Trestle Creek Golf Club
I found out that there are two people who would drive a couple of hundred miles to play golf with me last Tuesday morning when my uncle Bill Ryan and Jerry Hystad each met me in St. Regis, Montana.
Early that morning, Jerry drove to Trestle Creek from Helena, Montana to meet up with my uncle Bill and I while my uncle Bill drove from Moscow, Idaho where he was at some work meetings.
“Actually, I took a wrong turn out of Moscow, so I really drove over from Washington to be here this morning,” Bill joked.
After that slight detour through the Apple State, Bill and Jerry were waiting for me at Trestle Creek when I made my way off the Interstate and into the clubhouse at Trestle Creek. Trestle Creek has always been one of those golf courses I’ve thought about playing as I cruised by on the highway. From the Interstate, the sight of greens and fairways always catches a golfer’s eye.
Trestle Creek is a relatively young course in Montana’s golf landscape. A photo album sits on the glass-plated countertop filled with golf balls and sand that shows photos of the construction of Trestle Creek in 1994.
Weaving its ways through the trees, Trestle Creek is a tree-lined nine-hole track. The opening hole at Trestle Creek is a 354-yard dogleg right par 4 lined by tall pines on the both the left and right side of the fairway that narrows near the green that slopes back-to-front.
The 3rd hole is the one most visible from the Interstate and will make any golf junkie want to take the exit and get a quick nine in while on a road trip. What better way to stretch the legs on a long drive than to stop and play some golf. The third is a slight dogleg left with trees on the left of the fairway and out-of-bounds along the right. Three bunkers line the landing area of the fairway 250-yards or so off the tee right at the corner of this hole and a large bunker in the front left of the green protects an undulating back-to-front putting surface.
Trestle Creek has an abundance of challenging and scenic holes on the course like the 356-yard par 4 4th that plays down a tight corridor of a fairway lined by tall pines on both sides and with a pair of pine trees in the fairway down the left-hand side. A large green that slopes back-to-front slopes away from the players has a bunker on the right completing this challenging par 4.
The next memorable hole at Trestle Creek is an over water par 3 that plays 143-yards to a green shaded by a tall pine behind the left of the green and a small flowering tree in the front left. Countless golf balls are visible under the pond and serve as a reminder that being short isn’t an option on this hole.
After our round, Bill, Jerry, and I made our way into the clubhouse and sat down for a beer. Throughout our round we had laughs, told stories, and perhaps hit a few pine trees on this tight course. The stories of trying to carve a ball through the narrowest of windows in the trees made for plenty of material for laughs and storytelling as we sat around a buddy bar.
As my uncle Bill, Jerry, and I said our goodbyes in the parking lot after shooting the breeze we each pulled out of the parking lot and headed down the highway.
I’m a pretty lucky guy to have an uncle and a friend like Bill and Jerry who would each drive a couple of hundred miles to play golf with me in St. Regis.
Thanks to Dan Park and Trestle Creek Golf Course for a wonderful day of golf in St. Regis, Montana.
Montana's Longest Drive 