The Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course

The floating green is the reason most golfers book the Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest. Scott Miller designed the layout in 1991 along the southern shore of Lake Coeur d'Alene, routing through ponderosa and white pine with the lake visible from most holes. The par-3 14th sits on a concrete and steel platform anchored to the lake bottom, adjustable from 95 to 218 yards day to day. You hit from the shoreline, then board a mahogany Duffy boat to the green where a forecaddie tends the pin. It photographs beautifully, and beneath the spectacle it's a legitimate golf hole, with wind off the lake and water on every side.

You're playing 6,803 yards, par 71. The front nine moves through wooded corridors with moderate elevation change, framed by timber rather than houses. The 5th, a par 5 that turns left along the lake, and the downhill par-4 6th give the outward half its visual identity beyond the famous hole.

The back nine is where the course reaches its full potential. The 13th doglegs toward the water with an elevated green; the 14th delivers the moment everyone came for; the 15th plays from an elevated tee back toward the clubhouse with the lake as a backdrop. The closing holes return to the wooded interior. Fairways are generous, the greens are the primary defence, and a mandatory forecaddie comes with the green fee. Their reads on the 8th and 13th are worth following.

The floating green is a singular American golf experience. What lifts the course beyond a one-hole attraction is the lakeside stretch from 13 through 15, the forecaddie programme, and the setting itself, with the Bitterroot Mountains east and pines lining every corridor.