On my recent trip to the Spokane area, I took the time to play Circling Raven in Worley, ID.  Since its been talked about here recently, and many have said they liked it, I thought I would do a hole by hole review of the course. It's a Gene Bates design and the finest of his works that I have played so far.

My general impression of the course is that it really has a "big" quality to it as Matt Ward has defined in talking about other courses.  Its laid out over a sprawling area of rolling hills, wetlands, and forested areas which in turn are bisected by an active railroad line, (no stops at the clubhouse guys).   Its a tale of two 9s as the front 9 plays relativly wide open as many of the other holes on the front 9 can be readily seen while playing.  Whereas on the back 9, its more intimate in that you can't see any of the other holes other than the one you are playing.

The course is comprised of short to midrange par 5's, a nice mix of varying length par 4s, and longish par 3s.  Its biggest defense, besides the existence of lateral hazards on almost every hole, is the forced carries that are required off the tee on 15 of the 18 holes.  The course is fairly well bunkered, and interestingly enough, the vast majority are on the left hand side of the fairway or green complex.  I could only speculate that this is to make it less difficult for the average right-handed golfer who fades/slices thier shots.  In addition, and I know Sean is going to absolutly hate this, many of the bunkers lie between the green/fairway and a hazard.  

The fairway countouring holds one's interest on most holes and generally seems to follow the lay of the land. However, IMO, thier strength lies in that most holes are either played uphill or downhill, requiring a variety of sidehill/uphill/downhill approach shots. Even though the greens were recently punched, they still rolled well.  While they didn't seem to possess a lot of internal contouring, as with all courses on rolling terrain, it was critical to look at the surroundings to determine the break.

Overall, in terms of eye candy, this course is crack-o-licious. It was especially nice playing during the peak fall-color season as they contrasted well with the browns and greens on the course. But its not just a pretty face, there is a lot of strategy to be found on many of the holes, including the split fairway 4th and the short par 4s and 5s.  IMO I would put it between a 6 and 7 on the Doak scale.  It also seems to pass the casual golfer test as all of my golfing buddies in Spokane love it.  



Hole 1 - Par 5

Tee shot over the "enviromentally sensitive" area that plays down the entire left hand side of the hole



From the fairway:





Hole 2 - Par 4

A uphill tee shot on a shortish par 4.  Big hitters can get close to the green in 1.



The approach in for a mere mortal such as myself:





Hole 3 - Par 3

Downhill par 3 with the tracks as a backdrop.  Normally this plays into a crosswind and is a tough green to find from the tee.



A look at the collection area short and right of the green.





Hole 4 - Par 4

A split fairway hole, which actually works IMO.  Keep it low and left and have a shorter yet partially blind approach in.  Go to the right and its a little longer, but the line to the green has less trouble in the way.



A look at the slope of the fairway from a sideview, (taken from the 5th hole):



If you choose left off the tee, here is the approach in with a bombed tee shot:





Hole 5 - Par 5

This normally plays into the teeth of the wind and is the toughest forced carry on the course.



The approach in, notice the bunkering in between the green and the hazard.    





Hole 6 - Par 4

The first real driveable par 4 on the course, yet still takes a big shot to make it all the way up the hill.....



....and avoid the massive bunker "outcropping" left and short of the green.



A look back down the hole with the 1st hole in the distance.




Hole 7 - Par 3

A mid-distance par 3 where short is dead.....obviously.  





Hole 8 - Par 4

You'll see this hole a lot in thier advertising photos.  Just don't go right and its usually just a wedge in.



The short approach to a tucked pin with a beautiful backdrop to the green complex.





Hole 9 - Par 4

This hole is a long beast which usually plays into a tough crosswind with OB right and the hazard left.



If you hit it long like Huck, you could have this reasonable approach in from the right.  Otherwise you are SOL as the green doesn't support a run-in approach with a long iron or fairway wood




Back 9 to follow...

Back 9...


Hole 10 - Par 4

A really short par 4 that is driveable.  Play safe left of the trees with a layup or drive the wetlands to the green.



The approach in when laying up



A look back...





Hole 11 - Par 4

A bite off as much as you can chew dog-leg left hole.  With the prevailing wind a huge hitter could get close to the green, but must assume plenty of risk.



After hitting a crap-tastic tee ball, here was my approach in:





Hole 12 - Par 5

A quasi split fairway of sorts.  Go right of the trees have a better line in, while left is the safer play.



The approach in where going left is very bad:





Hole 13 - Par 3

A gorgeous drop shot hole that still plays long despite the drop.





Hole 14 - Par 4

Shortish par 4 up the hill...



The approach in after hitting yet another indifferent tee shot:





Hole 15 - Par 4

The tee shot pic was fubar'd but here is the downhill approach in where long is wrong.  I loved the fall colors as a backdrop.




Hole 16 - Par 3

A downhill par 3, where once again long is the wrong miss as well as left or right.. .  I did stuff a 7 iron to 2 feet for my only bird of the day.





Hole 17 - Par 5

The the tee shot over the pond to a tight landing area.



The approach in from the right hand side of the fairway





Hole 18 - Par 4

Disappointing finishing hole in my mind.  Dead straight with OB and containment mounding left and hazard right.



I think the bunkering was a little overdone on the approach.

And since the course is on an indian reservation, I'm pretty sure the "Circling Raven" has some connotation for the Coeur d'Alene tribe.

Cool tour; looks like a pretty darn good course to me.

I have to ask though - what are all those little while blobs?

TH

This looks like a pretty fun course. Nice setting. Bates has done a few courses that I'd like to evetually play, such as San Juan Oaks. He's also the one redoing Fort Ord.

Quote from: Tom Huckaby on October 12, 2007, 03:42:13 PM

Cool tour; looks like a pretty darn good course to me.

I have to ask though - what are all those little while blobs?

TH

I knew that question would come up and we came up with a couple of theories (I supposed I could have just asked inside)

Perhaps it was some sort of foam they had sprayed on the fairways to help with the frost in the mornig.  Or maybe it was the remants of some type of foamy fertilizer application they had done a couple of days before.

Either way I had a helluva time finding my tee ball on #5 because it came to rest right in one of these foam blobs so I had to go around feeling them all to eventually find it.  

I know your thoughts and feelings about hay that exists in front of tee boxes and just off the fairways.  While the fairways are pretty generous at CR, any thoughts on that?

Those white blobs are markers that allow the guy applying liquid feed to know where he has sprayed.  The soap suds come out of the far most end of the spray arms.  

Tom, probably dirt on your screen (I didn't see any white blobs). And Kalen, great tour. I was there last week for my second visit and again loved every second. I like the big, wilderness, out-there scale of the place and really like the bunkering; sand, size, shape, position etc. I think the bunkers work perfectly, especially on the 4th which, thanks to their superb positioning, is perhaps the best hole on the course. Like you, I noticed the prevalence of sand on the left of the holes but it doesn't really occur to you until you think about it after the round, or if you pull your irons. I don't think it's a big deal, and if it means slicers/pushers have more fun then it's not a bad thing. The 18th is a very strong hole, I think - not the most memorable on the course by any means, but a stern challenge nonetheless. Thanks for the memories of what is fast becoming my favorite course in the States.

My mistake. On closer inspection, I did see the blobs.

Most foamers are food grade anyway... so eat the foam, just don't lick the plant between them...  

Nice tour, Kalen.

The bunkering actually looks very RTJ Jr to me.

Kalen,

I've only played one Bates course (Carolina National in NC) and I absolutely hated it.

With very few exceptions, your pics (which I appreciate you posting) did very little to change my impressions of his work.

Besides his ghastly, overly fussy bunkers (which evidently are as impressionistic and reflective of the remote, mountainous Washington landscape as they are of the swampy lowlands of NC), he seems insistive on placing them next to the absolutely worse places to hit a shot;  effectively making them all picturesque "saving", and "Framing" bunkers, which photograph pretty well but serve to kill any hint of ground-game interest on the course.   Instead of your ball hitting the low-side and continuing into a precarious position, the Bates Bunker will grab it quick and prevent such an unpredictable result.  

If you hit it to the safer side and miss, you generally end up with a tidy little up and down.

It's paint by numbers golf....or perhaps better analogized, golf with gutter ramps.  

Looks lovely, though.  

Kalen,

"Hate" is Mike Cirba terminology for "oh, what could have been".

Have you played Wasatch Mountain, Bonneville, Valley View, or Park City?

Would love to hear your impressions of any of them.   Even better, I'd hope we can get together sometime and play...anywhere.

Appreciate your passion...

Mike

Kalen,

Your reviews of both Bonneville and Valley View are dead spot-on.   I knew I liked you for a reason!     Wanna guess which nine at Bonneville was designed by Willie Tucker in the 20s and which one was done later (in the 50s) by an aging Willam Bell and his son Billy?  

Valley View has some of the best holes in the west, and if they took all of the artificial water hazards off of this course it would be incredible.   It's sort of like the child painter who doesn't know when to stop adding new colors and features, but somewhere in there is an incredible golf course waiting to be unearthed.  

The weather in Philly has been unbelievably good and this week is supposed to rise into the low 80s again.   Give me a shout.