Northern Pines Golf Club

Northern Pines Golf Club in Kalispell is one of the Flathead Valley's architectural highlights, a 1996 Andy North / Roger Packard design (the same tandem responsible for Trappers Turn in Wisconsin Dells), featuring two distinctly different nines. The front plays as a Scottish-inspired links-style layout with mounded fescue framing; the back nine tumbles over more intense elevation and snakes along the Stillwater River, giving the round a completely different emotional arc in the second half. At 7,015 yards par 72 with a 72.5 rating and 121 slope, Northern Pines plays serious-championship length without leaning on slope as its primary defense. The signature hole is the par-4 14th, a forced river carry off the tee leading to an intimidating approach shot to a riverside green. Notable holes on the front include the par-4 3rd (402 yards, with a surprising big dip in front of the green), the par-3 6th (191 yards with water behind the green to catch over-hit tee shots), and the right-doglegged 9th. Northern Pines was ranked inside the Top 5 in Montana from 1999-2012, a sustained-excellence run that keeps it on serious Montana-golf trip itineraries.