Circling Raven hard but fair to professionals

WORLEY, Idaho – A great golf course can get away with being a bit rude, as long as it’s fair.

Circling Raven Golf Club proved that again earlier this week when it humbled many of the best players in the Pacific Northwest Section of the PGA – even flat-out embarrassing a few – yet earned nothing but praise from those it had abused.

Granted, the winds that kicked up and gusted close to 30 mph during the first two days of the PNWPGA’s section championship contributed considerably to the inflated numbers posted during the first two rounds of the 54-hole championship.

But even on Thursday, when the winds calmed, Circling Raven held up well against the best shots eventual champion Ryan Malby could throw its way.

Malby, after dropping nearly every putt he looked at and shooting a ridiculously low score of 7-under-par 65 in Wednesday’s windy conditions, closed with a workman-like 68 that earned him $5,000 and his first win in a major PNWPGA event.

Afterward, the Spokane native and head professional at Village Greens Golf Course in Kalispell, Mont., gushed about the Circling Raven layout, which played to about 7,100 yards with its four par-3s all slightly shortened.

“This is a great golf course – beautiful,” Malby said. “It’s peaceful out here. This golf course really suits my game, being from Montana. With the elevation changes, the trees, rivers and lakes, it’s similar to what I play at home.

“I felt very comfortable here.”

Obviously, there were many others who didn’t.

On the first day of the tournament, only five players broke 70. Twenty six failed to break 80. One limped in with a 19-over 91.

Indian Canyon head professional Gary Lindeblad shot 77-78 in the wind before closing with a respectable final-round 69 and admitted he failed to reach the fairway off the No. 12 tee on Wednesday when the wind was in his face.

“I never had a chance,” he said of his attempt to carry the nearly 220 yards of native grasses growing between the championship tees and the start of the fairway on the 581-yard par-5. “One guy in my group just played (his tee shot) to one of the upper tee boxes so he could find his ball and maybe get a decent lie.”

Tacoma Golf & Country Club head pro Chris Griffin opened with solid, wind-beating rounds of 72 and 71 and then posted a final-round 71 to finish alone in seventh place at 2-under 214, 11 strokes behind Malby.

Earlier this year, Griffin shot a 54-hole total of 14-under 199 at the Rosauers Open Invitational at Indian Canyon Golf Course and still finished three strokes behind winner Jeff Coston.

Circling Raven, he admitted on Thursday, was a bit different challenge.

“Good golf course, really good golf course,” Griffin said of the Gene Bates-designed layout that was hosting its first PNWPGA Section event. “Today it played a little different than the first two days, but it’s still a tough golf course with no wind.

“At The Canyon, you know you’ve got to take it deep, but here, anything around par is good. You can see that by the scores.”

Jeff Ellison, the PNWPGA’s executive director, said all of the players he talked to “loved” the course.

“It’s plenty challenging,” he said, “but it’s a lot of fun to play. There’s room to play, but it you want to play well, you’ve got to hit some really good golf shots.

“The greens were probably the best we’ve played all year. The rough wasn’t overly high, but it was thick. And when you throw the wind in, you’ve got one great challenge.”

Host professional David Christenson said the exposure his course received from hosting the section championship can do nothing but enhance its reputation.

“The guys kept saying this was the best course they’ve played in a section event in years,” Christenson said. “Our superintendent, Brian Woster, and his staff just did an incredible job getting it prepared.

“For us, it’s nice to share what we have with other professionals so they can carry the message back to all of Washington, Oregon and western Montana, because when they go back to their clubs, their members are going to ask them about Circling Raven.

“You can spend millions and millions of dollars on advertising, but its word of mouth that really carries the weight.”

It didn’t hurt that a number of players were treated to wildlife sightings, including a close-up view of a moose and her calf walking across the 10th green on Wednesday.

According to Christenson, the moose did some minor damage to the putting surface and play was interrupted briefly to smooth out the footprints they had left.

“But that’s still pretty cool,” he said, “especially for the city guys who saw it. They were lovin’ it.”

Ellison said PNWPGA officials started considering Circling Raven as a potential tournament venue two years ago.

“Dave gave us a call and said he’d like to do something,” he explained. “This particular event was the one we first thought of, and we actually stopped here on the way to last year’s section championship in Whitefish (Mont.) to confirm what we wanted to do.

“I had toured the course just before it opened and knew it was going to be something special. Dave is already after us to come back, and based on the reaction of our players, I’m sure we will.”