When I golf on a family vacation I usually try to book my tee times around our travel schedule. So, that is what I did on Sunday. I found a 6:30am tee time at Eaglerock Golf Course and hoped that would allow me to play quickly so we could get on the road to Yellowstone National Park.

My plan to play quickly went well as I made it around in just two and a half hours, out with a crowd of fast moving singles. Part of the reason I played fast, at least on the front nine, was because of all the dang mosquitoes! I hurried around the front nine getting eaten alive by those stupid things before I got my rain pants from the car for the back nine.

Thankfully I picked the better nine – the back nine – to relax and enjoy. The front is decent, but the back has more perimeter holes which show off the cool landscape of Eastern Montana. Eaglerock turned out to be a great looking golf course and its presentation was my favorite thing about it.

When I think of Montana I think of trees and mountains, so I was a little surprised to see the rolling hills, browned out fescue grass and buttes off in the distance. The 10th through the 14th holes run along the edge of the property and have some minor elevation change. This time of year the course is a lush green and the nearby hills are golden brown so the contrast between the colors is pretty cool. That contrast reminded me a lot of golfing during the summer in Northern California, where I grew up.

The par-5 11th at Eaglerock was my favorite hole. It rises uphill to the green and is a tiny double dogleg. Once you get up to the green then you have a beautiful panoramic view of the course, a lake and a butte off in the distance.

I played the black tees which are 72.9/124/7152 and the main challenge here will be the length of the course. Billings is about 3,000 feet above sea level so it will play shorter, but there are some lengthy golf holes. The front nine has a 480 yard par-4, a 602 yard par-5 and a 247 yard par-3.

When it comes to the design, “simple” is probably a good word to describe the layout at Eaglerock. Most of the holes run parallel to each other and have a similar look, with flat bunkers and round, flatter greens. There are a couple greens with back tiers but I had many straight putts. You won’t hear me say this often, but I think the greens could use more contour.

The course does have some quirk, so beware. Fairways narrow and slope in unusual areas so I found it tough to pick the proper lines from the tees. Also, a couple holes are just plain weird. The 2nd has a completely blind fairway (located over a pond) and the 17th requires a snap hook to find the fairway. To do over, I’d play those holes differently.

Conditions at Eaglerock were solid and for $55 on a weekend morning I thought the course offered a good value. The maintenance crew seems to keep a lot of water on the course so things here were softer and greener compared to Pryor Creek yesterday. All the turf was full and had a nice color to it. The greens many pitch marks, but were smooth and a medium speed.

As long as you bring bug spray (free advice!) I’d recommend Eaglerock as I ended up happy with my pick to golf here. The design takes a back seat to the dramatic western landscape, but the course was in great shape and is convenient for those traveling through the area. Eaglerock also has a good story as Matt Martinson – a local who grew up on the property – built the course.

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):