Shoshone Golf Club under new management

BIG CREEK — Shoshone Golf Club has injected some youth into their organization as Hunter Gust and Jason Waters have taken over the day-to-day operations for the popular course.

Both Waters and Gust were guests on the SNP NOW! Podcast earlier this week where they discussed how it’s going as first-time managers, what it’s like to be managing a golf course during a pandemic, and even who is the better golfer.

The pair have been members of the course for roughly a decade, which is pretty impressive when you factor in how young they both are.

Over the years the course became like a second home to both of them, and as Wallace High School grads (Waters in 2015 and Gust in 2018), Shoshone was where they played all of their home matches.

Despite the current craziness in the world, under Gov. Brad Little’s stay-home order, golf courses have been allowed to stay open which has led to a prime early season in Big Creek, but also has come with added responsibilities.

“With the COVID going on, it has been a lot of cleaning,” Waters said. “But we’ve been getting a lot of administrative stuff done, getting ready for the season, and helping members out when they come up. We’ve had to take precautions in the clubhouse and stuff like that, but we had a lot of people come from all over, Coeur d’Alene, Spokane, to golf here. For sure the busiest April this place has had in a long time.”

While the rules of the club are tweaked slightly due to cleanliness purposes, operations are still moving along well due to the work being put in by Waters and Gust.

With the busyness of the course, the duo had to put out a social media release asking for folks to call ahead before they came up.

This allows for them to keep folks at a safe distance, as well as not having to wait.

“We’ve always had tee times to keep things organized, but this was probably the first time we’ve had the course as full as it was and it not be a tournament day,” Gust said. “We’ve had beautiful weather up here and the folks who have come and played have been happy with the course. With all of the courses in Washington being closed and the courses in Coeur d’Alene are all booked two weeks out, we’re getting a lot of new business.”

In the meantime, the closed clubhouse has undergone some renovations including fresh paint, new carpet, bathroom remodeling and other repairs to make sure that when everything opens back up it is in top shape.

As far as who the better golfer is… Let’s just say the partners have decided to agree to disagree.

To hear the entire interview, check out the SNP NOW! Podcast on all of your favorite podcatchers like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Buzzsprout, PlayerFM and Stitcher.

For more information on the Shoshone Golf Club or to schedule a tee time, call 208-784-0161.