Palouse Ridge - Harbottle's Best?

[JMorgan]

Quite frankly, I am surprised that more courses haven't been built on the terrain between Spokane and Pullman. 

[Matt_Ward]

JMorgan:

You might be surprised to know that not in the area between Spokane and Pullman but in Walla Walla a new layout is being built which will be called Wine Valley. It's a daily fee operation and looked quite good when I saw the plans and walked the site. A 2009 summer opening is likely.

Should be a good one to check out.

[Kalen Braley]

Quite frankly, I am surprised that more courses haven't been built on the terrain between Spokane and Pullman. 

JMorgan,

I've been saying this off and on for the two or so years I've been on GCA.com.  There is some terrifific unduation over the entire Spokane area due to the glacial floods that happened there centuries ago...and the land is pretty cheap to boot.

The biggest difficulty I would guess is finding a customer base.  Prices in the Spokane area are dirt cheap and even the gem that is Indian Canyon can be played for less than $30.

Will be interesting to see what the new layout in Walla Walla will hold.

[Steve_Lovett]

JMorgan:

You might be surprised to know that not in the area between Spokane and Pullman but in Walla Walla a new layout is being built which will be called Wine Valley. It's a daily fee operation and looked quite good when I saw the plans and walked the site. A 2009 summer opening is likely.

Should be a good one to check out.

Matt - who is the designer of Wine Valley?  What is the property like?  It's hard to tell much of the full story from the course layout/community map...

[Michael Dugger]

JMorgan:

You might be surprised to know that not in the area between Spokane and Pullman but in Walla Walla a new layout is being built which will be called Wine Valley. It's a daily fee operation and looked quite good when I saw the plans and walked the site. A 2009 summer opening is likely.

Should be a good one to check out.

Matt - who is the designer of Wine Valley?  What is the property like?  It's hard to tell much of the full story from the course layout/community map...

Wine Valley is designed by Dan Hixson, he of Bandon Crossings fame.

Some GCAers working on this job, to boot.  I hear it's going to be pretty cool....

[Matt_Ward]

Steve:

Michael provided the name of the designer for Wine Valley. I toured the site and there's sufficient ground movement for a likely intersection of the aerial and ground games.

The terrain is rolling but not overly so and I'm guessing that walking would not be too much of a chore for any golfer seeking that option.

I've seen the tentative routing plan and when all of it comes together should prove most interesting given the immense popularity that the immediate wine area has in that section of WA state.

[Matt_Ward]

W.H., et al:

I wonder how you saw the disparity between the two nines. I think Harbottle could have routed the inner half in a better manner. Be interested in anyone's comments on that.

[Sean Leary]

Sean:

Tough call -- you have a good memory partner because I do like the layout in Orondo. But, I have not been back there in quite some time but on memory alone I'd say Desert Canyon is the better choice -- not by much but enough. The two sides at Desert Canyon are not thatfar apart -- at Palouse Ridge the front is at least 2-3 shots tougher than the back.

No disrespect to Palouse Ridge / John Harbottle but the routing, shot challenges and overall beauty fall to the layout in Orondo -- just playing the downhill 16th (I believe) is awesome stuff with the Columbia River valley in the nearby distance.

No matter -- I'd give Desert Canyon an edge but not take one iota away from what palouse Ridge provides. Anyone traveling through the area should play both.

Hard to forget because I was so shocked you liked it so much

I think there are a couple of good holes there but some really terrible ones as well.  I like Harbottles Gold Mountain Olympic course significantly better.

[Craig Sweet]

Kalen...you might have to make a swing up through Montana to play Rock Creek, and then head over to Missoula to pick me up so we can head south through Idaho for some late season golf!

Circling Raven....Indian Canyon...Palouse Ridge....what else? 

[Matt_Ward]

Sean:

Fair enough ...

but enlighten me on what I saw that was misplaced in my assessment of the place.

I said previously how I really liked the front nine but saw the back nine as being deficient in a number of ways.

Thanks ...

p.s You say terrible holes -- be specific and let me know of area courses you see as being significantly beyond Palouse Ridge.

[Kalen Braley]

Kalen...you might have to make a swing up through Montana to play Rock Creek, and then head over to Missoula to pick me up so we can head south through Idaho for some late season golf!

Circling Raven....Indian Canyon...Palouse Ridge....what else? 

Craig,

Sounds like a sweet trip to me..  .  Let me work on convincing the wife on that one!