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Elk River Club is an 18-hole private golf course in Banner Elk, North Carolina.

Designed by Jack Nicklaus. It plays 6,829 yards from the Gold tees, rated 73.4/141 (checked 2026-08-14).

Create a free account to save Elk River Club to My Game, where every course you save is measured against the rest of its state on the figures it publishes.
18
holes
72
par
6,829
yards (tips)
141
slope (gold)
The shape of the round · Gold teespublished figures only
HOLE ORDER — GOLD TEES478208550390424501365195418372389165322472172509356557142335445465748394104114123134144153165174185PAROUT 3,529 YDSIN 3,314 YDSFIRST NINESECOND NINE
The published card in playing order, 18 holes with the two nines split — hole number under each bar, its par below that.

The course

designer
Jack Nicklaus reported
access
private
address
996 Clubhouse Drive, Banner Elk, NC, 28604
phone
792-740-4544
elevation
3,399 ft derived
opened
1984
on site
driving range · restaurant

36.15641, -81.89549 — open on OpenStreetMap →

The course, from above

This map shows all 18 holes. 18 mapped features sit close to more than one hole and are drawn with the nearer one.

207 traced features across 8 layers for Elk River Club, drawn over NAIP 2022 aerial imagery.

Use arrow keys to pan, plus and minus to zoom. Tab reaches the map controls.

207 traced features across 8 layers for Elk River Club, drawn over NAIP 2022 aerial imagery. The map itself needs JavaScript; the geometry is a plain GeoJSON file either way.

18
Holes
23
Fairways
55
Bunkers
9
Water
18
Greens
71
Tee pads
6,843yds
Gold tees
557yds
Longest hole
165yds
Shortest hole

Imported from OpenStreetMap, edges unchecked · USDA NAIP 2022-10-04

Tees & ratings

Ratingsopen datachecked 2026-08-14

All 6 tee sets par, yardage, course rating, slope — the full table

Sorted by Yards, descending. 6 rows.

GoldM72682973.414135293314
BlueM726305contested623070.513431783052
WhiteF725528contested545773.214027832674
WhiteM725528contested545767.512127832674
RedF72497870.213125472424
RedM72497864.111725472424

Every figure as published except Card yards (derived), which is summed from the card below and shown only where a published figure is contested; a blank cell elsewhere is one nobody publishes. Front 9 and Back 9 are summed from the per-hole yardages on the scorecard.

The Blue and White tees publish a yardage total the scorecard below does not add up to. Both figures are published and nothing we hold settles which one a round plays to, so the Yards column keeps the published figure, marked contested, and each tee's own yardage row from the card below is summed beside it, marked derived.

Scorecard — every published tee

Scorecardopen datachecked 2026-08-14

Hole 123456789101112131415161718 Total
Par 435445434443443545 72
Gold 478208550390424501365195418372389165322472172509356557 6,829
Blue 404185496354379472337153398353359151299412156488338496 6,305
White 376138449304337415299127338321319118285337141425283445 5,528
Red 335115429279315375273110316286303109235310133396267385 4,978
Handicap 216101441281861111513317759

Plan it in the Studio

Plan Elk River Club hole by hole, for your game.

Ask in plain words. The Studio draws each hole on the aerial photo, picks a club for each shot from your carries and the way you miss, and shows where a miss costs you strokes. Where a green was surveyed, it reads the slope too.

  • The approach, planned A Studio approach map on the aerial photo: a lob wedge aimed at the island green, its spread drawn as a dashed ring over the water, and the side it most often misses. Example from another course: hole 15, Resort tee, Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale
  • The green, from LiDAR A Studio green view on the aerial photo: arrows for the slope a LiDAR survey measured, the area a cup could be cut, and the safer side to miss. Example from another course: hole 15, Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale
  • Every shot, tee to green A Studio plan on the aerial photo of a desert par 4: the driver off the tee and a 7-iron into the green between the bunkers, each shot with its landing spread drawn as a dashed ring. Example from another course: hole 2, Resort tee, Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale

Plan this course in the Studio

Pictures: Studio output for a sample golfer, drawn 2026-10-15. The Studio needs a free account. AI can make mistakes.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

Book nearby

Elk River Club states private access, so there is no tee time here to book. The nearest courses that state access you can book: Mountain Glen Golf Club (3.3 mi, semi-private) · Linville Golf Club (6.8 mi, resort) · Linville Land Harbor Golf Club (7.9 mi, semi-private)

Measured against comparable courses

How hard and how long this course plays against comparable courses — never how good it is.

FigureThis courseIn North CarolinaNationwideAmong its peers
Longest6,829 yds184th of 541=3,233rd of 12,025=1,130th of 2,954 private courses · =3,211th of 9,017 18-hole regulation courses
Toughest testslope 141=48th of 356=777th of 8,710=345th of 2,300 private courses · =760th of 7,089 18-hole regulation courses
Hardest from the tipsrating 73.4=120th of 333=2,119th of 7,615=858th of 2,143 private courses · =2,101st of 7,034 18-hole regulation courses
Widest tee spread1,851 yds between tees=226th of 528=3,121st of 11,523=952nd of 2,885 private courses · =3,070th of 8,962 18-hole regulation courses
Oldestopened 1984=199th of 395=5,653rd of 9,368=1,660th of 2,418 private courses · =4,024th of 7,001 18-hole regulation courses
Highest above sea level3,399 ft derived 24th of 554780th of 12,437145th of 3,026 private courses · 556th of 9,106 18-hole regulation courses

A published figure is compared only against the courses that publish it too, which is why the totals differ from row to row — a state's length field is the courses with a scorecard, not the courses in the state. Height above sea level is the exception: we derive it from a coordinate, so its field is very nearly every course we render. Ties share an ordinal and are marked =. How this is computed →

What's on this page

In progress4 of 6 built

4 of 6 parts of this course page are built, and we're filling in the rest.

  • Scorecard, built.Par and yardage for every hole, from 6 sets of tees.
  • Course rating and slope, built.Rated from 6 sets of tees.
  • Course map, built.All 18 greens drawn, with the fairways, bunkers and water, over aerial imagery.
  • Per-hole distances, built.Every hole is traced, so carries and distances to the front, middle and back of each green are measured along the line you actually play.
  • Green contours, not built yet.We haven't built the green contours for this course yet.
  • Course details, partly built.6 of 7 background details — we don't hold the grass on the greens.

The site is in beta and the database is still being built, so expect gaps. Know something we don't? Help us fill it in — a link to where it's published is worth more than anything else you could send.

Sources

Gathered from the course's own site and public records — every figure on this page is traceable to who published it and when. Spot an error or a gap? Tell us.

Location and identity seeded from OpenStreetMap — © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Last checked 2026-08-14. Where each figure came from is stated beside it, above.

Compare this course →

Or go straight to a comparison: vs Sugar Mountain Golf Course · vs Mountain Glen Golf Club · vs Diamond Creek

Nearby courses

Sugar Mountain Golf Course

2.8 mi · Sugar Mountain · 18 holes

Mountain Glen Golf Club

3.3 mi · Newland · semi-private · 18 holes

Diamond Creek

3.3 mi · Banner Elk · private · 18 holes

Linville Ridge

3.8 mi · Linville · private · 18 holes

Beech Mountain Club

4.0 mi · Beech Mountain · private · 18 holes

Grandfather Golf & Country Club

4.6 mi · Linville · private · 18 holes

Linville Golf Club

6.8 mi · Linville · resort · 18 holes

Linville Land Harbor Golf Club

7.9 mi · Newland · semi-private · 18 holes

Straight-line distance from this course's coordinates, within 60 miles — not driving distance, and it crosses state lines where the nearest courses are over one.

Know something about this course? 7 fields we don't hold — or tell us something here is wrong