Colville Dominion Meadows Golf Course

The golf course here in Colville is managed by the local Elks lodge and 9 of the 18 holes are still owned by the Elks. The city built the other 9 holes during an expansion a few years ago...thus Colville owns half the course.

We Elks just pitched in $3000 to seal the recent asphalt paving onto the property, yeah!

The front nine holes (the original 9) are more of the American traditional holes with elevations and many trees.

The back nine are called "links" holes that are for the most part very open, beautiful meadows and in a pastoral setting.

The afternoon rate starts around 3PM @ $25 with cart and that allows you to golf all you want until it's too dark to see the ball which is around 9:30PM.

One of the reasons I golf alone is because some golfers get a little irritated when I stop every 50 or 100 feet to photograph something I see. It's ok though, I love being out there on my own with no one giving me dirty looks.

This doe on the third hole was unusual to me because this is the first doe "nipple" I've ever seen. We are in the fawning season so either she just dropped a fawn (which I believe) or she will soon do so.

A few of the Elks that volunteer to help maintain the course use electric golf carts that are armed with shotguns to do as much damage to the ground squirrels as possible. The squirrels dig holes and create dirt mound all over the course but the shotgun patrol does a great job of keeping them in the rough and off the fairways.

This little critter is lucky that I was only armed with a long iron and all my golf buddies know I have trouble hitting anything with my "long irons"!

The back nine has provided me with bald eagle sightings every time I have golfed here so there must be a nearby nest. This one went unnoticed on the 11th until he, or she, cried out to the another sitting on a electrical pole near the 15th.

I'll assume this one on the 15th was not the mate of the one on the 11th, because unless they didn't lay any eggs, they are unlikely to leave the eggs unguarded and in open air.

In the distant is one of the eagles scouting for a absentminded ground squirrel.

There are Red-Winged Blackbirds...

Red-Winged Blackbird females...

 Yellow-Headed Blackbirds...

worm gathering American Robins...

and all of the birds mentioned are very effective at "aerating" the greens for free! 

It would be remiss for me to leave out the Canadian Geese that willingly leave their peanut sized droppings either on the tee box or the greens, but I've heard they are quite tasty. ( the geese of course, not the droppings...yuck) 

After a grueling 18, 27 or 36 holes how do you not kick back with an "Arnold Palmer" drink and enjoy the beautiful view from our small town golf course? (Ok, maybe this day no one did, but I'll bet on many days they would!)

So much for now, until later.....