Course Review
Kalispel golf and Country Club
Spokane, Washington
Heritage Golf Beside Tranquil Waters
AMW Faves List
Favorite Par 3 – #17 – signature or not, this is one of the prettiest par 3s you will ever experience.
Favorite Par 4 – #2 – wonderfully designed and stunning to play.
Favorite Par 5 – #16 – hard not to pick as it is an iconic hole in the PNW.
Favorite Hole Design – #10 – starts the back nine off with challenge, integrity, beauty.
Easiest Hole – #11 – short by all accounts and pretty straightforward.
Hardest Hole – #8 – uphill, long, narrow – all the components of a big par 5.
Favorite Extra Sighting – old photos throughout the clubhouse.
Favorite Apres Golf – walk amidst Expo 74 grounds, explore the breweries and orchards in Colbert, hike on Mt Spokane.
Where to Stay – Davenport Hotels (original and Grand)
Where to Eat –1898 Public House, Flying Goat, Mizuna, Iron Goat, Wild Sage, Wooden City
PLAN AHEAD
Course Details
Address: 2010 W. Waikiki Road, Spokane, WA 99218
Telephone: +1 (509) 481-4501
Website: kalispelgolf.com
Director of Golf: Nick McCaslin
Architect: Robert Johnstone and Jim Barnes (redesign by Robert Muir Graves – 1988)
Year Open: 1898 – original location; 1911 – current location
Greens Fees: ⛳️⛳️
Yardage: Black – 6663; Black/Orange – 6473; Orange – 6315; Orange/Brown – 6064; Brown – 5857; Brown/Green– 5716; Green – 5555; Green/Camas – 4542; Camas – 4146
What You Need to Know
Golf Course Review
This city’s oldest golf lies to the north,
Spokane Country Club was the name set forth.
In the early years before the boom,
And all the courses that would loom.
The Kalispel council would get the call,
To keep the fairways and trees of tall.
And all the history that surrounds the ground,
Of a golf course that was lost but now found.
Before there was a name, before there were roads or rooftops or the soft geometry of fairways, there was only the land. The river moved as it always had, quiet in places, restless in others, carving its way through the earth with a patience that could not be measured. The sun rose and fell in long, golden arcs, warming the hills, tracing shadows through the trees. Time was not kept in hours, but in light… in season… in return.
The people of this place, the Spokane Tribe of Indians, understood that rhythm. They carried it in their language, in their stories, in the name they gave themselves, Spq́n’i. Children of the Sun, we often say now, though the truth of it is deeper than translation, something felt more than spoken. Then, one day, others arrived.
In 1873, James Glover stood on this land and saw a different kind of future taking shape. A town began to gather around the falls first called Spokan Falls, then slowly, almost naturally, becoming Spokane. A letter added here, a word dropped there, as if the name itself was settling into the land, finding where it belonged. Not long after, another quiet beginning.
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Hole 1
There’s a quiet tension that settles in on the first tee at Kalispel, an energy that feels both expectant and exposed. With the pro shop and clubhouse set just behind you, there’s little room to ease into the round. Perched slightly above the fairway, the tee box offers a gentle preview of what’s to come. The hole sweeps gracefully to the right, asking for a tee shot that favors the left-center, perhaps even shaped with a subtle left-to-right movement to hold the line against the encroaching trees. It’s not an overwhelming demand, but it is a precise one.
From the fairway, the hole reveals more of its character. The green, cradled quietly among the trees, is inviting at first glance, generous in size, receptive in appearance. But step closer, and its defenses become clear. Movement ripples across the surface, and suddenly, position matters as much as execution. This is where the first hole quietly tests you. Not with brute difficulty, but with nuance. With awareness. With touch.
It’s a short par 4, one that offers a genuine look at birdie. But only to those who place their ball with care and read the green with equal attention. At Kalispel, the round doesn’t begin with ease. It begins with intention.
Expectant and Exposed at the 1st Hole
Hole 2
Such a fun shift in rhythm arrives at the 2nd. After the gentle bend to the right on the opening hole, the course turns you back the other way here a subtle but meaningful change in perspective.
This hole asks for commitment from the start. With out of bounds pressing along the left and a fairway that feels tightly held in place, the line off the tee is clear in intention if not in comfort. Aim toward the greenside bunker to the right, trusting that line to keep you safely positioned. It’s a confident swing, or at least one that rewards the appearance of it. From there, the hole softens. The approach plays into a green that sits just slightly above the fairway, open and receptive, offering a welcome contrast to the tension of the drive. It’s an inviting target, one that encourages you to be aggressive. And then, in the fall, it becomes something more.
The trees that frame the green come alive with color, surrounding the surface in a way that feels almost intentional as if the hole itself is being presented to you. A picture within a picture. For a moment, the game can wait. But only for a moment.
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