EASTERN PROMISES

BY BRIAN BEAKY

We tend to have a Western-centric view of our state. It’s not our fault, really — more than 60 percent of the state’s population lives west of the Cascade Mountains, which are also home to most of our prominent businesses, including Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks, etc.

It’s also home, of course, to nearly everyone reading this magazine.

So, it’s natural that when we think about Washington state, we tend to consider primarily our own little sliver over here, without too much thought for anything going on east of the mountains.

That way of thinking, though, is really rather quaint. You see, for the first, oh, 175 million years of its existence, Eastern Washington was where the action was; it’s only in the last 150 years that Western Washington has been notable at all.

It was in the east where molten basalt bubbled through the Earth’s crust to form the land we now call home, in the east where Ice Age winds brought the silt that formed the rolling hills of the Palouse, and in the east where Glacial Lake Missoula — the largest lake formed by an ice dam anywhere in Earth’s history — burst forth in 2,000-foot waves to scour out the terrain. It was also in the east where Lewis and Clark first set foot in the Pacific Northwest; where 19th-century missionaries built their homes; and where farmers, laborers, miners and railroad workers traveled from across the world, lured by the promise of one of America’s most abundant regions.

Thus, it’s to the east that we are traveling this summer.

Of course, it’s not silver we’re looking for, or the promise of a new life. We’re simply on the hunt for most memorable golf experiences we can find. And, for that, the east is still king.

While we may crow — and rightly so — about the rich abundance of quality golf courses that we are able to enjoy in Western Washington, it’s nothing compared to what one can find with a quick trip to the other side of the state. Spokane’s municipal courses are the stuff of legend, while tracks like Wine Valley and Palouse Ridge never finish outside the top-10 in Washington state. Go a little farther — just a few miles across the border — and you can add Circling Raven and the Coeur d’Alene Resort to that list; just a little farther than that and you’re among the towering mountains of Northwest Montana, and another glut of unforgettable tracks.

Yes, Western Washington is on the come-up, for sure, and has plenty to offer the recreational golfer. But, when it comes to crafting incredible landscapes on which to route golf courses, the lands east have a 175-million-year head start — and they’re putting them to use.

There’s great golf to be found out here; it’s just a matter of how far you’re willing to drive.

No destination in this part of the country is more versatile than Spokane, which offers a mix of top-flight municipal courses that can be played for as little as $20 at twilight times, to world-class resorts that rank among the most iconic courses in the world.

It’s been said that Spokane might be America’s greatest municipal golf city, and you certainly won’t get any argument here. The city’s four courses — Indian Canyon, Downriver, The Creek at Qualchan and Esmeralda — along with the three county-owned tracks (Hangman Valley, MeadowWood and Liberty Lake) are considered not only some of the state’s top munis, but among its best courses, full-stop. In last year’s ranking of Washington’s top public tracks, Cascade Golfer readers ranked Indian Canyon and Qualchan among the top-20 courses in the state, ahead of such high-powered notables as Newcastle’s Coal Creek and China Creek, McCormick Woods and more. The only muni to earn a higher ranking? Chambers Bay.

And, every single one costs less than $50.

While it’s hard for locals to pick a favorite, Indian Canyon is the one with the strongest pedigree. Designed in the 1930s by H. Chandler Egan — who would later help oversee the redesign of Pebble Beach that still stands today — Indian Canyon has played host to PGA TOUR events and USGA championships, and seen its fairways walked by some of the game’s greatest legends, including Sam Snead, Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan. With over 200 feet of elevation change, Indian Canyon gives you plenty of opportunities to let loose with the driver, while notoriously difficult greens put a premium on a solid short game. More than 85 years after its debut, the course continues to evolve — just last year, the city removed several trees and replaced the course’s entire irrigation system in an effort to improve drainage and create better playing conditions year-round.

Like Indian Canyon, most of the Spokane-area munis offer a similar mix of elevated tee shots, rolling terrain and routings that pass from treelined fairways to open meadows and wetlands. And, everywhere, the stunning scenery that has been drawing pilgrims to this region for centuries. If you’re a destination golfer on a budget, there’s no better choice.

That’s not to say, though, that they’re the only choice — far from it.

For decades, while Spokane’s daily-fee golfers trod the fairways of the celebrated munis above, its more affluent residents gathered at Spokane Country Club, which was more exclusive, but no less appreciated. Just as Hogan, Snead and Nelson made their way around Indian Canyon, so did America’s top female golfers come to Spokane C.C., which hosted the very first U.S. Women’s Open, in 1946.

See, we told you Spokane was a golf town.

These days, Spokane C.C. is adding to the city’s reputation for great public golf, having been purchased by the Kalispel Tribe of Indians in 2015 and reopened to the public as Kalispel Golf & Country Club (509-466-9813, kalispelgolf.com). A Robert Muir Graves design that has seen very few changes to its original design in the last 110 years, Kalispel regularly earns raves for the way it shuts out the clutter of city life and immerses the golfer in nature, resulting in the kind of quiet, peaceful atmosphere that puts you in a perfect state of mind for making birdies.

It’s also well-known for a creative routing that features seven-straight holes without a single par4. Starting at the par-3 seventh hole, every other hole is either a par-5 or par-3; given our long insistence that those are the most enjoyable kinds of holes to play, you can probably predict that we love this particular stretch, especially for the unique ride up to the 10th tee that you get in the back of a 1931 Ford Model A. Non-member rates start at $140 in the summer months, but can be reduced by combining the golf with a stay at the Tribe’s Northern Quest Casino & Resort, about a 25-minute drive away. A AAA Four-Diamond resort with the full amenities of a major Tribal casino, the Northern Quest offers stay-and-plays at Kalispel for as little as $250 a night.

If you’re willing to drive a little further and, yes, spend a little more, then you open up yourself up to what we generally consider the “Holy Trinity” of golf in this particular region — Coeur d’Alene Resort, Circling Raven and Palouse Ridge.

Sure, two of those courses aren’t technically in Washington. (Though, given the large number of people who, every two years, nominate Circling Raven for our list of Washington’s top-10 public courses, we’re guessing some of you may forget that from time to time.) But, neither Circling Raven or Coeur d’Alene are more than 30 minutes from the border and, when teamed up with Palouse Ridge, make for an extended golf weekend that you won’t soon forget.

We like to start at Coeur d’Alene, which is not only a memorable golf experience, but a full vacation in and of itself. Last year, we pointed out that, if you’re short on time, you can do Coeur d’Alene as a mid-summer day trip, leaving at sunrise and returning at sunset. But, you’re better off driving over on day one — maybe even stopping off in Spokane to play one of the munis along the way — then checking in at the Coeur d’Alene Resort (855-703-4648, cdaresort.com), which offers stay-and-play packages combining golf and lodging starting at $299 per player in the summer months, and dropping as low as $149 per player in the offseason. With the golf alone valued at $250 for players just walking in off the street, that’s obviously a heck of a deal.

Spend that first night enjoying the steak and wine at Beverly’s, overlooking the lake (whose wine cellar includes more than $2 million in inventory from around the world, including all of your Washington favorites), and crashing in a modern room with all the fixings you’d expect of a five-star resort.

Then, in the morning, throw your clubs aboard a speedboat — yep, a speedboat — and zip across the lake to the golf course for one of the most memorable golf experiences you’ll ever have. After receiving a complimentary massage and hitting range balls at floating targets in the lake, you’ll slide into a mahogany-lined cart and set out into one of America’s great resort courses. The floating green gets all the attention it deserves, but by the time you reach the tee box at No. 6, you’ll have realized that Coeur d’Alene has plenty more to offer than that one signature shot. The par-4 second, played into the breeze off the lake, is a favorite, as are the back-to-back par-3s at No.s 5 and 6; the bunkering at No. 5 is like something out of a video game, while the elevated tee box at No. 6 provides the best views on the course. On the back nine, No. 11 will have you channeling your inner Tiger Woods as you ponder whether to go for the green on this par-5 styled after the famed 13th at Augusta National, while No. 13 bursts out of the trees and onto the shoreline, with an exciting forced carry across the lake to a fairway lined entirely by water down its left side.

That leaves you, of course, on the tee box of that famed 14th hole, facing an island green roughly 150-175 yards out into the lake. The brainchild of resort founder Duane Hagadone, the green floats on giant foam blocks that can be moved closer to or further from shore via a system of underwater chains. After striking a tee shot you will certainly remember all your life, you’ll board the Putter for a brief sail across to the green; when you return, you’ll be handed a photo and monogrammed bag tag to commemorate the experience.

In addition to being a great destination in its own right, or a first stop on a weekend adventure, Coeur d’Alene is also a great home base for exploring Spokane (30 minutes west), the Silverwood Amusement Park (30 minutes north) or — our preferred secondary destination in this particular adventure — Circling Raven (30 minutes south).

Like Coeur d’Alene, Circling Raven, located in Worley, Idaho, is not only a great golf course, but a full-service resort, and itself a centrally located hub from which to visit Coeur d’Alene Resort and Palouse Ridge. Resort amenities include a full-service spa, an expansive gaming floor, events and eight different restaurants featuring all kinds of cuisine.

Unlike Coeur d’Alene, Circling Raven (800-523-2464, cdacasino.com) is not tucked against a lakeshore, but instead sprawls across more than 600 acres of rolling Idaho hills. While several notable designers bid for the job — including Jack Nicklaus, Pete Dye and Robert Trent Jones, Jr. — it was longtime Fred Couples collaborator Gene Bates who received the commission with his concept of a course that climbed the surrounding hillsides to provide expansive views of the surrounding landscape. With only a few exceptions, holes are isolated from one another — a fact which, combined with the towering pines, distant mountains and miles and miles of gentle, green-topped hills stretching to the horizon in all directions, lends the course a sense of natural grandeur. Mother Nature is in charge here, and we are just cogs in the machine.

Just as he would later do at Salish Cliffs, Bates used fairway bunkers and creative routing to reward golfers who make smart decisions — starting with playing the correct set of tees. The four par-3s at the Raven are each unique — some short, some long, some requiring forced carries, and others situated on elevated tee boxes. Some par-4s are reachable (the shortest, the 10th, measures 336 from the tips, and 298 from the white tees), while others are most definitely not (like the preceding 474-yard ninth). Bunkering forces golfers to carefully choose clubs on every shot, while the scope and variety of holes give every golfer something to enjoy.

It’s been called a top-100 course by Golf magazine, Golf Digest and Golfweek, a top-10 tribal course, and made just about everyone’s “Best New” list when it first opened for business in 2004. And, it’s also been an industry leader during the pandemic, both in prepping the course (and casino, resort and other amenities) for its reopening last month, and in the deals that it’s making to take care of customers once they’ve arrived.

For 2020 only, Circling Raven has frozen its rates at the spring greens fees. Peak rates would normally have begun May 21, but for the rest of the year, golfers will pay just $89 on weekdays and $99 on weekends, with the same discounts extended to resort stay-and-plays as well (starting at $249 per night).

For that reason, it’s perfect for calling home while you venture out on the final leg of this long weekend, back across the border to Palouse Ridge. The three courses make a perfect complement — where Circling Raven is rugged, natural golf, the Resort course is a five-hour walk through the land of luxury, with forecaddies to clean your clubs and find your lost balls, and not a blade of grass out of place.

Palouse Ridge, meanwhile, is the linksiest of courses in the Holy Trinity, with long holes, undulating fairways and afternoon winds that blow across the Palouse and knock down any shot left too high. Opened in Pullman in the fall of 2008, Palouse Ridge (509-335-4342, palouseridge.com) immediately earned raves nationwide, popping up on lists of Best New Courses, Best Public Courses and, of course, Best College Courses. For a few years after it first opened, we tossed around the idea of having famous alums debate which Northwest college course was the best — then, we laid eyes on Palouse Ridge for the first time, and realized that the very premise of the article was flawed. There is no debate to be had.

From the elevated tee box at the No. 10 hole, the view seems to extend for 100 miles — the mountains of Idaho’s Palouse Range silhouetted to the east, with acres upon acres of untouched landscape unrolling towards you from the shadows at their feet. That’s just one of many breathtaking moments a golfer experiences as they make their way around the track, which, like Chambers Bay and Gamble Sands, offers golfers multiple paths to birdie on almost every hole, but will also punish those who stray too far from its generous fairways. An uphill par-3 played over two pot bunkers, where a miss onto the slope left is just as good as trying to fly your ball to the pin; multiple par-4s that are almost reachable from the middle (gray) tees, but also reward a safer play; three par-5s under 500 yards, though each presenting its own unique dangers; and stunning view after stunning view.

This year, more than ever, Palouse Ridge is likely going to need our help. Each fall, Pullman’s population nearly doubles as close to 30,000 students return to campus, bringing with them many young golfers eager to take advantage of $42 student rates — and bringing along parents and friends who visit. Likewise, WSU home football games are boom weekends at the golf course, as thousands of out-of-town fans flock into Pullman for a weekend of beer, bonding and birdies. With both on-campus instruction and college football very much in doubt for the fall, however, Palouse Ridge is looking at a major loss of revenue — on top of what was already lost due to the twomonth closure this spring.

At just $109 for out-of-town residents, $51 for seniors, and $49 at twilight times, it’s a bargain no matter where or when you’re coming to town — and, you’ll be helping to keep our Holy Trinity going strong.

It was about 13,000 years ago that Glacial Lake Missoula began to release its floods on Eastern Washington, ravaging the plains approximately 40 times over a 2,000-year period with rushing torrents that reached heights of up to 2,000 feet (or a little over three Space Needles).

Montana treats us much better these days.

The Northwest Montana Golf Association, or NMGA, is a collection of nine championship courses, all located roughly between Flathead Lake and Whitefish Lake, approximately two hours north of Missoula. Several of the courses have been ranked among Montana’s finest by Golf Digest, Golf magazine and other national publications, while golfers give NMGA tracks four of the top-10 spots in Trip Advisor’s Montana golf course rankings.

Indeed, Golf Digest ranked Northwest Montana among the top-50 golf destinations in the world. One of the things that sets the region apart is the sheer variety of its courses — unlike many other hotbed golf regions, where courses are largely created in similar styles (Hawaii, Scotland), or spread over relatively large geographic areas (Southern Utah/Mesquite, Pete Dye Golf Trail, RTJ Golf Trail), the courses of Northwest Montana sit within a 40-minute footprint of one another, and offer an intriguing mix of mountain, parkland and links-style tracks.

Take Buffalo Hill, for example, a tight, tree-lined course that winds past the Stillwater River on the valley floor, requiring strong iron play and skill with the putter. Then, contrast that with Andy North’s Northern Pines Golf Club, a links-style course just 10 minutes away that is practically devoid of trees altogether, giving big hitters the chance to swing away, rewarding creativity over precision.

Just a few miles north, meanwhile, you’re knocking on the door of Glacier National Park, with both Meadow Lake Golf Resort, in Columbia Falls, and Whitefish Lake Golf Club, in Whitefish, providing a more authentic mountain golf experience. Stunning peaks tower over the fairways, mountain lakes dazzle in the sun below, and dense rows of evergreens provide a sense of solitude on every hole. Meadow Lake is one of just four Montana courses to receive four-and-a-half stars from Golf Digest, while Whitefish Lake’s log-cabin clubhouse is a remnant of FDR’s Works Progress Administration.

Best of all, none carry a peak summer greens fee higher than $70, while lodging, restaurant and other associated travel expenses also run significantly cheaper than those in the most popular summer golf destinations. The NMGA website, GolfNorthwestMontana.com, features stay-and-play packages with local hotels on its website, and has trip planners to help customize the perfect vacation to meet your needs and budget.

And, getting there has never been easier. While plenty of golfers make the four-hour drive from Eastern Washington, direct flights run daily from Sea-Tac to Glacier Park International Airport, while Amtrak will also deliver golfers direct from Seattle’s King Street Station to Whitefish, smack in the heart of Northwest Montana golf country.

“It’s such a special place,” says Alice Ritzman, a Kalispell native who played 20 years on the LPGA Tour. “They’re just beautiful golf courses.”