Elite N.C. mountain course closed since hurricane to reopen after extensive renovations

A prominent High Country private golf club ravaged by Hurricane Helene will reopen in May, according to a release from the club.

Elk River Club’s layout will open in May after reconstruction by Nicklaus Design. The course was closed the past 20 months due to extensive flooding.

The layout, a few miles southwest of downtown Banner Elk, opened in 1984 as the first Jack Nicklaus Signature Course in North Carolina.

Several premier private courses in Avery County, including Elk River, typically open for season in early May.

Much of the club’s layout and facilities were flooded by the Elk River, which runs through the course. The club estimates that 60% of the course was damaged.

“It truly looked like a bomb had gone off,” general manager Toni Littleton said. “We drove under downed trees, beneath and across fallen electrical lines, and skirted the edges of huge sinkholes in the road. The destruction caused by Helene was beyond anything we could have imagined from a hurricane in the mountains.”

For several weeks after the hurricane, the private Elk River air strip, adjacent to the Elk River community, and the bridge over the course’s first hole was the only way to access the club.

The reconstruction included relocated tees and moved greens, a set of forward tees throughout the course, reseeded fairways, tees and greens. Loss of trees from the hurricane opened mountain vistas. Length was added to the course, but specifics were not included in the release.