Project includes switching the nines around, widening playing corridors and renovations to all course features
By Richard Humphreys |
Architect Brian Curley of Curley-Wagner Golf Design is leading a comprehensive renovation of the golf course at The River Club in Boise, Idaho.
Curley is overseeing wholesale changes to the layout, including the swapping around of the nines and transforming the new back nine to play through wider parkland corridors framed by large specimen trees.
Work on much of the new front nine, where the holes run through residential corridors and required fewer structural changes, has already been completed, with irrigation installation and bunker construction underway.
The most striking changes, however, have come at the new thirteenth and eighteenth holes. Previously, that portion of the property had little relationship to the river, sitting well below a protective dike and densely forested with vegetation. After years of permitting to clear the area, the land has been raised roughly 10 feet on average, creating two green sites that back into each other while overlooking a gentle bend in the river and nearby rapids.
“These greens now sit above the Boise River and take in the sound and movement of the water,” said Curley. “As the only course in the market with true river frontage, those holes really reinforce the identity of The River Club, a name the club recently adopted to reflect its renewed connection to the river. In a region where most courses occupy inland valley land, direct riverfront golf is a rarity.”
Curley has made an effort to preserve as many trees as possible, with several also transplanted to maintain the character of the property.
The architect has also drawn inspiration from the course’s history: the course opened in 1917 to a design by H. Chandler Egan, who later collaborated with Alister MacKenzie at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
“Chandler Egan was involved here, and he of course played a role in the history of Pebble Beach as well as Pacific Grove Golf Links,” said Curley. “I grew up in Pebble Beach myself, so it felt meaningful to acknowledge that connection while respecting the character of this course in its small greens and bunkers.”
The project carries another personal dimension for Curley. His son, Cooper, is working on the build as a shaper, marking the first time the two have collaborated on a golf course.
Most green complexes have now been shaped, and the majority of fairway bunkering has been completed using liner from Zline Bunker Systems. In late April, the fairways and rough will be grassed with a Kentucky bluegrass and ryegrass blend, while tees and greens will feature Pure Eclipse.
“I’m very proud of what we are accomplishing at The River Club,” said Curley. “This project transforms what had been a relatively modest layout into a much more dramatic and memorable golf experience for the membership.”
The course is expected to reopen in late spring 2027.