Western Montana Golf Week

[smellysell]

Not sure how many Montanans are on here, but I know there's a few, and am hoping that I might get some insight into what courses to play on a week long trip I'm taking the first full week in August. In particular I'm looking for a Missoula or Bitteroot area course to play Tuesday morning, before Canyon River in the afternoon and then heading up to the Flathead Wednesday.

 

Below is a preliminary schedule:

 

 

Monday

Old Works, Anaconda

Tuesday

King Ranch, Frenchtown or other? (AM)

Canyon River, Missoula (PM)

Wednesday

Polson Bay, Polson (AM)

Big Mountain, Kalispell (PM)

Thursday

Whitefish Lake, Whitefish (AM) (North Course)

Whitefish Lake, Whitefish (PM) (South Course)

Friday

Marias Valley, Shelby

Other options:

Mission Mountain, Ronan

Eagle Bend, Big Fork

Buffalo Hill, Kalispell

Cabinet View, Libby

Glacier View, West Glacier

Meadow Lake, Columbia Falls

Village Greens, Kalispell

Others?

[BewareTheGlowball]

Helena,, Green Meadows http://www.gmcchelena.com/Home.aspx loved this course in high school.. (know it might not fit in due to travel.. but I thought I would throw it in there)

Of that list.. your going to wish you spent more time at the Old Works LOVE THAT COURSE



And if you ever end up near Billings.. The Briarwood is a very unique course.. private though so you would have to see if you can find someone to take you or get a pro at your course to hook you up. front nine is pretty standard for the most part.. back nine gets interesting.. 3 holes dubbed the "twisted sisters" following it up with an off the cliff par 3..

(but not quite as amazing as Old Works

[BewareTheGlowball]

[quote name='BewareTheGlowball' timestamp='1343191801' post='5348272']
Helena,, Green Meadows [url="http://www.gmcchelena.com/Home.aspx"]http://www.gmcchelena.com/Home.aspx[/url] loved this course in high school.. (know it might not fit in due to travel.. but I thought I would throw it in there)

Of that list.. your going to wish you spent more time at the Old Works LOVE THAT COURSE



And if you ever end up near Billings.. The Briarwood is a very unique course.. private though so you would have to see if you can find someone to take you or get a pro at your course to hook you up. front nine is pretty standard for the most part.. back nine gets interesting.. 3 holes dubbed the "twisted sisters" following it up with an off the cliff par 3..

(but not quite as amazing as Old Works
[/quote]


And now i read your from Helena.. cancel that!

[smellysell]

[quote name='BewareTheGlowball' timestamp='1343191877' post='5348278']
[quote name='BewareTheGlowball' timestamp='1343191801' post='5348272']
Helena,, Green Meadows [url="http://www.gmcchelena.com/Home.aspx"]http://www.gmcchelena.com/Home.aspx[/url] loved this course in high school.. (know it might not fit in due to travel.. but I thought I would throw it in there)

Of that list.. your going to wish you spent more time at the Old Works LOVE THAT COURSE



And if you ever end up near Billings.. The Briarwood is a very unique course.. private though so you would have to see if you can find someone to take you or get a pro at your course to hook you up. front nine is pretty standard for the most part.. back nine gets interesting.. 3 holes dubbed the "twisted sisters" following it up with an off the cliff par 3..

(but not quite as amazing as Old Works
[/quote]


And now i read your from Helena.. cancel that!
[/quote]

Haha, yeah I've played Green Meadow more times than I can count, but unfortunately can't swing the dues yet. Old Works is the only one I've played on the schedule, and I agree, it's great (and with the combination of ezlinks and a coupon code I have, I can play it for $22 including the cart!). I've probably played it 10 or so times. Never played Briarwood, but I've heard good things, never knew about the pro being able to swing things, might see if he can hook us up with the Ranch Club in Missoula.

The for sures on the list are Old Works, Canyon River, Big Mountain, and Whitefish. The rest are up in the air at this point.

[BewareTheGlowball]

If you are a member of a private/semi private club sometimes the pro can call the visiting pro-shop and set up a reciprocal sort of situation in the event anyone from their club would want to come play yours. I got on to a couple courses using that when I was visiting some places.. not that anyone does.. but its a courtesy thing amongst the Pros.. if they are not over crowded you usually will be fine.. and they get more for you playing then a member :P

[jamie]

Might try the Ranch Club in Missoula...other end of town from Canyon River. I played Canyon over the fourth and it's very playable...should score pretty well. I haven't played the Ranch Club in a couple years but it can be pretty tough when the wind picks up.

[smellysell]

[quote name='jamie' timestamp='1343248233' post='5352778']
Might try the Ranch Club in Missoula...other end of town from Canyon River. I played Canyon over the fourth and it's very playable...should score pretty well. I haven't played the Ranch Club in a couple years but it can be pretty tough when the wind picks up.
[/quote]

Do you know a member at the Ranch Club, or how did you get on?

I've been hearing good things about Trestle Creek in St. Regis. Have any of you guys played it?

[teejaywhy]

Rock Creek Cattle Co?

[smellysell]

[quote name='teejaywhy' timestamp='1343504739' post='5370002']
Rock Creek Cattle Co?
[/quote]

Trying to pull that one off, but not holding my breath.

[jamie]

[quote name='3puttbogey2' timestamp='1343367212' post='5362716']
[quote name='jamie' timestamp='1343248233' post='5352778']
Might try the Ranch Club in Missoula...other end of town from Canyon River. I played Canyon over the fourth and it's very playable...should score pretty well. I haven't played the Ranch Club in a couple years but it can be pretty tough when the wind picks up.
[/quote]

Do you know a member at the Ranch Club, or how did you get on?

I've been hearing good things about Trestle Creek in St. Regis. Have any of you guys played it?
[/quote]

Sorry for delay. My family has a vacation house on the Ranch Club. I'm pretty sure they offer public rounds but not sure on price. I haven't played the course in St. Regis but I always want to when I'm driving through...it looks pretty good from my view on I-90.

[Petethreeput]

I'm probably too late, but how was your trip?

[smellysell]

Trip was amazing. I'll post pics when I get them organized. Big Mountain was my favorite followed closely by Canyon River.

[Petethreeput]

Where did you play?
Did you play the Ranch Club?
I think one course you need to put on your "to play" list in Montana is The Wilderness Club in Eureka. Really a great course, my favorite course I have played. Followed closely by Old Works.

[smellysell]

[quote name='Petethreeput' timestamp='1344945624' post='5468152']
Where did you play?
Did you play the Ranch Club?
I think one course you need to put on your "to play" list in Montana is The Wilderness Club in Eureka. Really a great course, my favorite course I have played. Followed closely by Old Works.
[/quote]

You're the third or fourth person to tell me that about the course in Eureka, it will definitely be on next years agenda for this trip. No Ranch Club, they said it isn't open to the public when I asked, and there were enough other courses I wanted to play that I didn't pursue it. I'm working on uploading pics right now, and then I'll put up some thoughts on the courses we played.

[smellysell]

8/10/12

Old Works Golf Course

Anaconda, MT

 

Two of us had to work Monday morning, so as soon as we got the kids out the door, we loaded up the car and headed the 92 miles to Old Works in Anaconda. Of all the courses we would play this week, this was the only one we had been on before. The Troon course designed by Jack Nicklaus is built on an EPA Superfund site and has a lot of resulting personality and uniqueness, highlighted by bunkers filled with a black slag that is a remnant from the smeltering process used during the copper boom in the area. The course is very long, with large, slippery greens and plenty of trouble (mainly LONG native grasses) if you miss the fairway.

 

 

 

 

[smellysell]

8/11/12

Trestle Creek Golf Course

St. Regis, MT

 

After a few hours of sleep, we all piled back into the car for the 80 mile trip northwest to St. Regis from where we stayed in Lolo. Trestle Creek came highly recommended by one of our groups’ father in law, but none of us knew anything about it. Upon arriving, we discovered that it is only a 9 hole track, so the only possible option was obviously to play it twice. The course itself is quaint, and well designed. He fairways are tightly lined with lodge pole pines, with several holes running along the Clarks Fork River with scenic views of densely forested mountains . Sadly, it is used sparingly, and as a result there is clearly not a lot of time and money spent on maintaining it. While it wasn’t in horrible shape, it was far from the pristine condition most of the courses we played this week were in. Still, it was a fun round and had some challenging holes, due mostly to the tightly line fairways. The signature hole on the course is a 180ish yard carry over a pond into a very shallow, slightly elevated green that I managed to hit both times! The greens rolled true despite not being the most visually appealing.

 

 

 

 

[smellysell]

8/11/12

Canyon River Golf Course

East Missoula, MT

 

After playing Trestle Creek, we jumped back in the car for the 74 mile drive to Canyon River in East Missoula. The first thought that comes to mind when thinking about this course is “bunkers”. They’re everywhere. Fairways, greenside, left, right, front, back, deep, big lips, edged with native grass. Whatever your bunker fancy, this course can tickle it. One of the pics below is me hitting out of one, which amazingly was the only one I managed to get into all day.

It really is a great course with a lot of big elevation changes, beautiful views, true rolling greens, and just overall kept in great condition. The decked out carts with GPS with yardages to all trouble and flags was really cool too, even though I walked and had to keep asking my friends for yardages…

 

 

 

 

 

[smellysell]

8/12/12

Polson Bay Country Club

Polson, MT

Up even earlier Wednesday morning, we were off and headed north for the 79 mile trip to Polson for an 8am tee time.

 

The Polson Bay Country Club has 27 holes, an old 9 and an 18 hole track which we play, that they call the Championship Course. Several of the holes on the front lie along the edge of Flathead Lake and provide beautiful views of the lake, as well as the Mission Mountains on the far side. The course is kept in fantastic condition, with a wide variety of challenging shots, from long carries over water, to tightly lined fairways, and everything in between.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stopped at a little bar on the edge of the lake for lunch that had AMAZING garlic fries.

 

 

[smellysell]

8/12/12

Big Mountain Golf Course

Kalispell, MT

 

After lunch, we headed north for the 51 mile trip to Kalispell, dropping one of our group off at camp on the way up to work for the next couple days (poor guy!). After checking into the hotel, we headed to Big Mountain Golf Course. Prior to the trip I had read about the front nine here being a links course, but from past experiences was skeptical to say the least. I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived by a very legitimate links setup, complete with pot bunkers and nasty native grasses lining the fairways. It was even accompanied by some gloomy, overcast weather with intermittent drizzling rain. The only thing it was missing is that it is well watered, and therefor too green and fairly soft. The even more surprising part is that the back 9 is a seemingly completely different course, with big elevation changes, a creek running throughout, and thick foliage. The thing that stuck out to me the most though was the absolute perfect condition of the greens. They were very quick, and rolled completely true. Of all the courses we played this week, this narrowly edged out Canyon River and Old Works as my favorite.

 

 

 

 

[smellysell]

8/13/12

Whitefish Lake Golf Course

Whitefish, MT

 

Thursday we got to sleep in a little before heading up 16 miles to Whitefish, where we would spend the day playing both courses.

 

South Course

 

The south course begins meandering through a typical golf course housing development, but then turns and heads to and along Lost Coon Lake, which provides some captivating views.

 

 

 

 

 

 

North Course

 

The North Course steadily climbs to high above Whitefish Lake through the first few holes. Unfortunately, what would be truly spectacular views are blocked by the pines that tightly line most of the fairways, providing only slight openings where you can spot the lake. The course is in great shape and has some challenging holes, but the lack of good looks down to the lake was a bit disappointing, and for the life of me I can’t understand why they charge (slightly) more to play this course than the south.

 

 

 

 

[smellysell]

8/14/12

Marias Valley Golf Course

Shelby, MT

 

Friday morning we drove 158 miles over to Shelby to play Marias Valley. One word sums up this course pretty well. Depressing

While it is still a fun and challenging track, you can’t help but think about how great it could be. The first and last green were in absolutely horrible condition, several of the hazards had been drained, and in general you could tell that they were just trying to keep it in “good enough” shape. It really is a skeleton of what could be a great course, with its huge cottonwoods and holes setup along the Marias River.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, it was a fantastic week, with nothing to concern ourselves with other than making sure we made it to our next tee time. 144 holes in 5 days, along with almost 1000 total miles traveled.

[Petethreeput]

Great photos. I am surprised you went to Trestle Creek. I am also surprised the Ranch was unavailable to you. As I mentioned, if you do the W. MT loop again, you may try to get onto the MCC, Eagle Bend and Wilderness Club. I don't know if you've played any of those (I know you haven't played Wilderness), but I do like to play those. Thanks again for sharing the photos.
I prefer the North Course but, like you, still am not sure why they charge more...

[natural_one]

Just got back from an Idaho/Montana trip....these pictures already are making we wish I hadn't left!

We played Polson Bay as well, which was fun but nothing great.

Of the Montana courses I played, I'd agree...Big Mountain was unbelievable and my favorite as well. The transition from the front to back 9s is very rare for me, from a wide open links front to a forest lined elevated back.

Coeur d'Alene was a fun track as well, specifically the true island green with a boat ride over.

We wanted to get to Wilderness club but didn't. Eagle Bend was fun as well, which I play once or twice a year.

We heard some great reviews about Circling Raven in ID. Definitely will hit it next year.

[smellysell]

[quote name='natural_one' timestamp='1349712143' post='5765515']
Just got back from an Idaho/Montana trip....these pictures already are making we wish I hadn't left!

We played Polson Bay as well, which was fun but nothing great.

Of the Montana courses I played, I'd agree...Big Mountain was unbelievable and my favorite as well. The transition from the front to back 9s is very rare for me, from a wide open links front to a forest lined elevated back.

Coeur d'Alene was a fun track as well, specifically the true island green with a boat ride over.

We wanted to get to Wilderness club but didn't. Eagle Bend was fun as well, which I play once or twice a year.

We heard some great reviews about Circling Raven in ID. Definitely will hit it next year.
[/quote]

Yeah, I've heard great things about Circling Raven too. Plan next year is to play it and Coeur d'Alene, and some others along the way, hopefully including Rock Creek and Wilderness Club.