Northern Idaho, A Great Golfing Destination

When most golfers think of golf destinations west of the Rockies, California and Arizona are normally the first places that come to mind. After spending five days recently playing the courses at Circling Raven, Coeur d'Alene Golf & Spa Resort, and Palouse Ridge, three terrific courses in Northern Idaho and Eastern Washington, I heartily recommend this area for serious consideration. Playing these three golf courses will give both scratch and high handicap golfers a most pleasurable experience.

Circling Raven, owned and operated by the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, and The Coeur d'Alene Golf & Spa Resort are located in Idaho. The new Palouse Ridge Golf Club is on the campus of Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. All three courses are easy drives from one another…drives that take you past rolling and fertile fields, tall pine forests, and picturesque landscapes.

Set among 620 acres of wetlands, woodlands and natural grasses, Circling Raven offers 18 championship holes that range from 4708 yards to 7189 yards from the five sets of tees. Golf course architect Gene Bates, whose background includes 29 years in golf course design with 160 golf course projects to his credit including 15 with PGA Pro Fred Couples, did a superb job in sculpting the course in and around lush forested meadows and carefully preserved wetlands.

Circling Raven has garnered numerous awards since opening in 2003 including most recently being named to Golf Magazine's “Top 100 Courses You Can Play” for 2008-09, Golf Digest's America's Greatest 100 Public Courses for 2009-10, and No. 1 in Golfweek's “America's Courses You Can Play” by state in 2009.

Prior to playing Circling Raven, check out the well stocked pro shop and then warm up on the course's 25-acre practice facility. When you tee off on the first hole, a par 5 dog-leg left along a lush wetland on the left side of the fairway, you will begin an incredible day. You'll soon understand why Circling Raven's golf course slogan is “As Nature Intended”.

Each and every hole on the course has its own characteristics with rolling fairways and well placed fairway and green side bunkers destined to test your driving and fairway shot-making skills. My favorite hole, and to my mind the most scenic hole on the course, was No. l7, a lovely straight-away par 5 which requires a tee shot over the only lake on the course. With trees on both sides of the fairway, an abundance of bunkers and an unseen creek along the right side of the fairway, No. l7 is a true test of golf. Played from the tips, it is also the longest hole on the course at 559 yards.

Since viewing the course and its surroundings is a wonderful experience in itself, you will find it easy to have your mind a bit distracted from your game. Fortunately the highly sophisticated GPS Navigation system on each cart helps solve that problem as the system instantly provides accurate mapping with distances to each green, bunker and hazard. For food on the course, the GPS system offers the opportunity to order food and beverages directly from the restaurant and the course's beverage cart continuously circles the entire 18 holes with snacks and drinks.

In addition to wonderful golf at Circling Raven, the Coeur d'Alene Casino Resort Hotel, with 202 rooms designed in dramatic Western lodge style, is only moments away. The hotel's three restaurants, The Twisted Earth Grill, The High Mountain Buffet, and the Sweetwater Café offer a wide and delicious variety of options for any meal. You can try your luck in the hotel's expansive 100,000 square foot casino with over 1600 Vegasstyle gaming machines, video blackjack, $30,000 high stakes bingo, and off-track betting featuring horse and dog races from more than 70 racetracks. For nightlife the hotel's Nighthawk Lounge is the place to meet.

Two new wings, a steak house and a 15,000 square foot spa are in the hotel's immediate expansion plans. Resort CEO and Coeur d'Alene tribal member David Lasarte-Meeks says “the amenities we're going to offer will match or surpass any we currently know of in the Pacific Northwest. The Spa will be world-class, and the new hotel wings will provide every comfort and luxury of a five-star property”.

The second in the three course triumvirate is located in the picturesque city of Coeur d'Alene. With the world's only floating and moveable island green, the golf course at the Coeur d'Alene Golf & Spa Resort should be on every golfer's “must play” list. Perennially rated as one of the top 10 resorts in the U.S. by readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine, it is a spectacular course with meticulously manicured bent grass tees, fairways and greens. When you play, be sure and ride from the hotel to and from the course in one of the two custom designed handcrafted Honduran mahogany water taxis. You'll have scenic views of the resort, its marina, and miles of tree-lined shoreline as you skim across Lake Coeur d'Alene's snow fed crystal clear water.

At only 6309 yards from the blues, the par 71 course with its 121 slope rating may lull you into thinking it is an easy course. Don't be fooled. Strategically placed snow white bunkers in the relatively wide open fairways and around the subtle breaking greens make proper club selection, good course management and well executed shots paramount for a good round. The natural beauty of golf architect Scott Miller's gem, which features lake views on every hole, also makes concentrating on golf extremely difficult.

A round of golf at the Coeur d'Alene Resort course is enhanced as you ride in luxury golf carts with heated seats, tilt steering wheels, tee dispensers, ball and club washing receptacles, and a beverage cooler filled with ice and water. Also adding to the ease of play, each foursome has its own forecaddie who uses a laser gun to read distances. Our foursome was guided through the round by forecaddie Eddie Hernandez who we nicknamed “Rabbit” because he continually darted across the fairways to give each player exact yardage and the best way to attack the well guarded greens. “Rabbit” also proved to be a “putting guru” with his excellent knowledge of how to putt the bent grass greens. His expert tutelage saved our group many a stroke.

The course's world famous 14th hole, all 15,000,000 pounds and 15,000 square feet of it, is challenging, fun to play, and deservedly so, has received worldwide fame. It is moved daily to a computer generated distance via a one-inch cable connected to the electric winches in the green's substructure. Depending upon where the island is positioned and the tee that is played, the green plays from 95 to 218 yards. Following a shot across the water to the green (a maximum of two attempts to hit the green are allowed) you shuttle to and from the green on “Putter”, an electric powered boat.

The island green, the diversity of the course's other 17 holes, the views of the lake, and the utmost care and detail given to every aspect of the course, make golfing at the Coeur d'Alene Golf & Spa Resort course a marvelous golfing experience. But…don't conclude your day when your golf game is over. Head back to the resort and enjoy a massage in The Spa. Make sure to include a shower in the $100,000 computerized Silver TAG Shower which has 18 heads that dispense both cold and hot water in a therapeutic and soothing manner.

Following a massage and shower, head out to one of the resorts many bars and restaurants. For casual dining try Dockside. For a more elegant experience, dine at Beverly's, the resort's 7th floor five-star restaurant. Named after the mother of resort developer Duane Hagadone, Beverly's offers a relaxed atmosphere with delicious certified prime beef and Northwest seafood entrees, a $2 million wine inventory, and spectacular panoramic views of Lake Coeur d'Alene.

The third golf course to be played is the new Palouse Ridge Golf Club, a venture of Washington State University in Pullman. Palouse Ridge has 18 championship holes, a spacious double ended driving range with target greens, two large practice putting greens, expansive chipping, pitching and sand play areas and a compact 7,000 square foot clubhouse with a well stocked golf shop. Occupying 315 scenic acres, golf architect John Harbottle III's eco-friendly course fits naturally with the land and compliments its settings.

At 5106 yards from the forward tees to 7308 yards from the tips, the course is challenging but fair. Played from the Gray tees, the middle of the five sets of tees, the par 3's average 149 yards, the par 4's 375 yards, and the par five 5's an even 500 yards. From the Crimson tips, the average yardage jumps to 203 yards for the par 3's, 436 yards for the par 4's and a lengthy 551 yards for the par 5's with the longest being a whopping 626 yards long. With slopes ranging from 125 to 140, Palouse Ridge offers any golfer a good challenge.

Although distance matters, I found accuracy is most important when playing the Pac-10's WSU Cougars' home course. If you have a tendency to spray your drives as I do, your favorite fairway wood may be your best friend. Give yourself a big assist by obtaining the excellent yardage book available in the golf shop. It gives not only distances but explanations about shot placement and the course itself. To score well at Palouse Ridge it is important to have good course management.

Because of its natural setting, in addition to potential birdies and eagles on your scorecards, you may see an abundance of wildlife. Badgers, coyotes, white-tailed deer, red-tailed hawks, harrier hawks and raccoons are all native to the area. Also behind the tees on No. 8, you can observe grizzly bears in the Washington State University Grizzly Bear Research Center

My favorite hole was the par 4 12th hole because of its panoramic views of the beautiful Palouse Region full of rolling hills of wheat, the backbone of the region's economy. I also liked it because it was a slight dog-leg left which fit my right to left drive and gave me an opportunity for a well placed second shot onto the relatively level green. After two putting for a par, I walked off the green and stood for a moment to view the native grasslands, the rolling hills, and the two red-tailed hawks floating effortlessly though the pale blue sky. A great hole, a great course.

After your round at Palouse Ridge, wet your whistle with a refreshing Pacific Northwest microbrew beer or a glass of one of the bar's award winning Washington State wines. Then adjourn to Banyan's on the Ridge, the British Colonial-themed steakhouse overlooking the 18th green which features a display kitchen and indoor-outdoor seating.

When it comes to golf, the Circling Raven, Coeur d'Alene Golf & Spa Resort and Palouse Ridge golf courses make Northern Idaho a great golfing destination. Plan a trip to Northern Idaho and play these three courses. You'll be glad you did.

For more information about Northern Idaho visit www.visitnorthidaho.com. For details about Circling Raven, the Coeur d'Alene Golf & Spa Resort, and Palouse Ridge golf courses, visit www.cda-casino.com, www.cdaresort.com, and www.palouseridge.com.