Coeur d'Alene, ID
Boat to the tee, putt on a floating green — lake-life golf at its most theatrical.
The Coeur d'Alene Resort turned a Idaho lake town into a golf destination with one audacious idea: a par-3 whose island green floats on the lake, moved by cable to a different yardage each day, reached by mahogany shuttle boat. The rest of the course is a manicured lakeside stroll with forecaddies and drink service — theater as much as sport. Half an hour south, Circling Raven spreads across hundreds of acres of Palouse meadow and timber and routinely tops best-in-state lists. Summer evenings run on the boardwalk, the lake cruise deck, and patios over the marina.
| Course | Designer | Notes | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course | Scott Miller | The floating-green par-3 and a boat ride to reach it — golf's great theater piece. The must-play. | resort |
| Circling Raven | Gene Bates | Sprawling Palouse-country golf at the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's resort — a perennial best-in-state pick. | public |
| Avondale Golf Club | — | The Hayden Lake old-timer — a friendly, tree-lined third round. | public |
| Gozzer Ranch | Tom Fazio | The famous private club on the bluffs above the lake — one for the member-connected. | members |
The resort
The lakefront tower above the marina — water-taxi to the course, the floating boardwalk below, and lake-view rooms that sell the trip by themselves.
◆ The private house
A lake house on Coeur d'Alene or Hayden Lake — dock, boat slip, firepit on the shore, and the resort marina fifteen minutes away. July inventory goes early.
4-6 BR · sleeps 8-12 · ~$1,000–$3,500/nt
AM Fly into Spokane and drive forty minutes to the lake.
PM Check in, walk the floating boardwalk, sunset cruise or marina patio dinner, bets on the table.
AM The Palouse sprawler to open the golf.
PM Lake swim or casino stop on the way home; huckleberry-everything dinner.
AM The Hayden Lake classic.
PM Boat rental afternoon — wakeboards, coolers, arguments about music; dockside dinner.
AM The resort course team match — the floating 14th will make or break somebody.
PM Trophy dinner atop the resort; cigars on the boardwalk.
AM Coffee on the dock and one last look at the green floating out there, then the drive to Spokane.
Nowhere else does the water taxi drop you at the course and a boat carry you to a green floating in the lake. Add Circling Raven's wide-open excellence down the road and a resort town built for summer nights, and Idaho becomes a legitimate destination.
Resort-stay packages bundle the marquee round, the boat shuttle and forecaddies — book summer dates months out. Circling Raven pairs with the casino resort at Worley; fly into Spokane, forty minutes west.