It took just two shots to be sucked in to the wonders that Kidd has crafted from this barren patch of the Gebbers family acreage — land that, according to Saper, the family had essentially cast aside as waste due to its sandy nature before Kidd spotted it from a helicopter and insisted that the golf course the family wanted across the river be built here instead.
From the fairway at the par-4 first, the green — 50 yards deep — peeks out from behind a sandy dune. A sloping “backboard,” as Saper called it, rises behind the hole, a feature common to many of Gamble’s greens and one that makes an excellent target for any back-pin placement. We fired at the backboard, watched our balls come down the slope to rest near the pin, and turned to each other with looks that said more than words could convey — this was going to be a blast.
For the next eight hours, we played nearly every shot you can conceive — putts from well short of a green over firm slopes; bump-and-run approaches; wedges dropped over front bunkers to well-tucked pins; approaches struck intentionally off-target to funnel towards the hole; tee shots smashed from elevated greens and more. From the 6,200-yard green tees — the middle of the course’s five tee boxes — no fewer than five holes, and potentially as many as seven, represented fantastic risk-reward opportunities, perhaps none more so than the par-4 second.
Depending on pin placement anywhere from 240-280 yards from the green tees (280-320 from the back), the green begs to be fired at, even as the sand that surrounds it and the sheer cliff that drops off on three sides suggest otherwise. From the elevated tee, big hitters can easily go long with their driver, and a ball missing anywhere but right will find the sand at best, oblivion at worst.
Standing on the green, looking down at the broad curve of the Columbia River, Saper explained how the river’s abrupt course change in Brewster has, over centuries, deposited millions of tons of sand on its eastern bank, much as the ocean creates beaches by depositing sand on shore with each crashing wave. While that sand is no good for growing apples, peaches, cherries or wine grapes, it’s absolute butter for crafting a golf course.
The par-4 fifth was unanimously voted as the course’s toughest hole, despite its No. 3 rating on the scorecard. At 462 yards from the green tees, played slightly downhill, it’s a cape-style hole that bends around a long bunker extending down the entire right side. Adventurous golfers can hug the sand for a shorter approach over yet another bunker, while the safer play is to the left, leaving a 200-plus-yard approach to a long, narrow green.
The sixth is the course’s longest, most imaginative, and unquestionably most fun par-3. It measures at 217 yards from the green tees but plays 170 downhill to a front pin, the location that will no doubt be preferred by those looking to showcase Gamble Sands’ unique attributes. Saper showed us how Kidd crafted the hole such that the best shot to a front pin is not at the hole, but at a gentle slope leading down from the seventh tee box, taking the large bunker on the left side out of play and letting your ball run straight down the hillside to the pin.
We spent the rest of the day unlocking Kidd’s secrets — hidden fairway chutes that added 50 yards to any tee shot, slopes that funneled approaches to ideal positions and shortcuts that rewarded players willing to take a chance. Whether because of the altitude (just over 1,200 feet), the heat, the steady breeze, the firmness of the fescue or our sheer exuberance, we found our shots consistently carrying farther than they typically would. Three-hundred yard drives were common; 380 wasn’t out of the question. On the 452-yard, par-5 18th, having been wild with my driver, I opted for my 180-yard club, figuring two of those and a wedge would get me to the green. My first shot carried over 200 yards. My second carried even farther. I left the wedge in the bag, and enjoyed a two-putt birdie.
By the time we plucked our balls from the cup on 18 the second time, the sun was slipping behind the mountains, casting long shadows across Kidd’s design and turning the grasses and sands that frame the holes from pale yellows and browns to vibrant shades of orange, red and purple. The course was just coming alive, but for us, it was time to head home.