Washington State - Courses that are open?

[Jhuttster]

I was able to get a few tee times online...Whitehorse, Home Course for next week. FWIW...Gold Mtn looked already completely booked on the 5th. Also Salish Cliffs is opening today...I’m playing tomorrow?, can’t wait.

[el_hefty]

This thread is making me realize I need to learn about more Western Washington courses than the Seattle municipals! Seriously.

[Ronnie Mundt]

Good for Salish Cliffs. I don’t understand Inslee’s rationale for waiting until an arbitrary date of May 5th. Why? Is there a real threat that everything is going to reverse course between now and next Tuesday if they open up golf courses? I’m an Inslee supporter but he’s getting on my nerves. How does he think golf courses make money???

[blink3665]

I dont know that it's an arbitrary date. It's the first day after the current Stay Home order expires. During the presser the parks people were saying that it was going to take a while to get everyone back to reopen everything. I know that the golf courses have had maintenance crews and I dont know how much they would really need to do to setup, so I assume they probably could have opened up earlier. But I'd wager that the main reason they are using the 5th is because of the expiration date of the Stay Home order.

 

White Horse is also opening this weekend since they are tribal land.

[nickpiro]

Awesome! Send us pics so we embrace the long wait!

[Muffy]

Ron- the Washington Golf site linked in posts above has a recent radio interview of Gov Inslee asking the golf opening questions. While the response is granular (something like... if we allow people to golf, then they are going to drive their car, and get fuel, and interact at the gas station, and each interaction has the potential to increase spread of Covid 19), the State decisions are not driven now by finances but by the people in the white coats (medical and data scientists) as well as a component of political pressure. There’s no logic in May 5 except it corresponds to an outdated model saying c19 case count would then be declining 2 weeks in a row.... but Washington was one of the few (if not only) state to shut down recreational fishing, and Washington is out of alignment with our neighboring states on that and golf....so time to fix that.

[Double Mocha Man]

On 3/27/2020 at 7:49 AM, nickpiro said:

Thank you all the updates! We here in the Whatcom and Skagit areas are completely shut down, including practice facilities, etc. Hopeful things get back to normal sooner than later.

 

I just came across this thread. Those were sad times. Like you, I live in Bellingham. Unbeknownst to many, the Homestead Golf Course up in Lynden was unofficially open during the shutdown, mostly because they were snubbing their nose at Governor Inslee. It was still being maintained but eventually the flags were removed from the holes. The pro shop was locked up tight and there was no charge to play. And there were no assigned tee times. First come first served.  As more people found out about it things got very crowded.

 

Personally I found two other outlets. I was able to practice nine irons and wedges at Fairhaven Middle School on their soccer field. And while the driving range in Barkley Village had just closed for all time, Dean the owner left the gate unlocked and I was able to hit drivers there using my own golf balls.  After a week or so when the grass got so tall I was losing a lot of golf balls.

 

So I did find ways to get around the lockdown. A guy's got to do what a guy's got to do.