Celebrities Continue to Flock to Award-Winning Circling Raven Golf Club and Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort Hotel in the Scenic Idaho Panhandle

Circling Raven Golf Club – the sparkling amenity of the Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort & Hotel in the scenic Idaho Panhandle – today announces that celebrities Evel Kneivel, Jim Boeheim, Dan Dickau, Doug Gottlieb and Bill Grier all played the award-winning Gene Bates-designed golf course this week.

Kneivel, the world-famous former daredevil who, among other outrageous endeavors tried to “jump” Idaho’s Snake River Canyon on his rocket-powered motorcycle, is the latest celebrity to play Circling Raven, which recently opened to great review from the public and golf media, garnering “best-of” acclaim from Zagat Survey and Golf, Golfweek, Golf Digest magazines.
 
“We’re very excited that celebrity golfers continue to seek out Circling Raven to play, because these people have the wherewithal to play the very best courses in the world and price and access are not considerations to them like most avid golfers,” says Director of Golf Christenson. “They tell us they read and hear about Circling Raven such that they feel compelled to find out for themselves what the buzz is all about.”
 
Boeheim, legendary men’s basketball coach at Syracuse University, which he led to the NCAA national championship in 2003 and has guided to more than 700 wins, played the course this week with Dan Dickau, Doug Gottlieb and Bill Grier.
 
Dickau, a former star basketball player at Gonzaga University in nearby Spokane (45 minutes from Circling Raven), and currently a member of the NBA’s Boston Celtics, played with Boeheim, Gottlieb, an ESPN TV Network college hoops analyst, and Grier, Gonzaga’s men’s assistant basketball coach.
Other celebrities who have played Circling Raven include Dennis Franz (NYPD Blue), talk show host Maury Povich, former Super Bowl MVP Mark Rypien, Hall of Fame baseball player Joe Morgan, NBA Hall of Fame member Bill Russell, Seattle Seahawk Cortez Kennedy, Detroit Lions kicker Jason Hansen, former Miami Hurricanes and S.F. 49ers coach Dennis Erickson, World Series perfect game pitcher Don Larsen, and many others.
Circling Raven is so good that members from Royal Dornoch Golf Club in Scotland are bringing over a team of Highlanders in mid-September to enjoy friendly, international golf goodwill matches with a team representing Circling Raven, many of them members of the Coeur d’Alene Indians, whose tribe owns and operates Circling Raven.
 
This event is unprecedented.  It launches the first ever golf competition between Highlanders and American Indians, but it also connects Royal Dornoch, established in 1616 and recognized as one of the greatest courses in the world, with Circling Raven Golf Club, one of the great new courses in the world.
 
Convenient to Spokane (WA) airport, the resort and Circling Raven are nestled on a reservation covering 345,000 acres of mountains, lakes, old-growth forest and farmland. The resort spans the western edge of the northern Rocky Mountains.
 
Golf, gaming (video gaming machines, off-track betting, bingo), brand-name entertainment, fine dining, plush lodging and a spectacular array of natural resources – including majestic snow-capped mountain views – define the resort.
 
For more information about Circling Raven Golf Club or the Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort Hotel, visit www.golfcirclingraven.net, or call 1-800-523-2464.
 
 
About Circling Raven Golf Club and Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort & Hotel
 
Convenient to Spokane (WA) airport, the resort and golf club are owned and operated by the Coeur d’Alene Indian Tribe on a reservation covering 345,000 acres of mountains, lakes, old-growth forest and farmland. The resort spans the western edge of the northern Rocky Mountains.
 
Golf, gaming (video gaming machines, off-track betting, bingo), top sporting and entertainment events, fine dining, plush lodging and a spectacular array of natural resources define the resort.
 
Circling Raven was created amid a unique blend of wetlands, grasslands and woodlands.  At 7,189 yards, the par 72 championship layout meanders through 620 acres, only 100 representing cultivated ground.  Wildlife is abundant, including elk, deer, moose and an occasional black bear.  In fact, the opening was delayed due to damage on two greens by migrating elk.
 
The player’s experience is that of a links-style course.  On the back nine, the only hole a golfer can see is the hole he or she is playing.   Wetlands impact play on 13 holes, natural grasses complement the wetlands on 16 holes and a mix of Ponderosa Pines, Aspens, Cottonwoods and Birch blend into the scenery throughout.   The blue grass fairways and bent grass greens are closely manicured, as would be expected at a premier resort golf course. 
 
The player’s greatest challenges are “Tees and Threes,” meaning accurate driving and careful management of the four par 3s, all measuring over 200 yards from the back tees.  White sand, brought in from Emmet, Idaho, fills 60 bunkers.
 
Circling Raven has been awarded a place in Audubon International’s Cooperative Sanctuary System.

The course namesake is revered in Coeur d’Alene tribal lore.  Circling Raven was an 18th century headman, or chief, whose vision foretold the coming of the “black robes” and the dramatic change they would bring to the tribe.  When Fr. Pierre DeSmet, the famed Jesuit missionary, arrived in the region in 1842, Circling Raven’s vision had already been shared with several generations of tribal members.  As a result, the tribe embraced Catholicism and in short time built the Old Mission Church at Cataldo.  Completed in 1852, it remains the oldest standing building in Idaho. 
 
Tribal history also tells us that Circling Raven was a spiritually powerful leader, his name coming from his close relationship to the raven, who helped guide him on his journeys, warn him of danger and show him where to find fish and game.
 
Golf  Specifics
Yardages:  Gold, 7,189; Blue, 6,578; White, 6,108; Red, 5,389; Green, 4,708
 
Total Acreage:  670 (including practice area, practice green and clubhouse)
 
Amenities:  The clubhouse is 6,500 square feet, including the Twisted Earth Grill and full service bar.  Both locker rooms include showers and lockers.  The practice facility covers 25 acres; separated into areas for wedges, sand play and all clubs in the bag. The resort adjacent to the course includes 202 hotel rooms, casino, events center, buffet, and restaurant, off track betting and conference/convention facilities.
 
L93 Bent Grass Greens
 
Bluegrass tees, fairways and rough
 
Golf Carts:  Equipped with a Global Positioning System
 
Greens Fees: Peak season fees are $69 Mon-Thurs, $79 Fri-Sun and include golf carts.
For more information about Circling Raven Golf Club, e-mail Director of Golf Dave Christenson at dchristenson@cdacasino.com or call 1-800-523-2464 x 7223.

August 30, 2005   Posted in: United States Central