I just got home from spending an hour or two driving around Canyon River, the new Brian Curley course in Missoula, MT....it looks like they might open next Monday, but I won't be surprised if the opening is put off until August 1st...the hold up is a temp. clubhouse...plumbing...etc.
The course looks terrific! Grow in was real solid and the native grasses have taken off nicely....
Curley's bunkers are fantastic! Just the right size....on several holes the bunkering begins 50-70 yards from the green, but standing in the fairway you'd swear the bunkers were greenside...a nice bit of deception...his fairway bunkers blend into the contours of the land and with few exceptions are located not so much to challenge, but to catch a wayward shot....
The course has a couple of holes with blind tee shots...#11...a long par 5...the green slopes right to left and to the back of the green...a back left pin will be tough to find...all the fairways looked to be plenty wide...the "signature" hole, or holes, are a pair of drop shot par 3's...the 14th in particuliar has a small green and three nice bunkers surrounding it...from the tips this hole is probably 170 yards....the other drop shot par 3 is #12....from the tips (190yds.) you can barely see the green...finding the pin location from the back tee will necessitate a walk to a front tee for a view...the green is guarded by several deep bunkers and a large rock that juts out from the bunker complex...a tall juniper tree....protects the right side....a hole that I liked a lot is #15...a reachable par 5 (525yds)...your drive has to find its way between three towering pines...one is dead center in the middle of the fairway...the second shot is over several cross bunkers that begin about 70 yards from the green...this makes the second shot just about all carry if you are going to reach the green in two...the green has great contours and any shot hit long will drop off behind the green 40-50 feet....
I do have a few pictures and I might post them later...