There are so many beautiful, fun, amazing golf courses to play in Idaho but my favorite course so far is Shadow Valley. At Shadow Valley you really get the feel for what Idaho has to offer. Located just north of Boise at the base of the foothills you get to experience the outdoors while you play 18 holes of golf. Depending on the season, you might see deer, gophers, people jogging with there dogs on the trails in the hills and even rattle snakes.
For someone like myself, walking the course is a challenge, especially the front nine. You are constantly going up and down the hill and praying you find your shot that faded right. Walking the course can be fun and good exercise but be prepared to get a workout while doing it. Or maybe that is just my asthma and beer belly talking. I recommend riding, if you don’t mind paying the cart fee but in my opinion, it is worth it.
Being that the course lies at the bottom of the foothills you get an amazing view at almost every hole. At some holes you can even look back and see Boise. Most of the holes are lined with trees, so you better hit a good shot or you will be trying to save par with a miraculous second shot from behind a tree.
Their signature hole is Hole #2. It is a short par four with a slight dog leg left. To the left is nothing but trees and even further left is the highway but if you hit it just right you can drive the green, which only sits about 270 yards from the tee box. If you don’t drive it far enough you will land in the creek just before the green, if you drive it too far you will never find your ball in shrubs and bushes behind the green. It has a small green so you don’t have much to work with, if you miss chances are you are out of bounds or won’t find your ball. Hole 2 can be a good indicator for how your round will go, especially if you are able to get on in one or two and birdie. Most of the time I choose to tee off with a 7 iron rather than go for it because if you hit a clean shot off the tee you’re still usually less than 100 yards from the green. This is also a hole where you don’t want the ball to go too far to the right either. Landing on the right side of the cart path will only make your next two shots very difficult. Chances are you won’t be able to put the ball on the green on your second shot if your ball lands to the right of the cart path.
My favorite hole is Hole 4. It is a par five with an excellent view. There is a slight dog leg left, with an ideal shot landing on the right side of the fairway. If you push it too far to the right you will be in the middle of the trees and even further right… on someone else’s fairway or even their tee box depending on how far you drive it. On this hole you have a little more room to work with if you hit a bad shot. You might be behind a tree or playing in front of someone else but it takes a horrific shot to hit it OB on hole 4. Not saying that it hasn’t happened to me! I have hit some shots and wondered how the ball ended up where it did.
Bottom line, the course is fun, challenging and unique to Idaho. Rates are right about the industry average. For 18 holes and a cart you will probably pay around $55 and that might change on weekends or after 3pm with their twilight fee. It is the perfect course for someone with a little experience under their belt. In my opinion it doesn’t matter if you are a scratch golfer or never shoot below 100, this is a beautiful course that will challenge everybody on any given day. The staff is friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. The serve regional and local beer, along with your conglomerate brands. If you haven’t been to Shadow Valley then you need to get it on your schedule for this golf season, I promise that you won’t regret it.
Thanks for reading!
-Nick
