Circling Raven Golf Club enjoyed a banner year in 2020, posting record numbers, garnering several new or improved course accolades, giving back to the local golf community, and announcing it will host the Circling Raven Championship, a Symetra “Road to the LPGA” Tour event this coming August.
If its start to 2021 is any indication, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe-owned property is poised for another successful season – Circling Raven earned high marks from Golfweek course raters and is subsequently included in its annual “Best 200 Resort Courses” compilation.
“We’re gratified to join iconic properties like Pebble Beach and Bandon Dunes on the list of most highly regarded stay-and-play venues in America,” said Laura Penney, CEO of Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort Hotel. “There are more than 14,000 golf courses in the country; to be one of the Top 200 is a status we work hard to achieve and maintain annually.”
To come up with its list, hundreds of Golfweek course raters evaluate courses nationwide and score them based on 10 criteria, including routing, memorability of holes, greens and surrounds, conditioning and ecology, and tree and landscape management.
This is the latest accolade Golfweek has bestowed upon Circling Raven. Last year, it rated the Gene Bates-designed 18-hole layout one of the nation’s top casino courses and one of the best playing venues in Idaho, a state filled with exceptional golf options.
Located approximately 55 minutes from Spokane International Airport (GEG), Circling Raven measures 7,189 yards from the rear tees. Many who play Circling Raven, which includes a nationally honored retail shop and the excellent Twisted Earth restaurant with bar, claim it as an immediate member of their all-time best golf experiences in the west.
The course and Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort Hotel will host the Circling Raven Championship (Aug. 23-29, 2021), a Symetra “Road to the LPGA” Tour event, through which top women professional golfers compete to qualify for the LPGA Tour.
As part of its mission to give back to the game, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe has granted two exemptions to the Circling Raven Championship – to Gabby Lemieux, a Native American and member of the Symetra Tour who is from Idaho; and to Allyn Stephens, a Houston teenager who won the Notah Begay III Junior Golf Championship in the girls 14-18 age group. Begay is a Native American, and he and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe have aligned missions to support and provide opportunities for young people through the game.
For more information about Circling Raven and Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort Hotel, visit www.cdacasino.com
