Best Fall Golf in Montana

Golf in the fall: the air is fresh, the crowds are gone, and some of the best golf in Montana is waiting for you.

And, northwest Montana’s Flathead Valley can’t be beat when it comes to several great golf courses all within an hour of each other. Montana's Flathead Valley is Montana’s Mecca for golf, offering a course for every skill level and a wide variety of scenery. Here are eight courses that would keep you swinging for a week.

Northern Pines Golf Club,  Kalispell

Northern Pines Golf Club is a blend of Scottish links and traditional Montana mountain-style courses, with tree-lined fairways and abundant natural water hazards.

Andy North, winner of two U.S. Opens, was the co-designer of the course, which opened in 1996.

Tee times: (406) 257-1950 or 800-255-5641

Buffalo Hill Golf Club, Kalispell

Buffalo Hill Golf Club, one of northwest Montana’s oldest courses, combines tree-lined fairways with small greens and abundant water challenges.

The club has an 18-hole Championship Course, and the nine-hole Cameron Nine. The championship 18 holes is a target golf course with many undulations, tricky doglegs and difficult greens. This course has the highest slope rating among the courses in Western Montana.

Tee times: 756-4545

Glacier View Golf Club, West Glacier

Glacier View Golf Course has always been known as a friendly, family-oriented course. Its open fairways and small greens make for a relaxing game that won’t leave you feeling as if you’ve been put through the wringer.

Being so close to Glacier National Park, this course allows you to take in the sights of the park and play golf all in the same day. In the morning you could be at the top of 6,400-foot Logan Pass, and that afternoon you could be getting in 18 holes. 

Meadow Lake Resort, Columbia Falls

For a relaxing game of golf along secluded fairways, Meadow Lake Resort is just the ticket.

This 18-hole course is notched out of cottonwood, birch and pine forests just on the outskirts of Columbia Falls. The setting offers mountain fairways with views into Glacier National Park, which is only a 20-minute drive away.

meadowlake.com

Polson Bay Golf Club, Polson

Polson Bay Golf Club is a treat to play, and even more so with the spectacular scenery that surrounds the course at the south end of Flathead Lake.

The original nine-hole course is more than 50 years old, with huge trees surrounding tight fairways and fairly small greens. Nearly every hole affords views from the pristine waters of Flathead Lake to the Swan and Mission Mountains, and Whitefish Mountain Resort nearly 70 miles to the north.

Village Greens, Kalispell

The Flathead Valley’s finest bent grass greens and immaculate overall course condition can be found at Village Greens Golf Club.

Village Greens is known for its well-kept greens and fairways and deep rough. 

There is plenty of out-of-bounds and water to contend with at Village Greens, and the course added new tee boxes on a couple holes, stretching the course’s length to 6,365 yards from the blue tees.

Whitefish Lake Golf Club,  Whitefish

The only 36-hole golf course in Montana is also one of the most scenic and challenging.

Overlooking Whitefish Lake and Whitefish Mountain Resort, Whitefish Lake Golf Club is a tight, tree-lined course that will keep you on your game throughout your round.

The course dates back more than 50 years to the Depression era, when it was built partly with money from the Works Progress Administration.