Undercard: Tamarack vs. Coeur d'Alene
OUR OWN FAVORITE IDAHOSThere’s something about the Tater State that takes the soul far beyond French fries and garlic mashed, blowing past those cash-crop carb staples like a brisk Chinook wind and right to what ingredients really nurture a memorable Mountain West golf vacation: Nature tempered with manmade comforts; cozy digs surrounded by big spaces of forest, glade and lake; remoteness balanced by not-too-difficult access. Two decades ago, no one would give Idaho a second glance when planning a golf getaway. Not even a first glance. This was strictly skiing country from Sun Valley to Ketchum, from the Bitteroots to the Canadian border. Summertime was all about fishing, fall was the hunter’s domain. Then, 20 years ago, a publishing magnate named Duane Hagadone opened the Coeur d’Alene Resort, almost immediately imbuing a sleepy logging town near the northern edge of sprawling lake Coeur d’Alene with luxury cred. Five years later, the resort’s golf course debuted with is now world-famous floating green, and all heaven broke loose for the woods-and-irons set. A 2006 20th anniversary hotel overhaul finished off a property-wide spruce-up in which architect Scott Miller returned to rework several holes and make an already stellar golf experience — known for its well-trained forecaddies, flawless course conditioning and unsurpassed attention to detail — even better from a player’s perspective. Could be CDA’s Augusta-like track was due for an update anyway, but no doubt part of it was due to pressure from Circling Raven, which opened in 2003 a few miles down Highway 95 in Worley as part of the Coeur d’Alene Native American tribe’s resort. A 202-room hotel opened a couple years later, and now the tribe oversees a delicious destination of its own, spiced with a different flavor — not its neighbor’s rich tastes in accommodations, food and wine, shopping and spa treatments, but a more visceral, middle-of-nowhere-and-loving-it sweetness. With slot machines, of course. On the golf side, FG’s judges are at odds on which of these two very different but complementary courses is the true must-play. CDA is a classic high-end resort experience in every way, from the vintage boat ride from hotel to private golf dock to neck massages on the range. The golf course isn’t difficult by any stretch, unless you let the lake views blow your concentration — or misjudge the distance from tee to green at No. 14, where the floating green can be moved anywhere from 90 to nearly 200 yards from the markers. Several holes leading up to that photo-op spot, including the par-5 12th and short par-4 13th, border on unorthodox, while some inland holes are so classic in look and feel it’ll seem like you’ve played them 100 times. If only that were true. Circling Raven is a different bird altogether, spreading its wings over 620 acres and seven miles from the elevated No. 1 tee to the final green, ensconced in a copse of pine, cottonwood, birch and aspen. About half the course is forested with a mountainous vibe; the other half lopes gracefully through grassy slopes and across shallow ravines, with large green complexes nudging up against water features, rock formations or walls of trees. It’s got some links elements though the sea is hundreds of miles away. Architect Gene Bates used the unencumbered landscape like the epic canvas it is, and let its God-given contours do the routing. “This area’s natural beauty really speaks for itself. There are no homes or condos, just wetlands, woodlands and grasslands,” says Steve Caruso, Circling Raven’s head pro and interim general manager. “To be able to play golf in that kind of a setting, where each hole is set apart all by itself, is magnificent. It’s a great arena to showcase the beauty of north Idaho. I’ve been here all my life, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” Nor would a lot of golfers from Spokane, Wash., and other fly-in points throughout the West who seek out Circling Raven for its powers of decompression and promise of golf purity. It broke records for play this past summer and with new carts, staffing and other improvements on the way, Caruso and company are setting next year’s bar even higher. The course has also become somewhat of a celebrity favorite, with former NFL standouts like John Elway (a partner at nearby Golf Club at Blackrock), Mark Rypien and Dick Butkus having made special trips there on the down low. No doubt those guys might make a stop in the adjacent casino, but they’d probably opt to stay up in Coeur d’Alene Resort with its five-star hotel, great restaurants (especially Beverly’s, an eatery that rivals anything in the West). Either way, Circling Raven and the CDA course make for a killer one-two punch in the panhandle. It’s the same scenario a couple hundred miles south in central Idaho’s Payette River Valley, where another type of big-bucks investor — tennis great Andre Agassi and his fellow Grand Slam winner wife, Stefanie Graf — are throwing their financial weight behind the upscale Fairmont Hotel at Tamarack Resort, home to Osprey Meadows, a two-year-old lakeside beauty designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. After receiving a slew of accolades in its first year, Osprey continues to grow into, arguably, the best resort course in the state (FG’s internal battle sorted out with Circling Raven at No. 9 on our list; Osprey Meadows at No. 11). In fact, we believe Jones uses the natural terrain, foliage and grasses to even better effect than does Bates at Circling Raven — especially on the 3-pars, which are long, challenging and framed to perfection, often backdropped by shimmering Lake Cascade. The adjacent Lodge at Osprey Meadows is rustic comfort incarnate without being fussy, making for a stay that rewards your time indoors while recognizing that outdoors is where you’ll most likely exist. After all, if you wanted to sit and look out the window, you’d probably go someplace else. In short, Osprey Meadows goes toe-to-toe with Circling Raven, and Tamarack Resort just might grow into a place that makes you think twice about that vacation to the “other lake.” FG www.cdaresort.com | www.circlingraven.com | www.tamarackidaho.com CDA TAMARACK 10 Setting/Atmosphere 10
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Signature SeriesDecember 2007
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Good read!