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.