Lead Country Club

Lead Country Club was organized in 1922 on land donated by Homestake Mining Company. John Bland, who had designed a course at the Claremont Hotel in California, laid out the original holes. The clubhouse went up the following year, and in 1924 the famous elevated first tee was built. The course has played in essentially the same configuration since the mid-1930s. In 2006, when Barrick Gold Corp decided to sell the land, a group of local developers purchased the property and deeded the course back to the members in 2009.

Playing at roughly 6,200 feet of elevation in the Black Hills, the nine holes cover 3,220 yards at par 36. The altitude adds distance to every club, and the hilly terrain built into the mountainside creates dramatic elevation changes between tees and greens. No driving range is available, keeping the focus on the course itself. Economy-priced green fees make this one of the more affordable rounds in the Black Hills region, and the century of history behind each hole gives Lead Country Club a character that newer courses cannot replicate.