Seattle courses to play

[Andrew Carlin]

Hi all,

 

I moved to Seattle 6 years ago. At that point I had stepped away from the game after over a decade of competitive golf. I'm now firmly back in and I'm looking for more courses to play. I like high quality courses with good greens. And I'd like to find places that have better pace of play options. I played west Seattle the other day and the greens were awful and it took 3 hours to make the turn.

 

Thanks in advance for the recommendations!

[PNW]

The Seattle muni courses are very much munis. There are some great courses in south sound area that are worth the drive (Chambers, Home Course, Gold Mountain, Salish). Otherwise pace can be hit and miss except for the private clubs. Just avoid the munis on weekends at all costs.

 

I do recommend paying attention to West Seattle and Jefferson schedules. They sometimes host amateur tournaments in late summer and have the greens rolling much better for them, so you can catch a round right before or after. 

[Andrew Carlin]

21 hours ago, PNW said:

The Seattle muni courses are very much munis. There are some great courses in south sound area that are worth the drive (Chambers, Home Course, Gold Mountain, Salish). Otherwise pace can be hit and miss except for the private clubs. Just avoid the munis on weekends at all costs.

 

I do recommend paying attention to West Seattle and Jefferson schedules. They sometimes host amateur tournaments in late summer and have the greens rolling much better for them, so you can catch a round right before or after. 

Awesome thank you! I'm going to play the Seattle am over labor day at west Seattle so fingers crossed. I played there last we and it was the worst experience in my life. I played home course on Monday and the greens were by far the best I've played around here. 

[PNW]

11 minutes ago, Andrew Carlin said:

Awesome thank you! I'm going to play the Seattle am over labor day at west Seattle so fingers crossed. I played there last we and it was the worst experience in my life. I played home course on Monday and the greens were by far the best I've played around here. 

 

Let us know how you like West Seattle for the Seattle am. I've heard that there is a lot more effort put in for the conditions for that. 

 

I love the Home Course. It has some challenges holes but also very wide fairways for some off days with driver. It, along with Chambers, tends to be in the best condition in the area through winter time because it drains water fairly well. Get to Gold Mountain and Salish as well in the next couple months well while conditions are good.

[doc52]

47 minutes ago, PNW said:

 

Let us know how you like West Seattle for the Seattle am. I've heard that there is a lot more effort put in for the conditions for that. 

 

I love the Home Course. It has some challenges holes but also very wide fairways for some off days with driver. It, along with Chambers, tends to be in the best condition in the area through winter time because it drains water fairly well. Get to Gold Mountain and Salish as well in the next couple months well while conditions are good.

 

Played Salish a couple of weeks ago and was a little disappointed. The course was in decent shape, but the layout is quirky and the whole time limit on the range is odd. I started hitting balls 30 minutes before the round (I was the only one on the whole range) and was told to stop by the Starter because they only let you hit 15 minutes before your tee time. Won't be back to that circus. 

[Andrew Carlin]

3 hours ago, doc52 said:

 

Played Salish a couple of weeks ago and was a little disappointed. The course was in decent shape, but the layout is quirky and the whole time limit on the range is odd. I started hitting balls 30 minutes before the round (I was the only one on the whole range) and was told to stop by the Starter because they only let you hit 15 minutes before your tee time. Won't be back to that circus. 

That's really strange, never seen anything like that.

[Andrew Carlin]

4 hours ago, PNW said:

 

Let us know how you like West Seattle for the Seattle am. I've heard that there is a lot more effort put in for the conditions for that. 

 

I love the Home Course. It has some challenges holes but also very wide fairways for some off days with driver. It, along with Chambers, tends to be in the best condition in the area through winter time because it drains water fairly well. Get to Gold Mountain and Salish as well in the next couple months well while conditions are good.

Thanks! And I will post how west Seattle is for the am. I won't ever play there publicly again tho, service was even very rude.

[kaschreiber]

Interesting about Salish - I've never run into that and sounds absurd. I personally love that course.

 

Unfortunately, the options in Seattle proper for public golf are pretty bad - you've gotta get a ways out of the city to find anything that fits what it sounds like you're looking for. 

 

Peninsula: Gold Mountain, McCormick Woods, Trophy Lake are good options. Trophy is the only Oki course I enjoy, personally

South Seattle: Chambers, Home Course, Druids Glenn

East side: Mt Si- cheap, played there last weekend and the greens were great. It's on the shorter side, but an easy walk, well priced, and we played Thurs morning in ~3.5 hours. When I lived in Ballard, this was my go to course. You can go ~90 minutes depending on where you're at in Seattle to Suncadia, but slow rounds on weekends. 

North: Snohomish- slow on weekends but a fun layout. Echo Falls- not everyone likes it, I'm a fan. Legion- good muni and easy walk. Just redid their greens last summer I think. Camaloch on Camano Island has some of the best greens around. Cedarcrest- shorter and longer rounds peak weekend, but well conditioned greens. No driving range though. 

 

Places to avoid IMO: Newcastle - over priced, poorly conditioned, and a 5+ hour round every weekend. This is the only course around that I'll turn down an invite to. Harbour Pointe - Same gripe as New Castle, although the back 9 is a fun layout. 

 

A little further of a drive, but Bellingham has great public golf- North Bellingham, Lake Padden, Sudden Valley, Shuksan, Loomis Trails, Semiahmoo are all fun tracks. Avalon in Smokey Point is another good option albeit further north than the others listed above. 

 

Hope this helps

[Chanceman]

+1 for Salish Cliffs and Gold Mountain. We loved them both. Excellent companion courses to Chambers Bay. I liked Salish better than Gold but Gold would be more architecturally solid.

[doc52]

12 hours ago, Chanceman said:

+1 for Salish Cliffs and Gold Mountain. We loved them both. Excellent companion courses to Chambers Bay. I liked Salish better than Gold but Gold would be more architecturally solid.

Playing both courses at Gold on Sunday for the first time, can't wait.

[MongoSmash]

Make the drive to play Chambers Bay. Love it!

[bekgolf]

On 8/15/2022 at 10:47 AM, kaschreiber said:

 Avalon in Smokey Point is another good option albeit further north than the others listed above. 

 

Hope this helps

 

FWIW Avalon is north of Burlington.  Nice layout with 27 holes.

[doc52]

Really enjoyed Olympic at Gold Mountain this past weekend.

[kaschreiber]

15 hours ago, bekgolf said:

 

FWIW Avalon is north of Burlington.  Nice layout with 27 holes.

 

Yeah, you're right and good call. I always think Smokey Point is much further north than it is.

[Mustu]

The latest issue of Cascade Golfer magazine (I get it in the mail, but available at Puetz I think) has the best courses in the state.  Pretty accurate in my opinion.  It also gives you the best by region if you don't want to travel too far.

[Andrew Carlin]

On 8/15/2022 at 10:47 AM, kaschreiber said:

Interesting about Salish - I've never run into that and sounds absurd. I personally love that course.

 

Unfortunately, the options in Seattle proper for public golf are pretty bad - you've gotta get a ways out of the city to find anything that fits what it sounds like you're looking for. 

 

Peninsula: Gold Mountain, McCormick Woods, Trophy Lake are good options. Trophy is the only Oki course I enjoy, personally

South Seattle: Chambers, Home Course, Druids Glenn

East side: Mt Si- cheap, played there last weekend and the greens were great. It's on the shorter side, but an easy walk, well priced, and we played Thurs morning in ~3.5 hours. When I lived in Ballard, this was my go to course. You can go ~90 minutes depending on where you're at in Seattle to Suncadia, but slow rounds on weekends. 

North: Snohomish- slow on weekends but a fun layout. Echo Falls- not everyone likes it, I'm a fan. Legion- good muni and easy walk. Just redid their greens last summer I think. Camaloch on Camano Island has some of the best greens around. Cedarcrest- shorter and longer rounds peak weekend, but well conditioned greens. No driving range though. 

 

Places to avoid IMO: Newcastle - over priced, poorly conditioned, and a 5+ hour round every weekend. This is the only course around that I'll turn down an invite to. Harbour Pointe - Same gripe as New Castle, although the back 9 is a fun layout. 

 

A little further of a drive, but Bellingham has great public golf- North Bellingham, Lake Padden, Sudden Valley, Shuksan, Loomis Trails, Semiahmoo are all fun tracks. Avalon in Smokey Point is another good option albeit further north than the others listed above. 

 

Hope this helps

Thanks! So I played Salish last weekend, good layout, greens were disappointingly slow and in fact we could only use the range 15 min prior to our tee time. 

 

Found out that Chambers has a skins game on Thursday afternoons. $20 skins game $25 greens fees. Amazing, that's where I'll be on Thursdays. Also, you can practice at chambers all day for $30. That's a bargain considering Jeffersons lousy range costs $16 to hit 150 balls off of mats with hundreds of people around.

[Andrew Carlin]

On 8/24/2022 at 8:30 AM, doc52 said:

Really enjoyed Olympic at Gold Mountain this past weekend.

Played golf mountain cascade today. Greens are pretty good. 4:25 round, for the price it's insanely good, would rather play the Olympic side tho.

[doc52]

22 hours ago, Andrew Carlin said:

Thanks! So I played Salish last weekend, good layout, greens were disappointingly slow and in fact we could only use the range 15 min prior to our tee time. 

 

Found out that Chambers has a skins game on Thursday afternoons. $20 skins game $25 greens fees. Amazing, that's where I'll be on Thursdays. Also, you can practice at chambers all day for $30. That's a bargain considering Jeffersons lousy range costs $16 to hit 150 balls off of mats with hundreds of people around.

The Salish 15 minute range limit just makes the first 2-3 holes backed up from folks not being warm and hitting bad shots. We were waiting on the first 3 tee boxes even with the starter doing a good job of spacing groups out. 

[Andrew Carlin]

1 hour ago, doc52 said:

The Salish 15 minute range limit just makes the first 2-3 holes backed up from folks not being warm and hitting bad shots. We were waiting on the first 3 tee boxes even with the starter doing a good job of spacing groups out. 

That's annoying, and that first tee shot is no joke. And three being 291 par 3 doesn't help.

[Fairways_and_Greens]

If you’re willing to drive north a bit, I really like Snohomish. It’s never really pristine though. Almost 7000 from the tips. 

[erichake]

On 8/28/2022 at 8:56 PM, doc52 said:

The Salish 15 minute range limit just makes the first 2-3 holes backed up from folks not being warm and hitting bad shots. We were waiting on the first 3 tee boxes even with the starter doing a good job of spacing groups out. 

Part of the problem is #1 is a par 5 with trouble on both sides, #2 is a short "driveable" par 4 and #3 is a par 3. Unless starters hold groups until the 10 minutes have passed (as opposed to teeing off on #1 as soon as the group ahead hits their 2nd shots) things will always back up on any course.

 

I've only played there once and didn't experience any range time limit.  I think it's intended to keep the range clear of people practicing w/o a tee time. Maybe the starter was barking at them to get to the first tee (15 minutes ahead of their time?) so they were on time, leaving them just 15 minutes on the range?  That is a goofy policy.  Range balls are included in the back of your cart, so I'm not sure how anyone w/o a tee time would be able to use the range in the first place.

 

PRACTICE FACILITY

Use of the practice facility is limited to those with scheduled tee times or lessons.
For those with a schduled tee time, access is provided no more than 30 minutes before your scheduled tee time.  

[doc52]

1 hour ago, erichake said:

Part of the problem is #1 is a par 5 with trouble on both sides, #2 is a short "driveable" par 4 and #3 is a par 3. Unless starters hold groups until the 10 minutes have passed (as opposed to teeing off on #1 as soon as the group ahead hits their 2nd shots) things will always back up on any course.

 

I've only played there once and didn't experience any range time limit.  I think it's intended to keep the range clear of people practicing w/o a tee time. Maybe the starter was barking at them to get to the first tee (15 minutes ahead of their time?) so they were on time, leaving them just 15 minutes on the range?  That is a goofy policy.  Range balls are included in the back of your cart, so I'm not sure how anyone w/o a tee time would be able to use the range in the first place.

 

PRACTICE FACILITY

Use of the practice facility is limited to those with scheduled tee times or lessons.
For those with a schduled tee time, access is provided no more than 30 minutes before your scheduled tee time.  

 

Well said and agree on the layout challenges. I really think the starter was just having a bad day and wanted to take it out on someone. The 15 min limit seemed off, especially because it takes a couple minutes to get over to the first tee.

[RainShadow]

On 9/4/2022 at 8:11 AM, Fairways_and_Greens said:

If you’re willing to drive north a bit, I really like Snohomish. It’s never really pristine though. Almost 7000 from the tips. 

 When I lived in Lake Stevens, I played Snohomish quite a bit.

I've only seen it in really good shape a few times. Late July through August seemed to be best. Greens could get really quick.

They didn't have much for irrigation, if I recall. I think they used a tanker truck to water most of the course and then relied on rain. Winter was a mud slog on the lower side.

Too bad, because the lay out is pretty nice, great scenery and no vehicle noise. Sometimes some yard work noise from the houses along 8 and 9 I think it was. It was 8-10 years ago that I lived there.

Edited November 2, 2022 by RainShadow

[bekgolf]

7 hours ago, RainShadow said:

 When I lived in Lake Stevens, I played Snohomish quite a bit.

I've only seen it in really good shape a few times. Late July through August seemed to be best. Greens could get really quick.

They didn't have much for irrigation, if I recall. I think they used a tanker truck to water most of the course and then relied on rain. Winter was a mud slog on the lower side.

Too bad, because the lay out is pretty nice, great scenery and no vehicle noise. Sometimes some yard work noise from the houses along 8 and 9 I think it was. It was 8-10 years ago that I lived there.

 

FWIW they put in French drains on the wettest fairways.  It has helped quite a bit during the wet season.  They also continue to take out trees and brush. 

 

I don't play there as much as I used to but the last time I played the course was in decent shape.  IIRC that was last April.

[RJ_MJ_JJ]

For next season, I suggest making an eastern WA golf trip.  Chelan has some good golf (Bear Mt, Desert Canyon) and Gamble Sands is about 40 min away. Spokane has some great public golf (Indian Canyon, Meadow Wood, Latah Creek, among others). Tri Cities has some good public golf as well (Sun Willows, Canyon Lakes) and is only 45 min from Wine Valley. The two Suncadia courses in Cle Elum are a little over priced, but closer to Seattle (about an hour seat) than the other courses I mentioned. Good luck getting through the winter!

[kaschreiber]

13 hours ago, RJ_MJ_JJ said:

For next season, I suggest making an eastern WA golf trip.  Chelan has some good golf (Bear Mt, Desert Canyon) and Gamble Sands is about 40 min away. Spokane has some great public golf (Indian Canyon, Meadow Wood, Latah Creek, among others). Tri Cities has some good public golf as well (Sun Willows, Canyon Lakes) and is only 45 min from Wine Valley. The two Suncadia courses in Cle Elum are a little over priced, but closer to Seattle (about an hour seat) than the other courses I mentioned. Good luck getting through the winter!

 

If you're heading to Spokane as well, along with those public courses (Creek at Qulchan is another good muni), you can make the trek a bit further and hit Coeur d'Alene resort, or my personal favorite in the area - Circling Raven. 

[Jeffreywn]

Staying in Tacoma in June.  Playing Chambers, Gold Mountain - both, and 1 other. Should I play Home Course or Salish Cliffs and why?

 

Thanks!

[kaschreiber]

36 minutes ago, Jeffreywn said:

Staying in Tacoma in June.  Playing Chambers, Gold Mountain - both, and 1 other. Should I play Home Course or Salish Cliffs and why?

 

Thanks!

Without punting - depends on what you're looking for. Home Course is super walkable, links style, can can be a bear if you get the right wind. A handful of higher events are held there (WA Mid-Am last year) and a good variety of different holes, you can hit damn near every club in your bag and pretty easy to get around without losing a ball. 

 

Salish I think is a higher quality course, but not everyone feels that way. In June it may still be a little wet, Home Course tends to stay a little more dry. I don't even think they let you walk Salish and don't think I would want to even if it were an option. 

 

Want a "better" course (IMO - not everyone feels that way) - Salish. Want what is likely better conditioned for that time of year and a better value - Home Course

[doc52]

4 hours ago, Jeffreywn said:

Staying in Tacoma in June.  Playing Chambers, Gold Mountain - both, and 1 other. Should I play Home Course or Salish Cliffs and why?

 

Thanks!

 

I'd do Home Course over Salish. The day I played Salish it felt like a clown course with the starter limiting us to 10 minutes on the range (the range was completely empty), the distance between holes (can't walk) and the pace of play due to the casino guests in other groups going on nature walks through the woods looking for their balls all day.

[ThermalDan]

One and only trip to Seattle?  I would play a second round on Chambers.  While there are some other "nice" courses in the area, Chambers is the only one worth making a trip for.  There are plenty of courses in your home town (probably) that offer a similar experience to Salish or The Home Course, but Chambers is truly unique, fun, challenging, former US Open host, etc.