An eventful addition at Circling Raven

The Coeur d’Alene Tribe has a new events center at its highly-decorated Circling Raven Golf Club. And this one isn’t going anywhere. For its first four years, the golf course at the Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort Hotel in Worley, Idaho, had a large tent next to its clubhouse that hosted events and tournaments. The only problem was, it didn’t do well in high winds. “One time it ended up over there,” says the resort’s public relations director Bob Bostwick, pointing toward the clubhouse. “Another time, it ended up over there,” he says, pointing to a grassy area next to a practice green. That all changed late last summer, when Circling Raven opened the Stensgar Pavilion, a 5,800-square-foot building next to a practice green with views of the 10th fairway in the distance. Bostwick says the building can accommodate up to 175 people and has a catering kitchen for breakfast, lunch and dinner events. Stensgar Pavilion is just south of the slightly larger lodge-like clubhouse. “You put these two facilities next door to each other, and you just don’t find public courses that offer that kind of atmosphere,” Bostwick says. “We’re blessed with such a highly acclaimed golf course; it’s only right that we have a first-cabin facility to go with it.” The pavilion is available year-round, and in addition to golf tournaments, the new facility has hosted corporate retreats, wedding receptions, family reunions and tribal events. In late February, for example, the tribe held its annual Winter Blessing at the pavilion. Tony Cuchessi, the head golf professional at Circling Raven, says the 18-hole, 7,189-yard course is scheduled to open April 1, weather permitting. Golf course staff already has booked roughly 5,000 rounds of golf for the upcoming season. That’s on par with last year’s level of activity, he says. “The economy doesn’t appear to be affecting us yet,” he says. The golf course is scheduled to host a handful of major tournaments that draw upwards of 200 golfers. One such event is the tribe’s own Speelya (the Coeur d’Alene tribe’s word for coyote) Invitational, which is held late every summer. Cuchessi says smaller groups—those with 20 to 50 golfers—are the course’s “bread and butter,” and they can take advantage of the new events center too. The new pavilion is named after Ernest L. “Ernie” Stensgar, who has worked in leadership positions in a number of regional and national tribal organizations through the years. Stensgar served as the Coeur d’Alene tribal chairman for 19 years and currently serves as the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s vice chairman, Bostwick says. He was president of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, which represents 55 tribes, for about a decade. Also, in keeping with the tribe’s commitment to environmentally friendly construction, the new structure, designed by Seattle-based Mithun Architects, has a number of green elements. First and foremost, the building has a living roof. Covered with soils, the roof is planted with four varieties of Palouse grasses and—in an effort to give it more color—native wild flowers that will sprout up this spring. In addition to a unique aesthetic, the grassed roof provides natural insulation, reducing heat gain during summer months and helping the building to retain heat during cold-weather months. “Any time you use earth, it’s a great insulator,” Bostwick says. “It’s the basis of adobe construction.” High-performance windows are shaded by roof overhangs, and they can be opened at the top and bottom to provide natural ventilation. Consequently, the building doesn’t need to be air-conditioned, Bostwick says. Other notable environmentally friendly elements include a high-efficiency heating system designed to improve air quality and to reduce dirt and other pollutants, exterior landscaping with vegetation that doesn’t need a lot of water, and recycled building materials. Circling Raven is located along U.S. 95, about 25 miles south of the city of Coeur d’Alene. Even though it only has been around for four years, the course has racked up a number of accolades. Golfweek recently featured Circling Raven as one of the nation’s best resort golf courses in its 2009 Definitive Guide To The Golfing Life. That magazine also has named the course to its Best Casino Courses list and its Best Course You Can Play By State list. Golf Magazine tabbed the course in its Top 100 Courses You Can Play feature, and the Zagat Survey has named it one of the America’s Top Golf Courses every year since 2005. For more information on Circling Raven, go to www.circlingraven.com, or call 1-800-523-2464.