Coeur D'Alene Resort Golf Course

This place is so much more than the 14th hole. It’s a shame that’s pretty much all anyone knows about it.

The back-to-back par 3s midway through the outward nine are as picturesque as you will find, with the lake framing the backdrop

I love Pacific Northwest golf because everything is so lush. The fairways, putting surfaces and rough are all so green. Tall evergreens line most of the holes - and one even guards the center line of one fairway.

Those trees encroach several of the shorter fours, requiring thoughtful golf shots.

The bent greens lay down beautifully in this cool climate, and putt flawlessly in spite of a bit of poa intertwined.

And then there is that 14th hole, the only floating green in America. Cables can alter the yardage everyday. My forecaddie, however, said the day’s yardage is not determined offhandedly. Instead, the lake’s depth is the deciding factor. What is most impressive in my mind is that it is not a short hole. Today, it measured 170 yards when I took my turn. A stiff wind into, and quartering from left to right, made the hole play closer to 190 yards.

My brother and I played here in 2022 and had so much fun we decided to come back in 2024. Everyone and everything is awesome! Course conditions were phenomenal. Our caddies, Steven and Casey, were great. The pro shop guys were incredible nice! Lori, the boat captain who drives you to/from the floating green, was super. We played 36 holes in one day and loved every minute of it. We would recommend this course to everyone. Even though it's a resort course, there are a few holes that will "eat your lunch".

This brings me great grief to say this but Coeur D’Alene is one of the most worst designed golf courses of all time. Let’s be honest, they didn’t have enough room on the course for all 18 holes so they had to put one in the lake.

First off, you’re paying $270 to play about 6000 yards of course from the blues (there are no tips like they say there are on the score card). Second off, the course is only designed for seniors so good luck driving from the blues tee. Third off, it was after a celebrity event and they had workers banging on scaffolding during each shot.

I was highly disappointed with the layout of the course. Although it’s designed for seniors, it attracts rich 20+ handicap bros who are yelling after each shot.

I’d never recommend playing this course if you are a serious golfer, especially for the price. I paid way less for Arcadia Bluffs and they’re a far superior golf course. Overall, It’s a beautiful peace of property and nice staff but it’s not worth playing golf here.

Every year we play this course to celebrate a great friendship and celebrate our birthday week….love the amenities..club, pool, restraunts….very scenic course and thoroughly enjoy the challenge to get on the floating green! didn’t the first year, did the next year and went over it this year:) Great time, always...

My brother and I played 36 holes and loved every minute of it. The pro shop staff is exceptional, the wait staff was great, our two forecaddies (Alex and Megan) were INCREDIBLE, and the course conditions were phenomenal. The two gentlemen we were paired with for our morning round (Matt & Bruce) were great guys, and two gentlemen we were paired with for our afternoon round were also incredibly nice (Doug & Craig). $265 for a green fee is spicy, but it's one of the few times where I felt the green fee was worth it. This should be on every golfer's bucket list. We're coming back to Coeur d'Alene very soon!!

Was worried this course would be very "resorty" and just average aside from the island green hole. I was wrong. Awesome course all the way through. Awesome condition. Has an Augusta type vibe to it as you pull in. Views are fantastic (unfortunately smokey when I was there). All the par threes are awesome. Has about 4 "signature holes". The island green and boat ride on the putter is a cool experience. (Someone hit a hole in one while we were warming up). The clubhouse has one of the largest pro shops in the US and has TONS of gear. Driving range is all water. Only downfall was pace of play and you are required to have a caddy and unfortunately our caddy didn't give us any info we couldn't get with our range finder. The caddy experience was cool though. Just wish he would've known the course a bit better. Would love to come back!!!

Amazing golf experience. The lakefront holes, and obviously the floating green, are spectacular. Some of the inland holes aren't as memorable, but the course conditions are superb and you can shoot a good score so it all adds up to a fun day.

We were visiting for a bachelor party and everything was awesome from the parking lot where we were greeted and bags were taken to the clubhouse. Course was in beautiful condition and the layout was a lot of fun visually and to play. Caddies were awesome and the floating green was everything you’d want it to be. All the staff were great and I would highly recommend playing here.

Pretty much anyone who has scanned the pages of a golf magazine in the last quarter-century has seen the floating island green at Coeur d'Alene. It is one of golf's most recognizable gimmicks. Which may sound harsher than I mean it to be. The truth is Coeur d'Alene is mostly about the floating green - the anticipation, the boat ride, the "Certificate of Achievement" - but not entirely. On either side is a solid golf course with a few interesting holes, like the three par threes on the suddenly mountain-like (and then suddenly not) front nine, and the adorable drivable par-4 17th. Plush conditioning and a general feeling of 1990s "premium"-ness endures here.

The CDA Resort Course is basically WOW. Yes you pay for it with a lofty greens fee but they deliver fully to you on a great golf day. We had a forecaddie for the first time ever on a golf course and he was a joy to have with us. Tristan, was easy to get along with and very helpful throughout the round. We were paired with another couple and somehow we all kind of fit into the same type of game and manners and that proved to make the day even better. The staff is amazing from the moment you get there until you are back in your car.
The course...well if you have heard anything of CDA then you know of the famous floating green hole which does not show up until number 14. There is a lot to keep your mind on before getting there and you should savor every minute and shot. The course is beyond immaculate and the views on the lake are amazing on every hole. Whether high in the hills and trees or down on the lake level the fairways and greens are fantastic to play to and on. Focus , focus focus can be tough as it is just a truly beautiful area and course to be on. They don't beat you up, they do want you back, but you still have to make the shots. You can score at CDA by paying attention to your caddie, focus and make the putts. The junipers can take possession of your ball if you get wayward so keep the eye on the goal after taking in the views.
Then you finally get to the floating green. It's a par 3 but all carry for sure and again I say focus and you'll get there on one swing(they only let you try two). Then you take your putter on the Putter for the boat ride to and from the green. Make birdie or par and you may get a certificate to show off to your friends back home.
If you're a golfer and you're in the area , save some dollars and make the investment. You won't be sorry at all as they make it a fun time of golf for you. Honestly we weren't going to play it at first but we are sure glad we did. It's a memory that won't go away and one we never would have had if we had passed.

My wife and I, for our 40th anniversary, took a trip that included Coeur D'Alene (CDA). Unquestionably, this course is the most beautiful that we have played; and we enjoyed almost every minute of it. (If she had made the floating green with HER tee shot, we would have enjoyed EVERY minute.) The ambience was great, the staff and forecaddie were accommodating and friendly, and the course was impeccable. We would love a good excuse to return to CDA and play it again; and again.

The Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course is known world-wide for its floating green; and, I don’t mean to take anything away from that hole when I say, but it was not even in my top three favorite holes on the course. This track is immaculate from the first tee box to the final green and while, as a resort course, it plays a little easier (70.1/122 from the blues) than some, it has plenty of bite (and juniper) for wayward shots.

The planned cover shot for my book comes from a par three at CDA (#6)… not the floating green. My favorite par three that I’ve played (anywhere) is at CDA (#5)… also not the floating green (this might be my favorite hole, regardless of par, if it were a bit longer). None of this is to disparage the island green. There is a special feeling that I can’t really explain about teeing up a ball that has exactly one safe harbor, and then you need a boat (aptly named “Putter”) to get to it when you do land on the green. Just a heads up, don’t plan on “tin cupping” your way onto the 14th… they do have a mandatory limit to tee shots and a drop area on the island for pace of play reasons. As an aside, I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted to play the forward tee’s as much as on 14… with the exception of the bridge walk-way to access it, you are hitting island to island as the tee box stands by itself some 20 yards out into the lake.

My favorite hole was actually the par 5 11th with its long somewhat narrow fairway being escorted to the hole by a creek the entire length on the left. The approach requires clearing the creek to a green nestled into a hill. It’s just a great golf hole and, bottom line, Coeur d’Alene is a great course to play.

Coeur d’Alene is probably the first course I’ve visited where the combo tees are likely the perfect place for me to play as they stretch out the 5’s and 3’s enough to provide more of a challenge but keep the 4’s within reasonable shooting range (for me on a decent day). Some of the gold par 4’s (479/482) are just a bit much for my caliber of golfer to have a reasonable chance at par. I thought the bunkers were well placed and in excellent condition and they even had the requisite tree-in-the-middle-of-a-fairway hole to meet my “courses I love to play” criteria. The course mixes angles, distances, and elevation to provide a pretty complete golf experience and you will likely get to use all of your clubs and most of the shots in your bag throughout the round.

The staff experience at Coeur d’Alene begins with your (required) caddie, mine was terrific and really added to the experience. This was the second caddie I played with on this trip (3rd in my life) and was much more the experience I was (perhaps unrealistically) expecting. By the turn he was in tune with my game and was correctly speculating on clubs I would select. On 16 he corrected my club choice (I was looking at a 7i he pointed out that with the layout near the green my 8i with a little roll would be a better choice) and I wound up about 12 feet from the cup (we won’t discuss if I converted the birdie op or not, not even a great caddie can fix everything).

The rest of the folks I met at the course were great as well. The free sports massage is worth saving a little time for, and the driving range - hitting balls into the lake - is a unique experience (my home course has a pond for a driving range so I’m used to hitting into water, but that is just not the same as hitting into a mountain lake).

The price-point for the resort course is a little higher than you might be used to paying for golf, but I don’t know if I’ve ever felt that an expensive round of golf was more “worth it.” Clearly the money is being spent on the course as the conditioning is really as close to perfect as you can get on a golf course (and I’m saying this having played a couple days after it hosted a very large tournament).

This is the only course on my trip I’ve played twice, and I’ll probably play it again, so I can enthusiastically say I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a great round of resort golf.

I would love to play this course again but with the price maybe someday. Unreal beauty, for awhile seemed like you were in the mountains with all the pine trees then skipped to the lake and saw the great par 3. Awesome Course

this is a 3 hole course. those 3 holes are right on the lake and excellent. the other 15 are repetitive and nothing special. course was in immaculate condition. our caddie was not great, but he was a young kid so no worries. worth playing once for sure. (hope you get a deal!)

The floating green is the signature hole, but there a lot nice and challenging holes out there. Loved the par 3's. Birdied thE 14th hole. Overall great experience.

You won't find a more well maintained golf course anywhere. Not a particularly difficult course, but a really pleasurable golfing experience. Be sure to take the water taxi from the hotel in town.