Galena Ridge a brand new gem in North Idaho - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

by John Fritz
SWXRightNow.com

Silver Mountain Resort in Kellogg is getting a new addition this summer.  Nine new additions to be exact.  Galena Ridge is set to open a brand new 9-hole golf course there later this month, a course that's literally risen from the ashes of North Idaho's past.

The new course lies high in the hills above Kellogg where, historically, the headlines have been more about mining the terrain. The prospect of breathing life back into the landscape is literally taking shape.

"You can see the growth between the limbs, how much they're growing every year, and they're just going nuts" said Jeff Colburn, the course's general manager.

Colburn has witnessed first-hand the transformation of a hillside.

"When we first came out here I walked out here and it was like, 'whoa, where are we gonna put a course on this hillside?' And it turned into, 'Wow, look at what we can do here, this is a great place to put a course'," said Colburn. "It's been fun to bring this to life."

If you take a look from any of the course's tee boxes it's almost impossible to imagine that just 20 years ago the vistas here were pretty much without vegetation.

"It's quite a success story to see what Mother Nature's done to bring it back," Colburn said.

In 1996 the smokestacks that sent up pollution came down. It was one of the many steps in a Superfund project funded by the federal government that has allowed fairways to flourish. The exact site where those mining structures once stood are now covered by greens, fairways and rough.

The talk around Galena Ridge has evolved from cleanup to the contours of keeping a ball in play. Now, elevation change is the name of the game. Two-hundred foot drops can make the learning curve pretty steep.

"You really have to think each shot through," said Colburn of playing the new course.

The course is so new that some things are still under construction, like some of the bunkers that guard the freshly groomed greens. Maturation of the vegetation is still a work in progress, but considering from where is started, the new Galena Ridge is truly a site to see.