrigation pump station, new irrigation heads, completed cart paths on the front 9, doubled the size of the irrigation lake above the property to hold water for the main lake, new clubhouse, commercial well for drinking water, Par 6 re-design, and the clearing of over 100 trees and 20 acres through the course. Please try us again. The course is in great shape, the greens are rolling nice, and Sun Valley is a solid venue to test all levels of players.
Sun & Fun
Haven't been here for a few years. A long ride from anywhere. Course is changing for the better. Tee boxes and greens were greatly improved and the fairways are filling in nicely with carpet grasses. My only request is for more yardage markers. How about a piece of painted 4X4 at 200, 150, and 100 yards on each side of each fairway. Initial cost would be minimal and they should last for years.
Thank you for your feedback. We do have red markers for 100 yards, white markers for 150 yards, and blue markers for 200 yards posted on most par fours and par fives. Over the years, we have had a few of them pulled out and knocked over that need to be replaced. We will look into those holes that are missing and get them updated. Thank you for your input and helping us improve our playing conditions for our golfers.
Good Value
This is a fun course for the value. You can often play for $15 - $20 here which is great regardless of the course. Don't expect plush fairways and greens outside of the peak months but again this course is about the value.
Thank you so much for taking the time to review our course! We are so glad you appreciate the great value we strive to provide for our golfers. We look forward to seeing you out on the course again soon!
Sun valley
Booked as a single because I wanted to play alone. I figured no problem because of 2 PM tee time.. they paired me up with somebody. Why? there was no one on course except a wild turkey and a deer. I understand pairing up at 10 AM when there are 20 people on number 1 tee box. .hey Sun Valley, nobody likes getting paired up with strangers,especially when the course is empty
We apologize for the delay in communication. We will notify him that you are trying to reach him and would like you to try again. Thank you for the update!
as you suggested I contacted Kirk Porter but never heard back
We are very sorry for the misunderstanding with the tee time you had. Our 2pm Hot Deal Tee Times come with certain restrictions for the golfers that book them. We will be happy to talk to you about your concerns and explain the restrictions further if you would like to contact our General Manager, Kirk Porter. We apologize for your less than satisfactory experience but hope you will be able to come out and give our course another chance. In the future, you can always book through our website for the cheapest rates and avoid the confusion. Regardless, we do appreciate you coming out to experience Sun Valley and taking the time to provide us with feedback. Hope to see you again in the future!
Nice views
This course is fun to play, played late afternoon weather was perfect, Staff outstanding. other players let me play through, just a fun course
We are very happy to hear such positive feedback and that you enjoyed our experience with us! Thank you for playing and recommending our course!
Weekend golf
Great place to introduce my son to the game. Did not have to worry about offending others with beginner player.
We love having golfers of any level out to our course, but it is a great place to start for beginners! When you get to the course, the tee is never crowded. So if you are a beginner and playing slow, that's ok! You have time to learn the game. Thank you very much for your review and we hope to see you and your son out again very soon!
Good course not busy
Course was in pretty good shape, but I think all the rain has had some impact. For the money it is a nice course and it took no time to play. We played a twosome and it took 4 hours.
Yes the rain has hit us pretty hard this year but we have been working hard to recover from it! So glad you got the chance to come out and see our course. We hope to see you again soon! Thanks for playing at Sun Valley!
Under the radar, good course!
I've played this course quite a bit, it's had its ups and downs. Some of the holes are a little quirky but overall it's a course that you need to be able to guide your ball around. Greens roll very good! I've payed more money for "better" courses that have worse greens. Don't pass up an opportunity to try this course. Always a good time with never a lot of people!
Thank you for your recommendation! We appreciate when our golfers notice the hard work that has been put into the course the past few years and always enjoy new visitors. We hope to see you again soon. Thanks for playing at Sun Valley!
Bugged out!
The bugs were bad, the grass was to tall, sand missing in sand traps, paid for 18 holes and back 9 closed, unplayable...was not notified till we finished front 9 holes. Over all , I will not return!!
We are very sorry to hear that you did not enjoy your experience with us. The heavy and consistent rains this season have not been kind to our course conditions. While we have been hard at work to battle Mother Nature, she seems to be winning most days this year. We hope you will find another time to come visit when the weather is in better shape.
picturesque
It has been several years since I have been to Sun Valley and the course is different. It has always been a course with great views from the tee boxes, but long grass has been added to define the hole boundaries when venturing too far off the fairways- great addition. I played the Blue tees at 6600 yards. The course has some holes with wide landing zones and others where you have to hit your target. Undulating greens in great condition were rolling well. I love the layout. The bunkers were unplayable due to past weather and need to be repacked. I hope this will be done promptly. I will go back soon.
Thank you so much for your review! We always appreciate the recommendation and tips to your fellow golfers regarding our course. We will pass your concerns about the bunkers along to our maintenance staff who has been working hard this summer to battle the weather conditions. We look forward to seeing you again soon!
MARROQUIN + AJ
The course was in very good condition including the greens. Not many golfers on the course on this day, which made it great for us.
We've played this course several times over the years and will keep coming back.
Great value.
Thank you so much for the review and recommendation. We are happy to hear you enjoy playing our course frequently and that you will be returning again.
Thank you for your great review of our course. We really appreciate it! We're so glad you enjoyed your time out playing with us at Sun Valley and hope to see you again soon!