Blue Lakes Country Club

Blue Lakes Country Club in Twin Falls was designed by Francis L. James and opened in 1949 as a par-72 layout measuring 6,474 yards along the Snake River canyon rim in Twin Falls County. The course occupies a dramatic setting above the Snake River Plain, where the canyon walls and adjacent Blue Lakes golf complex provide a scenic backdrop unique in Idaho golf.

Blue Lakes Country Club in Twin Falls, Idaho, has been one of the state's most architecturally distinctive private clubs since it opened in 1949 with a nine-hole course designed by Francis L. James. The club traces its organizational roots to 1944, when the Perrine Club — named after twin Falls' founding father I.B. Perrine — began taking shape as a membership organization. By the late 1940s, the club had acquired land in the dramatic Snake River Canyon and engaged James to lay out the original nine holes on the canyon rim.

The club's most celebrated feature is the signature par-3 sixth hole, which descends from tee to green over a drop of approximately 200 feet — a dramatic tee shot played from the canyon rim to a green far below, with the Snake River visible in the canyon floor. This hole has been recognized nationally as a distinguished par 3s in the United States, a designation that reflects the singular advantage of building a golf course on the edge of one of the American West's most visually powerful geological features. The Snake River Canyon, carved by volcanic activity and subsequent water erosion, provides a backdrop unlike anything available to course designers working in conventional terrain. The full eighteen-hole course was developed over subsequent years as the membership grew and additional land was acquired, creating a layout that balances the canyon-edge drama of the early holes with more conventional parkland golf on the plateau above. The club has served the Twin Falls community as its primary private golf facility for more than seventy years, hosting Idaho Golf Association events and providing a home to the competitive amateur golfers of south-central Idaho.

The combination of a canyon setting, a nationally recognized par-3 hole, and a history stretching back to the early postwar years gives Blue Lakes Country Club a character that distinguishes it from any other private course in Idaho. The Snake River Canyon — one of the defining geological features of the Snake River Plain — provides the visual and strategic context for a golf experience rooted in the dramatic geography of the American Northwest. The course plays 6,474 yards to a par of 72 from the championship tees. A family cemetery belonging to I.B. Perrine, founder of Blue Lakes Ranch, is located between the 8th and 9th holes — a historical presence that connects the golf course directly to the founders of Twin Falls itself.

The combination of the canyon setting, the 200-foot cliff par-3, the Perrine family connection, and the club's role as the social and athletic anchor of Twin Falls's established community gives Blue Lakes Country Club a depth of character and local identity that distinguishes it from any other private golf facility in the state. The club continues to serve as the center of competitive golf in the Magic Valley region of southern Idaho. The Blue Lakes golf program includes competitive events across multiple divisions, with the club's men's and women's member-guest tournaments among the most anticipated events on the south-central Idaho social calendar. The combination of the Snake River Canyon's geological drama, the nationally recognized par-3 sixth hole, the historical connection to I.B. Perrine's legacy, and the club's seven decades of service to the Twin Falls community gives Blue Lakes Country Club an authenticity and local resonance that money cannot simply manufacture.