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
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
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
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
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