Washington State Golf Course Reports

[murellus]

[quote name='TheMackDaddy' timestamp='1379637104' post='7880279']
Yessir, cascade. Can't confirm the 3k greens fees though.
[/quote]

Looks like 15 on cascade. That area is cart path only, so a well deserved invoice.

[Clintness]

Any word on how Palouse Ridge has been?

[FlyFish]

Trophy Lakes Golf & Casting 10/7/13

It appears that the greens were aerated and sanded a few weeks ago, but they are recovering. I was able to make a few long putts (the greens don't break much here as is common with Fought designs). The course is starting to green up again. There are some wet spots in the rough but the fairways were fine. Wasn't getting much roll though. The sand in the greenside bunkers wasn't too firm, but there are noticeable rocks in several of the fairway bunkers.

[bpark1210]

**Anybody play Chambers Bay since they punched?**

I called today and they said they pinhole punched back on Sept 15th. They have 2 alternate greens they can play on some holes so the pro shop rep said they are playing great. Can anybody confirm the greens there? I'm planning a mid week trip next week but don't want to pay $129 for sh*tty greens.

[murellus]

[quote name='bpark1210' timestamp='1381441606' post='7983345']
**Anybody play Chambers Bay since they punched?**

I called today and they said they pinhole punched back on Sept 15th. They have 2 alternate greens they can play on some holes so the pro shop rep said they are playing great. Can anybody confirm the greens there? I'm planning a mid week trip next week but don't want to pay $129 for sh*tty greens.
[/quote]

The greens show no effect from punching (played last weekend). There are 3 alternate greens (#7/10/13) right now (as of last weekend), with 10 and 13 being completely redone, 7 may be played on and off I think but it's been an alternate green for the last month now.

[FlyFish]

Hawks Prairie - Woodland Course 10/13/2013

With the rains, the course is green but is pretty soft. I was getting no roll which made the course play longer. The greens have recovered from aeration some time ago, and are very receptive due to the moisture. I did get a few plugged balls and mud balls, but not too bad. The course was fairly free of glass clippings and leaves. Plan on playing lift, clean and place if we get another significant amount of rain.

I haven't played here before, but it seems like most of the bunkering was removed from this course. Why is that?

[11under]

[quote name='Clintness' timestamp='1379915992' post='7896039']
Any word on how Palouse Ridge has been?
[/quote]

I played Palouse Ridge last week (October 5th) and overall it was in pretty good shape. The greens were rolling very true and rolling around a 10.5 to an 11.5. All of the fairways and tee boxes were in excellent shape as well.

[murellus]

Home Course (10/12), greens still sandy from their sand/punching from two weeks ago. Greens still roll true but significantly slower than what they normally are.

Chmabers Bay (10/13), course playing very slow from how it normally is. Still at three temp greens (7/10/13). My entire group (all members) agreed that all the greens were rolling at different speeds. Would not recommend playing in the near future if you're paying the full rate for it.

[glk23]

Played the home course today. Greens coming around since being punched a couple of weeks ago. They had some sand and were a little slow but rolled true. Even with the fog over the last few days, the fairways and rough weren't too wet and played nice. I really like the course and always seem to play well. Shot a 76 today with a stupid triple early on.

[RainShadow]

Played Kayak Point last Friday and it was in just about the best shape I've seen it. they punched the greens the first of the month and you could't tell. They said they used the small tynes.
O couple of muddy clay spot or two in the fairways but you had to really look.
Anyone play Chambers this week? I have a chance to play there in 2 weeks, but unless the greens are in good shape, I won't drive down there.

[murellus]

Played Chambers on Sunday (10/20) as part of a tournament, greens were rolling as well as they have been in the past 2 months, maybe a touch on the slow side. Beware though, there's still 3 temp greens and during the winter they tend to let the greens grow a bit, leading to inconsistent speeds.

[dave willie]

I played Druids Glen last Saturday (10-26) and it was in much better shape than my golf game was. The greens were putting pretty well -- a touch slow but rolling well. The course overall was firm for this time of year. A few balls picked up some mud but nothing was plugging. It was on the cold side when we played (8:08am tee time) and I really struggled hitting crisp irons. Maybe I need to switch to a more winter-appropriate golf ball.

[nowitski41]

Played Jackson this past weekend and the greens are terrible. Super slow rolling and pine needles everywhere on about half of the holes.

[RainShadow]

Legion yesterday. Fairways were plugged and sanded and scalped last week. Greens were punched 3-4 of October.
Why can't these guys do the whole thing at once? What a joke, course plays like crap for approx. 2 months because they break it up. Stupid.
Oh, and the grounds guy was running around a 2:30 changing the pin positions. While we were on the green. Don't most courses do thin either first thing in the AM or late at night?

[Ben Tang]

Greens rolling true. More so than all summer at China Creek. No complaints from me.

[TMBob]

[quote name='murellus' timestamp='1382591395' post='8049787']
Played Chambers on Sunday (10/20) as part of a tournament, greens were rolling as well as they have been in the past 2 months, maybe a touch on the slow side. Beware though, there's still 3 temp greens and during the winter they tend to let the greens grow a bit, leading to inconsistent speeds.
[/quote]

Three temps! Let me guess...4, 13 and hmmm, 1 maybe or 8

Were they charging almost a $100 too?

For the life of me, how can this be the 2015 Open Championship? They flat cannot solve the green issues and never will till they change grass type which takes away from the intent of the course. I still will no believe it till I see it in 2015. D day has be getting super close if they are going to move it. Love the course and the surroundings, but those greens have been an issue since day one.

[TMBob]

[quote name='Ben Tang' timestamp='1383712957' post='8108474']
Greens rolling true. More so than all summer at China Creek. No complaints from me.
[/quote]

Hope that they are better then the practice green near 1 tee...the ball still tracks in the plug lines

[DJFRY5]

Played Tri Mountain golf course this morning. The fairways are starting to get fairly soft in certain spots...Most balls are drawing mud. The greens were rolling absolutely awesome though. Decent speed and super true roll.

[bpark1210]

11.11.13

The RMG Classic - First time out there and was pleasantly surprised by the track. It's not the most glamorous course but it definetly has personality. The golf carts are kind of a joke, c'mon RyMo step up the game a little bit, but the course was in great playing condition for NW Fall weather.

Dew in most fairways but the greens are still rolling true. 90 degree carts, a little mushy in some spots but for the most part good drainage on fairways. I haven't confirmed but I heard they have not even punched their greens yet. This track will punish you if you hit the wrong side of the green, it makes for a really challenging layout as most holes are short and reachable w/ short iron-wedge. Pace of play was great, no one in front of our 5some and 1 single caught up to us on hole 7 which we let pass through by 8. Didn't finish due to darkness but it was a very fun round on a tight, short, thinker's track.

If you're looking for pure greens late in the year, I recommend getting out the Classic.

[edryer3]

How does salish cliffs play in the winter?? Never played it, heard great things. Should I wait till the summer?? Thanks

[FlyFish]

[quote name='edryer3' timestamp='1385087340' post='8187468']
How does salish cliffs play in the winter?? Never played it, heard great things. Should I wait till the summer?? Thanks
[/quote]

Check out the following thread. According to others, it doesn't drain very well.

[url="http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/920863-western-washington-best-draining-courses/"]http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/920863-western-washington-best-draining-courses/[/url]

[twixster888]

11/27/13

Riverbend - greens speed is nice (10-10.5) and somewhat smooth. Fairways are decent.
Classic- greens speed is decent (9-9.5) but roll true and smooth. fairways are nice for this time of the year.

[bradski]

[indent=1]any places worth playing this week or next around the east side? Is Willows run flooded like usual? bellevue? ect?[/indent]

[indent=1]I'm going to be up there for a week and was thinking about trying to get in a quick round.[/indent]

[Ben Tang]

[quote name='bradski' timestamp='1387327537' post='8315357']
[indent=1]any places worth playing this week or next around the east side? Is Willows run flooded like usual? bellevue? ect?[/indent]

[indent=1]I'm going to be up there for a week and was thinking about trying to get in a quick round.[/indent]
[/quote]

Played Newcastle on Saturday. Course is pretty dry but greens are deathly slow.

[bpark1210]

Played Druids Glen on Thurs 12.19.2013

Called ahead and the pro shop assured our group the greens were good. They covered them the night before and were in the process of watering them to keep them soft.

We headed out there around 11:45am and no one in sight. Played as a 4some w/ my good industry and ex-industry buddies who range from a 1-3hcp and myself at a 9hcp. The place was empty and had about half their fairways and greens frosted over. Mind you we've been in a cold snap the past couple of days and the temp was about 32-29 degrees during our round. The front 9 was decent, no real issues w/ wet spots or mud on the fairways. For the most part they were either misted w/ dew or straight frozen. We were really surprised they even let us out. There are a fair number of small water hazards, streams, and ponds around the course that were frozen solid. On the back 9 especially on hole 12 the ponds were about 4-5 inches thick of ice. Tons of balls from missed approach shots and the adjacent par 3 laying out on top of the ice. One of our guys actually was able to step out onto the pond and walk around w/ no issues. The greens on some holes like 7 was completely frozen. Approach shots were bouncing forward even w/ high soft spinning wedges. Putts on the iced holes would just bounce fwd instead of roll. I'm thinking it was a judgement error on the grounds crew to open the course and water them w/ sub freezing temps out?!? Doesn't really make sense to me and I'm sure there's plenty of damage on the course from the freezing temps and foot traffic.

The golf was horrible but the round was fun. We had games to be played and ened up winning dinner that day. I would wait to play the course as it was in my honest opinion unplayable at those conditions.

[blink3665]

Wow. I didn't expect to see a post in this thread today. I'm surprised they let you out yesterday. It seems like a dumb decision all around by the grounds crew: a) To open without temp greens b) To water the greens. c) To let you play!!! I played a round with frozen ground and temp greens late last week. It was horrid golf, but good company. It's hilarious when a ball hits a green and then bounces 15-20 feet in the air. I was playing my shots to 10-15 yards in front of the temp greens. It was like golf roulette. you didn't know if your ball would hit frozen ground and bounce high, roll out, or plug!

[bradski]

Druids is one of my favorite courses but drains soo bad. Home course is just a bit further than I want to go for good conditions so druids might be the choice.

[bradski]

Fyi. I walked over by the plateau club the Thursday and it was frozen so I figured other courses wouldn't open.

[dave willie]

In Santa Barbara for Christmas. It's funny how a little warm weather improves your golf game. All of a sudden I can hit long irons again, which had been very frustrating in 40 degree temperatures.

Merry Christmas to all!

[Ben Tang]

Played riverbend on 12/26 and Maplewood on 12/31.

Riverbend: pretty dry. A few wet spots but the greens were surprisingly fast for this time of the year. Sand was nice and fluffy.

Maplewood: pretty much the same. Played all day in light rain and the course didn't really change. Greens were nice and receptive.