It’s a tough time to launch a recreational real-estate development based on a golf course. But if there’s any justice from the golfing side, the Wilderness Club, located just outside Eureka, Montana, will make it.
A 7000--yard-plus beauty from the tips, this Nick Faldo design weaves through two hundred acres of pine and lakes in the Tobacco Valley, just south of the Canadian border. Conceived as the centrepiece of a planned community, the course features changes in elevation, challenging fairways and enough wild grasses to snare any wayward shot. Faldo designed the course and, like its architect, the challenge to golfers is demanding, irascible and ultimately rewarding for golfers of any ability.
Indicative of how varied and challenging the holes are, the club promotes the long, downhill No. 9 and the short par-4 No. 10 as its signature holes. And while they’re both worthy-- the approach at No. 9 across a valley with water on the right is heart-pounding-- we found the series of three dogleg left par 4s on the course to be even more exciting.
In particular, the monster No. 16 (it stretches 456 yards from the tips) will leave a bruise on anyone who fails to hit two perfect approach shots. From an elevated tee box, players must draw the ball around a statuesque pine tree that guards the left side of the fairway. But pounding the ball to the right can bring sand traps and wild grasses into play. The approach is to an elevated green with a steep falloff in front and high rough to the right of the green. Once on, the pin position can be guarded by a dramatic swale in the green.
Likewise, the 450-yard No. 15 that precedes it requires a similar ball flight off the drive to a narrow neck in the fairway. From there the narrow green is protected by pine forest and more aggressive rough. The green is raked from back to front and guarded by sand traps.
On the front nine, hole No. 4 is a shorter par 4 at 400 yards. But the tee shot must thread a chute that is guarded on the left by a bunker and pine forest and, on the right, by a slope that kicks balls into the pine trees or-- oh no!-- the rough and wild grasses. The hole then gently curves left to a dramatically two-tiered green that is protected by a steep hill at the front that repels short shots.
Of the par threes, No. 7 is a 200-yard beast that requires a forced carry to the elevated green that is protected on the right by trees and a waste area that captures shots short and right. When the pin is in the back right par is a real accomplishment.
In all, The Wilderness Club is a tremendous test that will test your game and your nerve. The views from the top of the property of Lake Koocanusa and the surrounding valley are stunning. For more information on golf or the properties consult thewildernessclub.com.