Stock Farm

Situated in the visually spectacular Bitterroot Valley, Stock Farm Club opened in 1999, offering its members a dizzying array of outdoor leisure pursuits that range from hiking to hunting, tennis to trekking, canoeing to cross country skiing. There’s also an equestrian centre and a captivating Tom Fazio 18-hole design which forms the centerpiece of an upmarket residential development.

Unlike a lot of courses that take a little while to get going, Stock Farm hits the ground running right from the start, with four really solid opening par four holes. The 356-yard 3rd, in particular, is a stunning hole built along a ridgeline where the tee shot has to carry a ravine onto a fairway that doglegs left towards an infinity green.

The par five 8th is another memorable hole on the front nine, with water flanking the left of the fairway as it veers left towards a three-tiered putting surface – and there’s a nasty nest of bunkers on the opposite side of fairway for those who play it too safe when trying to avoid the aquatic challenge down the left.

On the inward half, the 164-yard 12th is easily the best of the four short holes on the card – it has been described by one commentator as the only inspired par three on the course. Played from a raised tee position, with trees squeezing the playing corridor on either side, the green sits behind a creek with an enormous bunker cut into the front of the putting surface.