Roll Call: Idaho- South

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21

Hey, finally I can provide some value on this board!

TL:DR: Ridgecrest is the best course, but Shadow Valley or Quail Hollow give a unique experience.

Ridgecrest - Links style muni with a fun mix of holes especially on the back nine, great use of a hillside bench, and interesting green complexes. Very playable and usually in good condition. Down side is that the location isn’t anything interesting and the front nine is interstate adjacent. Very walkable.

Shadow Valley - Unique course in the foothills uses the elevation but not severely, usually in great condition. Back nine has some more generic parkland style holes but overall a fun course. More forgiving than quail hollow, less dramatic elevation. Pretty walkable.

Quail Hollow - former private course that was donated to the city a few years ago. Accuracy is a premium off the tee and the greens are severe. Only a par 70 but playing from the back tees puts some length and driver in play. Uses the elevation to the extreme and plays up the sides of the canyon walls throughout the course. Not a fun walk unless your glutes are super activated.

Falcon Crest - Probably the truest (public) test of golf in Boise, out in the pasture land south of town. Overall a solid course that has some holes that can really kick you in the mouth if you don’t hit multiple good shots. Mosquitos are horrible here at times, way more than any other course in town.

Others:
Banbury - Same designer as Ridgecrest and plays similar but more penal with water everywhere. Used to be in better condition, now just good but overpriced. Hosted USGA Girls Pub Links in the early 2000 and coasted on that ever since.

Redhawk - Fun 6 holes in an old quarry, the rest is generic subdivision golf.

Warm Springs - My home course, muni closest to downtown. In need of some heavy tree control. Could be any parkland course you’d find across America.

Enjoy your time here, September is a great month to visit.

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22

Excellent writeup, man….really appreciate it. Makes me more excited to come up there in a few weeks :+1:

23

Great write up! Ridgcrest is such a great example of using kind of average land to make interesting golf. I really like JH3’s designs. Palouse ridge is awesome.

Would be interested to hear your thoughts on this take @otafukusauce: if I were to recommend a course for one round it would probably be Quail. I think Ridgcrest is a better course but Quail might be a more memorable experience.

Also Warm Springs might have some of the best muni vibes of anywhere.

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24

I think you are spot on, agree on the JH3 shout out. I need to play Juniper in Bend and Palouse Ridge ASAP. I think for unique experiences both Shadow and Quail are the places to go.

Shadow if you want to walk, looking for a bit more of a traditional course, more room with some foothills flourishes.

Quail feels like it’s foothills turned up to 11, and definitely not walker friendly. The tee shot from 300ft above the fairway on 18 will leave a lasting impression on anyone.

I play more Warm Springs than anywhere because it’s so close to my house but I love/hate it. I dream of a Winter Park 9 effort to clear out some trees, lift the branch level and put some interest in the greens. Definitely a great vibe and community just a mediocre layout. 7 needs to show up on the worst golf holes thread at some point…

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25

I had never heard of Juniper and that looks like a great edition to a Bend trip. Palouse is awesome. I’m up in the Moscow-Pullman area so I get to play it pretty frequently. It takes a lot of the Ridgecrest principles and turns them up on a sweet rolling hills landscape that works well with the linksy style.

The fact that Quail is so hard to walk is a bummer. How is the knew green on 18? I haven’t played it since last winter right when they were extending it forward. That shared green is sweet.

A Warm Springs restoration would be cool. Maybe if they keep getting the amount of play that they have been during covid. That property along the river is pretty good. Being completely blocked out by trees five yards off some of the fairways definitively sucks. That being said it’s a great place for when you don’t want to think too much, or if you have varying skill levels or when it’s just pushing triple digits temp and you want some shade.
7 is my nemesis. I have a buddy who insists we play stroke play there because he knows I could make a massive number on that hole no matter how I’m playing. I kind of love it for that though too lol

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26

The new green on 18 is solid. It has 3 distinct tiers now that are all somewhat flat, it’s not completely dead to be above the hole on a lower pin like before.

27

Thanks again for the recommendations/advice. I played at Quail Hollow today in perfect weather and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve never played a course with that much elevation change. The elevated tee boxes on some holes were super fun. My wife and I have really enjoyed our time up here….great city and beautiful area.

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28

Awesome, thanks for the report. That tee shot off 18 is something else, isn’t it?

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29

Great pics of the course.

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30

Posting this here in case anyone is interested. Haven’t met any other Idaho refugees yet. Hopefully you all agree with my summary of Jug/Mccall etc

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31

Spent some time down in Idaho Falls this week for work and got out for a couple of 9’s. Front 9 at Sage Lakes yesterday - Nice easy walk and a beautiful evening.

Played Teton Lakes - Middle Fork in Rexburg this morning on my way back to MT. What a hidden gem the Middle Fork is! I would play that thing every day. Loved the design. Only drawback is the routing is VERY confusing if it’s your first time playing there and are solo! On #3 tee I was joined by the single in front of me who played 1, 2 and then 9 before realizing his mistake.

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Routing is an atrocity. Great complex, but they need some markers out there. Next time you come down, hit me up!

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33

Responding to this late as I have been very busy. I think coordinating a trip to McCall to golf would be great. I’m currently in Eagle, ID and have never been to McCall. Logistically we would a good amount of time to plan it out.

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34

For all lurkers and ID/UT/MT Nesitcles and Refugees–

See the Nest post RE: 2022 Refuge Roosts posts for more details. Seeing if we have 20 members that would be interested in the meetups/games to form a region!

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35

Looking at the list so far I’m thinking the NLU tag in the Boise Golf Galaxy parking lot hasn’t quite reached critical mass yet. Shoutout @MerchCzar

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36

Still a small shop in the badlands. I do kind of like the idea of an Empty Nest group for the low population vagabonds among us. Might have to get creative with the formats/meetups, but could be a good time and give us some encouragement to travel around a bit!

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37

Just posted this in the Montana thread and thought I’d post here too…

Home from 22nd July to the 23rd September this year. Wife and kid with me for the first 3 weeks then a free agent. So anything organised after mid August I am 100% there.

Doing the TGJ event at Gamble Sands on 3-5th Sept and the OP2 later in the month.

Happy to host in CDA too. Can do a BBQ, swimming, wakeboarding party at my house. Can highly recommend it for good value golf. Circling Raven is the nuts for sub $100.

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38

Very down for a CDA weekend. Need to get you down to Moscow for Palouse Ridge as well.

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39

100%

I want to do a Wine Valley & Pelouse Ridge trip.

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40

Was considering driving to Seattle for the Olympic Prolific 2 and stopping at Wine Valley along the way. Would be September 14 or 15.

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