multiple penalties off the tee can really sink a round quick

how many days a week would you expect to visit your home course?

Maybe if you drove on the right side of the road, it wouldn't take so long.

Well right now my course is about a 7 min drive. I've played 9 holes pretty much everyday for the past 2-3 weeks ... Obviously wouldn't be able to play that much if I were to join this club. The only 2 things keeping me at my course now is 1. it's convenient and 2. The people, Very small golf course but everybody knows everybody and it's a fun atmosphere every week we get together and play a comp.


The left side of the road is always the right side of the road

40 (par 36). No birdies, no double bogeys.

First Tuesday night golf of the season and it was about as uneventful as could be. The closest thing I had to a bad shot was a near popup on a drive, but it still got far enough that I was right be the green in regulation.

95(49/46) Best I've ever hit driver. Only 2 missed the fairway but barely. Irons were another story. Sculled a few, and was just off line on several. Managed 3 pars and a birdie on the par 3s but was just off on the longer holes.

Hole of the day on a par 5. Fantastic drive on the left side of the fairway. Topped and pulled the second shot into some trees. Still had a decent line to the green but topped a 5 wood. Im still about 80 yards from the green but can't hit a wedge because of overhanging trees so I tried to run one through with a 5 iron. Hit it way to hard but it hit the pin and stopped it dead. Putted in for par.

Had a great trip to Gamble Sands and Coeur d'Alene in late April.

We hit Gamble Sands first, played the Par 3 Quicksands course on arrival. Extremely fun course! There were a couple spots that were borderline difficulty given we had 20mph wind, but lots of creativity encouraged.

Played 36 the next two days, first day Gamble then Scarecrow, then vice versa the next day. Loved both of these courses as well. Challenging, but also very gettable. My bunker game was atrocious on the first day and I torpedoed several rounds of very good ballstriking by finding absurd triples and a quad or two. Ended day 1 by parking my drive just off the 18th green and chipping to 6 inches for a tap-in birdie which was fun! Day 2 I ended with an 84 at Gamble which was still a coulda woulda round for sure. Shot 94-90-93-84.

Drove to Coeur d'Alene the next day and played the CdA Resort Course with the famous island green. Course was beautiful and in phenomenal shape. A couple of annoyances - the mandatory forecaddie was a nice guy but completely useless. Also, the tee boxes listed online didn't match what was on the card which didn't match what was on the course, and we unwittingly ended up playing about 600 yards longer than expected on a cool day with penal rough. I played the first 3 holes atrociously, then hit two elite shots on 4 to have a solid birdie putt and rushed the putt b/c we were slow moving and hit my friend's ball, which left me 7 feet for par and I missed it and then blacked out for a bit. I played mostly better on the back, and hit the island green which was really fun/cool! Hit a 6 iron from 153. Did not make par haha.

We stayed at the CdA Casino in Worley and played 36 at Circling Raven the next day. Not as photogenic as the other 3 courses, but this was EXCELLENT golf. I did again torpedo two rounds of really good play with a couple nonsense holes and shot 100-94, including a quad on the 94 on two really really well struck shots.

Would highly recommend any of these, and we paid shoulder season rates, but the course conditions were basically flawless. Circling Raven had def aerated their greens maybe 10-12 days before, but virtually no effects.

Would have been nice but I'll take six.

40-39-79, 70.2/124/6481 yards.

Cracked the birdie code for the year on #5. Three doubles though. Swing feels solid, putting was better once I got less handsy and got the shoulders and body working together. Short game was improved, scrambled more. Overall happy to break into the 70's this early with a lot of room for improvement still.

Nice recap, despite living in the PNW/prairies my entire life I haven't got down to Idaho for CdA and I've heard a lot of good things about Gamble.

Do you have to take a boat to that island green?

Yeah they have a little ferry that goes back and forth. Both the ferry and the green are actually on hydraulics, so they can move the green in and out as desired, and the ferry is on a little track. There was a tip jar in the ferry which also felt mildly annoying honestly. For one, my cash was in my golf bag on my cart back on dry land. For two, I am already paying a solid green fee, I can't play this hole without the ferry, I am already also paying a gratuity to the forecaddie, paid a gratuity to the people unloading and loading bags. You know?

I think it would cost me more in golf balls trying to hit that green than any tip.

ha! We had 4 guys, ranging in caps from 12-21. 2 of us hit the green (my brother actually had his ball mark about a foot behind the hole, would have been a hell of an ace) and one hit the greenside bunker. The 4th dunked 2 (the rules are you can take two shots at it, then there is a drop zone on the island).

And to be clear, I would have no real objection about tossing a couple bucks in, I'm generally very happy to tip, we tipped the forecaddie well despite him being of literally zero value in the round. But the combo of not having cash with to tip, and then feeling bad about not having it, even though there was no "extra" service provided was annoying.

They do include a 8ish minute preround sports massage with the round, and I happily tipped the massesue well there, she was great!

perfect person to ask the question

baha I totally missed this

*newsflash* obvious things continue to remain obvious
appreciate the confirmation
wonder where from up there are you a describing

how was the stay at Gamble?

Very good. We stayed at the brand new lodging that overlooks Scarecrow. This was the view from the patio.

Room had two king beds, very spacious and comfortable. Shower was just a 6.5-7/10, more water pressure would be awesome but I understand.

Food at Gamble was also mostly very good. Danny Boy service was slow, which I had seen before. Not in a rush but it’s rough after a 36 hole day and you’re bushed AF and just need the check haha.

They have free cookies in the pro shops and hotel lobbies that are very good! Also free coffee in the morning, big plus. The Cascades putting green was really cool and fun also.

Would happily recommend highly and happily go again.

BC & Alberta -- have golfed pretty much every mainland BC course and in the interior, and a lot of Puget Sound and Washington state area courses but never got down to Oregon or Idaho. Really need to do Bandon eventually.

have you heard about Cabot Revelstoke?
https://cabot.com/revelstoke/

Aces, I always give the staff a lot of grace in places like Gamble. They’re trying to get employees from a very limited population and sometimes they just have to work with what’s available

100% agree, and the server at Danny Boy was very sweet. I'd say the overall quality of the staff was also actually quite good.

it is also a wonderful example of how the tourist dollars can remain local and help isolated micro-economies. there just ain't too many other legal ways to make money around those parts other than farming, the bpa, or selling gas, food, or lodging

I was tired before I teed off and I walked so I figured I probably wouldn't have a good round. Self fulfilling prophecy. My game has completely flipped around. I'm crushing driver down the middle and duffing everything else. Weird. Couldn't get out of the bunkers and couldn't putt. Got a TEN on the par 4 16th. Haven't botched a hole like that in a while. Ended up with 104(50/54). Grrrr....

Yep. Quite the network of courses they have become. Will probably be worth the drive for a weekend round once it's ready. Have to really like mountain golf though; I've played a ton of it and eventually it wears anyone down. Got to relax and enjoy the views.

First ace ever today. 125 yards. 48 degree wedge. Landed 12 feet short and rolled right in.