19 minute read
Cascade Golfer Short Game
SHORT GAME • 1
Tacoma’s North Shore GC transformation led by Hixson and Ridgetop Golf is progressing nicely
The start of 2025 has been difficult for regulars at North Shore Golf Course in Tacoma, where renovation work has closed tees and left only nine holes open. The pain will be short-lived, however, and golfers’ patience richly rewarded as the new-look course promises to be a magnificent upgrade.
The Puyallup Tribe purchased the facility from North Shore Golf Associates in 2016 and have since made several significant improvements including a new cart fleet, modernized maintenance equipment, and in 2018, the opening of a new golf shop and covered driving range. However, late last year, the course announced its largest capital expenditure (to the tune of $7.5 million) which will result in a truly transformational development.
Leading the project is Pacific Northwest architect Dan Hixson, whose exceptional track record includes new builds at Bandon Crossings, Silvies Valley Ranch and Bar Run in Oregon and Washington’s Wine Valley.
In November 2024, Hixson and Gig Harbor-based contractor, Ridgetop Golf, began working on a substantial renovation of the back-nine. Their collaboration will soon flip to the front, and assuming everything goes to plan, the job will be finished in the fall. Following a period of grow-in, all 18 holes should be ready by Spring 2026.
We suspect North Shore golfers will be blown away by the changes. The routing will remain the same (five greens are being relocated) and the greens will retain their poa annua surfaces, but there will be many conspicuous differences.
Nearly half the budget is being used to replace the aging irrigation system, and with more controlled watering, the health of North Shore’s turf will improve dramatically. Healthier turf means firmer surfaces, which make the game so much more interesting. Three hundred trees will be removed (primarily around the greens and tees), opening up views and ensuring the turf receives more sunlight to stimulate growth.
“Better turf will allow us to change the mowing patterns,” says Hixson, “and have a lot more closely-mown turf around the greens.”
Golfers will then have more options for short-game shots, like pitching the ball high, hitting bump-and-runs along the ground, or even putting. The number of bunkers will be reduced from 37 to 33, with 20 of the remaining sand traps being moved.
“Many of the existing bunkers are out of play except for awful shots,” says Hixson, who wants every bunker to mean something. Greens are being expanded to open up more pin positions, and tiers are being added. There will also be some small bumps and hollows close to the greens to add interest.
Firm turf, strategic bunkering, engaging green complexes — North Shore golfers are in for a treat.
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SHORT GAME • 2
New simulators round out awardwinning golf at Circling Raven
When Director of Golf Don Rasmussen looks out the window and sees snow on the ground at his Circling Raven Golf Club in Worley, Idaho, he knows his course is closed for the season.
What’s a veteran golf industry professional to do?
At Circling Raven (part of the Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort property), like a growing number of other golf courses or otherwise these days, the answer is one word: “simulate.” And go indoors to do it.
Circling Raven Indoor Golf Suites opened in late November 2024 with three golf simulators in a 1,200 square-foot space inside its nearby casino. The simulator room fills a cold-weather niche for Rasmussen and scratches an itch for humans denied wintertime play on most Inland Empire courses.
Here, indoors, they can play just about any course anywhere.
“So, there is absolute value to the indoor experience,” Rasmussen said, “especially when you’re in a seasonal operation like we are.”
The golf simulators spit out vital information for users to apply to their game. There is little about a golf swing that a simulator can’t detect and document.
With the simulators’ detailed readouts, Rasmussen said, “We can take a look at spin rates. We can take a look at ball speed. We can take a look at face-to-path relationship without standing out on the range and saying, ‘yep, the ball’s doing this, so it must be your face.’”
Rasmussen doesn’t lose sight of the idea that golf, and family leisure time, are supposed to be fun. Not everyone cares about squaring the clubface at impact.
So, for holiday parties, or a casual family afternoon, the crown jewel of the simulator room — the 31-foot curved screen — can be set up for golf. There might be a skee-ball game on another simulator. There might also be football, soccer. Texas Hold’ Em, and cornhole to boot.
The food is great, and the drinks are cold, because the sim room is next door to the casino’s Nighthawk Lounge.
Golf and science, fun and food, all in a space where the weather can’t get in.
Rasmussen says, “How about that?”
Information on Circling Raven Indoor Golf Suites is at CDACasino.com/golf/circlingraven-golf-suites
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SHORT GAME • 3
Seahawks Classic coming June 22 to Suncadia’s Tumble Creek
The Seattle Seahawks organization will exercise its offseason community engagement muscles with the celebrity-laden Seahawks Classic Golf Tournament June 22 at Tumble Creek Golf Course at the Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum.
The Second Annual Seahawks Classic follows a successful inaugural event, which raised $150,000 for Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.
At press time, tournament organizers were still finalizing the attendance sheet of local personalities scheduled to play in the Classic.
Last year, an array of current and former Seahawks, other sports legends, music industry notables and local media teed it up at Tumble Creek. Once again, the 2025 Classic will feature the golf tournament, a live auction and a reception.
The tournament features a scramble format, with player and donor teams, for which the “fifth” in the foursome is a local celebrity.
The 2024 event featured current Seahawk Abraham Lucas, former Seahawk stalwarts Cliff Avril, Jermaine Kearse, Jim Zorn, Kam Chancellor, Marcus Trufant, Matt Hasselbeck, Steve Raible, Walter Jones and Warren Moon, among others. Additional celebrities in attendance included sportscaster Kenny Mayne (ESPN), Thomas McClary of R&B legends The Commodores, former Sonics and University of Washington star Detlef Schrempf, former Mariners star John Olerud, and a whole host of others.
Community members wishing to play in the tournament or contribute to the cause can contact Alicia Nickell at alician@Seahawks.com, or call (425) 203-8002, to purchase foursomes, sponsor holes or donate to the live auction.
Anyone participating in the Classic is invited to the Celebrity Reception the night before. The Seahawks are also partnering with Safeway and the Safeway Invitational to host a joint party on Monday evening after the Classic. Safeway’s tournament is the next day.
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SHORT GAME • 4
Hats off to local product that keeps your cap looking crisp – Shape and Swelter wicks liqud off your lid
s much as we might scoff at it, most of us golfers draw upon luck to play an occasional role in our rounds.
Aces, eagles, chip-ins and fairways hit after bouncing off a car in the parking lot can’t be accomplished by skill alone. Something else must be in play. Perhaps it was what you wore that day, lucky socks, a lucky shirt or a lucky hat?
Research may not verify it, but we know.
Unfortunately, in our array of lucky apparel, hats are the most perishable. That $80 hat you might have bought at Pebble or Torrey Pines or a Major doesn’t really last all summer. Unsightly salt stains invariably surround the hat’s rim, and washing it makes it wonky and sadly ineffectual.
“Old hats like that have to be thrown away,” said Rob Snyder, who has developed a solution.
Snyder, who grew up in the Olympia area, is marketing an environmentally friendly, reusable, absorbent pad to insert inside the forehead sweatband. The pads provide a new life for your hats to endure endless summers.
“I used to ruin my (favorite) hats like that,” Snyder said. “And the inside always looked nasty.”
Snyder studied other products on the market that prevent sweat from spoiling apparel, but said they are limited to one-time usage. He developed a pad that’s held comfortably in place in front by EV foam, ethylene vinyl acetate that has resistant and absorbent properties.
After a round — or a day in the garden, hiking or biking — the pad can be taken out, cleaned, dried, reinserted and ready for fortune to shine again the next day.
“You don’t have to buy a new pad every day,” Snyder said. He added that his product comes in a three-pad pack ($29.99) and can be cut to fit various hats sizes and types.
Snyder said his product was developed primarily for golfers, and that he has attended various golf shows throughout the country to promote it. However, he also gets requests from folks who use the inserts for work in restaurant kitchens and casinos. The inventor markets the product through his website, shapeandswelter.com, and also sells through Amazon.
“We have a phone number on our website and have never had a complaint,” he added.
Hats off to a product that helps keep our lucky hats on our head and not in the bin.
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SHORT GAME • 5
Local boy does good: Lakewood’s Highsmith wins first PGA Tour title and takes home $1.65 million
The last time Joe Highsmith made the pages of Cascade Golfer was this time last year when we told the story of his hole-in-one on the 13th hole of the Stadium Course at PGA West in the second round of the American Express Championship. The 16th ace of his short life (he was just 23 at the time, 24 now) enabled the left-hander from Lakewood, who grew up playing Tacoma Country & Golf Club, to make the cut and eventually tie for 34th.
The $45,780 he earned on March 9 last year was his first check on the PGA Tour and a nice payday, certainly, but small beans compared to the pile of treasure he picked up at PGA National Resort in Florida where he won the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches and a check for $1.65 million (eclipsing the $1.34 million he made during the whole of 2024).
Wearing his now-familiar wide-brimmed bucket hat, Highsmith two-putted the par-5 18th on the final hole for a second-straight round of seven-under 64, and a fourround total of 265 (-19) — two better than Jacob Bridgeman and J.J. Spaun.
A graduate of Bellarmine Prep and Pepperdine University where he was a two-time All-American, Highsmith had shot an opening 65 on the resort’s Jack Nicklaus-designed Champion Course but, with scoring so low because of the soft conditions (Jake Knapp had fired a first-round 59), he needed to hole a five-footer for a 72 on Friday just to make the cut.
Having done so, the two-time Washington State Golf Association Junior Player of the Year and 2017 State Amateur champion ran rampant over the weekend making 13 birdies, an eagle, and just one bogey. He became the first player to win after making the cut on the number since Brandt Snedeker at the 2016 Farmers Insurance Open.
A back-nine 32 on Sunday with a rare deuce at the 175-yard 17th where he holed a 21-foot birdie putt (thus completing the potentially dangerous run of holes 15th, 16th and 17th, known as the ‘Bear Trap’, in one-underpar), sealed the deal even though three groups were still to finish.
“My mom was planning to leave when I reached the turn,” Highsmith told reporters afterwards, “but I was like, ‘what if I’m five-under through nine, Mom?’ I played great on the front and then I saw her on the 12th hole and thought, ‘Yeah, she canceled her flight.’ Winning was the last thing I expected at the start of the day. I mean, it’s incredible.”
Besides all the cash, Highsmith, whose caddie — Joe LaCava IV — is the son of Joe LaCava III who carried Tiger Woods’s bag from 2011-23 and now works for Patrick Cantlay. Highsmith earned a trip to the Masters, PGA Championship, the rest of this season’s Signature events, and next year’s Sentry at Kapalua. He also climbed to 10th on the FedEx Cup table and 15th in the Ryder Cup standings.
All of us at Cascade Golfer tip our hats to you — way to go Joe.
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SHORT GAME • 6
Your Duke’s Seafood golf tour: tee times and tasty bites at every turn
Duke’s Seafood restaurants, all seven of them — north, east, west, south and central in the Puget Sound region — are known for their 100 percent sustainable seafoods and the conviviality of their staff and settings.
And there’s this: every Duke’s location is in easy range of at least one golf course in the region. Following is a tour of some of those courses and the tasty bites and beverages to be had at Duke’s post-round.
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Après golf at legendary Jefferson Park in Seattle — Duke’s at South Lake Union
The South Lake Union Duke’s (1111 Fairview Ave. N., Seattle) offers waterfront views of South Lake Union and Lake Washington. It’s one of three Duke’s locations to offer oysters on its menu, which makes our recommendation easy: try the oysters-on-thehalf appetizer followed by the happy hour Coco Loco prawns. Pair it with an Imperfect “Scratch” Margarita (Cazadores Reposado tequila, Cointreau, splash of homemade sour, major lime squeeze, served “up” in a glass with a salted rim).
It’s all perfect after a round at the Bill Wright Golf Club at Jefferson Park (4101 Beacon Ave. S.) on Seattle’s Beacon Hill. The course packs a lot into its 5,900 yards in view of the city skyline and Mount Rainier.
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Allenmore and Duke’s a perfect one-two punch
The Duke’s on Tacoma’s waterfront (3327 Ruston Way) has been a south Puget Sound tradition for 20 years. We recommend the Oh My Cod! Fish & Chips (Blue North Pacific Cod lightly panko breaded with Mac & Jack’s African Amber Ale). Pair it, of course, with a Mac & Jack’s.
You’ll be ready after 18 at Allenmore Golf Course (2013 S. Cedar St., Tacoma), the pride of urban Tacoma for its playability and great city views.
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Eat and drink Eastside style
Here, in the heart of downtown Bellevue (500 Bellevue Way N.E.) you’re in the Bellevue bustle … so chill out after golf with a Duke’s Woodford Reserve Manhattan (Woodford Reserve bourbon, shaken with Carpano Antica and Bigallet Amer liqueur). Then, dive into the Rockin’ Rockfish Tacos (Washington coast wild rockfish, sweet Thai chili marinade, sharp white cheddar, mango chutney, tequila lime aioli, cucumber pico de gallo).
It’s all good after playing Bellevue Golf Course (5500 140th Ave. N.E.), a fun David W. Kent design, which opened in 1968.
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North Seattle nostalgia nine and dine
At this location (7850 Green Lake Drive N.) near Se attle’s urban lake, step away from seafood for a minute and try the award-winning Chipotle Havarti Bacon Burger (fresh avocado, nitrite-free bacon, Havarti cheese, bibb lettuce, onion, tomato, chipotle aioli). Pair it with a Bale Breaker Top Cutter IPA.
Good food and drink will be welcomed after play ing Jackson Park Golf Course (1000 N.E. 135th St.), even though you might not be wet — it’s known as the driest public course in Seattle. Great spot to stop after a trip on the Green Lake Par 3, too.
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West Seattle’s Alki sure-fire shot
You might be up for a full-on dinner post-round at Dukes on Alki, Seattle’s best urban beach. We recom mend the Scallop Ravioli (fresh succulent scallops atop lush cheese-filled raviolis). Pair it with The Duke and The King Martini (Hendrick’s Gin with Giffard Wild Elderflower liqueur, homemade sour, and fresh basil, vigorously shak en and served “up”).
Your round earlier in the day traversed the esteemed West Seattle Golf Course (4470 35th Ave S.W.), the H. Chandler Egan layout as daunting as it is pretty.
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Southcenter stopover — miss the traffic post-round
At this Duke’s, just south of Sea-Tac (757 Southcenter Mall, Tukwila), you won’t go wrong with the Award-Win ning Clam Chowder in a sourdough bowl (all natural, New England style with nitrite-free bacon, creamy and herby). That choice makes the next one obvious: Duke’s Famous Bloody Bloody Mary (New Amsterdam Vodka infused with roasted garlic and onions, black peppercorns, bell peppers, lemons and limes, mixed with Demitri’s All-Natural Bloody Mary Seasoning, garnished with two jumbo prawns).
Start the day at Foster Golf Links (13500 Interurban Ave., South Tukwila.) On this 18 along the Duwamish River, golfer and non-golfer wildlife live peaceably in the natural setting.
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Duke’s Kent and Riverbend — tasty twosome
Here in suburbia (240 W. Kent Station St, Kent), order up the Screaming Good Grilled Chicken Sandwich (organic, free-range chicken breast on rosemary bread, mayo, ni trite-free bacon, avocado, tomato, melted Tillamook extra sharp white cheddar, Havarti). It goes well with Manny’s Pale Ale, a regional favorite year after year, round after round.
You’ll be looking for relaxation after carving up River bend Golf Complex (2019 W Meeker St, Kent), a testy and scenic municipal operated by the City of Kent.
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Duke’s Junior Golf Scholarship in June
Next issue we will once again award a worthy youth golfer a $500 award for their contributions in golf and citizenry — the legacy of John and Duke Moscrip’s philanthropy continues in 2025.
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SHORT GAME • 7
CG Players Card features 11 courses and a bucket of balls for $299 these won’t last long
Looking to play a bunch of great golf courses in 2025 all on one card? Well, you’ve hit the jackpot with the 2025 Cascade Golfer Players Card, where you get 11 rounds for just $299 — a discount of over $500 — at awesome courses throughout western and central Washington. It’s a deal that’s hard to beat — all you have to do is go play.
The 2025 Players Card is simply “golf for less.” This is the 14th edition featuring: Port Ludlow, Apple Tree, Sun Country, Horn Rapids, Eagles Pride, Desert Aire, Whidbey, Camaloch, High Cedars, LakeLand Village and Highlander. Plus, a bucket of range balls at the Puetz Driving Range in North Seattle.
Play any of the 11 individually, or head out for a 36hole day. Maybe you’re looking for a multi-day road trip? Many pair up for a great back-to-back. Or use them at your leisure knowing using just half the rounds can have you in the black. The number of Players Cards is limited — at the time of printing less than 100 remained. How long they last is uncertain as readers know they can save a bunch of cash.
Log on to CascadeGolfer.com and get your card today. See you on the fairway!
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SHORT GAME • 8
2025 Northwest Golfers Playbook available now — over 120 offers at 98 locations
Spring is here and we are starting to get our first real nice nibbles of sunshine. The 2025 Northwest Golfers Playbook will help keep things warm and your wallet thicker — golf is not cheap, but we got ya with this passport of savings.
Several of Washington’s top 15 courses are included in the 2025 edition (Gamble Sands, Wine Valley, Suncadia, Apple Tree, White Horse, The Home Course and Port Ludlow) as well as many of your local favorites — more than we can list here.
Golf’s popularity — indoors and out — continues to soar. Several new indoor facilities jumped into the book last year, and more again in 2025. Backspins in Sedro Wooley, Iron Eagle in Monroe, Stadium in Tacoma and Pinseeker in Bremerton all have something to incentivize you to give them each a go.
You will find 2-for-1s, 4-for-3s, percentage discounts, free carts, lessons, range balls, twosome and foursome offers, simulator time specials, food and beverage perks and more. Plus of course, Puetz Golf, where you get $10 off, along with several other invites from their four locations.
With more than 120 pages of golf deals, you simply need to use a few coupons and be “in the black.”
Purchase a book online for $44.95 — use the code SAVEBIGONGOLF to save another $5 off. Whether you’re staying close to home or hitting the road, keep this beauty in your golf bag and reap the rewards all year.
Pick one up at NWGolfersPlaybook.com or perhaps buy one as a gift — it never stops giving.
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SHORT GAME • 9
Play the new Scarecrow course at Gamble Sands before its public opening
Over the last three years the Corona Premier Shootout has quickly grown into one of the most dynamic tournaments in our great state.
Two days of fun in the sun on the OG course at Gamble Sands, a loop around the short course Quicksands, and plenty of shenanigans on the Cascade Putting Course behind the inn. Maybe a few beverages, good food and we can’t forget about the live auction we do Saturday night benefitting Multiple Sclerosis.
We thought it was pretty much perfect — then Gamble Sands came along and built another course.
This August, Scarecrow, Gamble Sands newest course, will open to the public. It’s one of the most anticipated courses to open in Washington state in a long while. Another David McLay-Kidd masterpiece waiting to make its mark on the world stage.
We’re giving you a chance to be one of the first golfers to ever post a score there.
The 2025 Corona Premier Shootout will be July 19-20 and will offer everything it has in past years, but with the Sunday competitive round now on Scarecrow! Although the course does not open to the public until August, we at CG are stoked to give you a sneak peek behind the curtain of the newest gem at Gamble Sands.
It’s fun, exciting and golf bliss — and it’s almost sold out. We have a few spots available, literally. Check it all out at CascadeGolfer.com.
CORONA PREMIER SHOOTOUT AT GAMBLE SANDS
• July 19-20, Gamble Sands
• Two-person best ball Saturday & Sunday
• Net and gross divisions Prize pool daily & total
• 4 KPs, Long Drive, Straight Drive daily
• Saturday Corona Premier Happy Hour at Quicksands/Cascade Putting Course
YOUR $1,120 TEAM FEE INCLUDES
Greens fees, cart, range & lunch on Saturday & Sunday plus Saturday afternoon/evening round at Quicksands.
Go to CascadeGolfer.com to register
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