Washington State Golf Course Reports

[RJfisher]

Redmond Ridge yesterday, dry, in good shape, and greens rolled pretty smooth. Still a flooded bunker on #2 (right side). Aside from conditions, some of the pins were tucked in there real good, prompting someone in my group to ask "is it Sunday?" But for $19 with cart after 5pm I'm not complaining. 17 is still a stupid hole though.

[Hard2bHombel]

Courses in eastern wa are in pretty decent shape. Golfed Sun Dance last week, and it was in fantastic shape. A couple of ground under repair spots, but the greens were surprisingly good.

[Seattle_Maslow]

Redmond Ridge yesterday. Fairways were in good shape, didn't notice the flooded bunker, so I'd say it dried out.

[Ben Tang]

Elk Run today. Course is in good condition. Greens were soft and smooth, but so slow......

[TheMackDaddy]

My dad plate trophy this morning, he said course was in beautiful shape an greens were as good as he had seen, rolling around 11 and smooth.

[tbhuskie8]

[quote name='TheMackDaddy' timestamp='1367199914' post='6934599']
My dad plate trophy this morning, he said course was in beautiful shape an greens were as good as he had seen, rolling around 11 and smooth.
[/quote]

They were awesome when I played there on Saturday. The only issue we had on the greens was dealing with the 20+ mph winds!

[evanm]

Auburn's greens have really sped up since punching them and healed from where they were before, kinda weird playing greens with that kinda speed and such little break.

[TMBob]

Lake Chelan Muni was really good...little snow mold. Green very good but not old school fast...just fast enough to know that you are in Eastern Wa.

[kmartel]

Mill Creek Country Club is in amazing shape already. Greens are rolling 12's. I was just in Arizona 2 weeks ago playing my courses down there and the greens were not a whole lot faster. In my 15 years at Mill Creek, I have never seen it in this good of shape this early. In the past the fairways and roughs would swell up because of bad drainage. Right now you would be lucky to find a wet spot. Todays rain + a week of sun, this course is going to be pristine come the weekend. PM me if you want to play! It's about $70 per round cart not included.

[dave willie]

Lake Spanaway was in good shape on Saturday. The fairways were surprisingly firm, and the rough was also in good shape. I played the ball down all day, in spite of winter rules still being in effect. The greens still had some bad areas where they are spot-sanded heavily trying to get them to fill in.

[sporto98]

Lake Wilderness is playing pretty good. Greens are fantastic right now, firm, fast and true. Didn't have to punch this spring, except a few that needed drainage help. Fairways pretty decent, rough thickening up. Tee boxes need some sun and seed

[j_woody]

I played Whitehorse over in Kingston over the weekend. Greens were firm, and decently quick. Overall course was in good shape with a few wet spots here and there. Pins were brutal, like a US Open day tournament, not sure if it was for something particular or someone just pissed off the superintendent??

[j_woody]

One more update - played over at Suncadia last weekend. Played Rope Rider, it was in great shape other than 30mph winds. Greens were very receptive (a couple were still recovering from being punched), and rolling pretty true. Definitely want to get back and play the other two courses.

[evanm]

West Seattle was surprisingly soggy in some areas, but didn't affect play at all, fairways are a bit soft and greens are so-so, still healing from the punching nearly a month ago. But then again the greens are very hit and miss at West Seattle, so it's ready to go I guess.

[Seattle_Maslow]

Bellevue Muni today. Playing great.

[jamie]

Anyone play the Links Course at Hawks Prairie recently?

[evanm]

Btw, I saw Lake Wilderness mentioned above. Great deal for anyone looking for cheap golf. Their website has a deal for 2 for 1 twilight which is just after noon and the handful of times I've been out there it is usually pretty quiet.

[bpark1210]

I've been around for the month of April so let's see what I can contribute:

Master week went out for an annual trip w/ the pro shop buddies to Chelan:

Desert Canyon - Greens are suffering from fungus. They've been real proactive about trying to contain the fungus by cutting out little circles of infected areas. The greens rolled great (prob 10) but we were a little disappointed at the level of how much the fungus has overtaken the place.

Bear Mtn Ranch - Great condition. Have never seen the place so green. Lush fairways and greens but slow. Spongy greens much like the Seattle Muni's but rolling a hair faster.

Back in Seattle/Puget Sound area:

Home Course - played on April 17th. Punched and sanded greens. Very slow but dry as always.

WA Nat'l - April 25th, Playing great. Haven't seen holes 2/3/4 this dry early in the season ever. Greens were great, a little on the soft side. Not terribly slow, but slow for WA Nat'l.

Lake Spanaway - Last two Sundays (helping a buddy prep for the PAT going on today) Course itself is expected of what PGC offers. Fairways are great and lush green. The putting surfaces are spotty especially on hole 3 the first par 3, suffering from a fungus growth and almost gaurantee the pin location on the PAT will be playing back quarter of the green. Surprised at how well Spanaway drains for a PGC course. **Forgot to add that the bunkers at Spanaway are excellent, I swear I hit every damn one but it was nice and compact with a soft layer on top, you can really swing hard at them to get some good check**

White Horse - May 1st. Just sanded this past Monday. First couple of holes are way over top dressed with sand. We could see piles of sand from the gaitors tracks. The later holes got better but fairways were excellent as always. I'd give them about 2 wks and it should be pristine. Pro shop told us they used a new pin hole size aerator that speeds up healing time (similar to the Home Course). That's great and all but the grounds crew should learn how to top dress w/ sand. Also doesn't help that they use a large grain sand there for top dressing and bunkers. I can only assume they use the larger grain to keep things drier on the drainage side for their greens. It was a great deal though so no complaints. $25 for all day play w/ cart.

May hit up Trophy w/ the reports i just read in this thread (great thread idea by the way!) Will report my findings

[bpark1210]

[quote name='jamie' timestamp='1367552033' post='6962159']
Anyone play the Links Course at Hawks Prairie recently?
[/quote]

Hawks punched the Woodlands about 4 wks ago and the Links course about 3 wks ago. We were going to play there this past Weds but found a better deal at White Horse.

[RJfisher]

Redmond Ridge (again) on May 1st. Drier this time around but still some spongy fairways here and there and the greens felt a little soft underfoot. I normally take healthy divots with my irons, but the softish turf caused a few beaver pelts throughout the round. Greens were rolling smooth and recovering nicely from aeration. Right side bunker on #2 still has standing water, the rest are pretty hard packed especially on #14 and greenside #18.

Quick rant: who's the guy not repairing his ball marks on all the greens? Seemed like every pin was surrounded with them, I probably fixed 30 myself.

[Ben Tang]

Played China Creek today. For what they are charging... The course is no good. Tee boxes were not cut evenly, fairways were okay at best. Greens were punched a month ago and are still really bumpy and super slow for new castle. I'd give them another couple weeks so the greens will be smooth as glass.

[TheMackDaddy]

Good to know Spanaway is in decent shape, I have high school leagues there on Tuesday.

[RainShadow]

Kayak point yesterday. Greens were poor, lots of winter kill areas and they were slow slow slow. Rest of the course was in pretty decent shape.

[bpark1210]

Couldn't find this thread yesterday and ended up posting in some old buried thread in the NW chapter. Copy and paste from that post:

[quote name='bpark1210' timestamp='1367820194' post='6977814']
Just hit up Salish Cliffs GC today. It was hot 84º but man did Salish provide some of the most PRISTINE FAIRWAYS AND GREENS right now in the state. The greens were a little slower that what I previously remember about Salish but rolling so true. They punched over a month ago and it def does not reflect it. Greens are rolling the best out of any course I've played recently. The wind was pretty brutal for the first hour but it calmed down real quick. Not a whole lot of people out either, the marshals do a great job on spreading out tee times. We were early to our tee time and the marshall held us back at the top of the hill before hole #1 so that the group ahead of us could tee off in peace. Never seen that before and he mentioned they do it so the GPS cart can correctly time us on pace. Top notch when it comes to slow play issues with 10 min starting intervals instead of the backed up wait lines at some courses. Twilight at 3pm for $60 w/ cart and grass range time.
[/quote]

[FlyFish]

Willows Run - Eagles Talon 5/9/2013

Fairways are a little rough with clumps of dried grass everywhere and lots of unfilled divots. The bunkers are concrete and are littered with small rocks. On the plus side, the greens are firm and rolling pretty well. The pace of play was a little on the slow side.

[TheMackDaddy]

Spanaway-
Great shape from the teebox until the green. They are really having a struggle maintaining them for some reason. I putted well on them, but they were kind of bumpy. Still a nice track but I wish they would stop using the cup protectors!
Trophy Lake- WOW! Haven't seen it in such great shape in maybe 5 years. Greens are true and around an 11, Fairways are money. The Teeboxes are not too spectacular, but the layout makes up for it. The bunkers have rocks in them, but the sand is good itself, and the white sand is legit. I love the feeling you get playing a course in the middle of nowhere, like Trophy.
Chambers- Not open for play until Saturday for punched greens (WTH Chambers, the nicest week of the year and you punch the greens? You want business? Don't punch the greens when its 84 degrees and blue sky!!!)

[TMBob]

[quote name='Ben Tang' timestamp='1367714003' post='6971546']
Played China Creek today. For what they are charging... The course is no good. Tee boxes were not cut evenly, fairways were okay at best. Greens were punched a month ago and are still really bumpy and super slow for new castle. I'd give them another couple weeks so the greens will be smooth as glass.
[/quote]

Normal stuff for up there...sooo overpriced.....I use the East Tee and that putting green is always slow, bumpy and untrue year round. My guess is that the courses greens cannot not be much better!

[gmu155]

Jackson Muni. last Saturday..new course layout was ok.
Greens where really good, best muni greens I've seen so far this year.

[bassman_444]

Has anyone played Chambers Bay recently? I'm coming in from out of town on Thursday and looking to take advantage of the (relatively) lower rate in May.

[TMBob]

[quote name='bassman_444' timestamp='1368451708' post='7023812']
Has anyone played Chambers Bay recently? I'm coming in from out of town on Thursday and looking to take advantage of the (relatively) lower rate in May.
[/quote]

Will be waiting for a report back as I will be there Sunday...greens punched on May 9th MD says