TRIBUTARY
RUNDOWN: The small town of Driggs Idaho holds Golf Digest’s number three course in the state! The wealthy Huntsman family had this piece of property and desired a golf course to be built on it. It was a blank canvas that David McLay Kidd was given over $20 million to go towards development. He made the most of the budget and really transformed the land to hold a spectacular golf course! The whole course is built with plentiful undulations throughout all fairways and greens. Plentiful bunkers and hazards are found throughout the layout and will force you to play the correct club and shot. The greens always play firm and fast and will require your best touch to play well. Make sure that you play the proper tees or else you will be in a world of trouble. There is nothing easy about this course, so strap in and and get ready for a bumpy ride! Playing well here will give you a new found confidence on whatever your home course may be!
COURSE INFO AND DIRECTIONS
Designed by David McLay Kidd in 2010.
Private golf course.
5 sets of tees ranging from 4,320 to 7,309 yards
www.huntsmansprings.com
877-354-9660 Huntsman Springs Drive, Driggs, Idaho 83422
COURSE INFO AND DIRECTIONS
Designed by David McLay Kidd in 2010.
Private golf course.
5 sets of tees ranging from 4,320 to 7,309 yards
www.huntsmansprings.com
877-354-9660 Huntsman Springs Drive, Driggs, Idaho 83422
REVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS
Hole 4 Par 5 - 596 Yards
Welcome to your first taste of just how long the par 5’s play here at Huntsman Springs. This near 600 yard par 5 is the shortest of the four you will encounter in your round. All of them will also play fairly difficult, so you may have to look to other holes to score well on. The drive will need to be very accurate to avoid the bunkers and rough around this narrow landing area. Once you have landed safely you will need to determine just how close you can get in two. Going for the green will require a second shot to carry some lush rough up to the putting surface. If you layup you are still contending with a ditch that crosses the fairway. The narrow green that runs diagonal left to right is tiered and very well guarded. It’s a fairly easy par here but an extremely difficult birdie, hit em straight!
Hole 5 Par 3 - 178 Yards
The tees you choose to play on the day will drastically change the approach into this large green. You are required to carry a large marsh area and multiple green side bunkers to get all the way to the putting surface. The only bailout areas are small and are short left or long right here. You need to be confident in the club you pull here because a long putt can spell disaster real quick on this large green.
Hole 7 Par 4 - 466 Yards
This is one of the holes where your driver should remain in the bag. There is trouble all down the left side of the hole and the landing area is difficult to get to. There is a large fairway bunker sitting in front of you that you will need to clear or avoid to the right. Just clearing it will not be enough because you will have to stay short of the creek running through the fairway and the bunkers on the right. Take out a mid iron and give yourself a chance at a decent score. The green is long and fairly narrow and it slopes from back to front. Anything left of the putting surface is dead, so bail right into the collection area if you must. The green is quick, but you have a shot at mailing a putt here.
Hole 9 Par 5 - 643 Yards
I haven’t particularly scored well on this hole, but I just love the look of this hole! As long as you don’t go left then you should have a decent chance of scoring on this hole. You have plenty of room to take a rip at your drive and wind up on the short grass. Your second shot will require you to carry some large bunkers in the middle and avoid going left still. However, you can really get after your second shot as well. Playing up a few tee boxes will yield a good chance of gaining some ground on this hole. However, the green falls off on the left and back side and will require you to place your shot on the green. The large green can yield some 3 putts, but do your best to bomb the ball on this hole and you should have a couple putts to at least walk away with par.
Hole 12 Par 4 - 494 Yards
From the tee box the landing area can be a little bling due to the large fairway bunkers in the middle. You have plenty of room right that you can see and a lot of room left that is not visible from the box. Overall, this is one of the easier driving holes on the property. The hole can definitely play long and the approach shot and green are where the teeth come out. The best angle will be from the right side of the fairway as the left will cause you to have to carry the green side bunkers. The green has a solid backstop to it but beware as it is multi tiered and falls off the front side severely.
Hole 16 Par 4 - 396 Yards
This split fairway par 4 offers up a solid view of the Grand Tetons in the background. Don’t get too caught up in the view since you have to execute your drive here to stay out of trouble. The creek splits this fairway and will gobble up any shot you don’t fully commit on. It’s hard for me to make the play to the left side as it brings in so much trouble with water and the fairway bunkers. However, it will provide a much better angle into the green, no matter where the pin is located. The right side is much easier to see from the tee but it can prove difficult on your approach shot. If the pin is on the left side you are offered a simple shot into this green. If the pin is set on the right side you will be hitting completely blind over the large mound to the putting surface. I love the choices that you face dependent upon your confidence level and where the pin is located.