Idaho & Montana Golf Trip (pics)

[Peter Ferlicca]

I recently went on a trip to Rock Creek Cattle Company, The Idaho Club, and The Club at Black Rock.  It was a very fun trip experiencing three completely different golf courses.   Rock Creek Cattle Co. was the highlight of the trip.  Like many have said, the round just continually gets better throughout; every hole provides tons of interest.  This course also has my new all time favorite par 3 with 17.  It is hard to get a prettier setting than that, and then you throw in an awesome green.  Great whiskey run right next to the clubhouse for 16-18.  The par 4’s are about as diverse as you can get, each one being a star hole at any other course.


Pics from Rock Creek Cattle Company.








The coolest bridge I have ever seen on a golf course, it bounces like crazy when you walk over it.








The Idaho Club  (Jack Nicklaus 2008)  This was also a pretty fun course, that is built through some pretty wild terrian.  Tons of forced carries, and water all over the place.  The clubhouse here burnt down in the winter, and when you drive by it, you get a sick feeling in your stomach.  Shot my best round here with a 69, a lof of that was because of one shot though (almost made a double eagle).  The course goes through carved out stone on holes 5-11 (best holes on the course).














We also saw a moose in the river by the 18th taking a bath.













The Club at Black Rock is a Jim Engh design.  This course has a good look to it, and has tons of fun playable holes.  Customer service at this club is amazing (almost too much), I don't think I have ever seen so much staff on a Wednesday. 

[Anthony Gray]

  WOW

[Andy Troeger]

Jim Franklin, Kalen Braley, and I did this trip last year and also played Gozzer Ranch and Circling Raven. Kalen also saw Wine Valley as part of the Grudge Match on the way up. The area is absolutely spectacular and the golf is really good too. Rock Creek made my top five, Gozzer Ranch came in at #10, and Black Rock is top twenty and Jim Engh's best that I've seen. You must be quite a player to go low at The Idaho Club, that place was easily the hardest course on the trip for me.

[Tom_Doak]

Peter:

Those are indeed three pretty different golf courses!

I had heard The Idaho Club was super-hard so your score is impressive.  Did you think it was hard?  Also, the first few pictures of it have some weird leveled-off areas up behind the greens ... are those just natural bluffs, or future housing sites that they graded but are empty?

[Peter Ferlicca]

Peter:

Those are indeed three pretty different golf courses!

I had heard The Idaho Club was super-hard so your score is impressive.  Did you think it was hard?  Also, the first few pictures of it have some weird leveled-off areas up behind the greens ... are those just natural bluffs, or future housing sites that they graded but are empty?

In the 2nd pic for the Idaho Club, that is just a natural bluff.  In the 3rd pic the uphill left to right par 4, that is a road and a housing site up on the hill to the left.   I am guesing they used a ton of dynamite to build holes 5-11.  I was just grooving it that day for some reason.  I birdied two of the hardest par 3's, and then an eagle and two birdies on the par 5's.  I almost had an albatross, hit the flag dead center from 235 yards out with a hybrid and stopped a foot away on hole 12.  I can imagine for a higher handicapper this course would be over the top hard.  They are multiple 200+ yard carries to get to the fairways, and water all over the place.  The greens were rolling at probably an 9, so it was easy to be aggresive.  It is a fun course, almost two seperate styles (5-11 built through all the blasted out stone/1-4 and 12-18 goes through all the rivers and marsh.)