This summer has been a real treat for me working out at Huntsman Springs. Not only is the staff - headed by GM Tony Snoey - incredible, but the course is as well. I figured that such a good experience was worth sharing about here on GCA.
Huntsman Springs is a project headed by the Huntsman family. John Huntsman Jr. is currently running for president and his family is also well renowned throughout the world. They are all great people and to my knowledge have contributed over $100-million to cancer research. John Huntsman Sr. puts his best efforts forward in everything he does and this is never more evident than at Huntsman Springs. Mr. Huntsman chose David Kidd as the designer of the course, which opened in 2008. Since then, the membership has grown and the course has grown in fantastically. The course stays somewhat busy, and that says a lot as it is located in Driggs, Idaho; a small town of 1,100 people located about an hour outside of Jackson Hole in the Southeast corner of Idaho. Despite it being such a new golf course, Golfweek rated in #30 in their list of Top-100 modern courses - quite a feat.
My only experience with a Kidd course prior to this summer was at Bandon Dunes. While many players out at Huntsman vouch that the two courses are very similar, I would tend to disagree. I am not into comparing golf courses, but in my mind the two are very different except for the fact they blow you away in terms of quality; that is to say I feel they both are very good golf courses.
Huntsman Springs plays like I would imagine a links course does in that it is very fast and firm with many undulations throughout. Though the course was manufactured by way of moving a lot of dirt, as Kidd turned what was an otherwise flat site into a spectacular golf course that only gets better the more times you play it. From the first hole to the last, there are many great surprises; be it from tee shots where you can hit three or four different clubs to greens that demand attention even from the approach shot and tee.
Huntsman provides a myriad of different golf holes that require all kinds of shot-making to score a low number. Though very tough, the course is playable even in the wind as the fairways are quite wide and the greens are among the biggest I've ever seen; comparable in size to Chambers Bay. My favorite quality in Huntsman Springs is the fact that the course only gets better the more times you play it. The first few rounds you are faced with the challenge of understanding how to play the required shots; the rounds following are full of fun trying to figure out the best way to play each hole and hit those shots - and depending on the wind you can be vexed with very different challenges on a day to day basis.
Huntsman is exactly the type of course the GCA crowd would enjoy. I strongly encourage all who get the opportunity to come out and see the course.
Recently I've seen several GCA'ers out at Huntsman and I hope they have a chance to chime in and provide their opinions of Huntsman.
Later on this year I hope to post pictures of the golf course, but for now here is a link to their webpage where you can take a photo tour. Enjoy!
http://www.huntsmansprings.com/