Nº 03 - MAY 2022 NORTHWEST GOLF + TRAVEL THERE'S A NEW PRO IN TOWN CRUEL EIGHTEEN
– Kalispel Golf And Country Club
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Northwest Golf + Travel Magazine PO Box 85 Newman Lake,99025WA Director Tom Stebbins Creative Citywide Consultants CONTENT 4 NEW PRO IN TOWN John Lewis 8 TOKATEE “A Place of Restful Beauty” 16 SPOKANE Wandermere Golf Club 12 CRUEL Eighteen
WOOD Golf in the Northwest THERE'S
CHRIS A NEW PRO IN TOWN
“Mike was wonderful when he was (at Centennial), and whenever we had an opening (for Superintendent), I would always call and ask him if he wanted to come back,” Lewis said. After nearly 40 years in the golf business, Lewis said he’ll keep the same approach at Falcon Crest that has made him successful at every course he’s served.
“My philosophy has always been to treat everyone like family, and that won’t change.”
4 NORTHWEST GOLF + TRAVEL Kuna, Idaho – After being the guiding light of golf in Nampa, John Lewis is taking his leadership skills to the Northwest’s newest golfing complex and community.
Lewis assumed duties as Head Golf Professional at Falcon Crest Golf Club in early April. The longtime Idaho A-1 Golf Professional was at Centennial Golf Course for 34 years before making the move. “I was there for the birth of Centennial, and I now get to be part of the rebirth at Falcon Crest,” Lewis said. “I’m just extremely thankful to be to be involved with a project like this.” Lewis grew up in Idaho Falls and was a decorated amateur, including three-time Sam Bennion Most Valuable Golfer at Idaho State University (81-82-83). He was an Assistant Professional at Pinecrest GC in Idaho Falls for three years and spent a short stint as an assistant at The River Club in Boise before becoming the first and only Head Professional at Centennial.“Ihavenothing but fond memories of my time at Centennial and all the people there,” Lewis said. “I never wanted to leave Centennial, but opportunities like this don’t come along often in the golf business. I just couldn’t pass it up, and I’m very humbled and thankful to be part of Falcon Crest.”
Lewis also is a resident of the new golf community that is under construction at Falcon Crest, where he rejoins Falcon Crest GM and Superintendent Mike Rapp after the two worked together for two years at Centennial. They have remained friends and pro-am partners ever since.“For me, there is a comfort level with John because I know the work ethic he’s bringing to Falcon Crest,” Rapp said. “He’ll be a role model for everyone here, and he’s just someone I always wanted to work with again.”Lewis returned the compliment and chuckled at his constant recruitment of his buddy over the years.
Course records 63 at Pinecrest Golf Course in 1981, which is still the amateur record. Mike Hamblin from Blue Lakes CC holds the professional record of 62. 62 at Burley Golf Course in a ProAm. 58 at Twin Falls Muni en route to winning the 1994 Idaho
What is your most memorable moment on the golf course?
HowOpen.were you introduced to the game of golf? My parents would take me to the course to look for balls while they playing a round of golf. I would try and hit a ball or two on the par three holes from time to time. I remember hearing my father say, “ be quiet son.”
Any dreams of playing professionally, other than RMSPGA events? Every day … All I could do was dream about it. I was fortunate to play well enough to play in some Ben Hogan and Nike tour events in Boise.
I would have to say leaving a seven-foot putt short, dead on line, on the 18th hole at Twin Falls Muni for a 57 in the Idaho Open. Shot 58 and won the event at -16. Also watching Reggie Jackson carry my oldest son down the fairway while caddying for a fellow competitor in the BoiseWhoOpen.is your favorite professional player and why?
I have always enjoyed watching Tom Watson play. My best friend Tim Reinke and I had the pleasure of meeting him before he was announced as the Ryder Cup Captain in the hallway at the Annual PGA Meeting, and he was a gentleman. What equipment is in your golf bag?
I am enjoying the new Taylor Made Stealth Driver, P790 irons, TP5 ball and pushing a TaylorMade around the golf course.What's the most unusual item in your golf bag?
John Lewis is the new Head Golf Professional at Falcon Crest Golf Club after spending 34+ years at Centennial GC in Nampa.
I have carried a Coach Jack Jones “JJ” coin around for a few years. Jack was a golf coach at Vallivue High School and inspired many young athletes in the Treasure Valley. If you were king of the Golf World for one day, what would you change? Make golf free! So everyone would have the opportunity to enjoy this great game we play. If you were not a golf professional, what would you be doing? I think I would caddie on the PGA Tour or be a superintendent of a golf course. If you could play anywhere, where would it be? Augusta National or Pebble Beach. Who is in your ideal foursome? Tim Reinke, myself, Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson.
Experience the perfect golf getaway. Contact one of our partnering hotels and ask for stay & play package info. Palouse Ridge is on the campus of Washington State University, Pullman, WA (509)335-4342 or PALOUSERIDGE.COM STAY PLAYand
NEWS ROUND-UP THE SEASON HAS BEGUN AT GALENA RIDGE Kellogg, Idaho Visit silvermt.com for tee
Galena Ridge Golf Course is open for the season! Dramatic ridgeline views and exceptional course design await, whether you are a seasoned pro or hitting the links for the first time. Tee times are now available to book by calling 208.783.1522 or by visiting Clicking Here. Memberships to our mountain-top golf course are on sale now. $789 + tax guarantees an unforgettable summer with access to the course and a golf cart for every round. Youth and family memberships are also available. More course information, including details on memberships and tee times, can be found at www.silvermt.com
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Anewcomer coming to play Tokatee Golf Course for the first time enters the grounds off Oregon Highway 126 through a promenade of stately Pine trees that reminding one of Magnolia Lane leading to the clubhouse at Augusta National.
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The sense of beauty and peace is at once soothing and relaxing, preparing lucky linksters for one of the best golfing experiences the Pacific Northwest has to offer along with a unique philosophy about the rules of the game.
Dan King, resident golf pro and weather guru, observes: “the course still has the rustic look: you are surrounded by nature. The wind never blows here-- it’s always at your back. When you think of Tokatee, it’s just this side of heaven.”
Located 47 miles east of Eugene, Tokatee offers golfers a perfectly playable course, challenging for low handicappers (6806 yards-72.8/125) and playable for higher handicappers (5018 yards-68.3/114). Most of the fairways are generous off the tee and the greens are amongst the smoothest and fastest in the Willamette Valley. First-timers are delighted to hear that there is no out-ofbounds: the course is bordered by wilderness that abuts a national forest. If you can find your ball in the woods, play on. There are also four tee choices and the shortest is not necessarily referred to as the “ladies tee.” A sign bordering the driving range directs you to “play the tees that make you happy,” and if you can have a shot of getting on in regulation from the front tees, go for it; it’s a pain to have to play driver-three-wood for most of the round pretending you are Rory McIlroy. TOKATEE A CHINOOK WORD MEANING “A PLACE OF RESTFUL BEAUTY”
Enjoy this fabulous three-minute drone-filmed aerial tour of the course that gives an enticing look at the enjoyable experience that lies in wait at Tokatee.
FEATURE
Overseeing the pro shop is King’s responsibility, the snack shop is his wife Wendy’s, and they both collaborate putting on the many group outings and celebrations the course hosts on an annual basis: “This is an unbelievable spot for groups,” he said, “we have a catering facility that can handle smaller groups who come on party busses, or larger groups for reunions or weddings.”
N.B. (Nat) Giustina, a lumberman and “golf nut” from Eugene, in his early 40s, looked around the McKenzie River Valley for a piece of property for a golf course and bought the property that was to become Tokatee from Clarence Belknap who was an early settler in the Upper McKenzie area. Construction of Tokatee began in 1964 with the front nine opening on July 1, 1966. Dirt moving was easy. The biggest obstacle was clearing leftovers of an old-growth forest logged in the 1940’s; the stumps left behind had to be routed with explosives and the roots dug out and burned. Golfers today notice a few stumps that were left to show the size of the trees felled by cross-cut saws. The back nine was completed three years later in the summer of 1969. Tokatee was the first course in Oregon to use the white sand from Boise, Idaho and has used the USGA Green Section Advisory Services since its beginning.
Tokatee was designed by renowned architect Ted Robinson, who also crafted beauties in the Seattle area with Sahalee and Meridian Valley. His genius blended fabulous views of the surrounding McKenzie River mountains and vistas along with forested fairways and native ponds and streams. First-time and long-timers find the atmosphere so special they want to take a moment and drink it all in, no matter what their score is. To the east 100 miles, are the magnificent Sisters Mountains that may be snow-capped all summer long, offering solace to the golfer who bogeyed the last hole or exaltation to the one who birdied the next.
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My favorite Tokatee challenge is the number 16 hole, handicapped at 12, a par-5-534-yard hole that seduces you with a wide fairway landing area for your drive and then challenges you with a devilish downhillsloped putting surface that is too fast for the unlucky shot to the green that lands above the hole. Take a breath and baby your putt or you will end up off the green having to come back up again. I’ve birdied the hole once and five-putted another time (pin up front: approach shot twice, above the hole). Beware of the pin set front left!
Tokatee boasts a expansive driving range and King is always available for giving lessons, a craft he takes very seriously. If you’re lucky you might also run into Kennedy Swann, a 24-year old who became the first woman to win the Oregon Open championship and who happens to live six miles away and works at Tokatee when she’s not pursuing her LPGA pedigree on tour.
Dan King and the Giustina management are proud of their support of junior golf, offering a summer league that introduces Junior Golfers to the game of golf: safety, courtesy, expected behaviors in the game and basic fundamentals, terminology, and skills required to make golf an enjoyable activity. Juniors under 18 are able to play Tokatee for five dollars.Kingsaid the popularity of the course for visitors from all over the country is evident in “that ever since I came here 28 seasons ago, we see players from second, third, even fourth generation who have been coming to Tokatee for three or four days every year.” Where to stay?
There are many lodging possibilities in the Valley, easily identified on the course’s website that also offer opportunities of fishing or white water rafting the McKenzie River, and 26 miles of trails for those seeking respite in the woods.
Ken Woody is a football and golf writer whose favorite course is Tokatee. He is dedicated to bringing Oregon’s unique golf opportunities to players who are looking for something different. “No matter how you play, a round at Tokatee Golf Course will sooth your soul, leaving you wanting more.”
START YOUR GETAWAY GOLFMESQUITENEVADA.COMAT OR CALL 866-720-7111 VALID THROUGH MAY 31, 2022. SUNDAY - THURSDAY. BASED ON DOUBLE OCCUPANCY. NOT VALID ON EXISTING RESERVATIONS, WEEKENDS, BLACK OUT DATES OR HOLIDAYS. MANAGEMENT RESERVES ALL RIGHTS.
Stretching out to 7,801 yards and par 73, the Cruel 18 will bring even the best golfers to their knees. The stage is set, the holes diverse, and the challenge brutal, so grab your longest driver and your ‘A’ game … you’re going to need them!
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Here are the parameters for holes to qualify:
IDAHO FALLS – The first hole at Idaho Falls CC sets the table for what you’ll encounter on Idaho’s Cruel 18.
• Idaho Falls Country Club 423-yard Par 4: Whoever said that the first hole at a golf course should be easy didn’t tell William Bell, the designer of Idaho Falls Country Club. Hopefully you warmed up since the tee shot here is in plain view of the clubhouse and all of your fellow golfers. IFCC starts off with a bang by featuring this 423-yard par 4 that doglegs right and heads hard uphill. The often windy conditions coupled with the maturing tree line and smallish green give golfers a taste of what they are about to face in the Cruel 18.
EDITORS AT All Golf Idaho
Everyone loves lists, and golfers are no different. This list, however, has nothing to do with golf holes that are exceptionally pretty or even holes that offer a great birdie opportunity. Oh no, quite the opposite. This list is a compilation of the nastiest, most punishing, round-ruining holes in Idaho. These are the holes that make you tremble on the tee box and cause your muscles to freeze when money is on the line – this is Idaho’s Cruel 18.
• No course can be featured more than once on the Cruel 18.
• The Cruel 18 must feature an even mix of holes in order to accurately simulate a real course.
• To gain consideration as the opening (1st) hole on the Cruel 18, the hole must be the opening (1st) hole at its respective course, and so on throughout the round.
• All holes are measured from the tips.
• A solid representation should be given throughout the state.
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SUN VALLEY – The second hole at Sun Valley Resort’s Trail Creek 18 can be a monster. COEUR d’ALENE – The third hole at The Club at Black Rock is long, narrow, and vicious. list is a compilation of the nastiest, most punishing, roundruining holes in Idaho.
• Club at Black Rock (Coeur d’Alene) 611-yard Par 5: Hopefully you enjoyed the “warm up” the first two holes offered because you are now faced with the longest hole on the most difficult course in Idaho. The severely elevated tee box requires a 200-yard carry over a waste area down to a fairway where you can’t even see your targeted landing area. If you’re lucky enough to find the fairway with your first shot, you’ll discover the first fairway ends and 150 yards of rough grass looms in between you and the second fairway further down the slope. Think you can reach it in two? Think again. A wide and rocky crevasse protects the entire front of the small, sloping green, and trees and a bunker flank the sides and back. Even if the hole puts a big number on your scorecard, you can still enjoy the spectacular views of Lake Coeur d’Alene.
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• Sun Valley Resort 446-yard Par 4: You may not see Brad Pitt at this hole, but it may remind you of his popular movie, A River Runs Through It. Not just once, though, the river comes into play twice! The green is not visible from this elevated tee box perched on the top of a hill, and your drive requires a shot that is ripped out and over the grove of trees protecting the dogleg left. Once in position, your approach shot must carry the river a second time as well as carry the bunker protecting the front of the green.
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www.visitlcvalley.com | (509) 758-7489 LEWISTON, ID • CLARKSTON, WA Book a trip and enjoy a few rounds of golf and the mild weather in the Lewis Clark Valley. When the 19th hole rolls around, hang out at one of our many wineries, breweries, and restaurants. Adventure into Hells Canyon, North America’s deepest river gorge, on an exciting white water jet boat tour and explore the scenic vistas, world-class fishing, and tales of legend and lore. COME FOR THE GOLF, STAY FOR THE adventure Photos ©Brad Stinson STAY & &PACKAGESPLAYSPECIALS 16 NORTHWEST GOLF + TRAVEL St. Eugene - Lance Kuhlman - www.golfcaddyonline.com
From the restaurants,award-winningascenicriver and mountainous backdrop, to culture like you wouldn’t believe, Boise has it all. There’s 15 public courses to try and over 200 days of sunshine a year – so no matter what time of year you come, you’re bound to enjoy. Visit boise.org to plan your next adventure.
courses.
wild foothills. manicured
To appreciate the story of Wandermere Golf Course, one must travel in time back to the 1930s. As written in Ty A. Brown’s enjoyable book: Wandermere, Legacy on the Spokane River, the Pacific NW was in the midst of the Great Depression. Today, most golfers take for granted the choices various courses provide. But with only one other public golf course in town - Downriver GC - most of the public not able to afford a private club membership (at Manito or Spokane Country Club) often had to wait hours in line for their chance to try their hand at the new sport sweeping America. Enter Robert C. Ross, a businessman with a vision to create a year-round family recreation facility.
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On an overcast early spring day, I had the chance to meet Wandermere’s current PGA Head Professional Bobby Moore, who welcomed me warmly and shared that he is now a fifth-generation family-member involved with the course. In fact, his 81-year-old grandfather, co-owner Bob Ross, still Hole #8 — Wandermere Golf Club
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his month’s Golf Trekker takes us to the banks of the Little Spokane River, twenty-five minutes north of downtown Spokane, WA. The word Wandermere is of Piute Indian origin, a combination of two words, literally “a pleasant place” and “clear lake,” and from a 108-acre apple orchard and a lake once used for ice harvesting, a family’s legacy has been carved, five-generations in the making.
The best told story of the day was shared as we reached #17, a par three over the spring-fed creek. Bob shared how a few of the back nine holes were redone in 1995, and he played in a group the very first day the new routing was unveiled to the public - and had the shot of his life, an ace! Bob nearly became the first ever hole-in-one recorded at the new #17, just hour’s earlier someone had recorded the same feat on the same brand new hole. Still, an ace is an ace, and a lifetime achievement which few have the pleasure to experience.
When making a trip to the Spokane region, along with Riverfront Park, the Spokane River and Centennial Trail, be sure to place Wandermere Golf Course on your checklist of enjoyable and affordable outdoor family activities. Experience for yourself this recreational, Legacy on the Little Spokane River. www.wandermere.com
Bob Little and Steve Rodgers (left to right), laughing about how close their landedtee-balls(on#12)
PGA Head Pro Bobby Moore with hisShaunawife
NORTHWEST GOLF + TRAVEL works many mornings in the pro-shop, while his mother Kim handles accounts.While the full eighteen-hole course was not completed until 1948, by the time the inaugural nine-hole course was opened in 1931, Wandermere was already being celebrated as a popular year-round family destination for seasonal winter sledding, ice-skating and summer swimming, diving, horse-riding and camping. Wandermere Lake was stocked with fish and patrons could enjoy an hour with their pole and reel for a half-dollar.
On this day, my playing partners for a round at Wandermere were retired Vietnam War vet Steve Rodgers, who served our country honorably as part of a mortar group, and then as military police. Steve went on to work for many years in the Pacific NW as an educator. Also joining us was long-time Spokane radio broadcaster Bob Little. Bob shared how he grew up caddying nearby at (today’s) Kalispel Golf Club, in the days when young caddies were a common sight at most golf courses.With a par of seventy, and a white tee rating of 65.8, our three-some elected to play the blue tees with their slightly longer yardage and rating (6,050/68.5). There was a hint of promise as my opening drive flew straight and found the left fairway, but on approach to the blind first green my ball caught a tree and I had to scramble just to save bogey. Steve jumped to the lead with a par, utilizing his coveted draw-shaped shots.Hole two is the first of the elevated and water-guarded par three’s at Wandermere, and with the hole having been newly-lengthened this season all three of our balls were not struck crisply enough to hit the green, and we all settled for bogey. In fact, I didn’t get my first par until the seventh-hole, but fortunately avoiding any major trouble I was able to hold together a score of 43 on the outward track. Good enough to be tied for the lead as we headed to the back nine.
— Robert Duvall, Seven Days in Utopia
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As our group of three made the turn I had my one errant penalty of the day, finding a large pond on the par-five tenth hole. But Steve and I remained neck and neck as we progressed through the back nine, and my nerves and heart-rate began to rise as I silently contemplated a chance for a win over my nemesis’ on the waning holes. Meanwhile, Bob who has been a low-handicap player for many years, was goodnaturedly commenting about posting a “personal record for number of sixes on my scorecard today.” Watching him utilize his taller ‘face-on’ putter was unique, the stance being to strike the putt while facing the hole, rather than the traditional sideward putting stance.
As we collected our bags and headed out, we passed the newly finished outdoor patio which complements a full-service clubhouse banquet room, well-stocked for hosting tournaments and groups, and bringing to mind stories of the dances and winter parties hosted for guests of Wandermere, in bygone eras.
Learning a little more about Head Pro, Bobby Moore, who’s grown up at the course since he was five years old. Bobby shared that he first worked at Chase Bank after graduation but soon felt drawn to follow in his family’s footsteps and became a licensed golf pro. A personal highlight was shooting a career-best 63, but his uncle Bill Ross still holds the Wandermere course record of 60. The head pro is responsible for the pro shop, personnel, managing the cart fleet, tournaments and other facility operations, along with lesson instruction. On this day Bobby had brought his wife Shawna and his own young son to the course, continuing the family tradition.
Course Pro Bobby shared that Wandermere’s Signature Hole is #16, an elevated dogleg left with OB on both sides of the fairway, but which tempts the golfer to try a shortcut through a stand of Ponderosa Pines. My experiment with Russian Roulette this day went further left than intended and struck one of the tree sentries standing guard, punishing me with a double bogey, tightening our match.
Most days my golf game resembles a real-life impersonation of the old Smother’s Brothers song, “Mediocre Fred,” with the occasional par and rare birdie interrupting a string of bogeys. But today, proceeding up the 18th fairway near the natural springs which have fed the property’s recreational activities for over a century, I was able to wave to my imaginary gallery of fans, coasting in with a three-shot victory. A rarity I will savor against these more experienced and talented partners, matching my front-nine with a respectable back-nine 43.
How can a game have such an effect on a man’s soul. You don’t choose the game it chooses you, and when it does life and golf become forever connected.”
(BeginsBurbankMay2022) FortDallasWorth ChicagoO’Hare WHEN IT’S TIME TO FLY April 2022
