Top public and private courses in Idaho

Circling Raven, a Gene Bates design that opened in 2003 in western Idaho, has maintained its position atop the Golfweek’s Best ranking of public-access golf courses in the state for 2022.

Circling Raven, sitting next to the Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort Hotel, is a visual treat with a mostly wide-open routing rambling across 620 acres surrounded by native prairies, wetlands, woodlands and wheat fields. Waving yellow grasses stretch toward mountains, and the long views and big skies do their best to steal attention from the course. It’s a worthy leader on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list for the state.

Second to Circling Raven in Idaho is another visual stunner, Coeur d’Alene Resort, which features one of the most imaginative holes in golf. The par-3 14^th plays to an island green that floats, with the resort able to move the putting surface with a series of cables to an appropriate depth based on season and water fluctuations. Players have to take a boat, named Putter, to reach the green and return.

Golfweek’s Best offers many lists of course rankings, with the list of top public-access courses in each state among the most popular. All the courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time.

Also popular are the Golfweek’s Best rankings of top private courses in each state, and that list for Idaho is likewise included below.

MORE: Best Modern | Best Classic | Top 200 Resort|
Top 200 Residential | Top 100 Best You Can Play

(m): Modern course, built in or after 1960
(c): Classic course, built before 1960
Note: If there is a number in the parenthesis with the m or c, that indicates where that course ranks among Golfweek’s Best top 200 modern or classic courses.
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Best public-access courses in Idaho in 2022

Coeur D’Alene Resort in Idaho (Jason Lusk/Golfweek)

1. Circling Raven
Worley (m)

2. Coeur d’Alene Resort
Coeur d’Alene (m)

3. Jug Mountain Ranch
McCall (m)

4. Falcon Crest
Kuna (m)

5. BanBury
Eagle (m)

Best private courses in Idaho in 2022

The Tributary in Idaho (Golfweek files)

1. Gozzer Ranch
Harrison (34m)

2. The Tributary (formerly Huntsman Springs)
Driggs (73m)

3. Black Rock
Coeur d’Alene (T151m)

4. CDA National Reserve (formerly Rock Creek)
Coeur d’Alene (m)

5. Crane…