[Brad Wilbur]

What was the relative time frame for construction of TIC vs. Dismal and Sebonack?  In reading on TIC's web site, it stated Nicklaus was going to Nebraska to open a course there after his visit during the construction period of TIC.  While I'm excited to see Dismal in a couple weeks, weren't some of their changes made to make the course more user-friendly?  I was just wondering if the planning for The Idaho Club was done before Jack and Tom had worked together.

[Randy Thompson]

Looks really interesting and looks like it would play a lot better if they just opened it a little and allow for some recovery shots.

[Andy Troeger]

By the time we got to #7 I think I started laughing--after getting blasted by #6 that hole just looks absurdly long and difficult. So I pulled out the yellow ball and promptly hit it safe just off the green (I lost it on #8).

Randy sums it up well. A little more recovery play would improve this course a lot--the interesting features and strategy is there, just too much penalty.

Mac,
I think Kalen and Jim would tell you I did not have fun during most of this round. Hence why its weird that I want another shot. I've played poorly at other places and gotten bored and mailed in the round.

[Kalen Braley]

I think Andy let his poor play affect his judgement for the course rating. If he had played like Peter, I'm sure it would have made his top 10! 

The course beat all of us up that day.  Jim, who was playing the best on that trip and shot several rounds in the mid to low 70s, ended up shooting in the mid 80s if memory serves me right.

[Mark Saltzman]

Looks really interesting and looks like it would play a lot better if they just opened it a little and allow for some recovery shots.

Randy,

I agree the course would be much better if there was a possibility of recovery from missed shots.  In many places the hazards are sort-of low-lying wetlands/marsh/ponds, so it's not as simple as bunker/tree removal.  I have no idea what is involved in filling in these types of hazards (if not against environmental regulations), but I expect it is expensive.

[Mark Saltzman]

Hole 8: Par 4, 316 Yards

Far from my favorite short P4.  The biggest issue was the LONG forced carry to reach the fairway.  From the 6500 yards tees it was 200 yards to reach the fairway at the nearest point and going along the diagonal hazard that protects the fairway only made the carry longer.  The carry is probably 230 yards from the tips.  For me (and I'm sure many others), this takes a lot of the decision-making (and fun) out of the hole.  I needed a club I could reliably carry 215 yards, and for me that is driver.  As a result, the centerline bunker really bothered me.  I needed a club that could reach the fairway but not reach the bunker.  Gimme a break!




While the green setting is very pretty, I was unimpressed by the green contouring. Nothing of note that I can recall, but I am open to being corrected.









Hole 9: Par 5, 507 Yards

Another forced carry on the 9th, with trouble long, left and right as well, though there is a bit of room to miss.  Longer players can try to cut the corner over the bunker. 




If not going for the green in 2, the lay-up shot should be with a fairly short club.  The fairway is plenty wide, though the hazard on the right pinches about 100 yards short of the green.




Players who lay-up away from the hazard on the right will be left with a blind approach.




Players that play down the centre/right will have a clear look at the green.





One of the most interesting greens in the course with a false-front, two green levels, significant internal contouring and a backstop.

[Kalen Braley]

Mark,

That 9th green complex and surrounds very well may be the coolest thing on the course.  The 1st bunker can be deceptive because its so far in front of the green.  The safe play here is actually to miss long.

But as with many other holes, I was already down two balls in the junk before I even got there so it was harder to remain focused on hitting a good shot into that green when I was already looking at triple bogey or worse.

[Mark Saltzman]

Kalen,

I agree the approach to 9 was awesome and I love the last 2/3 of that hole.

What did you and the group you played with think of 8?

[Peter Ferlicca]

9 fairways sets up like a downwards U, you can cut off a ton of yardage on the tee here.  Thankfully we were playing with the assistant pro who told us the good line if you want to hit driver.  You actually want to take hit to the left of that big tree left of the fairway bunker.  If you can thread a nice deep drive through that gap of trees, you will be left with something well under 200 yards for your second shot.  If I wouldn't have blown my 7 iron over the green I would have taken advantage of another par 5 here.  Once again all the par 5s are pretty short and there for the taking at the Idaho Club.  It is just the stout par 4's that make the course very hard and the long par 3s.   I played Idaho Club in the morning and then the Club at Black Rock in the afternoon.  I know this might sound weird, but I enjoyed my time more at the Idaho Club.  Black Rock was just a little to out there for me, there were a lot of fun golf holes, but there was also way to many wild golf holes out there.  Like others have said Black Rock is like taking your golf ball on a roller coaster.  Idaho Club, you need to have A LOT of golf balls just to be able to finish.  Black Rock is no piece of cake golf course either though, I almost felt like a high handicapper would have just as much trouble there as Idaho Club. 

[Kalen Braley]

I really liked #8, but I think I'm alone in that assessment.

It was a long carry, but from the tees we played was "only" about 175 yards or so, which was manageable.  I loved that it played between those two ridgelines with lots of rocky outcroppings.  Really gave the hole a neat little coolness element to it.  As a short par 4, I didn't mind the bunker placement, like the rest of the course, its meant to be a tough bugger.  I recall hitting 3 wood, 9 iron and managing a bogey.

Overall its a gorgeous hole despite its dangers.  I mean c'mon...

This sure is purdy..

[Kalen Braley]

Here is another pic to the approach at 9...

[Sean Leary]

Was there more room out there to create larger landing areas? Looks like there isn't much more from pics.

[Kalen Braley]

Sean,

I suspect not.  There was lots of water/forest/un-useable areas off most tees.  I suspect they had to do a ton of work just to get it what is currently there.

P.S.  Peter I went back and looked at that line you took on #8 off the tee.  Man you have to be pretty damn confident to take that line.  Hitting the fairway was challenge enough for me...which I did.  But then I hit my next two balls in the junk on the right.

[Kalen Braley]

Here is a view of the aerial for that corner of the property.  The hole on the left hand side is #9 playing from top to bottom as it curves left on a big dog leg.  #8 is the hole on the other side of the hill from there.  You can better see that over half the distance of the hole is just marsh/water hazard. 

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Spokane,+WA&hl=en&ll=48.324714,-116.408354&spn=0.005693,0.012209&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=50.823846,93.779297&vpsrc=6&t=h&z=17

[Mark Saltzman]

Hole 10: Par 5, 504 Yards

Another tee shot with, come on everyone say it with me, "a long forced carry to reach the fairway."  Much like the 9th, the hole gets a lot better after the tee shot.




Once you have (hopefully) successfully found the fairway, you are left with a very cool second shot between to massive rock walls to a LZ with plenty of room to miss(!!) that is actually wider than it appears.




Green is protected by a single large bunker.  Looking at the location of the pin before hitting the second shot allows the player to lay-up to a preferred side of the fairway so that the bunker will be less in play.




Another green with very interesting contours.  I made that putt for my first birdie of the day!






Hole 11: Par 4, 456 Yards

Finally some room to miss off the tee and only a very short forced carry.  Fairway width is effectively cut in half because of the large tree on the left side of the fairway.  Another one of those features at TIC that made me say, "now was that really necessary?"




The approach will be with a hybrid/long-iron to a green protected by a fronting diagonal water hazard. I suspect there are a good number of lay-ups on this P4.  The routing is very awkward here is you have a long walk to get to the green and then have to backtrack to cross the road to play the rest of the back 9.  Would it have been so bad to have a short P4 here with the green short of the water hazard and thus a more comfortable routing?

[Mark Saltzman]

Hole 12: Par 5, 520 Yards

Back across the road the golf course loses the elevation changes that made it so interesting.  Time to take a nap as three flat holes with water smatterred about weave their way through some lovely homes.  There isn't a whole lot to add that can't be readily seen in the pictures.

That bunker on the right is pure penal.  Nothing but thick rough over it.




Lay-up area is narrowed unnecessarily by rough jutting into the fairway.  Wasn't water right and bunker left enough?




Yet another do-or-die approach.






Hole 13: Par 4, 423 Yards

This is one of the better holes on the course.  The fairway is very wide as the water right is more right than it appears.  Line of charm makes you want to cut-off more than you can handle, but the carry over the second set of bunkers is very long.




Approach to a green with bunker on three sides - I guess this is Nicklaus' trip to RTJ.







Hole 14: Par 3, 187 Yards

We've all seen this P3 before.  Water short, bunkers on both sides.  It's always a difficult hole and usually it is the only one of its kind on a golf course.  Unfortunately it is the third of four at TIC.  I got tired of losing balls and played this hole from the 140 yard tees so that is where this picture is taken from.

[Andy Troeger]

Kalen,
The carry on #8 is more like 200 yards. I hit a good 3-iron thinking that would make it (and thinking the carry was more like 180) and it wasn't enough...barely. I think Mark's description is pretty reasonable there--beautiful setting, mediocre hole.

I do agree with the comments about #9 green and then #10 is a pretty cool hole. The course then isn't as good once you cross the road.

[Jim Franklin]

Comments about #1 are accurate. Make it #14 of the day, and it is a great hole. Make it #1, and it stinks. It certainly does not allow you to ease your way into a round. #7 does not allow a bailout and that is a Nicklaus fault. Similar to #2 at Mayacama. Just no place to bail.

Andy was right, I played well here, won my match quickly, and lost interest on the last few holes so my score blew up. I would like another shot at this course at some point too.

[Kalen Braley]

Comments about #1 are accurate. Make it #14 of the day, and it is a great hole. Make it #1, and it stinks. It certainly does not allow you to ease your way into a round. #7 does not allow a bailout and that is a Nicklaus fault. Similar to #2 at Mayacama. Just no place to bail.

Andy was right, I played well here, won my match quickly, and lost interest on the last few holes so my score blew up. I would like another shot at this course at some point too.

Jim,

This can be arranged.  They have afternoon tee times open to the public!! 

P.S.  Those last few holes are pretty tough as well, so don't blame the high scores on yourself, blame it on the course! 

[Mark Saltzman]

Hole 15: Par 4, 417 Yards

One will get a very strong deja vu feeling when arriving at the 15th tee as the hole is awfully close to a carbon copy of the 1st.  This hole plays as a little more of a cape hole, but with such a long carry to cut-off any significant portion of the water, it really becomes another hole with water left and water right.




Interestingly, the preferred angle of approach to this green is from the outside of the dogleg, thus minimizing any reward for successfully challenging the water off the tee.




Another undulating green.





And just for fun, a comparison of the tee shots on 1 and 15:






And a comparison of the approach shots:

[Kalen Braley]

Mark,

I thought 15 was the better hole, and is certainly more scenic.  There is a little more space in the fairway and the approach to the green is a bit more sane.  But yes still a tough hole.

A few more pics to add...

[Jim Franklin]

I liked #1 better, but not as an opening hole.

[Mark Saltzman]

Kalen,

I'm with you, I liked 15 better, but I wish the curve in the fairway would start earlier.  I didn't have a yardage guide or anything and tried to cut-off a bit, hit it well and didn't make it.  I know I am far from a long hitter, but the length of carry makes any attempt to cut-off the corner a viable option for only a small percentage of players.

[Mark Saltzman]

Hole 16: Par 3, 187 Yards

An unbelievable difficult P3.  I was lucky that my tees were up a bit on the day of play as my tees were supposed to be farther to the left.  Not a whole lot to say here, hit it perfect or else.




What makes the hole more difficult is that if you play even slightly away from the water, the contouring will kick the ball farther away from the green into thick rough grass bunkers. 




Hole 17: Par 4, 403 Yards

Tee shot to a reasonably wide fairway (though a tree blocks a good chunk of it) with hazard right and bunkers left.





The approach, once again, is all carry over water and bunkers.






Finally there is a bit of room to miss as there is a bailout long.





Hole 18: Par 4, 414 Yards


18 is a brutally difficult hole with lots of water.  At least it is not out-of-character with the rest of the course (as are many 18th holes).  The tee shot has a forced carry over water and then water right and left.




The approach is all carry over water with almost no room to miss short.

[Peter Ferlicca]

When I got to 16 tee after the very difficult 15th hole, I just said to myself, "come on now, this is starting to get ridiculous."  Honestly the last five holes would be the most difficult holes alone on a golf course by itself.  But here at Idaho Club you get an extremely tough hole back, to back, to back, to back, to back to finish up your round.  It is an unrelentless test.  Thank goodness I was grooving it then, because my two other playing partners were just falling apart of the last five holes. 

When you look at this thread you really do notice how it is two different golf courses completely.  You have holes 1-4, and 12-18 that are on the flat side of the property with the river running through it, and then you have holes 5-11 that have tons of elevation and playing through blasted out rock walls. 

I also just realized this isn't set up for the typical Nicklaus fade he usually designs his courses for, the ones that ask for a good draw are 1, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 18.  That is quite a bit of draws for a Nicklaus course.

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()