Sharing as a matter of course
WORLEY, Idaho – From the first day the Circling Raven/Royal Dornoch Golf Challenge was announced, Bob Bostwick vowed to “dazzle” the visiting team from Scotland – not only with the beauty of the Circling Raven golf course, but with the hospitality of the Coeur d’Alene Indian Tribe as well.
And during Monday’s opening ceremonies for the unique series of matches that will play out over the next four days at Circling Raven Golf Club, Bostwick, the director of public relations for the Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort Hotel, and the many others who helped organize the friendly international competition and cultural exchange did just that.
“Overwhelming,” was how members of the 12-man team from Royal Dornoch Golf Club in Dornoch, Scotland, described the pageantry of the opening ceremonies, which included tribal drummers, Indian riders dressed in traditional regalia on horseback and bagpipers from Spokane’s Angus Scott Pipe Band. The Scottish team members wore kilts displaying the tartans of their respective clans.
As part of the ceremonies, Cliff SiJohn, the director of cultural affairs for the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, offered a blessing and a welcome to the Scots. He also presented several gifts to the visitors, including an authentic pipe and a pair of medicine sticks made from the ribs of a buffalo.
“We’re overwhelmed, really, with everything,” said Andrew Skinner, the head professional at Royal Dornoch and captain of the Scottish team, which arrived Saturday night and played a practice round at Circling Raven on Sunday. “The hospitality we’ve received so far has been exceptional.”
The golf competition between Royal Dornoch and members of the Circling Raven Golf Club was the brainchild of Bostwick, who visited the Burgh of Dornoch last summer and was, likewise, overwhelmed with the hospitality of the Scots.
“They made me feel like I did when I first came to work in Indian Country,” said Bostwick, who spent five days in the remote village of about 1,000, located on the shores of the North Sea in northern Scotland.
Bostwick also fell for the Royal Dornoch golf course. The seaside links course was founded in 1616 and is the third-oldest course in Scotland.
Bostwick figured it would be fun to invite members of one of the oldest and most revered courses in the world to play at Circling Raven, which opened in 2003 to international acclaim and was named by Golf Magazine as one of the “Top 10 Best New Courses” in the United States. When his idea was approved by David Matheson, the chief executive officer of the Coeur d’Alene Casino and Resort Hotel, the Circling Raven/Royal Dornoch Golf Challenge became a reality.
The Coeur d’Alene Tribe paid for the airfare of the Scots, who are staying at the casino’s hotel.
The competition opened late Monday morning with six four-ball matches and will continue today. The two teams will take Wednesday off before completing the event Thursday.
“We had a little team talk before we came over here to emphasize that the golf is secondary,” explained Skinner, who succeeded his father, William, as the head pro at Royal Dornoch in 1998. “This is more about the coming together of the two communities and the friendship that we built with Bob over in Dornoch.
“But I never could have imagined it would turn into something as big as this. We thought we’d maybe come over, have a game of golf, a few drinks and enjoy ourselves – which we have. But we certainly didn’t expect anything like this.”
“The scale of the whole thing is incredible,” added Scottish team member Gary Gruber, the superintendent at the ultra-exclusive Carnegie Links golf course at Skibo Castle near Dornoch. “So many people put so much time and effort in to create this, and it’s just wonderful to be a part of it.”
As part of Monday’s opening ceremonies, which were held in front of a crowd of about 100 just outside the Circling Raven clubhouse, the Indian riders and bagpipers converged at the wooden bridge leading from the 10th hole to the 10th fairway and made their way across to the sound of drums and an honor song heralding the arrival of the Scots.
Following his blessing, SiJohn pointed out that fur traders from the Scottish Highlands were among the first Europeans to make contact with tribes in the region.
“These men were the first to speak with us with sincerity – the first ones we trusted,” SiJohn said. “They came in friendship to trade. We touched each other’s hand, and we have never been the same.
“The reuniting of our people (with the Highlanders) is an historical event for the Coeur d’Alene Indian people.”