By Bob Sherwin
Tucked into a rain shadow just across the Cascades, four stunning courses beckon soggy Sound golfers
Imagine a drive that doesn’t plug in the fairway, but one that bounces high over a ridge and rolls past the 150-yard marker, leaving just a short iron to the green.
For many golfers on the west side of the Cascades, that would be what we call an “August moment.” Such is our plight. We are undeniably wet and soggy for much of year. It takes a good measure of summer to harden the ground enough to use it to our advantage.
But there is a drive that should naturally improve your game. It’s the one you take in your car.
“Two things that we hear most often are, one, that people love our course. It’s their favorite,’’ says Bill Porter, head golf pro at The Links at Moses Pointe. “And secondly, they say they shot their best round ever. While the white tees are a normal 6,500 yards, it plays like 6,000 because the ball rolls out so much and we have large greens in great shape.’’
Golfers along the state’s western slope are discovering the pleasures of Central Washington golf, including courses such as Moses Pointe, a wedge off I-90; Bear Mountain Ranch, on a rugged ridge above Lake Chelan; Highlander, well positioned on a plateau overlooking Wenatchee and the Columbia River; and Desert Canyon, a lush links resting above the Columbia River Valley near Orondo.
All those courses — except Desert Canyon — were built within the past decade and are within a reasonable drive from the Puget Sound and from each other. They are attractive because of their diversity, availability and superb late-spring-early-autumn weather conditions.
“You can safely say that 80 percent of our play is from golfers on the west side of the Cascades,’’ says Cory Pickeral, director of golf at Bear Mountain. “I like to think they come here for the golf, but they come here for the lake and all the things in this community.’’
The glorious lake draws thousands each summer, as well as the 13 wineries and various hiking trails, museums and small-town shopping nooks. But Bear Mountain, a unique layout crafted out of a hillside’s natural contours, is doing its part to turn tourists’ shoulders.
“We feel like we’re starting to bring some people here,’’ Pickeral added. “We like to lean on those relationships. We have people from Portland to Bellingham, and Canada, too, all along the I-5 corridor. We get less rain per year than Tucson. We have 300 days of sunshine.’’
Pickeral added that golfers generally want to play more than one course during a trip, so the courses have special packages. One special includes a stay at the Desert Canyon resort with a discounts to play Bear Mountain and/or Highlander. Those three courses are within 50 miles of each other so it’s even possible to play two in a day.
“A lot of groups play all three,’’ Pickeral says. “Moses is a little further.’’
Moses Pointe, built along the shores of Moses Lake, may be a little farther — but that can also be its strength. It’s just off I-90 and about an hour and a half drive from Spokane, so it’s a ‘tweener destination for both sides.
“We’re at about 50 percent from the Puget Sound along with a strong Spokane following,’’ Porter says. “The Puget Sound golfers arrive in middle April and it’s really strong through June. It drops a little in July and August because we’re pretty darn hot here.
“Then September first through October we get a huge influx of Puget Sound golfers. What they find are unbelievably great conditions. The balls are flying a long ways and rolling out.’’
Here’s a look at four courses where the sun has already risen on spring.
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A Little Slice of Heaven
The holes are carved out of a Chelan Valley plateau, naturally flowing around and among the contours, rugged edges and hollows.
The course was the dream of Jerry and Mary Pat Schofield, who still live on the property. Combined with Bellevue landscape architect Robert Yount, they gently designed a layout that’s a harmonious mix of golf, residences and wildlife.
“Most of the holes are along the lay of the land,’’ says general manager Cory Pickeral, who has been at Bear Mountain since it opened in 2005. “None of the homes sit on the fairways. It’s not distracting to the golfing experience and it enhances the residential experience. He (Schofield) also made sure there were corridors so that wildlife still have access to water.’’
The PGA golf professionals’ travel guide for 2008 listed Bear Mountain among its three favorite new Northwest courses, alongside Chambers Bay near Tacoma and Circling Raven in Idaho.
It’s just 6,231 yards from the white tees, but can stretch to 7,231 at the tips. The more mountainous front nine begins with a narrow gap on the opening drive to a blind landing. The GPS tracking system on the carts provide a glimpse of what’s ahead.
The par-3 seventh hole is one the course’s signatures, with a pond on the left and trouble behind the green. It’s 147 yards from the whites, but 233 from the blacks.
The most demanding and exhilarating sets of holes are 12, 13 and 14. Sheltered by a canyon wall, it’s all about solitude.
No. 12 is all carry for distance, with the elevation rising toward the green, just 359 yards away. There’s also a lake along most of its right length. The 282-yard 13th looks simple and reachable, but invariably the disconcerting wind blows in your face on the tee. You might think you have enough club, but you don’t. Over-clubbing is the key here, typically by at least two clubs.
Then the layout turns downhill for No. 14, a par-5, 518-yarder, with the wind finally at your back. There are bunkers on each side on your tee shot. The green is surrounded by bunkers and a large lake, which runs along the right side. With the wind and the descending terrain, it’s reachable if you can hit the target.
“Reaching the green on a par-5 in two is more fun,’’ Pickeral says.
It would be quite a reach on the 18th, a par-5, 580-yard monster (643 from the tips). Par this and it’s an accomplishment.
Because the course is on a north-facing slope, the mountain walls block the sun much of the day during the winter/spring months. Thus, the season is relatively short, from Apr. 1 to Oct. 31. But it’s well worth the special trip.
“They are all breathtaking mountain and lake views,” Pickeral says. “It’s one of the most scenic golf courses in the state of Washington.”
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A Natural Success
Moses Pointe has all the appearances of a links course. It’s long and generally flat with fluffy grasses and an abundance of bunkers. But the fescue grasses have been pushed to more remote areas. The fairways are Kentucky blue, the greens bent, with fescue only on the fringes. Belying its name, it’s more parkland style than links.
“It’s (fescue) behind the greens, mostly. You can still find it,’’ says Porter, a former PGA and Nationwide Tour player who came to Moses Pointe in 2003, four years after it was completed. “For the average golfer, you still want to find the ball and advance it. You’d rather have a great score than be penalized so much if you miss the fairway.’’
As you move around the course, on the west shore of Moses Lake, there is a natural openness to it. The haunting and familiar whippoorwill hoots send out a country feel.
“The strongest feature is that not only do you have absolutely great lake views,’’ Porter says, “but you’re out there away from everything, among the wildlife.’’
In addition, a different quality of sand, called Ravensdale, was purchased from a company near Auburn. It’s a corn-colored sand that matches the local grasses and is quite responsive to the wedge.
This bunker bounty can be challenging. The long par-5 sixth hole, 577 yards from the blacks (518 from the whites), has eight strategically placed bunkers that don’t discriminate between slicers and pullers. They are on both sides of the fairway and green.
The course finishes spectacularly with all of a golfer’s favorite elements — bunkers, water and substantial length, including a par-5, 566-yarder (502 from the whites).
“We’ve hosted the Washington State Amateur twice in the last five years (2005 and 2008). It’s the kind of course you can stretch out,’’ Porter says. “It’s not unfair, but it’s 7,500 yards with firm greens. They have a good time.’’
But Porter added that there is a need for more accommodations.
“When we hit the next phase and we’re successful enough,’’ he added, “we can have more on-site accommodations so it can be a destination for two or three days, rather than a stop on the way to somewhere else. There aren’t enough accommodations to make it a true destination.’’
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The Saga of Desert Canyon
Talk to anyone who has played Desert Canyon, and invariably one of the first holes mentioned is the par-5 sixth — long, tough and downhill, descending 250 feet in elevation.
That also describes the entire course over the past few years — a long, tough, downhill decline into insolvency. This wonderful course, for years considered among the best in the state, nearly disappeared a couple of years ago because of an unforgiving debt load.
Desert Canyon, which opened in May 1993, was designed and operated by Jack Frei and various partners. The economic downturn nine years ago began the ownership’s financial strain, which finally broke when they were forced to turn the course over in 2005 to a holding company.
“The course itself was in good condition. They maintained it and the greens were in decent health,’’ says Coron Polley, the general manager who is part of a new ownership group.
However, the greens had not been punched in 13 years. Water was cut off to the property’s entrance and signature waterfall, and it soon looked neglected.
“Driving in,’’ Polley says, “you would have thought the place was just awful. The grass was basically dead.’’
The holding company operated the course for two years until it was purchased in a sheriff’s auction a year ago. Polley hired a new pro, Mark Rhodes, formerly of Harbour Pointe, and has helped chart a new course.
“A great number of people said what great shape it was in (last season). They’re happy we’re now in good hands,’’ Polley says.
Through it all, the course is still the course. And No. 6 is still a bear. It’s a 679-yard freak (639 from whites) that was once rated the seventh-best golf hole in the nation, according to Golf Digest.
Besides the elevation drop, there is a canyon along the left side. And that wind.
“There is nothing to protect you from the wind, especially in the spring. It’s blowing right in your face,’’ Polley says. “Each shot has it share of difficulties. The third shot is long and there’s a big pine tree protecting the right side of the green, and to the left is the canyon. It’s an aesthetically beautiful hole.’’
That hole is followed by a relatively easy par-3, the 109-yard 7th (135 from the tips).
“That’s a really deep green, about 50 yards with tiers,’’ Polley says. “That can play pretty tough when you put the pin in different places.’’
Polley added that what surrounds the course defines it as much as anything — the mountains, orchards and the mighty Columbia.
“Most holes look down at the apple and cherry orchards, the Columbia and across to the foothills of the Cascades,’’ he says. “You see the brush on the lower slopes, then the firs and pines and the snow-capped peaks. It’s especially beautiful in the spring.”
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Danger: Addicting Golf Ahead
When James Haley designed and built Highlander Golf Course in 2002, he wanted it to resemble and play much like a Scottish links course. Haley, who also designed the famed Bandon Dunes courses along the southern Oregon coast, used plenty of traditional links fescue grass.
His finished product was recognized as a “Best New Course’’ nominee by Golf Digest magazine. It soon became apparent to general manager John Christensen, however, that the course needed to depart from its roots — literally.
“I remember a meeting in my office with four guys from Seattle and they all said they loved playing here but said they wouldn’t come back again,’’ Christensen says.
The reason was that the fescue grass was so long, and encroaching so much onto the fairways, that balls would be lost on just about every stray shot. That may be acceptable for the high handicappers, but not for the average guy.
So Christensen personally changed that. He cut the fescue to the nub and gradually widened the fairways, using Kentucky blue grass. It’s bent grass on the greens. That made all the difference.
“To make it more fun we had to eliminate the (long) fescue,’’ Christensen says. “I wanted it to be playable and fun.’’
It still maintains a kinship with links style, with plenty of pot bunkers, tight fairway lies and fescue in places, but it’s much easier to find and play an errant tee shot.
The course’s most inviting hole is par-3 ninth (photo above). It’s 178 yards from the blacks and 131 from the whites. It’s a beauty, with the mountains and ever-present apple orchards as the distant backdrop. In fact, there’s an apple orchard just behind the tee in this self-proclaimed Apple Capital of the World.
It’s also a heart-pounder. The fairly ample green is elevated above a significant bluff to the left. There’s a bunker to catch balls that drift left, but not much else. Your scorecard will warn you, in bold letters, not to attempt to retrieve a ball down that gully — EXTREME DANGER.
One golf magazine called it the best par-3 in the state. It’s not an overly difficult tee shot, as long as your mind and ball don’t drift much to the left.
The course stretches to 6,555 yards from the blacks, 5,947 from the whites. The front nine includes three par-5s, including two back-to-back at No. 4 (541) and No. 5 (500) and three par-3s, while the back nine is a little more undulating. It’ll be hard to find a level spot for your ball to rest, and a minefield of pot bunkers wait in every ideal landing area.
Highlander’s relatively short length and open layout make it playable for golfers of all skill levels, while there are enough challenges to satisfy the more accomplished golfer.
“We have more tournaments here than anyone in Central Washington,’’ Christensen added. “The reason is because it’s fun. We don’t want to brutalize anyone.’’
So what are you waiting for? You can either continue to wake up each morning and look eastward in hopes of seeing the sun rise to greet you, or you can throw the clubs in the trunk and go meet the sun where it lives. With so many incredible courses awaiting, the choice is about as obvious as going for the green with your second shot on Bear Mountain’s 14th — which is to say, sometimes, you just have to go for it.
In addition to writing for Cascade Golfer, Bob Sherwin works as a freelance writer for the New York Times, Associated Press and MLB.com.