Montana Golf Course Stacks Up as Most Underrated in America

In a state where golf has a shorter season than many areas of the country, let's find out how one course still rose to the top.

SMELTER CITY SENSATION

Researcher Dominic Shaw with digital marketing agency Connective3 tells us that the Old Works Golf Course, located in Anaconda, Montana, has been named the most underrated in America according to a new study.

Using metrics such as: Google Rating, Golf Digest Rating, Price, Rainfall and Peak Wind Speeds, the team at the organization Betway ranked some of the most underrated public courses that are available to the average golfer.

The Old Works course scored a 90.1/100, ranking highly for both Google Rating (4.7) and Golf Digest Rating (4). The price of $125 was the 6^th cheapest from the 39 courses that were used in the study.

The Old Works course scored 90.1/100 ranking highly for both Google Rating (4.7) and Golf Digest Rating (4). The price of $125 was the 6^th cheapest from the 39 courses that were used in the study.

Best golf courses in Montana

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UNIQUE FEATURES

Warm Springs Creek gives a picturesque and cultural feel across the 18 holes with golfers having to negotiate this throughout the round in this Jack Nicklaus design.

Old works uses black crushed slag (a smelting byproduct) instead of white sand in the bunkers and incorporates historic industrial relics into the layout.

Best golf courses in Montana

From 1884 to 1902, the Old Works area was the original site of the first copper-smelting facilities that were built in Anaconda to process ores from Butte. When operations moved, all that was left behind were old flue foundations and structures, plus various materials including reverbatory furnace slags, tailing, and “red sands” or reprocessed tailings.

The site became one of Jack’s most challenging designs. Transforming a Superfund site into a world-class golf course was something that had never been attempted and, as a result, required innovative techniques and the constant involvement of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Before construction, the entire area was capped. The greens, bunkers, tree root balls and lake bottoms were specially lined to prevent any leakage upward.

OTHER COURSES RECOGNIZED IN THE REGION

A couple other golf courses that landed in the Top 10 most underrated were Circling Raven in Worley, Idaho (#3) and Palouse Ridge in Pullman, Washington (#9).