Blazing a golf trail in Idaho
North, South … pick a Loop.
It’s hard to go wrong on either end of the Idaho Golf Trail, a fact that was driven home during a recent media tour of four of the five courses that currently make up the Trail’s South Loop.
Those four layouts – Sun Valley, BanBury, MeadowCreek and Osprey Meadows – like their counterparts to the north, offer an array of delightfully diverse golfing experiences that should play well with golfers of all skill levels.
From the resort-like feel of the Sun Valley Golf Course to the Scottish links-type challenges offered by the BanBury Golf Course and on to the serene setting at Meadow Creek Golf Resort, there is something for everyone, including the most accomplished of players, who promise to be tested by the demands of the Robert Trent Jones, Jr., masterpiece, Osprey Meadows at Tamarack Resort.
A fifth course, Whitetail Club Golf Resort in McCall, is currently a part of the Trail, but is transitioning into a private club and will curtail its affiliation at the end of the year.
“We’re extremely pleased with the courses we’ve asked to be a part of the Idaho Golf Trail,” said Carl Wilgus, the assistant deputy director of the Boise-based Idaho Department of Commerce and Labor, who helped hatch the idea of the Trail as a way to further market some of the state’s top golf courses and their amenities, including dining and lodging.
“They each have their own distinct character and distinct set of challenges.”
And things on the South Loop promise to get even better, thanks to plans at the Sun Valley Resort to build an additional nine holes just to the east of the existing 18, which consistently ranks among the best layouts in the state.
According to Jack Sibbach, the resort’s director of marketing and public relations, construction on the new holes started in May and will, hopefully, be finished by the summer of 2008.
“It will be a completely different kind of course than we have now, with a completely different feel than our existing 18,” Sibbach explained. “Five of the new holes will be built up on a 400-foot high ridge where they will be more spread out and make you feel like you can reach out and touch the mountains all around you.”
In addition, a new clubhouse will be constructed to accommodate the expected increase in traffic.
The upgrades at Sun Valley should make the idea of playing the South Loop even more appealing to golf fanatics in the Spokane area, who are looking for a relaxed four- or five-day outing in which they can sample the golf, scenery, cuisine and hospitality of southern Idaho.
The drive from Spokane to New Meadows, the northern-most stop on the South Loop takes a little over four hours, but the views – especially those along the Salmon River, which parallels a good stretch of the winding route of Highway 95 – make it seem much shorter.
And the return trip from Sun Valley through the Sawtooth National Recreation Area can be equally as scenic.
Following is a brief look at the four courses that will remain a part of the Idaho Golf Trail’s South Loop. More information can be obtained by calling 1-800-84-IDAHO or by visiting www.idahogolftrail.com on the internet.
Sun Valley Golf Course
Sun Valley, which was redesigned by Robert Trent Jones Jr., in 1980, has received the most national acclaim of any course on the South Loop of the Idaho Golf Trail.
This fun, fair and challenging layout, which stretches to 6,938 yards from the back tees, features a wonderful variety of interesting holes that unwind over ever-changing terrain in the shadows of the rugged mountains that surround them.
Consistently ranked among Idaho’s top tracks and the recipient of a four-star rating from Golf Digest, Sun Valley presents visitors with a true resort-style golf experience. The fairways – many of them tree-lined and rolling – are nicely manicured and, in many cases, invitingly and surprisingly wide. But there is danger lurking on nearly every one, thanks to a several ponds, more than 50 deviously placed bunkers and Trail Creek, which crosses the course repeatedly.
The greens are average in size and speed and putt smooth and true, with few major humps and bumps. Still, approach shots that finish above the hole bring a potential three-putt finish into play.
The four par-3s on the par-72 layout are among the best you’ll find anywhere, with the 15th and 17th offering major challenges. The 15th, which measures 244 yards from the elevated back tees, plays over Trail Creek to a wide, but shallow, putting surface that sits in front of a beautiful backdrop of mature pines and cypress trees.
The 17th, which is considered to be the course’s signature hole, stretches to 197 yards from the tips and provides a stunning view of Mount Baldy and the ski runs that have made Sun Valley such a popular winter destination. The green is protected by a large pond in the front and two massive bunkers in the rear.
But perhaps the most memorable hole is the par-4 6th, which plays to 460 yards from the dramatically elevated championship tees and requires a 240-yard carry to clear the creek that cuts across the fairway.
Even beginning golfers should at least make the drive back to the championship tees to check out the view.
If there is anything to criticize about the Sun Valley course, it’s the clubhouse, which is cramped, unassuming and seemingly unfitting for the terrific layout it serves. Plans are in the works, however, to build a new one, and there is hope it could be opened – along with the new nine holes going in on a ridge just to the east of the existing 18 – in two years.
Peak-season greens fees, with cart included, are $125 for hotel guests and $145 for one guests.
Banbury Golf Course
BanBury, a 6,871-yard, par-71 links-style layout that features wide, inviting fairways and massive, well-contoured greens, sits near the south channel of the Boise River in Eagle and plays across relatively flat – yet interesting – terrain.
Designed by John Harbottle III, the course opened in 1999 to rave reviews and was selected as the host venue for the 2005 United States Girls’ Junior Championship. The wide fairways invite golfers to blast away from any of the four sets of tee boxes, but approach shots must be accurate and well-thought out because of the seemingly endless pin placement possibilities on the huge greens.
Most views from the tee boxes are simple and straight-forward, but water comes into play on eight holes – including the short, risk-reward par-4 17th and the difficult par-5 18th that provide a challenging and memorable finish for golfers of all skill levels.
Water guards the entire left side of both holes and pinches the fairways near the greens in an effort to dissuade long hitters from getting too bold off the tee. Approach shots pulled left on either hole will end up wet, and anyone finding a bunker behind the green is faced with a menacing sand shot back toward the water.
Perhaps the toughest hole is the par-4 6th, which stretches to a torturous 481 yards from the
back tees and plays to a deep and narrow green that is among the most difficult on the course to navigate.
Another toughie is the par-3 14th, which can play as long as 249 yards to an angled, well-bunkered green that also brings water into play on the left.
Most holes are easy to figure out from the tee – with the exception of the par-5 12th that forces long hitters to lay up short of a ravine that crosses the fairway some 277 yards from the back tees.
BanBury’s greens are relatively flat, but among the smoothest and fastest you will find on the South Loop. The course will force you to use every club in your bag, but offers a fair, comfortable and affordable challenge that will make you want to come back again.
Tee times are taken up to seven days in advance, with greens fees ranging from $32 Monday through Thursday to $43 Friday through Sunday. Riding carts are an additional $12.38 per person.
Meadowcreek Golf Resort
Of the five courses that currently make up the South Loop of the Idaho Golf Trail, MeadowCreek ranks at the least pretentious and most tranquil.
The 6,625-yard layout plays to a par of 72 and is serenely tucked away between the Boise and Payette National Forests in New Meadows.
Designed by Bob Baldock and his son, Robert L. Baldock, the course opened in 1983 and straddles the 45th parallel, exactly halfway between the equator and the North Pole, in beautifully treed Meadows Valley.
The setting is as natural as it gets, with majestic stands of mature pines, crystal-clear ponds, mountains and wetlands all adding to its scenic splendor.
This mountain favorite, which is situated 3,869 feet above sea level, opens with a stretch of tight, tree-line holes that play across rolling terrain before winding upward and into some dense timberland that features more dramatic elevation changes.
The fairways are tight and the greens are tiny, placing much more value on accuracy than length from all three sets of tee boxes.
The course opens innocently enough with a short, 334-yard par-4, but quickly bares its teeth, courtesy of the 538-yard, par-5 second that doglegs slightly left and features a large pond that pinches the fairway near the prime landing area of most second shots.
The par-4 third offers another major test, stretching some 460 yards from the back tees and playing down a gently turning, tree-line fairway to a green that is protected on the front left by a gaping bunker.
And the finishing hole, a 540-yard par-5 that doglegs gently to the right and past a strategically placed pond to a green tucked deeply into a horseshoe-shaped cluster of trees, is every bit as challenging as it is picturesque.
Anyone looking for a peaceful, relaxing round of golf on a user-friendly course that won’t wear you out, can find it at MeadowCreek, which is part of a750-acre master planned golf resort community with 448 developed single-family residential lots.
Daily greens fees Monday through Thursday (excluding holidays) are $31 for those who prefer walking and $45 for those wishing to ride. Those fees increase to $55 and $69 Friday through Sunday and on all holidays.
Osprey Meadows
When Robert Trent Jones, Jr., sets out to challenge the best golfers on the planet, he usually comes up with a signature design like Osprey Meadows, a devilishly difficult layout that adds immensely to the quickly growing popularity of the all-season Tamarack Resort.
The course features four sets of tee boxes, including the championship double black diamonds that stretch to 7,319 yards, and unwinds over 400 heavily wooded acres nestled between the shores of Lake Cascade and the gentle, tree-covered slopes of West Mountain.
Dramatic elevation changes offer one jaw-dropping view after another, many of which include the nearby lake.
But golfers should be warned against biting off more golf course than they can chew, because from the double diamond tees Osprey Meadows is just downright nasty.
From the tips, fairways seem to be nothing more than a rumor, and figuring out where to aim you tee shot is next to impossible for those unfamiliar with the imaginative layout. In addition, three of the four par-3s that Jones designed play more than 210 yards with one – the 226-yard 6th – requiring a carry over natural wetlands to a humped and angled green that offers precious little in the way of a bail-out area.
The 17th, at 249 yards, is even tougher, thanks to a stand of trees on the right that forces golfers to cut a driver, fairway metal or long iron into a wide, but shallow, green.
Anyone hoping to eventually encounter a “breather” hole will be deeply disappointed, because there are no weak links on Osprey Meadows, which boasts 73 bunkers, tight fairways that are lined by stands of tall ponderosa pines and an abundance of wetlands and other water features.
And added attraction is a series of signs that have been placed along the cart path that depict the various forms of wildlife – including osprey and bald eagles – and plant life golfers might encounter along the way.
In only its second full season, the course seems to be maturing nicely. There are still some problem areas on a couple of the most shaded fairways and some re-sodding was done this summer. But that detracts little from the splendor of the layout, which makes much more sense from the less-challenging black diamond, blue square and green circle tees.
Peak-season greens fees, which include a mandatory cart that can be used only on cart paths, are $119 and are in effect from June 30-Sept. 30. Off peak-season rates drop to $75 on weekdays and $85 on weekends.