You should plan a Central Idaho golf trip

There are a multitude of places in the Pacific Northwest where fall golf is a special experience. Count Central Idaho as one of those places.

 At places like Bryden Canyon in Lewiston, fall golf doesn’t get much better. This is an 18-hole course that opened in 1974 that overlooks not one but two cities Lewiston, Idaho and Clarkston, Wash.

Bryden Canyon is the kind of course that offers a little something for everyone from the rolling hills and surrounding canyon landscapes to the challenging shots. Bryden Canyon presents a strategic risk-and-reward design profile. The golf course plays as a par-71 layout stretching approximately 6,055 yards from the tees, featuring a course rating of 74.1 and a slope of 127. With such a high rating, it certainly is not a push-over and will challenge everyone’s game.

Operated by CourseCo, Bryden Canyon’s location in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley with year-round playability and mild climate makes it a place where golfers can enjoy all the seasons. And for those 12 months, the price is always right. In 2023 Bryden Canyon was awarded the Best Inland NW Community Choice Award for Best Golf Course.

With its stellar views, terrific conditions and great prices it’s little wonder why Bryden Canyon is a popular choice for golfers local and who come from miles away to tee it up.

Because of the mild local micro-climate, it functions as a primary winter golf destination for regional players looking to escape snowbound conditions elsewhere.

• When Tamarack Resort’s Osprey Meadows is a premier 18-hole championship golf course located at the all-season Tamarack Resort near Donnelly, Idaho, roughly 90 miles north of Boise. It opened for play in 2006, the reviews were so good that it seemed like it would always be one of the top courses in Idaho.  The Robert Trent Jones Jr. -design was a gem, sitting about two hours north of Boise. It was named the best New Course in America in 2006 and ranked the top course in Idaho a few years later.

But something happened that changed everything at the course.

The course shut down in 2015 as the resort ran into ongoing legal proceedings and ownership issues.  It seemed all was lost with Osprey Meadows. But fast forward to 2022. New owners came in during 2019. They regained control of the course in 2021 and started renovations.

And now, Osprey Meadows has re-opened with a few tweaks here and there and is a course just might be even better when it first opened. There are a couple of holes that have been re-routed and a new 19th hole called The Gambler has been put into play giving golfers a chance to break any ties.

The course layout journeys through two distinct alpine terrains: one characterized by rolling fairways, wetlands, lakes, streams, and flower fields, and another set on higher ground lined with dense pines. Players encounter dramatic elevation changes, waterfalls, island-style greens, and numerous bridges and boardwalks. Osprey Meadows is a place that has to be seen to be believed. The holes are carved out of wetlands and tall trees. It can play as long as 7,265 yards to 4,435 yards.

Tamarack Resort is a premier, independent, four-season destination resort spanning thousands of acres of scenic mountain landscape, it is uniquely described as America’s only ski, golf, and lake resort.

During the winter months, Tamarack transforms into a world-class ski and snowboard destination. The resort features a lift-served summit elevation of 7,660 feet on West Mountain, offering over 2,800 vertical feet of drop. When the snow melts, Tamarack transitions into a wide array of activities, including lift-served mountain biking in the downhill bike park, extensive hiking paths, zip-lining, and whitewater rafting. And, of course, golf is a major attraction.