Tamarack Resort's Osprey Meadows Golf Course has earned a pair of high-profile distinctions from Golfweek: Idaho's Best Public Course You Can Play and a spot among the Top 100 Resort Courses in the United States. The recognition comes less than two years after the course completed an extensive restoration, and it positions Tamarack firmly among the country's premier mountain golf destinations.
For hospitality operators, rankings like these carry real commercial weight. Destination golf resorts that earn national editorial coverage typically see measurable lifts in advance bookings, group travel inquiries, and ancillary spend — including food and beverage. A course rated among the country's best becomes a draw that fills hotel rooms, restaurant seats, and event spaces throughout the shoulder and peak seasons alike. Our hospitality industry analysis has consistently shown that third-party accolades are among the most cost-effective demand drivers available to resort properties.
Osprey Meadows was originally designed by the Robert Trent Jones II firm and reopened in 2024 following a restoration and reimagining effort completed in collaboration with the original RTJ II design team. The 18-hole, par-73 championship layout stretches 7,447 yards from the tips. The course features mountain terrain, waterfalls, wetlands, lakes, island-style greens, and panoramic views of Lake Cascade and Idaho's West Central Mountains — the kind of scenery that photographs well and travels far on social media, extending the resort's marketing reach organically.
Tamarack is located in Donnelly, Idaho, a market that competes for the affluent outdoor-lifestyle traveler increasingly sought by upscale resort brands. Elevating the golf product's national profile strengthens the entire property's value proposition, including its dining and bar programming — a dynamic that restaurant and resort food-and-beverage operators are watching closely as golf tourism continues its post-pandemic momentum.
For hospitality professionals tracking where high-net-worth leisure travelers are directing their spend, Tamarack's trajectory offers a useful case study in how capital investment in a core amenity can yield outsized returns across every revenue center on a resort campus.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
