After years in the making and anticipation from golfers across Washington State and around the world, the new 18-hole thrill ride at Gamble Sands is now open. Scarecrow is designed by David McLay Kidd — he also designed the Gamble Sands Course as well. Scarecrow is already a bucket list course and fully rounds out the lodging and playing experience in Brewster, Wash.
Washington’s Dream 18
A fan-driven, fantastical course built from the state’s best holes 40
Gamble Sands’ bold new course delivers thrills, beauty and a touch of danger 46
Meet Scarecrow
The rise of Greater Zion as a must-visit golf destination 52
Red Rock Rendezvous
PUETZ GOLF SAVINGS 28-37
Enter to win some CG Swag and hit the links on us. Check out these great prizes we are awarding this issue. We love our readers — here’s a small way to say thank you!
• Port Ludlow Resort Twosome • Page 8
• Sun Country GC Twosome • Page 16
• LakeLand Village CG Twosome • Page 58
Check out who won our recent CG Swag contests. Congratualtions to these lucky winners from the June 2025 issue of Cascade Golfer magazine.
GC Twosome • Bill Tanay • Tacoma LakeLand Village Twosome • Francis Kinney • Gig Harbor Boeing Classic & NW Golfers Playbook Sally Bourgault • Olympia
Photos courtesy of Gamble Sands
Sun Country GC • Cle Elum, Wash.
CASCADE GOLFER
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Cascade Golfer is published and owned by Varsity Communications, Inc. It’s mailed via USPS to 50,000 homes and e-mailed to 100,000 golfers in Puget Sound.
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PUBLISHERS
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EDITOR
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ADVERTISING & MARKETING STAFF
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COPYRIGHT 2025 Cascade Golfer. PRINTED IN THE USA. All rights reserved. Articles, photos, advertising and/ or graphics may not be reprinted without the written permission of the publisher. Advertising and editorial contained herein does not constitute endorsement of Cascade Golfer or Varsity Communications, Inc. Publisher reserves the right to edit letters, photos and copy submitted and publish only excerpts. The publisher has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all material contained in this issue. However, as unpredictable changes and errors do occur, the publisher can assume no liability for errors, omissions or changes.
All photos are courtesy of the course or individual unless otherwise noted.
PRODUCER AND OWNER OF THE
The Puetz family and leadership have been teeing it up for Seattle golfers for 80 years!
The year was 1945 and for many people, that year was like no other in the 20th century.
It marked the death of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the spring, ceremoniously followed by then Vice President Harry S. Truman assuming the Presidency in the midst of World War II. The Missourian, a plainspoken patriot, quickly forced it all to a close later that summer.
VJ Day in August 1945 was the signal that better times were ahead.
Golf, despite being overshadowed by the war, endured as it always had and its stars that year were some of the brightest the sport has ever seen — setting the stage for golf to explode post war.
In 1945, Texan Byron Nelson had a legendary season, winning 18 tournaments, including 11 in a row, a record that still stands. Sam Snead and Ben Hogan were also top players that year, though Nelson’s performance was exceptional and never repeated.
Three-time Olympic medalist Babe Didrikson Zaharias also competed against men, making the cut in three PGA Tour events that year, catapulting the LPGA into the future.
Zaharias won the 1945 Women’s Western Open by defeating Dorothy Germain, marking her third victory in that championship. It was also a rematch of the 1944 final, which she also won.
Golf was buzzing 80 years ago ignited by these legends and the public game was on fire. And right here in Seattle, golf history was made in 1945 by a family that has done more for the sport than any other. Puetz Golf was founded then, rolled out its first sales and service and has never stopped rolling since.
“Just thinking of Al and Pete Puetz starting a driving range in North Seattle in April 1945 — the same month the Germans surrendered to the Allies and four months before the total end of WWII — makes me shake my head in bewilderment,” said General Manager Mike Livingston, who is the longtime helmsman of one of the most successful golf retail operations in America. “What a feat!”
The two Puetz brothers at the time had no idea what their vision would become, but it’s stood the test of time and competition like no other.
“The entire evolution of golf equipment has run
through Puetz Golf’s operation over the past 80 years, and we’ve enjoyed adapting to those changes and seeing how much more enjoyable the game can be,” said Livingston.
Current owner David Puetz, son of Peter, has courageously navigated this legendary brand through everything a business can endure during the many decades he’s been the top man. And his good fortune to have Livingston take Puetz into the modern era of high-tech components and fittings is nothing short of a great success and execution at its finest.
“With the ever-changing golf retail landscape over the past 80 years, I can’t help but feel truly blessed to have our local operation not only exist but also thrive over those 80 years,” Livingston humbly shared.
The Puetz values in 1945 and today are the same: friendly expert service, the largest selection of equipment and apparel, world-class instruction and a passion for players from beginner to expert. With four locations in Seattle-Tacoma, they are minutes from any player to find a friendly resource to depend on whenever they need it.
For me personally, I can share something that perhaps no one else can. I have launched three golf magazines in my career — Northwest Golf in 1990, Pacific Northwest Golfer in 1994 and Cascade Golfer nearly 18 years ago. Puetz Golf each time was the first to sign on as an advertiser and believer. David Puetz did so on the first two titles and my good friend Mike did on Cascade Golfer, which is a lovely partnership that just gets better and better.
We wish to congratulate the Puetz family and the loyal team there on 80 amazing years — kudos! I can’t imagine Seattle without Puetz Golf. In fact, do me a favor the next time you drop into the Seattle driving range or the superstores in Bellevue, Southcenter or Tacoma. Tell their team “way to go,” bring them donuts or give them a high five. They deserve and demand our thanks and respect.
Enjoy the warmth of August golf AND... AS ALWAYS, TAKE IT EASY!
Two-person best ball Cascade Golfer Summer Classic coming to Chambers Bay Aug. 16
fter a couple decades of high-spirited, high-value golf competitions played on the Northwest’s finest courses, Cascade Golfer magazine will be putting it all together into one big event — the first Cascade Golfer Summer Classic at Chambers Bay — on Aug. 16. Chambers Bay, the Northwest’s No. 1 public course and host of the 115th U.S. Open in 2015, has been an integral part of our summer competitions.
The event perpetuates 16 years of our annual Cascade Golfer Cup, in which many of the region’s best amateur golfers have walked away with trips to legendary golf courses and locales such as Pinehurst, Myrtle Beach, Bandon Dunes, Maui and Central Oregon.
This summer, the winners of both the net and gross competitions will receive stay-and-play Villa del Palmar/TPC Danzante Bay golf packages. It includes four nights at one of the planet’s finest all-inclusive resorts on the Sea of Cortez. Danzante Bay will be among more than 20 prizes awarded. Players also can enter competitions for closest-to-the-pin, long drive and straight drive contests.
The event will be a two-person best ball. Each player plays his/her own ball throughout the 18 holes. The team score for each hole is determined by the lower score of the two players. Teamwork is critical.
The field will be limited to just 50 two-person teams with an entry fee of $600 that includes Chambers Bay green fees, lunch, and prizes to the top 10 teams in both
net and gross competitions. Some of the other prizes include trips and green fees to courses in Las Vegas and the Northwest.
Pair up, secure your handicap and register by visiting CascadeGolfer.com.
W SHORT GAME
ork began on the renewal of Gold Mountain’s Cascade Course in the spring. Designed by Ken Tyson and opened in 1971, the popular layout had become choked with trees over the years and was showing its age with vintage bunkers and an irrigation system that was ready for a refresh.
Canadian architect Jeff Mingay, who has worked on numerous courses in and around Seattle, was chosen for the job after coming highly recommended from multiple clubs.
“Mike Goldsberry at Wing Point G&CC invited me out to meet Jeff and see the work he’d done there,” says Mark Knowles of Columbia Hospitality, which manages Gold Mountain. “Mike had nothing but good things to say. Jeff is very hands-on, and I felt strongly he was the ideal choice.”
Trees were the initial target. Knowles says hundreds have already come down and hundreds more will be lost in the fall when Mingay returns. Most of the work, which could take five years, will be completed between October and April each year when the course is relatively quiet. It will operate as usual this summer, the plan being for at least nine holes to always remain open.
Despite the fact Mingay has been going to Gold Mountain for several years, he has been surprised at what the tree-removal has revealed.
“There is so much cool land you wouldn’t necessarily have been aware of,” he says. “Old aerial images show that, in its earliest days, the landscape was very different to what you see now. There were only a few stands of trees, and the views must have been amazing. Our job is to peel it all back and let the Cascade Course shine once again.”
Tree-lovers shouldn’t be alarmed, though. The loss of many specimens will allow the turf to thrive, improving the health of the playing surfaces, and Knowles insists the course will retain its Pacific Northwest feel.
“We’re not going all the way back to the original,” he says. “Some trees are definitely staying.”
Once the tree work is complete, the bunkers will be revamped and, eventually, the irrigation system replaced. For Knowles, who first played the course in the late 1970s, the project is very exciting.
“I grew up playing here,” he says. “I’ve always loved Cascade and think it will one day be every bit as good as the Olympic Course.”
Port Ludlow Resort • Port Ludlow
Summer half-off special on Playbook delivers an immediate ROI — 120 offers await
Summer is here and we’re finally getting those epic PNW sunny days. 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 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 Savetwenty to save another $20 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.
Suncadia Prospector Course
White Horse Golf Club
SHORT GAME
August special for the CG Players Card features 11 courses and a bucket of balls, for less than $20 a round
At a time when golf course green fees (and everything else) continue to spike, everyone is looking to play golf without breaking the bank. If less than $20 a round is your style, the Cascade Golfer Players Card is the deal of deals. Eleven rounds for just $199 — a discount of over $500 — at awesome courses throughout western and central Washington. And the CG Summer Special is even better: $100 off, plus a NW Golfers Playbook.
The 2025 Players Card Summer Special now gets you on the course for around a dollar a hole. 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, range balls at the Puetz Driving Range in North Seattle. Lastly, you’ll get a NW Golfers Playbook and Golf Show tickets at Will Call in 2026.
Play any of the 11 individually this summer, fall or winter, they are all good through the season/end of 2025. Or grab a buddy and head out for a 36-hole 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 four or five of the rounds can have you in the black. The number of Players Cards is very limited — at the time of printing less than 10 remain.
Log on to CascadeGolfer.com and get your card today. See you at the 19th hole!
Rapids GC
Eagles Pride GC
Apple Tree Resort Whidbey GC
Port Ludlow GC
Horn Rapids GC
Camaloch GC
Desert Aire GC
High Cedars GC
Sun Country Golf & RV
LakeLand
Village GC
Highlander GC
Puetz Bucket of Balls
Three State of the art Trackman Simulator indoor climate-controlled hitting bays featuring over 270 golf courses worldwide
Summer Junior Golf Camps Begin in July
Ladies Golf Lessons & Wine Tasting openings available
High Cedars Golf Club
One of the best practice facilities in Western WA.
Over 40 stalls with 20 covered
Over 400 yards long
Grass tee area
Real range golf balls - not limited flight! Putting greens
Chipping green and a practice bunker
Golf Lessons
High Cedars Golf Academy
Team Griffin ( Sara and Chris, PGA Professionals )
Scot Solomonson, PGA Professional, and Director of Instruction - Emeritus
Chris Ming, Golf Professional
Brandon Solomonson, Golf Professional
SHORT GAME
Clearing the way: Oakbrook and The Classic thrive after bold tree removal and revitalization
I
n 2017, timber fallers began taking down hundreds of trees at The Classic and Oakbrook golf courses in Pierce County. Reviews among golf patrons were mixed.
Before that, in 2012, Oakbrook had launched a new membership structure to draw public golfers to the then-fully private course in Lakewood. Reviews among patrons, particularly the old-guard Oakbrook members, were mixed.
After all that change, Oakbrook and The Classic have emerged better than ever.
And nobody misses the trees.
“What we’ve done since we came here is continue to improve Oakbrook and make it better, and we’ve done the same thing with The Classic,” says Mike Moore, general manager of Oakbrook as well as owner/GM of OGC Moore, LLC, which operates both courses.
“It’s always been our goal to continue to make them the best they can be. And we’re still working, and we’re not done yet.”
Mike Moore is also father to Ryan Moore, owner of OGC Moore, LLC, and professional golfer on hiatus for 2025.
Ryan, 42, is an amateur golf legend, one of only five golfers in history to win both the NCAA individual championship and the U.S. Amateur in the same year (2004). As a pro, he’s won five PGA Tour titles and earned more than $34 million in 20 seasons.
Mike Moore was happy to offer a dad’s update on his son, who is choosing not to play professionally this golf season. Ryan is living in Las Vegas in a new house with his wife Nichole and three children, trying to let his body heal up fully from nagging injuries from “a million golf swings” in his career, his father says.
“He’s trim and strong, he runs, he’s doing well physically and he’s feeling good,” he said. “But he just doesn’t want to put his body under the duress of the golf swing, at least yet.
“I think in the future he may get hungry to play again, I don’t know, we’ll see. I mean, if he never played again, he’s had a great career.”
Only 356 trees were removed from Oakbrook, but it meant the world to the greens.
“They (had) allowed the fir trees and evergreens to overgrow the golf course and suck all the water out from the greens,” Moore says. “Yeah, one tall fir drinks 900 gallons of water a day. And they surrounded several green complexes and tee complexes.”
Today, Oakbrook is one of the best winter courses in the region, Moore says, and the reviews now, and for a long time, are positive. New sightlines have emerged, and the greens are firm and fast, ranking with the best in Washington, Moore says.
Oakbrook’s membership was down to 123 members when Moore and Co. bought it in 2012, and only a little more than 90 were active players. The average age for members was around 68.
The old guard’s membership plans were kept in place
Oakbrook Golf Club
Lakewood, Wash. • oakbrookgolfclub.com
The Classic Golf Course Spanaway, Wash. • theclassicgc.com
and their privileges kept intact. New blood joined the rolls. Tee sheets swelled with the encouragement of public play.
Now, the membership stands at 350. Oakbrook booked around 52,000 rounds in 2024.
Moore tells the story of one longtime member, a man who had voiced his feelings on the changes at his course.
“He told me, ‘My God, I don’t know that the golf course has ever been this good. I mean, this is amazing.’”
The logging project was far more extensive at The Classic in Spanaway — some 1,700 trees were removed, and the course breathed easier for it. In 2024, The Classic booked about 48,000 rounds.
Greens at The Classic were already special, Moore says, when his company bought the course in 2005. Some of the best amateur players in the region who played regularly there attested to that, Moore says.
The greens today are “rolling like warp speed,” Moore says. “They’re so healthy right now and so good.”
Storyteller Moore remembers a multiple club champion who, after the trees came down, went around The Classic in 66.
“He said, ‘You’ve made it too easy. We’re just going to eat this place up.’”
The guy was around a plus-2 (handicap) at the time, Moore says. After years of playing the “new” course, he’s about a 2 handicap on the other side.
“It’s not gotten easier,” Moore says. “It’s gotten tougher because it opened up and the wind now whistles through the corridors more.”
SHORT GAME
EXTRA
Camaloch cool: Camano course delivers chill and challenge
Camaloch Golf Course has an island vibe to it. Not ones with palm trees, umbrella drinks, and beatdown heat, but much better. It’s just cool, both figuratively and literally.
“It’s amazing here because in the summertime it’s about 10 degrees cooler than inland,” said Beth Erickson, marketing director for the course. “That makes it really nice.”
Camaloch is located in the middle of the north end of Camano Island. The best way to reach the course is to take State Route 532 from Stanwood over the Camano Gateway Bridge then south on NE Camano Road to the property.
Once you get there, you’ll fit nicely into the natural calm. It’s more relaxed than the mainland courses. You can get away from civilization and be among the rolling fairways and towering firs. All the while, you’ll be challenged by a quality layout.
The course opened with nine holes in 1972. The second nine opened in 1991, designed by noted Northwest architect Bill Overdorf, who designed The Classic Golf Club, Homestead, Highland and Hawk’s Prairie, among others.
Camaloch has always had the reputation of not only being a bit cooler in the summer but, because it’s part of the rain shadow, dryer as well.
“We’re getting that summer roll out there now. We’re enjoying that. We’re pretty dry,” Erickson added. “A lot of people comment on how great our greens are. They’re really quick.”
As for the 6,237-yard course, Erickson said, “people say the back nine is more challenging, more fun.” Yet the fun really begins just before that, as she added, “No. 9, coming back to the clubhouse, is our most iconic hole.” The ninth is a par 3, 179-yard beauty that requires a precise tee shot over water, with a false front and bunkers in front
and back. You’ll also have the added pressure from the clubhouse gallery on the porch a few yards away.
Then the back nine begins with one of course’s most interesting holes, the drivable par-4 10th. The 296-yarder begins with a drive over water, but it needs to be accurate to avoid trees, bunkers and rough.
“We have a wide range of people who play the course, ones who love island life,” Erickson said. “We have a lot of people who retired here. On the weekend, we have quite a few younger guys. And a lot of younger high school players play in the afternoons.”
Erickson added that players coming from the mainland, coming up north from Seattle or driving south from Mt. Vernon, Bellingham and even Canada, all appreciate the island vibe.
“I think people like it at Camaloch,” she said. “They say, ‘you’re on an island, that’s cool.”’ Camaloch is one of several courses in the north Puget Sound waters that offer an “island vibe.” Whidbey Golf Club is quite popular in the summer while the San Juan Islands, with three nine-hole courses, provide rounds of opportunities. Lopez Island Golf Club is a 5,302-yard, nine-hole public/private course that plays 18 holes. San Juan Island Tennis Club is semi-private and has a nine-hole layout that functions as 18 holes. The 50-year-old Orcas Island Golf Course is nine holes that plays 6,004 yards for 18 holes with alternate tee boxes.
Whidbey Golf Club: The ‘everyday’ course that’s anything but ordinary
David Phay has played plenty of golf courses and has worked at a handful over the years, and he says it’s hard for him to place too many above his own Whidbey Golf Club.
“It’s just a perfect everyday golf course,” said Phay, who has served in various roles at Whidbey for the past 18 years … head professional, director of golf and general manager.
What does that mean, “everyday?” For him, it’s all about the fun factor.
“There are courses that are well-manicured and really good, but not always fun to play every day. This one is,” he said. “It’s a great shot-makers golf course. You can figure your way around it a little bit but there’s also opportunities to go for it. You don’t have to play it the same way every time.
“It’s not long, per se, (6,464 yards), but it’s got its challenges. There are a lot of water features, almost every hole on the front nine. You can get pin placements that make it a
little tough. That’s the way this golf course was built. You don’t have to hit 320 off the tee to have a good time playing it.”
The first course on the island was Holmes Harbor, which opened in 1939. At 4,279 yards, the par-64 course didn’t quite meet the challenges of other longer layouts. In 1948, the Gallery Golf Course opened but it was primarily for the benefit of military families stationed at the Naval Air Station at Whidbey.
A group of avid players around Oak Harbor, at the north end of Whidbey, wanted their own course and put together an $80,000 winning bid to buy the old Loerland dairy farm in the fall of 1960.
Nine holes, designed by the members, were laid out among the pastures and fir trees. Greens were seeded in the fall of 1961 and the fairways in the spring of 1962. The private course used the old barn as its first clubhouse, and it would eventually be surrounded by a housing development. It opened that summer.
Seventeen years later, in the spring of 1979, the second nine was opened. It’s now the opening nine. Then in the early 2000s, the membership voted to allow public play on the course, mostly after noon. It is now a sustained and healthy ‘hybrid’ course, meshing private and public play.
Most of the players live on the island but Phay said a lot of players come from the mainland, taking the Mukilteo ferry, to reap the advantages of island golf.
“We want people to come here and relax, have a good time,” Phay said. “We don’t get too hot here because we’re surrounded by so much water. That’s one of the great things in the summer. In Seattle it could be 95, but it’ll be 77 here. We also don’t get as much rain as Seattle. We’re in the same rain shadow as Sequim.”
As for the challenge of the Whidbey Golf Club, let Phay serve as an example. He has become one of the top golfers in the Pacific Northwest playing most of his rounds at Whidbey. He qualified this year for the prestigious PGA Professional Tournament in Port St. Lucie, Fla. It’s what can happen when you play this fantastic ‘everyday’ course.
Whidbey Golf Club • Oak Harbor
Camaloch Golf Course • Camano Island
TRAVEL THE NORTHWEST SHORT GAME
on the peninsula at Port Ludlow Golf and destination bliss
The Resort at Port Ludlow on the Olympic Peninsula is a full-service golf destination resort, with lots to do while you’re there and lots of ways to get there.
To play the Port Ludlow Golf Course might be the main reason a person visits Port Ludlow, but opportunities abound for non-golfers to fill their hours: bicycling, boating or pickleball … or walks in the woods or fine dining … or day trips through the many natural attractions of the peninsula, using Ludlow as a base.
But first, you have to get there. While the phrase “by land, sea and air” might be overworked, it’s the literal truth at Port Ludlow.
Road trippers will find Highway 101 north from Olympia is a pretty straight shot to the resort. State Route 104, over the Hood Canal Bridge connecting the Kitsap Peninsula to the Olympic Peninsula, gets you close, too.
Resort guests with a boating bent can moor right at the Ludlow Marina and take a resort shuttle to the Inn at Port Ludlow (or the golf course).
And then there’s this: You can come in by seaplane, either chartered or personal aircraft, and land by the dock, right next to the inn.
“It’s a beautiful sight to see a float plane come in and then just taxi right up to the dock,” says Jim Mancill, head PGA professional at Port Ludlow Golf Course.
“It’s pretty nice.”
If a resort visitor brings golf clubs, Mancill can help, whether they’re resort guests playing the course for the first time, a daily fee player, or a member of the club.
“I think we blend a little bit of everything.” Mancill said. “We try on a daily basis to deliver the experience the player may want or expect based on who they are.”
First-time players will find a traditional Northwest golf course with views and many, many tall, mature trees.
“Our fairways are actually extremely generous,” Mancill said. “But I think to newer players, the eyes go to the trees and see them sometimes a little bit more.
“So, I think the balance is really nice. There’s a lot of room to play, but at the same time nature provides its own illusions or diversions depending on how you look at it.”
The first hole that jumps out at Mancill on a route through Ludlow is No. 2, a short par 4 with an interesting tee shot downhill to a green only 342 yards from the back tee.
“After you hit the tee shot and you head out,” he said, “you have an immediate view directly over the second green of Mount Baker. It’s just stunning.”
Port Ludlow, designed by esteemed golf architect Robert Muir Graves, has no paralleling fairways, Mancil says.
“When you play a hole, any given hole, that’s it,” he says. “You don’t look across two sets of fairways or another green or something like that.
“So, you’re always feeling like you’re kind of out there by yourself.”
Mancill came to Port Ludlow in March 2022, following head pro Tyler Sweet when he left for Wine Valley in Walla Walla. Just before coming to Ludlow, Mancill had been director of golf at Governor’s Towne Club in Acworth, Ga.
When he gets to play his own course, Mancill especially looks forward to the challenge of Ludlow’s final six holes.
“The stretch from 13 through 18 presents some really challenging tee shots, two long par 3s, and the 18th hole coming all the way back up the hill toward the clubhouse is a great finale.”
Maybe you’ll be joined, apres golf, by your non-playing spouse or partner or your kids, who have managed to fill out, quite nicely, a day without golf. Maybe they made use of the resort’s e-bike rentals, or watercraft rentals (standup paddleboards, kayaks, and 14-foot skiffs). Maybe they sweated it out on the resort’s tennis courts, which are also conveniently striped for pickleball play.
Golf or not, Mancill suggests, it might be time to meet up on the back porch of the clubhouse and have a meal at JR’s Sand Trap restaurant and look out on the golf course.
“It’s just a great end to the day.”
The Resort at Port Ludlow portludlowresort.com
Golf: (360) 437-0272
Stay and play: (360) 437-7000
Port Ludlow Resort
SHORT GAME
Northwest Golf Skills Fest rocks year one at Meadow Park
It was real and surely resonated — an all-new event with the player and camraderie in mind.
Nearly 90 players took their swing at Northwest Golf Skills Fest June 28 at Meadow Park, with music, fun, games, brews and plenty of prizes to go around.
The event featured a loop around the Williams Nine where contestants played a 16-contest Skills Challenge, testing their ability in putting, ball striking, chipping, bunker play and hitting fairways. The 18-hole Michelob ULTRA Putting Championship was waiting for them when they finished, with the layout being on Meadow Park’s diabolical practice green, reminiscent of Bandon Dunes’ Punchbowl.
Prizes were plentiful with over 55 handed out. This included winners at each contest in both the Championship and Hacker Divisions, as well as Overall Champion, Flatstick Master, Wedge Wizard and Ball Striker Extraordinaire.
The big winner was Beau Grantham, who, powered by a hole-in-one, was the overall winner for the championship division, taking home a fantastic stay-and-play package to Villa del Palmar and TPC Danzante Bay in Mexico.
Grantham also won the Ball Striker award as well as won four different skills challenge. Other winners included: Andrew Ernsdorff, champion of the Hacker Division,
NW NW Golf Golf Skills Skills FEST FEST
KJR’s Dick Fain pounds one down the Straight Drive hole challenge.
The event was given rave reviews by the contestants, with most mentioning how fun and exciting it was and what a great change of pace it was from a normal round of golf. It was a one-of-a-kind event and something to put on your schedule in 2026.
CG’s Simon Dubiel with winner Beau Grantham
and Carson Johnson, winner of the Junior Division. Rob Snyder was the Overall Putting Champion while Greyson Taylor won the Junior Putting Champion.
SHORT GAME
Century mark: Local pro plays 100 holes in a day for charity
On May 13, Kyle Guthrie achieved what a number of other hearty, charity-minded golfers have achieved in recent years by playing 100 holes in a single day. The only difference between Guthrie and the others, though, is that most of his fellow ironmen didn’t make 22 birdies and an eagle over the course of the day.
A PGA Associate Golf Instructor at Pacific Northwest Golf Centers since 2021 and the Head Coach at the First Tee of Greater Seattle for almost 10 years, Guthrie says he probably took around 310 shots in all “give or take.”
That’s not very many even if the venue is an executive course — the Williams Nine at Meadow Park in Tacoma, where the Pacific Northwest section of the PGA conducts a fund-raising event every year.
Guthrie set out at 6 a.m. and completed the marathon about 12 hours later, feeling good but a little sore, he says. “I did have a cart so that certainly helped save the legs,” he adds. The weather was also accommodating, partly cloudy in the low 60s — perfect for a 100-hole hike.
Guthrie was raising money for Camp Leo, a Federal Way-based organization founded in 1990. Its mission is to “enrich the lives of children affected by Type 1 Diabetes through programs that inspire, empower, educate, and promote community,” with a vision that every person with Type 1 Diabetes is “empowered to live life to their fullest potential.”
Guthrie, whose younger sister has diabetes, set up a GoFundMe page at gofundme.com/f/kyles-100-hole-marathon-for-children-with-type1-diabetes and, at the time of this reporting, had raised $2,100.
Kyle Guthrie
F SHORT GAME
Angels bringing character, momentum into Boeing Classic at Snoqualmie Ridge this month
or golf fans coming out for the 20th Boeing Classic Aug. 8-10, you won’t be lacking in colorful characters to follow around the Snoqualmie Ridge course.
Likely prominently featured in the Boeing field will be a couple of Angels — by name — Miguel Angel Jimenez and Angel Cabrera.
Jimenez, 61, has been dubbed “Golf’s Most Interesting Man,” for his jaunty style, his earrings, his coiled man bun, his love for Cohiba cigars and Rioja wines, his crazy warmup routine and his late-in-life golf skills.
Jimenez, from Malaga, Spain, has had 21 career victories worldwide but not one in 153 starts on the PGA Tour. He has blossomed on the PGA Champions (50-plus) Tour with 16 victories — including being the 2022 Boeing Champion — 16 second place finishes and 12 thirds.
Cabrera, 55, comes from another part of the world, Cordoba, Argentina, and a vastly different path to the Champions Tour than Jimenez. Cabrera won the 2007 U.S. Open — by one stroke over Tiger Woods at Oakmont (site of this year’s Open) and also won the 2009 Masters in a playoff. He had only one other victory in 289 PGA
Tour appearances, although has had 41 worldwide wins. Cabrera joined the Champions Tour in 2024 and did not win his rookie year. The Argentinian made a comeback after facing domestic violence allegations in his homeland. He was convicted twice of assault and threats against a former partner and spent a combined 28 months in prison. He paid his dues and made sufficient amends with the PGA Tour officials who authorized his return in 2024.
This season, the two Angels have become the dominant powers on the Champions Tour. By mid-June, each had won three tournaments. Cabrera won consecutive tournaments in May, including another major, the Senior PGA Championship in Washington, D.C.
Heading into the U.S. Senior Open in late June, Jimenez and Cabrera were ranked one and two in the Champions’ Schwab Cup rankings.
They will be among the favorites for the Boeing trophy, but the Angels will need to get past Stephen Ames, who has owned the Boeing glass world trophy for the past two years. No one has ever won Boeing for three consecutive years. Ames could be the 11th three-peat champion in Tour history.
Ames, 61, who lives just up the road in Vancouver, B.C., has won nine times on the Champions Tour, seven over the past two seasons. However, he is struggling this season, with a highest finish of just fifth and he withdrew in back-to-back tournaments in May.
Likely in the 78-player field will be hometown favorite Fred Couples (if he’s fit enough to play), four-time major champion Ernie “Big Easy” Els (runner-up here last year), Steven Alker, winner of two Charles Schwab Cup season titles over the past three years, and Bernhard Langer, the all-time Champions Tour winner (47 victories), including two Boeing titles, who turns 69 Aug. 27.
It should be noted that this is the year when Tiger Woods turns 50, too late for the Champions season (Dec. 30), but will he be fit, mind and body, to play 50-plus golf next year?
by Shutterstock
Photo
Angel Cabrera
SHORT GAME
Coyote Ridge rising: Colville Tribes breathe new life into former Banks Lake GC
In June 2024, the Confederated Colville Tribes purchased Banks Lake Golf Course, five miles southwest of the Grand Coulee Dam, and renamed it Coyote Ridge GC. The 40-year-old course designed by Keith Hellstrom (who created six other courses in Washington, Idaho and Montana) wasn’t actually the main target for the Confederation. However, it just happened to be part of a 187-acre parcel on which it plans to add housing, a gas station, and perhaps a cultural center and indoor kids entertainment facility in the coming years.
It isn’t as if the new owners felt they were stuck with a golf course, though. Far from it, in fact. Many of the Tribes’ members have been playing there for decades and consider it a special place. And they are investing a significant amount of money into making it better. Besides the name change, a number of other changes have already happened and there’s plenty more to come.
“The remodeled clubhouse with a new restaurant and bar should be finished by the end of August,” says Matthew Pleasants, Centralized Services Director for the Colville Tribes. “The new driving range will be done by
July, and 30 new Yamaha carts and 18 Finn bikes arrived at the end of June.”
As for the course itself, numerous refinements have been made, and the upgrades are still coming.
“We replaced the water pump to increase the capacity of our water reserves,” says Pleasants. “The turf was looking unhealthy last year and the extra water has revived it.”
Thatch is being removed from the greens, which have been punched and aerated and are being enlarged and reshaped. The bunkers will be renewed at some point, and some tree removal has occurred.
“We’ve taken out 28 invasive trees,” says Pleasants. “We will add some blue spruce. The most important part of it all has been rehabbing the turf, which is beginning to respond and looking really good.”
The improvements are being made by local tribal and non-tribal contractors, and new equipment the Tribes purchased in July 2024 (John Deere) and May of this year (Toro) is making a huge difference.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the work has received a lot
of encouraging feedback. Pleasants says he and head pro Cody Wells have received nothing but positive comments.
“And a lot of people have been saying they are looking forward to returning and seeing the ongoing improvements.”
olby Roberge, a junior-to-be at Roosevelt High School in Seattle and this issue’s winner of the Duke’s Seafood Junior Golf Scholarship, knows exactly what she’s going to do with the award.
“It’ll go toward my first private lessons with Greg Kogura at Rainier Golf & Country Club,” she says.
Now 16, Colby has been playing at Rainier since she was seven, advancing through the club’s junior program which Kogura oversees.
“Over the years, I’ve gotten to know Colby and have been very impressed with her perseverance and dedication to improving her game,” Kogura says.
“Now that she’s moving on from the program, I’m happy that I’ll still have her help recruiting and mentoring the remaining junior golfers.”
A 3.7 GPA student who also plays club volleyball, Colby volunteered at last year’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship played at Sahalee CC, where she worked as a standard bearer and got to meet a number of the players’ coaches as well as the players themselves. Her favorite was Mexico’s Gaby Lopez, a three-time Tour winner who finished T14 at the event.
“I’m a big fan of hers,” says Colby. “She obviously takes her game seriously but also has a lot of fun. She was friendly and kind to everyone.”
Colby also has a lot of respect for the Golf Channel’s Paige Mackenzie, a UW Hall of Famer whom
Colby Roberge
“Paige spoke about the many professional opportuni ties in golf for females which was very inspiring,” she says.
It’s too early to tell if a career in golf is in Colby’s fu ture. For now, she’s just looking forward to the fall season at Roosevelt where Head Coach Max Rose is very pleased to have her on his team.
“She puts in a lot of work and it’s exciting to see the results,” Rose says. “Colby was our Rookie of the Year as a freshman and a great addition to the team with a flair for leadership and fun sense of humor.”
The Duke’s Junior Golfer Scholarship is a $500 scholarship awarded two times this year in Cascade Golfer to a deserving young player from the Puget Sound region. If you know of an area youth that loves golf and has a desire to take their career to the next level, submit your letter of inquiry for scholarship consideration to both tonydear71@comcast.net and stephens@varsitycommunications.com — subject “Duke’s Scholar.”
Mountain vista: High Cedars stays the course
PROPERTY
Orting Valley legend John Benedetti and his club are Rainier bedrock
After 25 years running the operations at High Cedars Golf Club in Orting, 81-year-old John Benedetti understands the intricacies of course management.
There are times when you take advantage of favorable conditions and go for the green. Then there are other times when you play it safe, just to stay in the game. At this point in time, when it comes to managing his course, Benedetti is trying to maintain even par.
“With what’s going on in the world today,” he said, “we’re just going to hunker down and take care of what we have.”
The game is enjoying a resurgence with full tee sheets and a new generation of folks picking up the game. But Benedetti is taking a cautious posture again. He sees potential dark clouds on the horizon.
“We’ll see how everybody responds to the economy,” said Benedetti, the course’s general manager for 25 years. “If everything shakes out and returns to some kind of normalcy, next year we’ll do a couple projects. Right now, we’ll take really good care of what we got.”
It is renowned for breathtaking views of Mt. Rainier and the Orting Valley for virtually the entire front nine on the 18-hole course. The 220acre property among the high cedars also features a nine-hole executive course.
Benedetti is not fully hunkered down. A year ago, he decided to fill a little-used 6,000-square foot banquet room with Trackman indoor golf simulators. Golfers can simulate travel around the world, playing on such prestigious courses as Muirfield Village, Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, and the Old Course at St. Andrews.
“It’s wonderful. We’re really happy with them,” he said. “We bought a third one. We’re going to get a fourth one this fall. People are responding to them. We’re happy and they are too.”
Benedetti said the course’s outdoor practice range, which he calls, “the eighth wonder of the world,” continues to be populated. It has 36 hitting bays, 18 under cover … all of them with that gorgeous view of the mountain.
A Bucket with GM • John Benedetti
Toughest Tee Shot 14th hole
I would imagine No. 14 (par-4, 360 yards back tees). It’s a short par 4 but surrounded by trees. You either play short and have an opening to the green or you can try to go over the top of the trees. It’s a risk/reward, that’s exactly what it is. It’s only 330 (yards from the gold tees) for most players, but it can be difficult.
Best Birdie Opportunity — 13th hole
No. 13 (par-3, 171 yards back tees). It’s a short par-3. The green is slanted toward the tee box. You can stick it right in there.
Best Par 3 8th hole
No. 8 (178 yards back tees). It’s an elevated tee box. Depending on the pin placement, it can be over water. It’s surrounded by sand traps. It’s a good hole.
Favorite Hole 18th hole
I like No. 18 (par 5, 539 yards back tees). You (big hitters) can reach in two. You usually have a birdie shot. It’s over water. We have a big fountain spray between the pond and the flag. Again, it’s a risk/reward hole. Nice hole. It fits my eye. Depending on where we have the hole that day, it can be pretty difficult. It’s a challenge.
Emergency Nine front or back?
Well, the back is a bit more challenging. For the front nine, you’re looking at Mt. Rainier the whole way, so it’s beautiful. It’s right there. It looks like you could walk to Mt. Rainier. But when we have the Senior (Champions) Tour in here for qualifying, they either win it or lose it on the back nine. It’s not long but you got to hit it straight. If you want beauty, I think the front nine is as beautiful as any golf course. But for whatever reason, the back nine is more difficult to score.
Go-To Lunch Item on the Clubhouse Menu
The clubhouse sandwich, by far the best in the world. Triple decker. It’s more than one person can eat. It’s beef, bacon, cheese, lettuce. It’s a big deal.
RISK vs. RE WARD
Setup
At 489 yards, No. 12 at Apple Tree gives you an opportunity to get one back. A small pond sits in front of the tee box leading to a wide fairway. If you can avoid the fruit trees left and bunker right, it is decision time. Two bunkers can gobble up a lazy layup shot left, while a bunker guards the front right of the green. The slightly elevated putting surface sits up at an angle, sloping back to front and begging for something coming in left to right.
Risk
If you are going to raise the stakes, you better have some gamble in you. Although the area around the green can look fairly benign, don’t let that fool you. Anything left of the green brings in a tree line and the bunker right is not ideal either. Awkward lies to a challenging green can quickly throw a wrench in your birdie plans.
Reward
The shortest par 5 at Apple Tree entices you to take a crack at getting home in two. A beautiful left to right approach can give you a look at an eagle, while even a decent miss should still give you a shot to get up and down. If you don’t flush it, short but straight can help pay the bills, too.
Final Call
If you pump a drive into the fairway, you’ve given yourself a starting hand worth seeing a flop with. Action is on you. Sure, you can’t lose much without pushing some chips into the middle, but you can’t win much either. Pull a head cover and let’s go win a monster pot. It’s birdie hunting season. Raise!
PRESENTED BY
IN THE BAG
PRODUCT REVIEWS
and equipment news you can use
BY TONY DEAR • CG EDITOR
Long days, pure shots and fresh gear to elevate summer
Summer’s here and we couldn’t be more excited. Early morning tee times and late evening strolls with a pencil bag and a few clubs are in the immediate future and we’re not sure there’s anything better (you could probably think of something — like a date with your significant other, a book that keeps you engrossed from start to finish, or a bacon sandwich perhaps, but go with us).
Whether you’re having stress-free, casual games with friends and family, or playing competitive rounds where your score actually matters with golfers you’ve not met before, you’ll be spending quality time doing what you love. And whether you’re at your home course or on a trip playing at places that are new to you, you can expect firm playing surfaces that always make the game more interesting and enjoyable.
Summer has traditionally been a relatively quiet time for equipment releases. The lion’s share of activity happens around the PGA Merchandise Show in late January and Fall when companies begin introducing new tech and updated gear. And while that will certainly remain the case for the foreseeable future, society’s buying habits do change over time (changes occur much quicker and more regularly nowadays, of course) which means we see some significant hardware releases at non-traditional times.
Ping, Callaway and Titleist are all making significant releases right now, while smaller brands are keeping the golf equipment business purring, too.
Puetz Golf has got it all, of course, so you can make it a particularly fruitful summer with some new gear that’s fitted just for you. Bring it on!
iDi Driving Iron
Thankfully, there are several alternatives to long-irons nowadays. Hybrids and high-lofted fairway woods are the choice of mid-high handicappers. More capable players who generate greater clubhead speed generally choose driving irons designed for those who prefer the iron shape over that of hybrids and lofted woods, and who need a club they feel confident of finding the fairway with every time or which enables them to get home on par-5s in two. The major equipment manufacturers have long/driving irons in their inventories for their stables of brand ambassadors. Ping has offered its iCrossover for a few years and recently launched a new long/driving iron – the iDi – which it describes as a “a big step forward in long-iron performance, giving better golfers the flexibility of three loft choices to fit their distance number and trajectory window.” Distance numbers and trajectory windows are the stuff of better golfers, but there’s so much good tech in the iDi, there might be a few 5-15 handicappers reading this who benefit from a change in this section of the bag. The deep, shallow head is made of 17-4 stainless steel (15 percent greater moment of inertia than iCrossover) while the thin, forged, maraging (hard, durable) steel face flexes more to increase ball speed and distance. The ‘2’ is a traditional driving iron, delivering low launch and spin. The ‘3’ delivers mid launch and mid spin, and the ‘4’ generates even more spin. The inR-Air air pocket inside the clubhead and i-Beam structure help to dampen sound and improve feel.
PUETZ GOLF PRICE
$267.99
PUETZ GOLF PRICE
IN THE BAG 3
$199.99 per club, $1,599.99 8-piece set
hile certain golf clubs typically benefit certain types of golfers, manufacturers have become very good at making higher handicappers’ clubs look more stylish and compact while creating better players’ clubs that are more forgiving than they once were. But while those better players’ clubs have gotten more forgiving, they’ve retained their shot making characteristics enabling golfers to control the flight and trajectory of their shots and hit fades/draws, helping them get to tucked pins. Ping’s Players clubs deviated from the company’s early game-improvement models (Eye 2, Zing, Rapture, Rhapsody, etc.) and the latest of them, the i240, ticks numerous boxes. The shape is “Tour-inspired”, and Ping says they provide “added forgiveness along with the control, look, and feel that will appeal to a wide range of skill levels.” This is the company’s highest-launching Players model, giving you more control and the ability to consistently hit your target yardages while stopping the ball close to the hole. The ABS badge in the cavity is 8.5 grams lighter than on previous models and, combined with an elastomer insert, allows for more perimeter-weighting increasing the MOI in the mid and long irons. This, says Ping, reduces shot dispersion by 11 percent. And, together, the badge and insert also create a more desirable sound. The grooves are spaced relatively far apart, which promotes more approach-shot spin, and the tungsten toe screw and shaft tip weights are used to fine tune swing-weight.
CALLAWAY Elyte Night Edition 3
PUETZ GOLF PRICE
$649.99
t’s one of those quirks of the business that, suddenly, limited edition clubs featuring unconventional designs that might appeal to somewhat limited audiences have become almost common. Callaway has been doing it for a while and recently launched the Elyte Sandstorm Driver featuring orangey/brown graphics to commemorate U.S. troops’ involvement in Middle Eastern deserts. That came after last year’s Paradym Ai Smoke Tactical driver which, like the Elyte Sandstorm and the Elyte Night Edition, was technically identical to the standard model. The Elyte was launched in January and came on the heels of several terrific Callaway drivers including the Paradym, Paradym Ai Smoke, Mavrik, Rogue, and Epic. The Elyte was conspicuous for its shaping — Callaway altered the hosel and rear sections to improve aerodynamics and help you generate more clubhead speed with no extra effort. The company used 3-D printing to create 75 prototypes before choosing the most effective model — a process, it says, that saved 5-6 years of testing. The Elyte is Callaway’s first driver to feature a Thermoforged Carbon Crown, which is so lightweight it enabled engineers to lower the Center of Gravity (CG) very low in the head — something that increases the club’s MOI and the launch angle. The Ai face has 25,000 control points — points on the face that Callaway can make thicker or thinner to keep ball flight consistent and tighten your dispersion pattern. The result of all this is one fast, forgiving, and consistent driver.
CALLAWAY CB12 Wedges 4
PUETZ GOLF PRICE
$179.99
A4
fter Ping’s Eye 2 wedge of the 1980s, and Tommy Armour’s 845 and Callaway’s S2H2 of the early 1990s, the cavity-backed wedge went silent for a while. It made a return eight years ago, however, when Cleveland launched its CBX wedge after which the company released the CBX2 and CBX ZipCore. Callaway entered the fray with the Mack Daddy CB in 2021, and Ping, PXG, TaylorMade, Cobra, and Mizuno are all now in the game. The thinking is that if you require the high MOI of cavity-backed irons, why wouldn’t you also play a wedge with a cavity? Yes, the shots you play with a wedge are shorter, and your swing more compact, so you’ll be closer to the sweet spot more often. But you’ll still miss it, so extra forgiveness will always help. And besides the cavity which boosts the club’s MOI, cavity-backed wedges feature a few other technologies that help the higher-handicapper get closer to the flag. It’s well-known that if you prefer to play square-faced shots around the greens rather than opening or closing the clubface, a cavity-back/game-improvement wedge design is probably a better option. And clubmakers also tend to alter the sole of the club, making it wider and giving it more bounce to make it easier to get the ball out of sand and other trouble spots. The sole of Callaway’s CB12 is designed to make you more consistent around the greens, and 12 grams of perimeter-weighting makes it extremely forgiving.
IN THE BAG
CALLAWAY
APEX Ai 150 Irons 5
PUETZ GOLF PRICE
$228.57 per club $1,599.99 7-piece set
The print ad for Callaway’s new APEX Ai-150 iron uses a simple image of a flag surrounded by several golf balls all in very close proximity to each other and the hole. The words “Get fitted. Make a statement” appear underneath, and the message is clear — this club will help you create a very tight dispersion pattern and finish close to the hole. Underneath the computer-generated image and those five words is a photograph of the Ai-150 — a very attractive club that’s clearly meant for better players. The word “Forged” is stamped at the heel end and seems almost unnecessary as it’s an APEX blade/muscle back — of course it’s forged. There isn’t much offset here, the topline is relatively thin, and the head is made using 1025 soft carbon-steel. It’s also hollow to allow the face to flex (giving your ball speed a little boost) and produce a distinctive sound. The face of the 3-7 irons is made of 455 steel while the 8-PW is 17-4 steel. The Ai10x face — also found on the company’s Elyte drivers — delivers 10 times as many control points as the Ai Smart Face — an incredible number of places on the clubface whose thickness Callaway can manipulate to ensure ball speeds remain consistent wherever contact is made. While the lines between the various APEX irons are somewhat blurred (choosing which is right for you requires an expert fitting — something else Puetz can provide), the Ai-150 is obviously for sticks who really can golf their ball. These are expected to fly off the shelves. We encourage you to set a fitting session this month.
U 6CALLAWAY
APEX Ai200/Ai300 Copper Irons 6
PUETZ GOLF PRICE
$1,749.99 7-piece set
nless you’re new to golf and require a club that eschews style-enhancing features in favor of game-improvement technology, then you probably look for a combination of good looks and useful tech when choosing a set of irons. If tech means as little to you as looks do to the beginner, however, and you purchase clubs based on looks alone, then you would surely opt for any of the copper-finish irons that have been released in recent years. We’re not even sure you have to like the color of copper particularly to appreciate the beauty of these clubs. You might associate it with rust, discoloration, tarnishing, corrosion, or staining. But it makes a golf club look refined, stately, classic, sophisticated, vintage, and deeply, deeply attractive…no? Clubs with a black finish are, likewise, smooth and stylish. But is it just us that thinks even they are not quite as appealing as copperfinish clubs? We’re smitten, clearly. Callaway has done the decent thing and given two of its APEX irons — Ai200 and Ai300 — a brushed-copper profile. And because they are part of Callaway’s impressive line of players-distance APEX clubs (the Apex began life as a Ben Hogan club, of course) there’s plenty of tech, too. The hollow-body and forged 455 Steel face give Tour-quality feel and sound. And that face (‘Ai Smart Face’) gives AI-driven consistency, meaning tighter dispersion patterns. The Ai200 has a slightly more compact clubhead than the Ai300 and more traditional lofts (though often only one degree apart).
TITLEIST T Series Irons 7
PUETZ GOLF PRICE
$215.99 per club
Golf clubs come in families these days or, in the case of Titleist’s new irons, series. The technology is the same throughout the line, but each model is tweaked to suit a certain golfer. It might be slightly larger than the standard model, the sole might be narrower, or it might possess a different amount of internal weighting. Importantly, each model has similar DNA and resembles the others strongly — important if you want to combine clubs from one set with another. The T Series irons (T100 — “The Modern Tour Iron”; T150 — “The Faster Player’s Iron”; T250 — “The Redefined Player’s Distance Iron”; T250 Launch Spec — “The High-Launch Player’s Distance Iron“; T250•U — “The Player’s Distance Utility Iron“; and T350 — “The Ultimate Game Improvement Iron“) all feature what Titleist calls ‘Max Impact Technology.’ It’s described as “a striking innovation that extends optimal speed across the entire face, designed to improve distance on every swing while preserving superior sound and feel with a unique polymer core.” Dense D18 tungsten is strategically distributed to make the clubs more stable, optimize CG, and produce satisfying sound. The sole of T Series irons offers more toe relief, and a smooth trailing edge designed to give exceptional turf interaction in varying conditions. A ‘muscle channel’ locates the CG precisely, making long irons easier to launch. Aggressive grooves in the short-irons promote consistent spin and distance control, and the forged face features a V-taper design in the T250, and a multi-zone taper in T350 to improve full-face performance.
13 Sets & Royal Edition 6 Women’s 8
PUETZ GOLF PRICE
$3,199.99 and $5,299.99
You know from previous issues three indisputable things about XXIO clubs. First, their names correspond to the order in which they were released. Second, they’re extremely lightweight, and designed predominantly for seasoned golfers who are losing a little clubhead speed and thinking of moving forward a set of tees. And third, they are not inexpensive. The company also typically offers its clubs in complete sets — like the XXIO 13 Ladies Complete Set which consists of a 12.5-degree driver; 3, 5, and 7 fairway woods; a 6 hybrid; 7-9 irons; pitching and sand wedges; five headcovers; and a cart bag. The woods feature all XXIO’s familiar technologies, including ACTIVWING, an airfoil positioned at the heel-end of the club to stabilize the clubhead and harness aerodynamics in the dowsing. Also, the BI-FLEX FACE elongates the toe and narrows the heel to adjust the stiffness of the clubhead’s edges and expand the face’s high-COR area (meaning it flexes more). The REBOUND FRAME also enhances the club’s COR and WEIGHT PLUS puts weight in the butt-end of the club to promote a smooth transition and better tempo. The four-piece construction works together with Rebound Frame to produce an effortless, high launch, and the high-strength titanium faces, together with a high-density, tungsten-nickel, toe weight optimizes the CG. Progressive face thickness optimizes speed and launch for each loft. XXIO says the Royal Edition Women’s 6 are the “ultimate in moderate swing speed performance for seasoned players” with advanced technologies.
SUNDAY GOLF Big Rig Cart Bag 9
PUETZ GOLF PRICE $279.99
SUNDAY GOLF Ryder Stand Bag 10
PUETZ GOLF PRICE $239.99
S S
an Diego-based Sunday Golf, founded in 2020, began life small when Irish-born, Gonzaga graduate Ronan Galvin returned from China where he’d worked in golf bag development. He began making small, lightweight, pencil bags good for a few irons and a couple of balls and ideal for loops round the famous par-3 Loma Club, a mile from the city’s airport and where the less-than-devoted golfer got back into the game. The Loma was one of the company’s first products and, unlike other pencil bags, featured collapsible legs — great for the golfer who doesn’t want to carry much or bend down to pick it up. A quick look at the company’s website (sundaygolf.com) suggests business picked up quickly for Sunday Golf, as the company now offers numerous styles of cart bag, regular-size stand bags, coolers, beer sleeves, hats, towels, headcovers, tees, groove sharpeners, pouches, golf bag patches, belt and sling bags, rain hoods, and golf bag wall hooks, as well as the original pencil (Par 3) bags. The company’s popular Big Rig cart bag features 14 full-length club dividers with an Anti-Catch Putter Slot, a comfortable single carry strap, 12 storage compartments including a seven-can cooler pocket, velour-lined valuables pocket, frosty pocket, a smell-proof organizer pocket, a magnetic rangefinder pocket, two Velcro glove holders, interior tee and ball marker compartments, a built-in carry system, utility towel ropes, a Duraflex Stand System and rain-hood. The Big Rig comes in eight colorways, weigh seven pounds, and its dimensions are 36 inches tall by 15 inches wide
Sunday Golf introduced its Ryder Stand Bag in 2023, thus becoming a fully-fledged golf bag company rather than a casual concern making bags for occasional golfers whose course time was limited to a lazy couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon. Regardless of how little action those early pencil bags saw though, they were particularly well-made from quality materials and attracted a lot of five-star reviews. And it was the same with the Ryder Stand Bag, which soon won a devoted following of golfers saying it was the equal of any stand bag they had owned before. It weighs just 4.9 pounds and has a padded double-strap that makes walking and carrying as easy as possible. The flat base makes it function as a cart bag, too, and it has a five-way full-length divider able to handle 14 clubs. There’s an insulated frosty pocket, a smell-proof pocket, a velour-lined valuables pocket, a large ball pocket, and all the pockets have high-tech, water-resistant zippers. It has a Velcro glove-holder, a tee holder, a rain-hood and a sturdy, full-size, Dura-Flex stand system. It stands 34.5 inches tall and is 6.5 inches wide. The divider dimensions are 10 inches by 7 inches. There are 20 colors/styles — Burnt Orange, Grellow (green and yellow), Toasted Almond, Black, Mossy Oak Bottomland Camo, Mossy Oak Country DNA Camo, Matte Black, Heather Gray, Coral, Navy Blue, Black and Yellow, Cream Vegan Leather, Dusty Pink Vegan Leather, Olive Vegan Leather, Navy Vegan Leather; Black Vegan Leather, White Vegan Leather, Midnight Green, Blackjack and Mindy Lemon.
Justin Cox
Beverage Director of the Yes Parade Restaurant Group
More On Tully
Tullamore D.E.W. is the original triple blend Irish whiskey known the world over for its smooth and gentle complexity. This whiskey, made in Ireland, is the perfect balance of both fruit and spice. A blend of three spirits, you won’t find another whiskey like Tullamore D.E.W.
DISTINCTIVE TASTE
Three spirits blend together to give a balance of flavor like no other. Grain whiskey gives sweet flavors. Malt whiskey gives fruit flavors. And pot still whiskey gives spice flavors. This final product makes Tully stand alone.
CASK FINISH
The complex yet approachable flavors in the whiskey are derived from three types of grain, triple distillation and the blend of all three Irish whiskeys.
HOW IT’S MADE
Triple cask-matured for depth and balance. Over a period of several years, Tullamore D.E.W. Original is aged in traditional refill barrels, ex-bourbon barrels and ex-sherry butts.
19TH HOLE
Late Summer Libation
The Sand Trap
“You can get lost in them”
BY BART POTTER • CG STAFF WRITER
Smooth like a cold Irish coffee, but better
Justin Cox supposes he could make this issue’s featured 19th Hole cocktail with any old Irish whiskey. But without Tullamore D.E.W. Irish, it wouldn’t be the same.
It wouldn’t be The Sand Trap.
Cox, 41, is beverage director of the Yes Parade Restaurant Group, which includes the Rhein Haus in Seattle’s Capitol Hill, located at 912 12th Ave.
The Sand Trap is a golf cocktail Cox created when Yes Parade had a bar called Stadium Golf (now closed) in Tacoma. Cox’s ingredients for The Sand Trap include house made beer syrup, espresso cold shots and coconut rum.
But Tullamore D.E.W. is the base — and the heart and soul — of The Sand Trap, which is on the Rhein Haus cocktail active list this summer.
“When you’re working with flavors like coconut and coffee,” Cox says, “you’ve got to have something in there that tells you, like, this is an Irish whiskey.”
What he loves about Irish whiskey in general is the predominant flavor of the barley. It’s just softer, he says. As for Irish whiskey in particular, it’s Tully.
“It brings a lot more, you know, just a lot more dimensional notes,” Cox says. “It has a little bit more character. It does such a wonderful job of working together. I mean,
At Home Bar Mixology
The Sand Trap
By Justin Cox • Yes Parade Restaurant Group Seattle
INGREDIENTS
• 1 oz. Tullamore
D.E.W.
Irish Whiskey
• .5 oz. Dark Persuasion beer syrup
• .5 oz. Planteray Cut & Dry
• 1 oz. Caffe Vita cold shot
INSTRUCTIONS
• Shake ingredients with fresh ice
• Strain into a Nick and Nora glass or equivalent.
• Top with maple syrup cold foam.
• Sprinkle shaved nutmeg on top.
• Sip and enjoy responsibly.
that’s kind of the beauty of Irish whiskey.”
Tullamore D.E.W. is part of the family of spirits marketed worldwide by William Grant & Sons Global Brands Ltd. The company’s single biggest account for Tullamore is the legendary Buena Vista bar in San Francisco, which Cox makes a point of visiting when he’s there so he can watch the rock-star bartenders turn out thousands of Irish coffees — made, of course, with Tullamore.
For The Sand Trap, which is a little like a cold Irish coffee, Cox taps into one of his favorite breweries, Icicle, in Leavenworth, Wash., and its German Chocolate Porter and reduces it into a bitter chocolate beer syrup.
He picks up cold shots of pressurized extracted espresso at the Caffe Vita on nearby Pike Street.
Planteray Cut & Dry coconut-infused rum lends its own character to the mixture, which is shaken with fresh ice and strained into a Nick and Nora glass. The last touch is a light layer of creamy cold foam flavored with real maple syrup, with a sprinkle of nutmeg on top.
“So it’s kind of like an Irish coffee, but drinks kind of like an espresso martini,” Cox says. “You have all the flavors, a little bit of tropicalness, and you’ve got great whiskey.”
Like real golf-course bunkers, Sand Traps can be hazardous. Cox says, “You can get lost in them.”
Salish Cliffs Golf Club
WASH NG TON’S
A fan-driven, fantastical course built from THE STATE’S BEST HOLES
BY TONY DEAR, SIMON DUBIEL, BART POTTER & BOB SHERWIN • CASCADE GOLFER STAFF
We think the reality of golf in Washington is pretty good. But what if we could somehow take the best holes from certain courses and combine them into one awesome, stupendous, make-believe Shangri-La – a fantasy layout that is literally incredible, the course of every Washington golfer’s dreams?
A couple of months ago, we asked you to nominate your favorite holes in the state so we could create a Dream 18, and boy is the resulting course something special.
We expected a handful of places to dominate the voting but didn’t want our Elysian Field to consist of nine holes from Chambers Bay and nine from Gamble Sands, or six from Chambers, six from Gamble, three from Wine Valley, and three from Salish Cliffs, and so on. We wanted to highlight the diversity, beauty, and excellence of more courses
than that. But while the aforementioned venues certainly showed up a lot, we needn’t have worried as an incredible 14 courses contributed to the final 18.
Our (well, your) utopia measures 6,829 yards from the back tees and plays to a par of 72 with five par-5s, eight par-4s, and five par-3s. Okay, three of the short holes come one after another and two of the par-5s play back-to-back but, other than that, it’s a conventional layout. Though, not really. It’s not conventional at all, in fact. It’s unimaginable, inconceivable, almost too far-fetched. And when you see the second Dream 18, you’ll fully appreciate the quality of the golf around us.
Chambers Bay
Gold Mountian Olympic
NO. Salish Cliffs
Par 5 • 532 yards
Your drive needs to be clear of a wide wing-span tree on the right side to see the hole on your second shot. Yet too far left and you’ll get caught in a deep rough or a deeper bunker. Your approach is downhill with a little trouble left (bunker) around the green but it’s a reachable and a scorable par-5, a nice way to start.
NO. The Home Course
Par 3 • 217 yards
It seems docile and straight forward. Just hit your drive straight, around 180 yards, and you’re in birdie range. But short straight puts you into a high-walled pot bunker. Short left into the false front and you may tumble into the high rough or water hazard. Push it left deep onto the banked green and the slope might take it 30 feet off. There’s also a prominent spine dividing the green in half. Choose wisely.
NO. Washington National
Par 4 • 320 yards
It’s short and reachable, serving only to tempt and terrorize. Long hitters can prosper here, if straight. Avoid the OB left and water all along the right. For the average hitter, it’s best to keep your drive down the left side, landing in a level fairway area between bunkers. Then your wedge play will determine your fate.
NO. Gamble Sands
Par 4 • 301 yards
This is Gamble’s most iconic hole and may be the signature symbol for all Eastern Washington golf. It’s a magnificent view, on a high platform tee overlooking the Columbia River, mountains and fertile pastures beyond. The average golfer can reach the downhill green, but you’ll need to negotiate a sizable bunker prominently along the pathway.
NO. Wine Valley
Par 4 • 515 yards
It’s a fairly wide-open tee shot but the right-to-left fairway slope can slide you into the waste area along the left side. The waste area then cuts in front and along the green’s right side, so you must deal with it at least twice, perhaps three times. A huge green slants opposite the fairway, leftto-right. Take care on your approach because it could trickle down — once again — into the right-side wash.
NO. Chambers Bay
Par 5 • 557 yards
A slice, common to most (right-hand) golfers, can be an issue here, even arrow-straight shots. The fairway slopes significantly left to right so that every shot is susceptible to wander to the right edge, sometimes over it to a waste area. Pin placement is critical on approaches to a spacious green. Forward-pin positions sit amid undulating mounds while a backstop can benefit back-pin positions.
NO. Palouse Ridge
Par 4 • 484 yards
Your drive will fall into a sweeping right-to-left fairway, a delicate shot that sets up any possible success. Try to stay right, as the slope might roll your ball into the left-side hay. There’s a high-bank trouble trap on the right ridge to be avoided. A slope to the green’s right side will funnel approach shots toward the middle. Stay away from the left.
NO. Gold Mountain • Olympic
Par 5 • 562 yards
Blind shot to start. You can’t see the green from the tee, hidden by a hill about 120 yards away. There’s plenty of downhill landing area once over the hill but avoid the left side because of impenetrable woods all the way down, thick rough and five bunkers on your approach to the green. Right side has less trouble. Middle is always optimal.
NO.
Highlander
Par 3 • 163 yards
This par-3 is popular because it is among the most scenic in the state. The tee and smallish green are both on plateaus, with a deep no-retrieval canyon in between. Beyond the hole are rugged mountains guarding the Columbia River below. Once you focus on your shot, there are no layups short, left or beyond. Some bailout space right but that won’t get you close. It’s all (carry) or nothing.
NO. Suncadia Prospector
Par 4 • 411 yards
Trouble, trouble, trouble on No. 10 at Prospector – midway left, right of the green, and immediately behind it. That’s if you remember to hit the ball, transfixed as you might be standing on the tee, more than 100 feet above the green, by the dense forest and rugged mountains as backdrop.
NO. Gamble Sands
Par 5 • 562 yards
If you can catch your breath after playing Gamble’s first 12 holes, you might lose it once again when you get here, with another birdie opportunity on the horizon but the lurking danger near the green. It’s as cool as the hole is long. It’s Gamble.
NO. Gold Mountain • Olympic
Par 3 • 189 yards
The easiest hole by handicap on the Olympic Course might be the easiest on the eyes, too, but who isn’t intimidated by the need to carry your tee ball over the big water in front to reach the bean-shaped green? And if you do, will it stay there?
NO. Harbour Pointe
Par 4 • 395 yards
No. 11 is not the most difficult hole at Harbour Pointe in Mukilteo (handicap 14), but it might be the most visually arresting, with Puget Sound and Whidbey Island looming in the near distance when you’re there and lingering in your mind once you’ve left it.
NO. Bear Mountain
Par 5 • 586 yards
Your tee ball here launches 100 feet above the distant green, but before that take a moment to look around. An approach from the left side is the best route home … and the wind is likely waiting to mess up all your best-laid plans.
NO. Apple Tree
Par 3 • 180 yards
This golf hole needs no introduction, and it’s in the Dream 18 because, well, of course it is. The apple green is 10,000 square feet, so you can’t miss it. Take aim, get some air under your ball, and land it in the middle of the island. You’ll go home happy to the core.
NO.
Chambers Bay
Par 4 • 281 yards
They call it The Narrows, and in fact this uphill, drivable par 4 is the skinniest fairway on the course and the very definition of risk/reward. Lay up short for relative safety or challenge the blowout bunker left-center in front of the green if you’re feeling cocky.
NO. Chambers Bay
Par 3 • 139 yards
Lone Fir is a signature hole if there ever was one. Stand on the tee and admire the view for a few moments, and then take aim at the green, 172 yards and far below, toward the Lone Fir Tree, the only tree on the course.
NO. White Horse
Par 4 • 435 yards
This difficult closing hole at White Horse doesn’t look like anybody’s idea of fun, but don’t tell that to the golfers who voted it into the Dream 18. A very large and very pretty pond on the left runs the entire length of a very narrow fairway. Have fun with it.
Bear Mountain • No. 3
PART DEUX
Another view of great holes we stitched together to craft this fantasy course for your consideration
NO.
Creek At Qualchan • Par 4
The stunning elevated opening tee shot takes you off a cliff edge and over a creek to the fairway 100 feet below.
NO. Druids Glen • Par 5
An early par 5 that allows you the chance to get home in two, if you have the fire power to cover the pond that guards the front.
NO. Bear Mountain • Par 3
The Lake Chelan backdrop for this exhilarating par 3 is a looker.
NO. Washington National • Par 5
Great bunkering showcases this long par 5.
NO. Suncadia Prospector • Par4
The entire hole half moons around a pond, making it nerve wracking every step of the way. The few, the brave and the strong may try to take a straight line off the tee at the green.
NO. Gamble Sands • Par 3
This long par 3 plays shorter than the scorecard. A very generous hill on the right is available to play your shot into and then wait for the slope to take it down to the green.
NO. The Home Course • Par 4
It is beautiful but demands a well struck approach over the water.
NO. Salish Cliffs • Par 5
This dogleg left is one of the great three-shot par 5s in the state. Par is a good score here.
NO. Chambers Bay • Par 3
Perched high above the green, your tee shot seems to hang forever as it falls against the background of the Puget Sound. One of the best views a tee box offers in Washington.
NO. Chambers Bay • Par 4
“High Dunes” is right there with Prospector as the best 10th hole in the state. The dunes on each side frame the hole perfectly.
NO. Avalon South • Par 4
The second hole on the South course requires two good shots to reach yet another one of Avalon’s fantastic greens. The view from the back looks down into the valley. It is a good spot.
NO. Battle Creek • Par 3
Welcome to ‘The Rock’. This middle/long par 3 carries a ravine with a massive boulder in front of the green. One of the more intimidating tee shots in the state.
NO. Camaloch • Par 5
A downhill approach highlights this fun hole. A good tee ball puts almost everyone in the ‘go zone.’
NO. Gamble Sands • Par 4
This double fairway is split by several bunkers, making it one of the more diabolical tee shots on property.
NO. Palouse Ridge • Par 4
A short par 4 with three gnarly bunkers leading from the landing zone up to the green.
NO. Auburn • Par 3
The signature hole at Auburn, gorgeous and challenging. The line and carry over the water demand a commitment.
NO. Echo Falls • Par 4
Beautiful and a test. A difficult tee shot is followed by an even tougher approach, with water down the entire right side.
NO. Salish Cliffs • Par 5
Out of the shoot followed by a risk/reward second shot over water, targeting a huge double green that is shared with the ninth hole. One of the best holes in Washington.
Gamble Sands • No. 14
Battle Creek • No. 12
Chambers Bay • No. 10
The Home Course • No. 7
NO.
Notable holes on great courses that deserve a nod all over The Evergreen State
The downhill opening tee shot at Shuksan is a popular hole at this underrated layout. Wine Valley’s opener plays downhill into the first of its many unique green structures. Newcastle Coal Creek opener is a three-shot par 5 with gorgeous views.
MOST HOLES NOMINATED: Chambers Bay (1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 18)
NO.
NO.
The short par-4 second holes at Salish Cliffs and Port Ludlow give you some options off the tee to try to make a birdie.
Druids Glen has perhaps the best set of par 3s in the state, with No. 3 leading the way. The first par 5 at White Horse doglegs left toward the perched up green.
NO. The view for Chambers Bay 5th tee shot never gets old.
NO.
Both Wine Valley and Trophy Lake’s reachable par 5s are not only fantastic, but a total gas to play. The par-3 7th at Bear Mountain is quite the looker.
The downhill approach on the par-5 9th at Gold Mountain’s Olympic Course is stunning. The same can be said for Apple Tree and Suncadia Prospector’s par 4s, with water very much in play as well.
Suncadia Rope Rider’s dogleg right is a great risk vs. reward par 5, with the tee shot sitting below Swiftwater Cellars. Desert Canyon’s opener to the back nine is a fun downhill par 5 and a popular nomination as well.
NO. The split fairway par 5 at Loomis Trail gives you a shot to pick up a stroke.
NO. The view from the tee box at West Seattle’s par-5, 12th is one of the great shots in our state.
NO.
NO.
NO.
NO.
The Classic’s old No. 4 is a lovely long par 3.
Desert Canyon’s par 5 is as beautiful as it is long and challenging. Legion Memorial’s signature 15th is dynamite. The short par 4 at Gold Mountain’s Olympic course is a favorite as well.
The fantastic dogleg left par 4 at Salish Cliffs gives the bombers a shot to cut the corner. Gamble Sands’ long par 3 asks you to hit a shot into a bowl surrounding a massive twotiered sloping green.
The 17th at Washington National demands excellence. Port Ludlow’s downhill par-3 17th is a treat to play. Newcastle Coal Creek’s penultimate hole has an unmatched view.
Washington has so many great finishing holes. Gold Mountain’s drivable par 4, Echo Falls island green par 3 and the par 5s at Wine Valley, Chambers Bay, Suncadia Prospector, Trophy Lake and Apple Tree are several of the amazing home holes in our state.
MOST NOMINATED HOLE:
The second at Gamble Sands was a runaway winner and is perhaps the most popular hole in Washington.
Gamble Sands was a close second with NINE HOLES NOMINATED: (2, 5, 6, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18)
NUMBER OF PAR 5s AND PAR 3s IN THE DREAM 18. Everyone wants more cracks at an eagle or hole-in-one.
NO.
Echo Falls • No. 17
Auburn • No. 16
Palouse Ridge • No. 15
Salish Cliffs • No. 18
Scarecrow
bold new course delivers thrills, beauty and a touch of danger Gamble Sands’
NBY TONY DEAR • CG EDITOR
o matter how much you’ve read about it already, regardless of how many photographs you’ve seen, and irrespective of how often you’ve looked across at the site when arriving at Gamble Sands for a round on the Gamble Sands Course, nothing can fully prepare you for what you’re about to experience on Scarecrow, the resort’s new 18-holer that opens on Aug. 1.
Because you’ve played Gamble Sands, you’ll know where you are. The new course’s DNA is very similar to that of its much-loved older sibling — generous landing areas mean it’s playable for everybody — but there are holes on Scarecrow, several in fact, that you’re going to have to play a few times to fully appreciate.
Scarecrow
Hole No. 2 • Par 3
Hole No. 9 • Par 3
Hole No. 15 • Par 5
Gamble Sands Scarecrow
On your first go round, you’ll certainly enjoy their obvious beauty, and on the second trip you’ll begin to get an idea of the details — the contours, ridges, hollows, and speed slots you might have missed on your first loop, but which make Scarecrow that rare, but revered, type of golf course. It’s one that high handicappers will fondly remember and be able to complete without losing any golf balls (well, maybe a couple) but one which scratch players will need to respect if they are to have any chance of matching the par of 71.
We’re loathe to sing its praises too loudly because we know it’s human nature to downplay the jubilant promoter, the exuberant supporter’s enthusiasm (we always wonder what the person who shrugs their shoulders and says “meh” knows that we don’t). But you try playing Scarecrow without coming off the 18th green and immediately wanting to take it on again. Stifle your “wow” and “OMG” if you must but see if you can make it home without saying to no one in particular that you just played an incredible golf course.
Scarecrow will always be known as a David McLay Kidd design. It’s his name over the door and, as the founder and principal of the firm that created it, everything must go through him. But it was his design partner, Nick Schaan, who labored over the routing, features, and particulars the most. It was he who was there day-to-day ensuring everything was in its proper place. Schaan joined Kidd’s company in 2006 and was made a partner in 2015 — shortly before he and his boss began routing Gamble’s second 18.
The Gebbers family, which owns Gamble Sands, decided to double down for good reason: the Gamble Sands Course had been open for a couple of years and spurred on by its success and the knowledge that for a golf resort to fully realize its potential and command greater attention, it needed at least 36 holes.
And there was so much great golf land still available on the property. Golfers who made the long journey up the approach road to the clubhouse in the resort’s early days always knew there was plenty of land for another course to the north of the original. But the general feeling was it didn’t look quite as dramatic or as conducive to great golf as the site for the Gamble Sands course. So, it was a pleasant surprise in 2017 and 2018 when reports began emerging that Kidd considered it the equal of that first plot, if not better.
Still, a modicum of doubt remained, and it was only after Covid that journalists and visitors lucky enough to get a tour realized Kidd had been speaking the truth, that there might indeed be sufficient interest in the land for the second course to rival its predecessor.
Schaan says that, although Scarecrow’s general routing remained much the same between 2016 and now, several of the holes saw modifications or had their par changed. That’s bound to happen on any site, even one where so many holes and features identify themselves early.
Hole No. 10
Hole No. 2 • Par 3
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“The site for the 2nd green was obvious,” Schaan says. “But originally it was at the end of an opening par 5 that we ultimately rejected because there were so much good movement and so many interesting slopes to fit into just one hole.”
The stretch between the 9th and 12th was quickly apparent, too, says Schaan, and the incredible par-3 16th was a cornerstone that was among the first holes to be built.
“And we knew we wanted the hole before the 16th to be a long hole on the ridge skirting the canyon to the right,” says Schaan. “There was another terrific green site on the high ground close to the 15th tee and, working back up the hill the 14th fairway became obvious, too.”
The two holes swapped pars, however.
“When we worked through 14, it just didn’t work in the field as it did on paper,” says Schaan.
However, the pars worked out, 14 and 15 will be two of the holes you remember the longest. So interesting and full of options are they, you will surely have decided the route you’ll be taking to the cup the next time you’re here by the time you’ve completed your initial incursion.
Like the 1st, the home hole started out as a par 5 but Tory Wulf, the project manager and part of the Gebbers family, stood in the bowl that now forms the 17th green and announced it was too good not to use, so the plans changed again.
“We really wanted a short par-4 down the finishing stretch,” says Schaan. “The canyon edge was difficult to incorporate but, by making the 18th an almost drivable par 4, we found what we think is going to be a very exciting finish to the round.”
Discussion over which of the two courses at Gamble Sands is better will continue long into the night and probably beyond.
Schaan says the biggest differences are the greens and what he calls “living on the edge.”
“The total square footage of the greens is about 60 percent of the Gamble Sands Course,” he says. “But they’re more contoured with more defined hole locations which makes placement of the tee shot a bit more important.”
Just as with the Sands layout, there are ‘friendly’ contours around Scarecrow’s greens. But these are smaller and take a bit more finding, says Schaan.
As for living on the edge, a number of fairways and greens get perilously close to canyon edges which, says Schaan, makes Scarecrow a touch more dangerous, tempting you to be heroic.
How close you go is entirely up to you; the closer you get, the more advantage you’ll gain. That’s classic golf design strategy and when you combine it with a setting as unforgettable as that at Gamble Sands, the result is very special.
Be sure to tell us which of the two courses you prefer. We’re sure recency-bias will give Scarecrow the lead for a while, but we’ll never lose sight of how good the Gamble Sands Course is and, right now, we can’t make up our minds.
Oh well, we’ll just have to play each course dozens more times before deciding.
Hole No. 14 • Par 4
Red Rock Rendezvous
TBY TONY DEAR • CG EDITOR
here are numerous walks, panoramas, and moments in golf that seem to transcend a silly stick and ball game. You get the feeling the Creator meant them for more than an idle pastime in which some of us indulge and ultimately become obsessed with.
We’re not complaining, of course. As some of those obsessed golfers, we get to experience places like the 7th at Pebble Beach or 4th at Banff Springs. And if you need to buy a set of golf clubs, a bag, a few balls, a green fee, and a seat on a cart to see the 12th at Sand Hollow in southern Utah, then so be it.
Sand Hollow • Championship Course
Whether it’s your maiden voyage or ninth trip around Sand Hollow, you’ll need a moment or two to collect yourself before pulling the driver from your bag and teeing your ball up.
You might get your first view of this extraordinary hole from the green at the 11th, a superb par 3 with a steep runoff to the right and a massive bunker lying in wait for anything slightly under hit. You’ll be forgiven for not immediately recognizing how good a hole the 11th is, though. It might not be until much later in the day when you’re sitting down to a cold drink and sandwich at the Grille, in fact, before you can appreciate its quality.
That’s because by the time you reach the green at 11, all you’re really thinking about is 12. Whether it’s your maiden voyage or ninth trip around Sand Hollow, you’ll need a moment or two to collect yourself before pulling the driver from your bag and teeing your ball up. The emerald fairway at this 443-yard hole stretches out in front of you, rising steadily to the green. On the right, red sandstone cliffs frame the hole, on the left a 100-foot sheer drop and then a wide valley extending north and west towards the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area and Signal Peak.
It is breathtaking, awe-inspiring and, perhaps, a little overwhelming. You leave the green thinking that is surely all the natural splendor any golf course should reasonably be allowed … and then you play the 13th, a short par 4 with the same cliffs and valley, and which can be driven with a well-struck drive.
The 14th slants northeast away from the valley and is another great hole without causing quite the same level of head shaking and double taking as the two before it, and you assume the drama is over. And then you play the 15th.
This 230-yard par 3 begins on a tee surrounded by red rocks and travels over a chasm to a diagonally oriented green with bunkers short and long. It’s another mesmerizing hole where you’ll take more photographic shots than golf shots (hopefully), and which you’ll be talking about all the way back to Seattle.
Forgive us for taking up half a feature about a 14-course destination with a review of just four holes. You do get carried away thinking about them and, once you see them for yourself, you’ll understand the hype. But you mustn’t ignore what else this amazing place has to offer.
Actually, there’s no fear of that happening because Sand Hollow isn’t even the first course most people think of now when the conversation moves to the possibility of taking a St. George/Greater Zion golf trip.
Entrada at Snow Canyon • St. George, Utah
Black Desert Resort • Ivins, Utah
Copper Rock • Hurricane, Utah
Coral Canyon • Washington, Utah
Greater Zion Golf Courses
• Black Desert Resort
• Copper Rock
• Coral Canyon
• Entrada
• Green Spring
• Sand Hollow
• Sky Mountain
• Southgate
• St. George
• SunRiver
• Sunbrook
• The Ledges
A city of about 95,000 people on the northeastern most part of the Mojave Desert and the county seat of Washington County, St. George began the 21st century with a handful of really good public golf courses. Since Sand Hollow opened in 2008, and especially over the last five years, however, it has really turned up the heat, going from a golf trip worthy of consideration to a must-visit. Yes, must-visit. It will probably never reach a Bandon Dunes or Monterey Peninsula level of ‘must’, but its credentials are now very strong.
In 2020, the excellent Dale Beddo-designed Copper Rock opened about five miles east of Sand Hollow on similarly sandy, rocky, arid ground that has hosted the Epson Tour since 2021. A couple of years after Copper Rock opened, the 26-year-old, Johnny Miller-designed Entrada at Snow Canyon reopened following a redesign by David McLay Kidd (stay and play as a guest of the Inn at Entrada) that turned a once demanding and fairly one-dimensional test into a far more enjoyable challenge. Its memorable holes come midway through the back nine as the routing enters the southeast corner of the same black lava field that gives what is now the area’s best-known course its most recognizable feature.
Since the Tom Weiskopf-designed Black Desert (part of the $1 Billion Black Desert Resort) opened in 2023, it has hosted both the PGA and LPGA Tours and fastearned a reputation for being an extremely enjoyable, as well as extremely attractive, course. With lush green fairways winding between the black lava rocks and
Sand Hollow • Championship
Entrada at Snow Canyon
Sunbrook Golf Course • St. George, Utah
Black Desert Resort • Ivins, Utah
Zion Greater
huge white sand bunkers, and with the red mountains looming in the background, the overall effect is both eye-catching and a little surreal.
While the four courses already mentioned will be plenty of golf for most itineraries, there are several other courses worth visiting if you can spare the time. Keith Foster’s Coral Canyon has been a St. George-area favorite since opening 25 years ago. Matt Dye’s The Ledges has vistas you won’t soon forget. Gene Bates’s Green Spring has a few frankly unbelievable holes. Bloomington opened in 1969 and is an old charmer, and the nine-hole Dixie Red Hills, the oldest course in town at age 60, never fails to fill an otherwise empty evening with an entertaining loop.
Then there are the five ‘S’s — SunRiver, Sunbrook, Southgate, St. George, and Sky Mountain. The latter was designed by Jeff Hardin, opened in 1994, and whose remarkable front nine and last couple of holes offer amazing views across the Virgin River Valley and north to the Pine Valley Mountains.
That’s a lot of great golf for one trip. Argh, make it two.
OAKBROOK
Ocean Shores Golf Course OCEAN
SHORES
Ocean Shores Golf Course on the rugged Washington coast opened in 1961 as a six-hole layout, grew to nine holes in 1963 and opened its current 18-hole configuration in 1966.
The design — mainly credited to city planners of the day — melds a wooded front nine with a linksy back nine through dunes along the Pacific shore.
Notable tournaments have featured prominently in Ocean Shores’ history. In 1966, Pat Boone launched the Celebrity Golf Classic, drawing stars like Clint Eastwood, Joe Namath, Fred MacMurray and Ginny Simms, which lasted through 1970.
Starting in 1970, Ocean Shores hosted LPGA events under the Wendell-West Open banner — won by Kathy Whitworth 1969 and JoAnne Carner in 1970, her first professional title.
Later events included the Northwest Open (1971), Pacific Northwest ProAm (1990), NFL Celebrity Classics, and the 2007 PNGA Junior Girls’ Championship.
Heavy coastal winds often ratchet up the challenge here, while firm, quick greens call for a bump-and-run style. Exceptional drainage allows play even after heavy rain.
Ocean Shores’ blue (back) tees stretch to 6,252 yards, the middle (white) tees run out to 5,942 yards, while the front (red) tees register at 5,173 yards.
Locals know to be wary of the 541-yard par-5 No. 7, the toughest hole on a deceptively challenging golf course. Approach shots look straightforward, but a tree guards the green on the left and a bunker on the right.
Ocean Shores’ opening hole, a 507-yard par 5, allows a player to be long (with the wind at his back), but a straight tee shot is critical. OBs run the entire length of the hole and a fairway bunker on the right can come into play.
The back nine finale (the par-3 No. 18) is long (198 yards) and well-guarded and crosswinds will influence the flight of your ball — a fitting finish.
Weekend/holiday rates top out at $50, with discounts for seniors and juniors. Weekday rates are even better, ranging from $45 down to $20 for a junior.
At these prices, with well-maintained amenities and a big splash of coastal scenery, Ocean Shores delivers outstanding value for a golfer’s dollar.
YARDAGE (PAR 71) 5,173-6,262 yards
RATES $20-$50
TEL (360) 289-3357 • WEB oceanshoresgolf.com
Whispering Firs Golf Course
McCHORD AFB
If Whispering Firs Golf Course is known among golfers who work the I-5 corridor, it’s as the “other” military course – along with Eagles Pride – at Joint Base LewisMcChord (JBLM) in Tacoma.
But it’s worth the extra planning to find and play Whispering Firs on the old McChord AFB side of JBLM.
Whispering Firs, designed by Bob E. Baldock and opened in 1962, spans 6,646 yards from the longest tees, with a course rating of 71.8 and a slope of 122. It’s characterized by its tight tree-lined fairways, well-bunkered greens and water hazards in play on many holes. The layout’s emphasis on accuracy over distance offers plenty of challenge to good players.
Whispering Firs primarily serves military personnel and their families, but it’s open to the public and accessible with a little extra care. Civilians wanting to play here must obtain base access through the JBLM Visitor Center, presenting a valid driver’s license or state-issued ID that complies with the REAL ID Act. Tee times and information about the course’s security guidelines can be had at (253) 982-2124.
Memorable holes at Whispering Firs include No. 6, a long (468 yards from the tips), dogleg-left par 4 rated the toughest hole on the course.
The 426-yard No. 2 is a straightforward par 4 with one of the narrowest fairways on the course. Escape it unscathed and you still face a small, well-guarded green that begs sharp shot placement.
The 531-yard par-5 11th is a severe dogleg left that demands risk/reward calculations starting right on the tee: Do I cut the corner to defeat the sharp left turn barely 100 yards out? It’s the hardest hole on the back nine.
Affordability is a prime virtue at Whispering Firs, where green fees vary based on affiliation and time of play. For active duty E1-E5 personnel, fees are $22 for 18 holes and $15 for nine holes. Retirees and Department of Defense civilians pay $28 for 18 holes and $19 for nine holes. Public players are charged $33 for 18 holes and $23 for nine holes on weekdays, with rates increasing on weekends. Discounts are available for juniors and seniors.
YARDAGE (PAR 72) 5,564-6,761 yards
RATES $22-$40
TEL (253) 982-2124 • WEB jblm.armymwr.com/programs/whispering-firs-golf-course
Ocean Shores Golf Course • Ocean Shores
Whispering Firs Golf Course • McChord AFB.
Washington National Golf Club • Auburn
Washington National Golf Club AUBURN
The home course of the Washington Huskies is also home to top-notch facilities and plenty of good, tough golf. Washington National Golf Club in Auburn in southeast King County is the official home course for the University of Washington’s men’s and women’s golf teams, and its Husky pedigree is evident throughout the property.
University-branded carts, Big Ten flags, campus-inspired signage — and especially the signature 18th hole marked with a purple “W” near the green — create a fun collegiate atmosphere.
Opened in 2000, Washington National was designed by top golf architect John Fought alongside golf developer Orrin Vincent. The course is crafted with bentgrass fairways and greens, set in rolling terrain typical of local topography.
The layout accommodates all skill levels, with five tee boxes stretching from 5,117 to 7,304 yards: Freshman (5,117 yards), Sophomore (5,794), Junior (6,420), Senior (6,772) and Husky (7,304).
The course has hosted numerous events including NCAA men’s and women’s West Regionals, the NCAA Women’s Championship (2002), and the Husky Invitational.
The signature 18th is a testy par 4 finishing hole (Husky tees: 475 yards) guarded by bunkers and an undulating green complex — a worthy “final exam” that tests players’ accuracy and nerve.
Other worthy holes include the demanding par 5 17th (529 yards from the Senior tee, 543 from the Husky), featuring water hazards, multiple fairway bunkers, and elevation changes that make it both scenic and strategic.
The drivable par 4 7th (286 yards Junior, 320 Husky) beckons long ballers who must be wary of the water near the green.
The short, two-tiered par 3 16th (138 to 198 yards) asks for a precise shot over creek and bunker to a sloped green.
Green fees use Oki Golf’s realtime dynamic pricing. Typical weekday rounds start around $80, weekends near $90, while peaktime rates (estimated this summer at around $150 with cart) reflect demand. Seniors, juniors, military, and Oki Players Card holders can get discounted rates, and flexible offpeak bookings online or via the app yield the best deals.
At its peak weekend rate, the 7,300-yard championship course still delivers value, blending tournament-level challenge and pristine conditions with a top tier practice facility at a fraction of private club cost.
YARDAGE (PAR 72) 5,117-7,304 yards
RATES Dynamic pricing (call for current rates) TEL (253) 333-5000 • WEB washingtonnationalgolf.com
From gloom to glory: How U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun won our hearts
BY TONY DEAR • CG EDITOR
How quickly the rhythm and beat of a golf tournament can change. One minute you’re fast losing interest in the U.S. Open telecast as the picture grows gloomy and players backtrack with a series of ugly bogeys and wretched double bogeys, the next you’re glued to the screen as the last half hour becomes incredibly tense before you finally jump off the couch as the winning putt trundles 64 feet across a sloping green (that’s still fast despite the rain) and disappears into the cup.
U.S. Opens at Oakmont can be tough for viewers, as well as the players. Sure, there’s several golf fans who, for whatever reason, enjoy watching the best golfers in the world struggle, looking almost amateurish. But most enjoy watching them demonstrate their sublime skills. It should never get too easy, because where’s the thrill in watching star players birdie holes that, on a good day, we could also birdie. By and large, however, people would rather watch Scottie Scheffler play to his potential on his way to another round in the 60s.
At Oakmont, though, we see players hacking sideways out of rough so thick it would be tough to find the ball without a ball spotter and TV replay. We see irons shots pitch close to the hole and apparently come to a stop before making one more fatal roll and exiting off the green. We see shortish putts hit the edge of the cup, spin out, and roll 50 feet away.
I’ve never really agreed with Sandy Tatum’s famous line about U.S. Open course setups not seeking to embarrass the best players in the world but identify them. Because, at an Open, good drives can finish half a yard off the fairway and be almost unplayable. And they often eliminate the possibility of a creative player hitting an exciting recovery shot. Hit a wayward drive at a U.S. Open and the player is immediately on the defensive, and the hole a write-off.
Oakmont somehow gets a pass, though. You can’t explain it, but it probably has something to do with it being that tough all the time, not just for the national championship. Lee Trevino once said it was the one course that was always ready to host a U.S. Open, and there are even tales of the maintenance staff having to slow the greens down and make it slightly more playable for the Championship. There’s something weirdly appealing about that. And you know you can’t just recreate it — it comes from being genuinely unique and doing the same thing for 100 years.
But, although the golf world typically pardons Oakmont, there’s no denying that when it gets a little dark and wet, and joyless players look exasperated after making yet another sorry six, it can all get a bit … grim.
And when your favored player (Adam Scott) starts dropping shots with the certainty of water falling through a sieve, you wince and wonder what jobs need doing around the
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be a dodgy ruling that all but swallows his chances, you start reaching for the remote.
But then a couple of Brits — Tyrrell Hatton and Rob MacIntyre — look good for a moment (and impress you hugely later when displaying awesome sportsmanship). And a player you don’t know that much about (J.J. Spaun), who has bravely weathered a front-nine storm not entirely of his own making, rolls in a couple of birdie putts. And it’s game on.
At the penultimate hole, this vaguely familiar player hits a piercing drive that scampers 20 feet past the flag, and he two-putts for a birdie. At the last, he hits another superlative drive and, after a perfectly adequate approach, gives himself two putts for victory. He only needs one — one exceptional putt he must start at least five feet left of the target and which curves inexorably into the hole.
After learning about his early struggles on the Canadian Tour, you appreciate how hard Spaun has had to work to get where he is. After analyzing it closely, you learn how neat his swing is. After watching how he conducts himself with total class in the aftermath of his unexpected victory, you see what a good guy he is. On reflection, you celebrate how he turned a U.S. Open that looked like being a bit of a downer into an exciting and memorable event.
And, just like that, you realize you’re now a firm fan.
house. When another deserving player (Sam Burns) gets what appears to
