One of my golf goals is to play at least one round of golf in all fifty states. I’ve made great progress the last few years and the travel has turned into a passion. I made plans to spend an extended holiday weekend in Portland, OR (one of my favorite metro areas) with a friend. However, we lost our minds and decided to go golf in Montana! More on Montana’s round in the next post though.
Last year we drove out to the Boise area and scratched Idaho off each of our lists. This time around we headed to Missoula, MT but before our round there we stopped to play Circling Raven Golf Club, a bucket-list course in Northern Idaho. Circling Raven was pretty much right on our route and was a course I was excited to get to play.
We left Portland early in the morning for our afternoon tee time and the drive took about six hours. Normally that wouldn’t be bad, but the day before I drove ten hours from the San Francisco Bay Area up to Portland. Crazy, I know!
Circling Raven is located about a half hour south of both Spokane and Coeur d’Alene so for those passing through on the I-90 it is quite convenient. The course is associated with a casino and usually gets ranked among the top 100 public courses in the United States. It was designed by Gene Bates who has done some work with Fred Couples and it opened in 2003.
We loosened up on the range before enjoying a nice summer afternoon in the Pacific Northwest. Like most golf courses in this area of the country I found Circling Raven to be aesthetically pleasing. The course has a nice mix of farmland and tree-lined holes and a few holes have a wetlands feel to them. There is some minor elevation change and the beautiful bunkers had the course popping in the sunlight.
We played from the gold tees which are 74.1/144/7189 and you’ll find a big, tough golf course. There are long holes at Circling Raven, including the 581 yard par-5 12th and the 253 yard par-3 13th! Thankfully, the course is open considering its surroundings.
While I didn’t think there were any weak holes here, the 6th, 7th and 8th were my favorites at Circling Raven. The 6th is a transition hole from the farmland to the trees and then the 7th and 8th are wooded. The 7th is a pretty par-3 and the 8th is a 386 yard par-4 where you fire though a chute of trees from the tee.
As you’d expect for the premium green fee (~$100) the conditions were very nice. Compared to other top-100 public courses Circling Raven is a good value. I’m sure if it was closer to a major city then the green fees would be much higher.
I am happy we stopped at Circling Raven and the course exceeded my high expectations. It is one of my favorite courses that I’ve played so far and worthy of its high rankings. Make sure to check it out if you are in the area!
Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):
