THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Players rave about Circling Raven, setting for new tournament on Symetra Tour

Demi Runas was a bit emotional late Sunday afternoon, as she celebrated her second-place finish at the inaugural Circling Raven Invitational.

She also was one of many golfers who took the time to praise Circling Raven Golf Club, the laid-back setting of the Worley course, and having the new stop on the Symetra Tour "Road to the LPGA" event in North Idaho this year.

"There’s something about this area," Runas said. "It’s very beautiful, very calm, and I’m thankful that we have this week."

AFTER ITS scheduled debut was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19, the Circling Raven Championship finally came into being last week, with practice rounds and pro-ams early in the week, and the tournament proper unfolding Friday through Sunday.

A handful of fans on Sunday followed the lead groups around, but most hung out around the 18th green, watching and applauding the players as they finished.

Thankfully, we were spared the brutal heat which has plagued the area most of the summer, and even though there are still wildfires around us, fortunately the skies were more blue than brown for the event.

"It’s awesome," Bailey Tardy of Norcross, Ga., said of the course, and the setting. "Us being able to stay next to the golf course (most of the players stayed at the nearby Coeur d'Alene Casino Hotel), I personally really enjoy it. It feels like we’re at a resort, because you wake up and you don’t have to get in a car to come here, and you can just walk on over.

"The course is in unbelievable shape. I feel like each week tournament sites are stepping up their game and we’re playing in even better conditions. The greens out here, the fairways, everything is just immaculate. This is a great new addition; I can’t wait to see this tournament the next couple of years."

Though Tardy would likely enjoy returning to North Idaho this time next year, she hopes to have an LPGA Tour event on her schedule then. The top 10 finishers on the Symetra Tour's money list this year move up to the LPGA Tour next season, and Tardy's T3 at Circling Raven last weekend moved her into 10th place on the Symetra Tour's money standings.

FOR SOME, golf was just part of enjoying the new tour stop.

"It’s so fun," said Beth Wu, who briefly held the lead on Sunday as one of the early finishers, and ended up tied for fifth, three strokes back. "I went into Coeur d’Alene like four times this week; it’s so much fun. It’s worth the drive; my time in Idaho’s been pretty great. We went to Tubbs Hill, hiked it, had dinner a couple of times (in Cd'A), it was so much fun."

As for the par-72 course itself, which played at more than 6,500 yards for the women this week ...

"Honestly, it’s really fun," Wu said. "When the wind picks up it’s a little more difficult, but honestly its one of the best courses we’ve played all season. Even though the greens are tough out here, and they can be tough."

Circling Raven is a challenge for most golfers, but the Symetra Tour ladies went low — the 36-hole cut was at 2 under par. Peiyun Chien, who won by one shot at 16 under par, totaled 19 birdies and three bogeys over three days.

"I liked the speed (of the greens), the speed is very consistent," Chien said. " On some courses some holes are slow, some fast."

"Some of the par-5s are kinda short, so a lot of the girls can go for it, but at the same time you have 200-yard par-3s, so it balances," Wu added.

"I’m able to cover a lot of the bunkers, and if you can cover certain spots out here, you go into a little speed slot," said Tardy, who played at Georgia. "And it’s kinda just target golf; if you position yourself in the right spot, then you have a lot of wedges, and my wedges just happen to be on the last couple of days."

THE LONE Idaho native in the field last week, Gabby Lemieux, who played at Vallivue High in Caldwell and later at Texas Tech, tied for third with Tardy for her best Symetra Tour finish — in her home state, no less.

“It feels fantastic," she told Ali Palma of Symetra Tour media relations. "The fact that I was able to make a birdie on the last hole and feel everybody kind of cheer and rally for me felt so great. It made me feel right at home. I knew a lot of people here and a lot of people were out here supporting me, and I never really had a chance to get down on myself. There was so much support, even if I bogeyed people were like ‘OK you got this’. To have them and the people I love most around me made it super special.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.