Cascade Golfer Online » Features

Let’s Play Two

Brian Beaky — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Nobody understood the beauty of summer like Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks. With a smile that infected all of those around him, and a childlike love for the game of baseball, Banks was best known for how he would walk out of the Cubs’ locker room, look around at the sun brightening the ivy-covered walls of Wrigley Field and utter his famous catchphrase, “It’s a beautiful day for a ballgame … Let’s play two.”

I may choose to reach for a golf club instead of a baseball bat, but I think of Banks often on a warm summer morning, when I throw the clubs in the trunk and head out to take advantage of the 17 hours of sunlight and perfect 75-90 degree temperatures that we in the Northwest are lucky enough to call a “normal” summer day.

With literally hundreds of unbelievable courses in Washington state, you’ll never get to all of them if you try to play them one at a time. That’s why this summer we’re taking Mr. Cub’s advice and pairing together some of our favorite courses to make a series of the kind of incredible day trips you can only experience in the Northwest.

We’ve gone north to Skagit County, west to the Kitsap and Olympic Peninsulas, south to Auburn and east to Yakima, Chelan and the Columbia River plateaus. In each case, we’ve tried to pair courses that not only are in relatively close proximity, but also offer something different from one another – pairing a player-friendly course with a more challenging offering, a mountain course with a parkland course, or a target track with a big, brawny, let-it-rip experience.

We’ve also varied the list by greens fees and location, to make sure that there’s a mind-blowing 36 holes here that you can fit into almost any golfer’s time and financial constraints. Of course, there’s no need to limit yourself to the suggestions we make here – with an almost endless combination of outstanding tracks in our area that can be easily paired into a 36-hole experience, we encourage you to come up with your own favorite pairings, play them and post about your experience to CascadeGolfer.com.

To help you plan your day, we’ve listed the distance between the courses, and the total round trip from Seattle – including the golf. Every one of these 36-hole adventures is easily done as a day trip, and I’m proud to say that every single one is CG-tested, and CG-approved. That’s us … always out doing the dirty work. You’re welcome.

Diamond in the Rough

Brian Beaky — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Swiftwater Cellars and Rope Rider's No. 9 green, directly above the old No. 9 coal mine.

Kittitas County’s famous coal mines are getting a second life this summer in a new golf course and winery at Suncadia Resort

I’ve come to Roslyn, Wash., to visit a brand new golf course and winery opening at the nearby Suncadia Resort, but I can’t pull myself away from the city cemetery.

It’s the names that jump out at you first — Tomac, Muratti, Dragecevic, Mattila, Peccignino, Crosetti. These were immigrant families, drawn to Roslyn from the major east coast ports in the first half of the 20th century by the promise of a decent job and a good wage in the Tumble Creek coal mines. For 80 years, the mines employed thousands of workers, who rode the ropes deep into the Cascade Mountain slopes and endured cramped conditions, stifling heat and poisonous sulfuric gases to extract the “black diamonds” for transport to Puget Sound and other points west.

The city cemetery, with acres of old, weathered headstones dedicated to the Slovaks, Italians, Croatians and thousands of others who gave their lives to the mines, is at once tragic and inspirational — a hard illustration of the crushing difficulty of life in the mines, and yet a powerful reminder of the promise and opportunity that sparked the great western migration of the 19th and 20th centuries, and the sacrifices men were willing to make in pursuit of the American dream.

Today’s residents of Roslyn are largely the children and grandchildren of those first settlers, trying as best they can to hold on to their history in the face of inevitable change. The once-bustling downtown – featured in the 1990s series “Northern Exposure” – is quiet on a Friday afternoon, “closed” signs hanging in the windows of all but a few of the cafes, handmade clothing shops and other small businesses that occupy the century-old, two-story wood buildings at the town center.

World War II took much of the town’s population; the closing of the mines in the early 1960s took almost all of the rest. The couple hundred homes on the surrounding slopes are mostly empty this time of day, their 1,017 residents drawn — like their ancestors — to other places in search of work. This is a town that deserves some good news.

Two miles up the road, at the Suncadia Resort, it’s once again the names that jump out at you. Not the names of any people, but those on the street signs — Tumble Creek Drive, Larkspur Loop, Coal Mine Way. Built directly on top of the old mines, the resort pays homage to the land’s heritage at every turn. In addition to the street names, buildings throughout the property showcase photographs and artifacts from the mining period, while much of the old infrastructure — including closed-up mine shaft entrances and foundations for many of the original buildings — has been preserved, complete with permanent markers highlighting the property’s history.

JELD-Wen Enterprises bought the land that would become Suncadia from the Plum Creek Timber Company in 1996, and in partnership with Lowe Enterprises immediately began planning a major resort, Washington’s answer to the company’s already successful Sunriver Resort in Oregon.

The next decade marked the real estate equivalent of the coal boom of the previous century — as the value of the land skyrocketed, plans for the resort expanded to include a spa, lodge, inn, self-contained village of shops and restaurants, plus three championship golf courses, a fully-stocked trout lake and miles of hiking and biking trails. It would all be paid for by the sale of over 3,000 homesites, condominiums and cabins — the values of which were undergoing the most dramatic rise in American history.

Prospector, the first of the resort’s two planned public courses, opened in 2004 with an Arnold Palmer design and the promise of attracting thousands of tourists and vacation residents per year, visitors who would no doubt pour their money into the local communities of Roslyn and Cle Elum just as the thousands of visiting miners had in the previous century. A private development with higher-end homes and its own exclusive Tom Doak golf course, Tumble Creek, opened shortly thereafter.

Still in its beginning stages of development, Suncadia was giving the local communities their largest boom in 50 years, and was already among the largest employers in Kittitas County, second only to Central Washington University. People in Roslyn and Cle Elum were working again, tourists were bringing in money, and possibilities for future development were limited only by the size of the real estate bubble.

Oh yeah, the real estate bubble.

Driving up to the all-new Swiftwater Cellars winery at Suncadia Resort, which opened last September and will house the pro shop, restaurant and clubhouse for the resort’s brand-new Rope Rider course being opened this summer, you could almost imagine that you’ve gone back in time to those halcyon days.

The golf course, begun in 2005, was largely abandoned when the real estate market crashed, leaving hundreds of Suncadia homes unoccupied and limiting the resort’s investment in a third course to the minimum needed to keep the property viable for future development. Paralleling the main road that leads from the highway to the Prospector Golf Course and lodging, Rope Rider’s 11th hole sat like a monument to the recession for more than three years, slowly being overrun by weeds and wildlife and serving as a constant reminder of the boom days of yore and the resort’s grand ambition.

Almost Famous

Tony Dear — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Jeff Coston’s shot at PGA Tour glory has likely come and gone — but what the Bellingham native has found in the meantime means so much more

By, Tony Dear

Renowned golf instructor, mental coach and author Fred Shoemaker recently suggested to friend Jeff Coston that he write a letter to his 15-year-old self. It’s a tool Shoemaker often uses with his students to enable them to look back on their life and career without regrets. Coston found the exercise useful.

“I told me that I wouldn’t win several U.S. Opens but would be a positive influence on many peoples’ lives in other ways,” he says. “I said that while playing the PGA Tour might be the dream, it wouldn’t automatically make me a great person, good or even okay.”

Now running his eponymously-named teaching academy at the Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine, where he has been for 17 years, Coston says the teenage version of himself might have had a problem taking all that on board.

“I was pretty ambitious back then,” he says.

It’s possible — in fact, probable even — that the precocious youth might look at himself four decades on and be a little disappointed by what he would become, or rather not become. Hardly a world-famous golfer and without a single PGA Tour victory to his name, Coston the Younger might think his older incarnation hadn’t really amounted to anything much.

But how horribly, laughably, profoundly wrong he’d be.

For starters, the fact Coston played on the PGA Tour at all makes him one of the top half-percent of golfers ever to play the game. Far more important than that, however, is that Coston could not be any happier with where he’s at or who he has become. Married to Diane for 34 years, he says he’d marry his wife again tomorrow. He has three healthy kids who, he insists, like him. He absolutely loves his job and has become a highly acclaimed teacher while compiling one of the finest playing records in Pacific Northwest PGA Section history. And, as a devout Christian, Coston possesses an enviable peace that characterizes his every exchange.

The Seattle University alum made his living playing tournament golf from 1977 to 1994. He began on the mini-tours in Florida and the Dakotas, staying in National Park campsites with the likes of Mike Bender, Brian Mogg and Tom Lehman.

“Tom used to babysit our kids,” says Coston. “He’s a close family friend. He hired Tyler, my eldest son, as a caddy a few years ago and paid him $1,000 a round. He basically bought Tyler’s first car.”

After eight tough years in the mini-leagues living in a trailer, Coston won his PGA Tour card and made his Tour debut in February 1985 at the Isuzu Andy Williams San Diego Open at Torrey Pines, where he played the first 10 holes of the first round in six-under-par.

“I remember thinking, ‘This is the PGA Tour, it can’t be this easy,’” says Coston.

It wasn’t. Two-over the rest of the way, the 30-year-old eventually signed for a 68 – encouraging certainly, but not what it could have been. He was level par over the next 54 holes and finished the tournament on 284 – 15 shots behind winner Woody Blackburn, and tied for 60th. He won $876. Coston doesn’t remember that part so well, but does recall that a young lad by the name of Phil Mickelson carried his group’s scoreboard.

His next vivid memory comes from the Honda Classic two weeks later at TPC Eagle Trace in Coral Springs, Fla., where he played his only round with Jack Nicklaus.

“I was in awe the whole way ‘round,” says Coston. “Amazingly, I beat him 71 to 73, but I don’t think I made a cut for eight months after that.”

Actually, Coston made only 10 more cuts from 31 PGA Tour events over the next four years; his best finish a tie for seventh at the Anheuser-Busch Classic in Virginia in 1988. Demoted to the Ben Hogan Tour for the 1991 and ‘92 seasons, and the Nike Tour in ’93 and ’94, he did manage a win (1991 Shreveport Open), three seconds, and a total of 13 top-10 finishes. But, by the end of his fourth year on the ‘B’ tours, he was ready to settle down and take a regular job.

Besides his debut tournament on the PGA Tour, and playing with Nicklaus, Coston says his biggest thrill as a player was coming up the 72nd hole of the 2000 U.S. Open with Tyler on the bag.

“It was Father’s Day and as we walked towards the green Tyler said to me, ‘You and me, Pebble Beach, the U.S. Open.’ I stood over my 15-foot birdie putt, saw the head of my putter move through the ball, and then I heard it drop into the hole. I walked off the green with my son happier than if I had won the tournament.”

That wouldn’t make any sense to the 15-year-old Coston, of course, but by this time the old man was fully in tune with his calling.

“To be honest, though the competitive fire still burns bright and I still love playing in our sectional tournaments, I’m a better teacher than I am a player,” he says. “I don’t think I ever understood how to stop negative momentum. And I didn’t really know how to prepare properly. I was just thinking about making a good swing. The great players instinctively knew how to score well without necessarily playing their best.”

Coston now teaches PGA and LPGA Tour players, PGA professionals, college standouts, high school stars, high handicappers and total beginners. A look at the testimonials on his web site shows how highly he’s regarded.

“In my opinion, Jeff Coston is the best golf instructor in the Northwest,” says one college player, while another adds, “Jeff is an amazingly inspirational and hard-working instructor.”

Perhaps the most telling recommendation, though, comes from Tom Lehman, who says that Coston is one of the most talented golfers he’s ever met — which, coming from a major champion, is saying a lot.

“Beyond that,” Lehman adds, “he’s one of the nicest guys I know.”

June Cascade Golfer Contests

Heather Flyte — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:32:17 +0000

Heat up this summer with one of three great golf prize packages: A twosome at Meridian Valley, V.I.P. Canyon Club passes to the Boeing Classic or an entry into the Pacific Amateur.

Click here to enter to win.

Fear and Loating in Central Oregon

Heather Flyte — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:36:11 +0000

Tetherow Golf Club - Photo By Mike Houska

By Jim Moore

Let me tell you how much I enjoy playing in two annual tournaments in Central Oregon – this year I missed my twin boys’ sixth birthday to participate in the Central Oregon Shootout in April. And I won’t let anything get in the way of the Pacific Amateur either.

If that makes me a deadbeat dad, oh well. I’m already wondering how I’m going to pull it off next year when their seventh birthday falls on a Saturday, smack-dab in the middle of the Central Oregon Shootout again.

I’m thinking that both of my kids get it – they’re golfers too – and won’t need a therapist to undo the damage I’ve done. If you’ve ever played in the Central Oregon Shootout, you’d understand – even if your wife wouldn’t. Miraculously, mine did.

There’s just something about Central Oregon golf. I love the courses, the scenery, the mountains and, more than anything else, truly, the smell of junipers in the air. As far as I can tell, there is not a bad track to be found.

It’s easy to see why this area hosts so many tournaments. In addition to the Central Oregon Shootout and Pacific Amateur — both held at multiple courses throughout the region including Eagle Crest, Aspen Lakes, Black Butte Ranch and several other of the area’s top destination resorts — the Legends of Oregon (a pro-am before the PGA Champions Tour JELD-WEN Tradition at Sunriver) will be held this year at Tetherow, which last year also hosted the Oregon Mid-Amateur.

“The tournaments are great advertising not only for the area, but also for our course,” said Mark Crose, general manager at Juniper Golf Course in Redmond, one of the region’s busiest summer tournament tracks. Named Oregon’s best muni by Golf Digest in 2009-10, Juniper will host several events this year alone, including the Oregon Open, Central Oregon Scramble and PNGA Mid-Amateur.

“These events help other golfers discover Juniper and add it to their list of ‘must-play’ courses,” Crose said. “They bring many people to Central Oregon to discover the beauty and climate of our area.”

Brasada Ranch’s Zach Swoffer, whose course hosted the Oregon Open in 2009 and will host the Oregon Mid-Amateur in July, shared a similar sentiment.

“The Oregon Open has been a huge success,” Swoffer said. “We wanted a marquee event that would expose Brasada Ranch to the Pacific Northwest. Since hosting the 2009 Oregon Open, our golf packages have skyrocketed and our reciprocal rounds have tripled.

“Golf professionals are always looking for new venues to take their memberships. With the exposure the Oregon Open created, we have been able to welcome more and more groups from other Pacific Northwest clubs.”

The Central Oregon Shootout began in 2003. Tournament founders Jeff Fought of Black Butte and Wayne Clark of Aspen Lakes thought it was a good way to drum up interest and business during the shoulder season between late spring and early summer.

“It’s a great event for us to showcase the food and beverage at Black Butte Ranch,” said Charles Kingsbaker, the resort’s director of sales and marketing. “It also gives participants a great way to experience the Sisters area.“

The three-day, two-man event is played at Eagle Crest, Aspen Lakes and Black Butte Ranch, all high-end courses with diverse challenges. “This is more than a tournament for us, it is a chance to…put out the ‘welcome mat’ for Central Oregon,” says Aspen Lakes’ Pam Mitchell. “As a family business, the reward for us is to have participants come up to us at the end of each day to say, ‘See you next year! We wouldn’t miss it!’ That is a terrific tribute to the excellence of the three courses and the folks who make the tournament happen.”

Every year, no one in the field faces more challenges than Joe Slye. I say that because the Burien golfer is my partner, and when you’re my partner, you do a lot of heavy lifting carrying my 230 pounds of uselessness around the golf course.

This year, for some idiotic reason, we played in the Shootout’s gross division. It was idiotic because Slye’s a 7-handicapper and I’m a 14, so it made no sense at all. But a buddy of ours, Inside Golf editor Steve Turcotte, said the Shootout needed more players in the gross division, so we decided to offer our carcasses for the vastly superior players to feast upon.

And feast they did. It’s a fun format – the first day’s a two-man scramble; the second is a best ball; the third’s a Chapman – you both hit drives, then hit your partner’s drive, then you choose one ball and play alternate shot after that. At some point, usually early on for us, the Chapman format turns into a complete fiasco. For me, it’s frequently filled with a bunch of “Sorry, Joes” as my partner heads into the woods to hit our next shot.

This year, as an added bonus, on our first hole at Aspen Lakes (the par-5 18th) during the best-ball portion of the competition, I duck-hooked my first two balls out of bounds, producing the first two “Sorry, Joes” of the day before we’d even left the tee.

Of course, when you’re a 14, that’s not enough buffoonery for one tournament. I have this problem with chipping. I don’t know what it is — it’s not that difficult to chip, it really isn’t, but for me it is, and it bothers me that I’m such a mental midget that I can’t overcome this problem.

Last year in the Pacific Amateur at Sunriver’s Woodlands course, I hit what would be called an amazingly bad chip if anyone else had hit it but me. With me, you can take the “amazingly” out of it and replace it with “predictably,” because this is what always happens.

I looked at the guy I was playing with and said: “I can’t believe that I’ve been playing for 35 years and just hit that shot. Anyone who’s been playing for 35 years should never hit a shot like that.”

The guy didn’t know what to say – “Yeah, you really stink,” would have been the appropriate comeback, but he was too nice to slam me with a shot like that.

He just looked at me, and while I looked at him it dawned on me that this guy was maybe 30 years old and I’ve been hitting these bad chips for five more years than he’s been alive.

Anyway, back to this year’s Central Oregon Shootout … we’re surprisingly even par through eight holes of the Chapman format, and we get to a par-3 at the Big Meadow course at Black Butte – I forget which one because I don’t want to remember too much about it. Joe puts his tee shot a little left of the green. I have a 20-yard chip to the hole. It’s a straightforward shot for golfers with brain cells. There’s a small patch of rough to negotiate, then the fringe, then plenty of green to work with after that.

I tried to envision the ball going over the rough, onto the fringe and rolling nicely toward the hole, maybe even in, but if not, somewhere close enough so that Joe could knock it in for par. But when you’re a bad chipper, it’s hard to envision magnificence. Instead, you think to yourself, Whatever you do, don’t chunk it. Or don’t blade it across the green. Don’t embarrass yourself in front of guys who are low single-digits, OK?

That’s bad enough, but then I came up with the absolute worst thing you could possibly think of as a pre-shot swing thought: DON’T DOUBLE-HIT THIS CHIP!!!!! I have done that many times before, pulling a complete T.C. Chen, the man who is forever known as the guy who double-hit a shot in the U.S. Open.

Sure enough, that’s what happened. I proceeded to double-hit my chip. It put me into a sheepish stupor that I never came out of the rest of the round.

I’ve found that the only thing that helps in these situations is booze. It’s pathetic, I know. But oftentimes it helps. And it never hurts … until the next morning anyway.

I blame this on a flight that I took from Phoenix to Seattle many years ago. I happened to be seated next to a female pro who gave lessons to many amateur male golfers. She said the best advice she ever gives to men is this: “Because you have this urge to kill the ball, you need to relax, and it might help if you had a drink or two before you tee off.”

On occasion I’ve taken this advice to extremes, but what the heck — you’re on vacation, so why not? At Aspen Lakes during the Central Oregon Shootout, we reached the par-3 12th and spotted the beverage cart. I decided to buy shots of Jack Daniels for our foursome, and we all played better after that. There must be some kind of correlation there, but I’ve yet to see Hank Haney or Butch Harmon give a tip that mentions Jack Daniels — though they should.

Speaking of beverage carts, true story … in the 2008 Central Oregon Shootout, Joe and I were playing with a guy named Ken and his partner. We get to the par-5 fifth, and Ken eagles the hole. Then, when we’re on the sixth tee, Ken tells us that he met his wife when she was a beverage-cart girl. This ruined my day. Not only did Ken eagle a hole that we parred, but the guy married a beverage-cart girl — stealing my fantasy.

In my mind, a life that is lived happily ever after is one that involves a beverage-cart girl. Ken is not only living that life, but he also just went two strokes ahead of me. I really hated Ken.

The Pacific Amateur is an event that features nearly 700 golfers who tee it up on some of the top tracks in the area, including Eagle Crest, Aspen Lakes and many others. Entering its 14th year, It began as another way to attract people to the Sunriver/Bend area during a second shoulder season, between summer and fall. In the past, the event was held during the first few days of October, but tournament organizers moved the Pac-Am to Aug. 30 to Sept. 4 this year in hopes of getting warmer weather.

In the Pac-Am, if you finish in the top two of your flight, you qualify to play a fourth round at Sunriver’s Crosswater course — still in prime form after having hosted Greg Norman, Tom Watson and Co. at the PGA Champions Tour’s JELD-WEN Tradition just two weeks before. It is one of the coolest things ever for amateur hackers. I’ve played in every Pac-Am and made the final round twice. Two years ago there was a two-hour snow delay, but none of that mattered. It was cold, but I wore seven layers of clothes and got through it just fine.

In the final round, you feel like you’re playing in a PGA Tour event or something. Scorers follow you around, and there’s even a guy with a little leaderboard placard that shows your current score to anyone who might be watching.

The last time I made the final round, I got an added bonus of watching the two guys in the other cart almost get into a fight. They just didn’t like each other for some reason – I didn’t care what the reason was, I found their immaturity amusing and wasn’t sure what I was going to do if they started brawling. I didn’t know if I should act as peacemaker and try to break it up or sit back and watch them throw one roundhouse after another. I was leaning toward the latter, but unfortunately, cooler heads prevailed.

These are the kinds of things that can happen when a bunch of guys get together for rounds of golf in a tournament setting in Central Oregon. Care to join in on the fun?

Jim Moore is a freelancer who writes sports columns for seattlepi.com and for his website, jimmoorethego2guy.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 3-6 p.m. on “The Kevin Calabro Show” on 710 ESPN Seattle. You can reach him at jimmoore@seattlepi.com.

Time to Join the Club

Heather Flyte — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:14:54 +0000

Meridian Valley Country Club

The down economy has created a bull market for golfers considering country club membership, with initiation fees and dues at record lows.

by Mike Allende

The traditional image of a country club is well known. Gated community, swanky and certainly unattainable for anyone not on the wealthy side of the ledger. It’s the world of business tycoons, pro athletes and movie stars.

Of course, that was before the United States economy tanked.

Today, country club membership is something that many “average Joe” locals can conceivably attain. Yes, you still have to pass through the same old screening process, but financially, country clubs are no longer just the domain of those in the highest tax bracket.

Instead, many clubs are now offering special promotions and incentives as a way of hanging on to established members and attracting new members in an economic climate where many people are putting off recreation in order to simply afford necessities.

So, think you could never be a member of country club? Think again.

“We’ve done membership promotions before with great success,” said Craig McCrone, General Manager of Kent’s Meridian Valley Country Club. “This time we realized the direction the economy was headed and decided we need to do something to get people’s attention and say, ‘Wow, Meridian Valley is really a great value!’ We still screen, it’s still the same process of getting your name circulated, getting board approval. We’re not lowering our standards. We’re just making it more appealing, financially.”

Country club general managers said they recognized the direction that the economy was headed early on and acted quickly to counter it. But, it’s an uphill battle when so many people are struggling to make a home payment and afford groceries.

“I don’t think anybody was truly ready for how hard it would hit,” said Doug Kauffman, Director of Golf at The Members Club at Aldarra in Fall City. “Any high-ticket item is going to get hit and country clubs aren’t immune to it.”

Many local country clubs have offered reduced rates on membership and other incentives to join, in order to combat dwindling numbers. While every club has lost membership, the promotions have worked to keep clubs afloat.

Meridian Valley came up with one of the most striking deals, offering $500 membership from Oct. 1 of last year through the end of April. The cost through the end of the year is now $2,400 plus half-price on dues, but that’s still quite a deal given the usual $6,000 fee to join. It’s paid off, as Meridian Valley has sold 26 memberships since the $500 promotion began. Out of 400 spots, the club has 365 dues-paying members, a solid percentage given the climate.

“Some people think that by lowering initiation fees, maybe that demeans the club,” McCrone said. “But it’s more about having a full and healthy membership. That’s as important to me as trying to force initiation fees to be high in a climate where people can’t afford it. There’s a lot of different ways to look at it but our biggest selling point is our membership so it’s important to keep that at a healthy level.”

That’s a theme cited by every general manager. Like everyone else, country clubs have been forced to cut their budgets, trimming everything from staff to advertising. So, along with great dea ls, having a happy membership group is the best advertising a club can have, and the best chance to find new members. Some clubs try to reward member loyalty, including Woodinville’s Bear Creek Country Club.

“We had a very strong referral program in the spring,” said Bear Creek General Manager Peter Christian. “It provided a 25-percent-off discount for 24 months for members who referred a new member. The incoming member received one year of discounted dues and a discount on initiation fees. It worked out well for everyone.”

That specific deal only ran through June, but it’s representative of deals that are still to be had — though they’re going fast. In fact, while the general managers say that no one is out of the woods yet, there are indications that business will pick up soon, if it hasn’t already.

Aldarra offered a dues-only membership good for a year, and that helped in the toughest times, but the club ended that program shortly after. The program was designed for several reasons — to reach potential members who can afford but aren’t sure it’s the right fit; to remain competitive with other clubs in drawing new members; and to make sure the club retained a healthy level of total members-paying dues in the short-term to ensure long-term success.

Theresa Raleigh, Sales Director of Federal Way’s Twin Lakes Golf and Country Club, said just getting people to realize that now is a great time to join a country club is one of the biggest challenges.

“The No. 1 struggle we have is letting people know that we’re accessible and that we want people to join,” Raleigh said. “In the past year we developed a really strong email database of potential members and that’s made a huge difference in our ability to sell people on our club.”

Raleigh said Twin Lakes was hit particularly hard by the recession but has recently started to see membership climb, thanks to a couple of promotions. The club is offering a “Friends of Twin Lakes” membership, which is $40 a month and offers modified social benefits (such as access to the pool, tennis and some opportunities to pay to golf). An Executive Membership is also offered, in which you pay just monthly dues and do not have proprietary membership.

“It’s a preview to see how you feel about being a member,” Raleigh said. “Hopefully after a year of membership, we’ve done enough to show you that the difference between playing a public course and a private one – from the amenities to the service to the quality of the course – makes joining the club the only choice to make.”

McCrone said much of his club’s effort has focused on appealing to families. He said paying daily fees on a public course, including range balls, carts and finding tee times, adds up to the point that it makes more sense to just join a club where everything is included and the experience is a step above.

“We don’t have tee times, with a couple of exceptions,” he said. “You just come out and play when you want. With families, mom and dad can come out with the kids and play five holes, or nine holes, or just practice whenever. We really try to make everyone feel welcome.”

Of course, most of the clubs take on the same tactic. Everyone knows that deals are out there, and it’s just a matter of keeping up, which only adds to the fact that now is a great time to invest in a membership.

“Our members pay close attention to what’s out there and they absolutely inform me whenever [there is] something new,” Raleigh said. “So I’m well aware of what we’re competing with.”

“You definitely want to be competitive,” Aldarra’s Kauffman added. “If you’re keeping your initiation fees at what they’ve always been and everyone else is lowering theirs, that’s a losing battle. People who are looking to join now, they’re shopping around and looking for maximum value for their dollar. If you can afford it, now is a very good time to get in.”

Mike Allende is a freelancer writer for Cascade Golfer, Dawgs Digest and other leading Northwest publications.

A Good Bet

Heather Flyte — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:05:33 +0000

Western Washington’s wet spring weather has pushed a planned soft opening this fall back to Spring 2011, giving golfers an extra few months to straighten their drives before tackling Salish Cliffs’ narrow fairways.

Just as the economy begins to recover, the Squaxin Island tribe prepares to open a stunning new Gene Bates-designed course among steep bluffs and towering pines in Shelton

by Craig Smith

So, here I am, stuck in the mud with a famous golf course designer.

Gene Bates is showing me the cleared land on a hillside that will become the second hole of Salish Cliffs Golf Club. The wheels on his SUV are spinning in glop from an overnight drenching, the latest chapter of an all-too-soggy spring.

Do we call AAA? Hardly. Bates gets on his cell phone and within minutes I hear a rumble on the hillside. A bulldozer muscles its way down the hill, the operator smiles at Bates, and then begins pushing dirt around. Presto! We escape on what amounts to an immediately rebuilt construction road.

We visit the other holes under construction without incident, which might qualify as a mild surprise because this is a course being carved out of thick woods in one of the wettest springs on record.

As we visit one crafted hole under construction after another, I am watching the golf equivalent of an unborn baby. The more we drive and see, the more my thoughts shift from, Where are we going to get stuck next? to, This is going to be a contender for a berth on top-10 lists of Washington courses.

The par-72, public Salish Cliffs is expected to open next spring. It will have a lot going for it: length (7,300 yards from back tees but a modest 6,000 from whites), no homes (and no plans for any), a verdant setting and big greens.

Sixteen of the holes will be set apart, lending to a “what’s next?” sense of adventure plus tranquility. The flipside, though, is that this is going to be primarily a cart course because of the long jaunts from some tees to next greens.

The course is a remarkable 600 feet from its low point to the high point atop a towering bluff, but the gains are gradual. Bates describes it as “almost like steps on a staircase.”

The course will have a monster green shared by holes No. 9 and No. 18, a double-ended driving range and a short-game practice area. Fairways and greens will be bent grass, and Bates said there are chemicals now on the market that resist the intrusion of poa grass onto greens.

The bunkers are going to be creatively shaped and filled with gorgeous white sand.

“When I see big ovals or circles or whatever, I just think of it as an oval or circle golf course,” Bates said.

“I like to put some character into the bunker styles. They speak to you.”

Like all top designers, Bates has each caliber of golfer in mind.

“The guy playing from the championship tees is going to have to work the ball,” he said. “The guy playing blue tees will have to do it a little bit.”

Life won’t be so complicated for golfers using the white tees. Those folks will find the landing areas generous, as will men and women who play the forward tees.

As Bates has said, “It’s not going to be the type of golf course that’s narrow and has a lot of penal aspects to it.” In other words, he wants people saying, “That was fun and I can do better,” rather than, “That course was too tough for me.”

The harsh spring has pushed a planned soft opening this fall into next spring. When the course has its official opening, however, it will be a big deal — course debuts have become rare events, not only in these parts but also across the nation.

The only opening in the Puget Sound area this year was the kid-friendly “Little Si” course that Mount Si Golf Course built next to its driving range. The opening of Salish Cliffs will draw national attention.

Native American tribes are becoming a new force in Northwest golf, and this course fits the pattern. Salish Cliffs is the project of the Squaxin Island Tribe and will be an amenity of the Little Creek Casino Resort, just a half-mile from the course The tribe owns land elsewhere but understandably wanted the course near the hotel rooms, restaurants and gaming.

The Squaxin Island Tribe is the latest Western Washington tribe to make Northwest golf headlines. The Jamestown S’Kallam Tribe that operates the 7 Cedars Casino bought Dungeness Golf Course outside Sequim in 2007. This year, the Suquamish Tribe that operates the Clearwater Casino Resort took over White Horse Golf Club outside Kingston.

Ground was broken for Salish Cliffs back in 2006, but everything was put on hold months later because of other tribal projects, including a major expansion at the casino-resort that now has about 190 guest rooms.

Work on the course resumed last year.

Ray Peters, executive director of the Squaxin Island Tribe, said the tribe started exploring the addition of a golf course about seven years ago. He said the appeal of a quality golf course is that “it can make the resort a true destination.”

In doing their homework, Squaxin tribal leaders visited several tribal-owned courses in other states, but one of the courses that made the biggest impression on them wasn’t that far away — Circling Raven in Worley, Idaho, southeast of Spokane.

The course is owned by the Coeur d’Alene tribe and its various awards include “best Native American course” and inclusion on Golf magazine’s list of “100 Courses You Can Play.”

The Circling Raven architect was Bates. So, it wasn’t a big surprise when the Squaxin folks selected Bates to be their architect. Implicit in the contract was the unstated challenge, “Let’s see if you do for us what you did for them.”

Bates doesn’t like to compare Salish Cliffs with dry-climate Circling Raven, but has conceded that one similarity is well-separated holes.

This will be the second Northwest course for Florida-based Bates, and he and the Squaxin leadership sound sincere when they talk about how they like working with each other.

“He’s about creating a relationship and really delivering,” said Peters.

Bates said he likes the tribal officials with whom he works and their willingness to spend to make sure things are done properly.

“We’ve had the financial resources to do it right, take advantages of the opportunities on site,” he said. Bates said the golf course will cost about $9 million and the project cost will be about $10 million, including the clubhouse.

Bates worked with Jack Nicklaus in the 1980s before splitting off on his own. He has partnered on several courses (though not this one) with Fred Couples. Bates’ portfolio includes Bayonet and Blackhorse Golf Courses in Monterey, Calif., and Soldier Hollow Golf Course in Midway, Utah. Soldier Hollow will host the 2012 USGA Amateur Public Links championship.

Salish Cliffs is about 90 minutes from Seattle and will be a cinch to find because of its proximity to the casino-resort at the intersection of Highways 101 and 108, about five miles south of Shelton.

The course is within an hour of quality courses in Bremerton (Gold Mountain, McCormick Woods and Trophy Lake) and is even closer to quality Pierce County offerings of Chambers Bay and The Home Course, and the two courses at The Golf Club at Hawks Prairie outside Lacey. It doesn’t take much imagination to start putting together multi-day golf itineraries that spend at least one night at the Little Creek Casino Resort.

Peters said greens fees haven’t been determined, but noted, “This is going to be a high-end course with reasonable greens fees.” Resort guests traditionally receive reduced greens fees and “stay-and-play” packages are standard in the industry.

While riding around with Bates, I remarked that Salish Cliffs is a total change from the last course I wrote about — treeless Wine Valley Golf Club outside Walla Walla.

I told Bates, “The architect and co-owner over there said were so many natural holes on the property that the challenge was deciding which ones to build and which ones to reject. It was sort of like, ‘The holes are speaking to me.’ I hardly think that is your situation here.”

“You took the words out of my mouth,” he said with a smile, adding, “My reflection was that the bigger the challenge, the more spectacular the results can be.”

Bates said he and the crew got a pleasant surprise when they started moving dirt, because there was an absence of rock.

As we were concluding our tour, Bates surprised and amused me.

“I like to think of a golf course as a human body,” he said. “The skeleton is equivalent to the routing. You have to have solid routing to be able to build solid framework for a good golf course. The internal plumbing is your circulatory system. That’s the irrigation system for a golf course. The digestive system — that’s the drainage system on a golf course. The muscle is the earthmoving and the general top-building of the golf course, the dirt and all that stuff. The facial features and the rear end and the legs and the beautification of it are the shaping process. And then, basically the grass and the sand and everything else is the makeup.”

The results aren’t in, but at this point it looks like Bates’ latest “body” may just be his most beautiful yet.

Craig Smith is a freelance writer in the Seattle area. Smith worked for more than two decades covering sports for the Seattle Times, and earned the Northwest Golf Media Association’s prestigious Distinguished Service Award in 2009.

On the Road Again

Heather Flyte — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:47:21 +0000

You don’t have to be a VIP to get some TLC at these four Northwest resorts

It’s about this time of year that we start to feel the road calling to us, teasing us with visions of trails unhiked, vistas unseen and — indeed — golf holes unplayed. Even if it’s just a long weekend, taking 3-4 days at the end of the summer to put your daily responsibilities in the rear-view mirror, sleep in a bed you don’t have to make, eat a gourmet meal or two and knock a 3-iron around some incredible golf courses is the kind of experience that reminds you just how good the world can be — if we can only find time to enjoy it. And if you’re taking a few buddies along with you? All the better.

Of course, in addition to “time,” experiencing the world takes money. Here in the Northwest, however, we’re privileged to enjoy some of the finest golf resort experiences in the country — from Western Washington’s most luxuriously affordable weekend golf getaway, a secluded mountain retreat and a lakeside paradise, to an outdoor-lover’s dream destination — these four trips won’t eat up your entire summer’s vacation budget and, most importantly, require no more than a half day’s drive to enjoy. So call your buddies, load up the trunk and hit the road — the rains are coming in a few months’ time, but the memory of these four trips will keep your fire burning all winter long.

Semiahmoo Resort | Blaine, Wash. | 800-231-4425 | semiahmoo.com

Semiahmoo Resort | Blaine

A golf getaway should be indeed that – a get “away.” But, with tighter family budgets a golfer needs to find that diamond in the rough when it comes to a special experience that is affordable. Whatcom County has a wide array of experiences — and one of its shining stars is a place that’s been getting attention for a long time.

Semiahmoo Resort, 25 minutes north of Blaine, hits just the spot. It’s well known that Semiahmoo and its two semi-public courses, Loomis Trail and Semiahmoo Golf and Country Club, have been on the top-100 lists for many, many years, and rightly so. The 18-hole Palmer layout on the Semiahmoo course has been ranked as high as No. 3 in Washington state by Golf Digest. With bunkers, rolling terrain and a tee block for any game, this track can test the world’s best (as evidenced by hosting the 2010 U.S. Senior Open qualifier this July) and also bring a fair golf experience to the mid-handicapper.

Eighteen holes on Loomis Trail, meanwhile, is a true Northwest golf outing, with scenery that will blow you away and water on every hole via a lake and canal system. It’s not an easy track and management is key. But, what golf test isn’t?

The lodging and cuisine at the resort has also been well covered internationally and receives as much acclaim as the courses themselves, while the spa and Jeff Coston Academy are both great ways to accentuate a special overnight or extended golf excursion.

But, what recently has been perking up the eyes of the Puget Sound and Vancouver golfers are the values that the folks at Semiahmoo have been putting out there. The $60 lunch and golf combo, which includes your round of golf and a tasty lunch at either course’s restaurant on Mondays and Tuesdays (see website for details and length of promotion) is bringing up more than its fair share of Seattle linksters. And, you can tack on a world-class hotel experience for as little as $129 on certain days. Marry the two together and you are getting a special getaway for bargain prices.

Want to take in an extra day or two in Bellingham, and stay-and-play in the progressive, collegiate and ever-growing town by the sea? Then book an evening at Bellingham’s premier boutique hideaway, Hotel Bellwether (hotelbellwether.com). Quaintly perched on the shore of Bellingham Bay in a quiet cove, where soothing marine features are serene and classy, Hotel Bellwether offers a wide array of lodging services and caters to golfers. With stay-and-play packages tied in with Lake Padden, Shuksan and the outstanding Sudden Valley and North Bellingham golf courses, you can create your own trip. It’s a Half Moon Bay feel, with a Northwest twist — and the food and wine selections are some the finest in the county. — DS

Suncadia Resort | Roslyn, Wash. | 866-904-6301 | suncadiaresort.com

Prospector at Suncadia | Hole 10

The first time I played the Prospector Golf Course at Suncadia Resort, tucked on a mountainside just outside Cle Elum, was on the second half of a day trip that had begun with a morning tee time at Yakima’s Apple Tree Resort. After spending the early part of what would soon become a hot summer’s day amid the beautiful orchards and rolling lowlands of Yakima, the feel of that first breath when I stepped out of the climate-controlled comfort of my car is something I’ll never forget — it hit me like a plunge into cold water, as if the air was somehow cleaner and fresher than any I had ever had the privilege to breathe.

Prospector itself, mere minutes from I-90 and barely an hour from Seattle, is an equally refreshing experience. Opened in 2004, the Arnold Palmer design cuts through the trees with grace and beauty, offering numerous risk/reward opportunities, challenging greens and firm, fast fairways. Landing areas are mostly forgiving, though uneven terrain, well-placed white-sand bunkers and frequent mountain streams and lakes require a skilled hand to negotiate. One of the finest three-hole stretches in the state is that from Prospector’s eighth hole — a tight, undulating, 509-yard (from the blues) par-5 named the best eighth hole in the state in Cascade Golfer’s 2009 Dream 18 — to the 10th, a par-4 played from an elevated tee that drops more than 100 feet to a narrow, bunker-protected fairway below. With panoramic views of a tree-lined valley and the looming Cascade Mountain peaks, you can be forgiven for lingering a minute before heading down to hit your second.

While Prospector can be done as a day trip, the opening this fall of a second 18-hole championship course, Rope Rider, practically demands the Puget Sound golfer make at least a weekend out of the experience, with an overnight at the upscale Suncadia Resort thrown in. Stay-and-plays start as low as $299 this fall, including a night’s stay in the luxurious lodge-style Suncadia Inn, plus a round of golf for two at Prospector.

Another option — particularly for a group of guys out for a fun weekend, or for families vacationing together — is to rent an RV and drive up to the nearby Sun Country Golf & RV in Cle Elum (509-674-2226, golfsuncountry.com).

Just $108 a night gets you a place to park your RV — including wireless internet connections, power, cable TV hookups and access to shower and bathroom facilities — and a round of golf for two on Sun Country’s 18-hole, 5,700-yard course. The tree-lined, beautifully maintained track (with daily rates peaking at just $36 on weekends) is a perfect companion to Suncadia’s famed fairways, giving golfers a similar mountain-golf experience in a shorter, yet still challenging settting. — BB

Coeur d’Alene Resort | Coeur d’Alene, Idaho | 800-688-5253 | cdaresort.com

Coeur d’Alene Resort | No. 14

I’m standing on the tee at the 14th hole at the Coeur d’Alene Resort Course, staring across the sun-dappled water at the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen on a golf course, and the thought occurs to me: I have no idea what I’m doing. The par-3 14th, home to Coeur d’Alene’s iconic floating green — a 15,000-square foot, five-million pound floating island accessible only by boat — has a way of doing that to people, our group’s forecaddie explains. I’ve been thinking about the hole all day — truthfully, for many days, since I first made plans to visit the lakeside Coeur d’Alene Resort, nestled between Northern Idaho mountain peaks on the western edge of the Coeur d’Alene National Forest. I was drawn by the short drive (just five hours straight across I-90 from Seattle) and terrific stay-and-play rates — $185 per person gets a night’s stay at the five-star resort, plus a round of golf on the luxurious course with a forecaddie, mahogany-lined carts, pre-round massage and personalized bag tag. But really, I was drawn by No. 14 — the kind of hole that, once you see it, inspires fantasies in the mind of every hard-core golfer. Up to this point, I’ve been having one of my best rounds of the year. I played the challenging stretch from Coeur d’Alene’s No. 2 to No. 7 — winding up, down and around a large bluff, and featuring two of the most visually stunning par-3s I’ve ever played — just two over par, then added a birdie on the par-5 11th, an homage to the famed 13th at Augusta with a creek running down the left side and across the front of a two-tiered green. Yet, here I stand, the eyes of my group members upon me as my hand hovers over my four- and five-irons. At 170 yards, it’s a tweener for me, and even as I debate, I know I am dooming myself to a long night of second-guessing. I pick the five and take a practice swing as a lone hawk circles overhead, the only sound the low buzzing of a distant jet ski. I make a smooth swing and … glug! … the ball plunks cleanly into the lake, a good 15 yards short of the target. My shoulders sag. I grab the four, drop a second ball, and stick it squarely on the surface before two-putting for a heartbreaking five. After my round, I make an appointment to ease my pain with an afternoon massage at the Coeur d’Alene Resort and Spa, just a short boat ride across the lake from the signature course. An hour later, I meet Coeur d’Alene’s wine steward, Eric Cook, for a tour of the Resort’s impressive cellar, including the largest collection of wines anywhere in the Pacific Northwest. Cook notes that about a third of the Resort’s wines are Washington-based, a tribute to the quality of juice being made within our borders, and we toast the day with a glass of a Washington syrah. Staring out at the lake from my seat by the window at Beverly’s, Coeur d’Alene’s signature five-star restaurant, my shoulders eased by a 45-minute massage and my belly warmed by a delicious wine and one of the finest steaks I’ve ever had, I think about the island green out there somewhere in the dark, waiting for me, calling me back like a mythological Siren. Only next time, I’m hitting the four. — BB

Running Y Ranch | Klamath Falls, Ore. | 800-851-6013 | runningyranch.com

Running Y Resort | Klamath Falls, Ore.

Unlike Prospector and Coeur d’Alene, which both sit minutes from I-90, or even Semiahmoo, just a few miles off the interstate, you don’t just happen upon Running Y Ranch. That’s because the full-service, all-inclusive outdoorsman’s paradise isn’t on the way to anything — it’s a true golf destination. Just across the southern end of Upper Klamath Lake from the mountain resort community of Klamath Falls, 90 minutes east of I-5 and just under eight hours from the Puget Sound area, it’s the furthest drive of the four, making it best to plan a long weekend, or even a two-day drive with a stop at one of Portland’s public tracks on the way. It’s the drive, though, that sets the scene — as you exit I-5 in Eugene and head southeast, winding through the colorful Deschutes National Forest, past eagle’s nests, raging rivers, over mountain passes and across dozens of scenic bridges, you’ll find it harder and harder to remember just what you were so worried about at work last week. By the time you arrive at Running Y, you’re in the right frame of mind for a long, relaxing weekend — from golf on an Arnold Palmer-designed course that features both an open, links-style nine and a rugged, woodlands nine (each impeccably maintained) to horseback riding, canoeing, hiking and salmon fishing, it’s impossible to fit it all into one trip. Running Y’s resort course (which is, after all, the main reason we’re here) was ranked No. 4 among “America’s Top 50 Courses for Women” by Golf Digest earlier this year, and made the same publication’s prestigious “America’s 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses” list as well. It also happens to feature what are, unquestionably, the best stay-and-play packages in the region— just $129 per person nets a night’s stay at the resort plus as much golf as you can squeeze into the day. Want to play 18 then hit the trails? Go for it. Want to try to pull a 54-hole bonanza? That’s covered, too. There’s also a Par and Pamper package that’s perfect for the golfer with a non-playing spouse, letting you out on the course all day while your spouse enjoys a 60-minute massage, as well as a Golf for Women package with a night’s stay, unlimited golf and a 15-percent discount on spa treatments for just $114. So, you can see why so many golfers drive right past Portland, Bend and Crater Lake on their way to Running Y — when the destination is this good, it’s more than worth the drive. — BB

A Prodigy in The Making

Heather Flyte — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:59:09 +0000

After using the trainer to fine tune their stroke, golfers switch to the identically weighted mallet to head out on the course.

Mike Lee walks onto the practice green at Seattle’s Jackson Park Golf Course, pulls out his putter, and immediately my mind starts racing.

What is this thing? How does it work? And perhaps the strongest and clearest thought of all, What on earth is that mirror for?

Lee can tell just from looking at me what I’m thinking. He smiles.

“What do you think? Pretty neat, eh?” says Lee, a local engineer and Kirkland resident.

I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

What “it” is, is a putter that just may be the most significant development in flatstick design since the last time a Seattle native with a knack for engineering emerged from his garage with a putter described as “ugly” and “unconventional” – but which made a beautiful little “ping” when it struck a ball.

It’s a USGA-conforming putter (we’ll get to that in a minute), a high-tech trainer using levels and mirrors, an alignment aid, a distance gauge – it even incorporates adjustable weights and interchangeable attachments, and can be custom-fit for each golfer.
And yet, it’s incredibly simple to use.

Golfers start with the trainer – that’s the one with the mirror. In a pro shop (or at home), golfers find a comfortable putting stance, then have the uniquely made shaft bent such that the level atop the training mirror is perfectly centered. It takes two minutes and the end result is a putter that is perfectly level and custom-fit, without the golfer having had to change a thing about their natural address position.

It’s the kind of custom-fitting that’s been done for years with irons and drivers, but for whatever reason, has yet to take hold in the flatstick market – until now.

Once on the green, the training mirror allow golfers to locate the proper line while keeping their head above the ball, then maintain that line throughout the stroke, while the level lets you know if you’re changing your hand position. After thorough practice with the trainer, you simply remove the mirror, attach the USGA-conforming mallet head, and you’re ready to play. Both heads are weighted identically for consistency of feel, while the mallet includes alignment and distance aids, as well as an orange indicator line that is only visible when your head is not directly above the ball, or your stroke is uneven.

In addition, seven removable weights in the head allow golfers to adjust the overall weight of the club for their preference from 370-440 grams, or to move weight between the toe and heel to match their comfort level.

“Just like with any club in your bag, the most important thing when putting is muscle memory, and being able to develop a consistent stroke that is repeatable and effective,” Lee says. “When people try the trainer, they can’t get enough of it – it’s so fun, they just want to keep practicing for hours. Then, when they transition to the mallet, they’re able to easily see and maintain the proper line all the way through the swing.”

The Prodigy is available directly from the manufacturer at prodigyputter.com (or by calling 206-219-5636), and is currently for sale in several pro shops in the Seattle area. Lee says that golfers who have begun using it have reported an average of up to five strokes saved per round. The Prodigy comes in two versions: The Prodigy Advanced Training System includes the trainer and mallet as two individually shafted putters, making it easy to swap between the two during practice. The Prodigy 2-in-1 is a streamlined, single-putter version, including one shaft, grip and the two interchangeable attachments (mirror and mallet).

As we’re nearing the end of the interview, a curious golfer wanders over and asks Lee if he can give it a try. Lee beams, and launches into a full demonstration, like a proud papa showing off his own young prodigy.

“That happens all the time,” he chuckles after the golfer leaves – but not before taking down Lee’s contact information and web address. “I guarantee you if I were to just stand here and putt for 30 minutes, I’d have a whole crowd around asking questions.”
The quickest route to success in the golf manufacturing world is to get your club in the hands of a few well-known pros. Karsten Solheim spent months following the PGA Tour on its West Coast swing, leaving his PING Ansers by the practice green and waiting – hoping – for pros’ curiosity to get the better of them.

In today’s manufacturer-driven (and hyper-secure) Tour world, Lee doesn’t have that luxury. What he does have, though, is a revolutionary idea, a dynamic product and a firm belief in its ability to change the world – if necessary, one blown-away golfer at a time.

Scratching the Surface

Heather Flyte — Tue, 25 May 2010 21:00:04 +0000

Ryan Moore struggled for three years, doing his best to compete with the world’s best golfers with a surgically repaired wrist. Now, pain-free at last, and with custom-made clubs from new partner Scratch Golf, he is making the changes necessary to contend at the game’s highest level.

By Tony Dear

He’s so laid back, he probably didn’t notice, but the last year or so has been quite eventful for Ryan Moore. First there was a move from Nevada to Arizona to flee the notorious Las Vegas wind and become a member at Scottsdale’s Estancia Club — exactly the type of establishment he was looking for, he says.

He began dating an Australian girl he met down under and who now lives and works in New York City. He spent a year playing whatever clubs he wanted before signing a part-ownership agreement with an Oregon-based manufacturer called Scratch Golf; began work with a new coach and, of course, won his first PGA Tour title.

Really, apart from the fact he hasn’t yet qualified for the British Open at St. Andrews (he has a few routes open to him, but his best bet is working his way into the world’s top-50 by May 24th – he was 52nd at the time of writing) life couldn’t be much better for the 27-year-old who grew up on the fairways and greens of Tacoma’s Classic Golf Club. And it will get better still in April when he returns to Augusta National for the first time since 2005.

“I absolutely cannot wait to get there,” he says, his voice betraying just a hint of emotion. “It’s always been my favorite tournament, and I think the course sets up so well for my game. It has been painful watching on TV the last few years.”

Moore earned a Masters comeback by virtue of his win at the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina last August. In a sense, the play-off victory was five years in the making, and everyone was certain it would act as a springboard for bigger and better things.
Within a month, however, Moore was out of the FedEx Cup playoffs, his game in shambles, his confidence at rock bottom.

“It really didn’t change a thing, to be honest,” he says of the win. “You obviously hope and expect confidence to spread throughout your whole game, but actually the opposite happened. Really, all it did was show me how far off I was from where I wanted to be.

“Everyone on this tour is good enough to win, if they have one of those weeks where everything comes together. That was my week. I didn’t have the same feeling during the first three playoff events, so I didn’t qualify for the Tour Championship.”

Were he still battling the same inconsistencies, the thought of teeing it up at an Augusta National that plays165 yards longer and quite a bit tighter than it was when he was last there might induce considerable fear. As it is, Moore says the difference between his short game now — with a new coach and those sharp new wedges — and that which he used to get up and down a year ago is like night and day. Plus, he is now striking the ball as cleanly as he was back in 2004, when he won a number of collegiate and amateur golf’s biggest titles.

“Back then I felt I could win tournaments with my ‘B’ game, sometimes even my ‘C’ game,” he says. “I just had the feeling I could find four or five birdies and stay in contention no matter how well I was swinging the club.”

That feeling drained away after surgery to repair the hook of the hamate bone in his left wrist in 2006.

“The game became a struggle,” he remembers. “I wanted to get the same feelings I’d had in college back, but I needed help.”

Instead of hiring one of the game’s established gurus — far too obvious a move for so unconventional a character — Moore did his own thing and hired Troy Denton, an old UNLV buddy, with whom he had played an awful lot of golf both in Rebel red and after graduation.

“I wouldn’t say I hired him, necessarily,” says Moore. “He’s one of my best friends, so it’s not like the usual teacher/pupil relationship. But I suppose we did make it a bit more official last September.”

Moore says he asked Denton to advise him because no one knew his swing nearly as well.

“Troy had seen my game at so many different stages,” says Moore. “He saw it when I was playing well in 2004 and when I began struggling in 2006. He knows my game better than anyone.”

“I’ll be with him two weeks of every month, on the road sometimes, and at home on off weeks,” says Denton, who lives in Dallas and gives lessons at the Golf Performance Institute when not working with Moore. “We’re addressing all aspects of his game, but paying particular attention to his short game.”

Indeed, the first drill Denton had his new pupil work on was chipping with just his left hand on the club. Moore says he instantly felt more comfortable and got a much better understanding of where his balance was and the role of the hands.

“Before long, I was back trying to hole chips rather than just get them close enough to leave an easy putt,” he adds.

Rediscovering the confidence he’d once had in his long game took a while longer, and required input from an unusual source.

“I put my name into Google one night and ended up on some guy’s blog which had video of me at the 2005 Masters,” Moore says. “I remember I was crushing the ball that week, so I spent 15 minutes watching the video, trying to let the rhythm of the swing just sort of sink in. Funnily enough, Troy had seen the same video. We knew I needed to make a couple of adjustments to my set-up – flex my knees a little more and bend from the waist more; really just feel a little more athletic. Most importantly, though, I wanted to get the feeling back that my left side was in control of the swing.”

The results since Denton became involved have been impressive – three straight top-10s at the end of last year (including a third in his first ever WGC event), and two to start this season. He missed the 36-hole cut in San Diego and the 54-hole cut in Los Angeles a week later, but both Moore and Denton are certain they are still on the right track.

Just as crucial as the belief he has in his instructor, however, is the genuine enthusiasm he feels for his new tools; the Scratch Golf blades and wedges he put into the bag for the first time at the start of the Fall Series last October.

“It was Troy who first told me about Scratch,” says Moore. “I visited their web site and played around customizing some wedges, which was fun. I then met Ari (CEO Ari Techner) at the Phoenix Open. He sent me a set of clubs a few weeks later and I absolutely loved them. I wanted to put them in the bag right away, which I could do because I didn’t have any endorsement contracts to worry about. But I never had a good amount of time to go out and get used to them.

“I spent some time researching the company and found they’re one of the few that builds irons and grinds wedges the way they should be,” he says. “I eventually put them in the bag during the Fall Series, soon after winning the Wyndham actually, and immediately started improving. I was kicking myself for not having put them in the bag earlier in the year.”

The more he talked with Techner and the rest of the staff, the more comfortable Moore felt discussing contracts. In November, he signed an equity partnership agreement, involving a cash payment and performance incentives.

“I didn’t want to endorse something for the sake of it, just for the money,” Moore says. “I believe in these clubs and this company 100 percent. It is an exceptional product. And switching to blades (Moore plays the forged SB-1 Blade with lofts five degrees apart) from the perimeter-weighted Ping irons I used to win the Wyndham wasn’t really that big a deal, because the guys at Scratch built me clubs with the perfect combination of sole width and bounce, which I think dictate the feel of the club. I come into the ball quite steeply so I wanted clubs with higher-than-normal bounce that don’t dig into the turf so much.”

On-course, everything appears to be in place and Moore seems set for a bumper year. But life away from the Tour is blossoming, too. He is increasingly confident in his Christian faith that, he says, has become a huge part of who he is.

“It affects everything I do,” he adds. “It’s my foundation, really. But I don’t want to push it on anyone.”

His soon-to-be-ready house in Lakewood will allow him to return to Washington more often.

“I didn’t get back as much as I would have liked last year,” he says. “When the house is complete, I’ll be able to come back far more frequently and hang out at the Classic Golf Club, which I love. Its shot values and green complexes are right up there with those at some of the Tour courses we play.”

He is in a solid relationship with an Australian woman named Serena Solomon, who he met two years ago when visiting his brother at a Bible college in Sydney.

“Last June, she moved to New York, which is closer than Sydney obviously, but I still don’t see her as much as I’d like,” he says. “We work it out, though. I played in the Northeast quite a bit toward the end of last season, and she’s coming out to Phoenix in a couple of weeks. We just do what we can, when we can. It’s tough at times, but we’re both fine with it and want to make it work.”

Lastly, he’s enjoying his role as Honorary Chairman of the 2010 U.S. Amateur Cham-pionship at Chambers Bay, even if there are times when he wonders what it is he’s actually meant to be doing.

“I have agreed to help them out with whatever they need,” he says. “Chambers Bay is a great venue and [the U.S. Amateur] is such a great tournament. It helped propel my career; it’s very special to me. This is the first time one of the big USGA events has come to our region. We need to get out and support it and show the USGA we can hold a great tournament in the Northwest. We need to make the most of it.”

For a while, with his game regressing following the wrist injury (he missed 42 cuts between 2006 and September last year), Ryan Moore fans were wondering if he’d ever make the most of his awesome talent. Thankfully, his health has returned, he is clearly content with life, he has new custom-made Scratch Golf clubs in his bag and his form of late suggests he is on the verge of something special.

Tony Dear is an award-winning freelance writer for several publications, and a regular contributor to Cascade Golfer. A native of England and longtime Bellingham resident, he has also authored several books on golf, most recently “The Golfer’s Handbook,” available through amazon.com.