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CIRCLING RAVEN
Golf Club
PAR 4 386 YARDS
Worley, ID
800.523.2464
www.circlingraven.com
The accolades—best public course in Idaho, best tribal course in America, among
others—are one thing. But it is the sensation of playing Circling Raven Golf Club,
seemingly alone among more than 600 acres, which lingers. From many of the holes,
no other people, houses, or flags are visible. The eighth hole, called Snow on the
Mountain, is certainly a signature, but at Circling Raven every hole seems worthy of
that designation.
Once you've observed the snow on the mountain, next comes a tee shot over the
deep, yawning, and sizeable wetlands that extend down the right side of the hole.
Down the left side are trees, pine straw, and a slope to avoid. A drive slightly left of
center seems prudent, avoiding a fairway bunker on the right, but really the fun has
only just begun. The approach into the smallest green on the course must avoid a
bunker to the right and more wetlands down the slope behind the green. Beware of a
sucker pin right, tucked behind the bunker in a very small landing area.
The Coeur d'Alene tribe was true to its traditions and vision with the development of
Circling Raven. The tribe provided 620 acres for the golf course to guarantee Mother
Nature's place in the experience. Only 110 of those acres are developed; the rest
left as wetlands, woodlands, and Palouse grasslands. Among the architects to make
course proposals was Jack Nicklaus, who wanted to locate the course across the
highway from the casino, away from the wetlands and old railroad tracks and bridges.
Florida architect Gene Bates chose the road less traveled, calling for a course that
would use the wetlands and the railroad trestles and be as interesting as the site
itself. Bates got the job, and the rest is remarkable history.
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Photograph by John R. Johnson
