MOUNT SI and SNOQUALMIE FALLS
Location: Fall City/North Bend
Distance between courses: 5.8 miles
Total trip time (including golf): 10.5 hours
When we’re looking to save some green on a 36-hole outing in our backyard, we head out I-90 to Snoqualmie Falls to play Snoqualmie Falls Golf Course and Mount Si.
At 5,465 and 6,261 yards, respectively, neither Snoqualmie Falls or Mount Si are particularly long, but both can get you in plenty of trouble in the form of trees, doglegs and out of bounds. In fact, if you’re wild at all with the driver, you’re better off leaving it in the bag on most of these 36 holes … but that’s easy to say, and tough to do when you’re staring down a 325-yard par-4 and thinking, “Driver, sand wedge, birdie.”
At Snoqualmie, where we recommend starting your day, the best views are at ground level, with the first five holes coursing alongside (and sometimes, when the winter rains come, underneath) the beautiful Snoqualmie River. Just up the hill in North Bend is Mount Si, where the course’s namesake provides a lofty, impressive backdrop to a track our readers named one of the Best Puget Sound Values in our 2010 Readers Choice Awards.
Schedule your day to hit Mount Si in the afternoon to save nearly 50 percent on the already-low greens fees, then pass those savings on to a meal in the Mount Si Restaurant. Best of all, with a grand total — including golf, gas, a meal and drinks — of about $95, you’re guaranteed to break 100 for the day … both on the course, and in your wallet.