Seattle Area Courses

bereachad · March 24, 2013

I am a college golfer that is leaving my school and doing a CS internship at Amazon this summer as a SDE in Kindle Department and am wondering what courses are the easiest to get to from downtown, somewhat affordable, and are in 1/2 decent shape. I will be pretty much limited to playing on weekends, but I plan to be there from around 7am till dark working on various parts of my game so a course with a nice practice green would be much preferred.

I will also be looking to people to play with while I am up there, dates are from May 21st till the first week of August. I play to a 2.1 handicap last year, this year I am still waiting to get all my rounds for it to be calculated.

Thanks

Dr. Shankenstein · March 28, 2013

Jefferson Park is a muni that really close to you, assuming Amazon is still on North Beacon Hill, and is about 2-2.5 mi south from that building. Other muni's close to Downtown are Jackson Park and West Seattle. All three are in half decent shape and about $35 peak/primetime. And of course when you have a bit more time and are able to get outside the city, there are a bunch of great tracks within an hours drive. You will be here during a great time to play golf. If you are looking for a place to just work on your game, Interbay Golf Center is a great place.

bereachad · March 31, 2013

Ok, just an an update, Amazon placed me for my housing in Downtown Bellevue. The closes course to the hotel I was placed (an extended stay hotel for 3 months ) is really close to Glendale country club, but I am going to assume that this is fully private and is limited to members only. I emailed the course about a possible short term membership, but are there any other close by public courses I should look into? I believe I will have a rental car during the entire duration of the internship.

Thanks Again

TheMackDaddy · March 31, 2013

Get a membership at Overlake! It is private however.
Public courses include:
Bellevue municipal which is average.
Newcastle is fairly close and is consistently rated high. Probably your best bet.

greens hit · March 31, 2013

You'll love the summer here. You can actually get 18 in if you tee off before 4:30-5:00, depending on pace of play. Seattle is a short commute over 520 or I90 bridge.

On the east side you might like Willows Run. It's a 36 hole facility. Newcastle is close, but I don't think it's worth the $125 green fees unless you buy into their Oki Club. Google Oki Golf for more info.

Dr. Shankenstein · March 31, 2013

[quote name='greens hit' timestamp='1364776042' post='6733153']
You'll love the summer here. You can actually get 18 in if you tee off before 4:30-5:00, depending on pace of play. Seattle is a short commute over 520 or I90 bridge.

On the east side you might like Willows Run. It's a 36 hole facility. Newcastle is close, but I don't think it's worth the $125 green fees unless you buy into their Oki Club. Google Oki Golf for more info.
[/quote]
I think that the Newcastle tracks are great, but grossly over priced. It might make sense to get the OKI platinum card. You get six rounds to include both the Newcastle tracks and WaNat'l. Redmond Ridge is close by to Bellevue. I think there are a couple Wrx'ers here that belong to Alderra, Sahalee, and SnoRidge.You might be able to get on as a guest if you say 'pretty please". It is going to be a great season.

bradski · April 1, 2013

If you drive 30 minutes you will find some great options. Private is the best bet if you can get on. Good ones in Bellevue like overlake, Sammamish has Sahalee, Plateau club, Aldera.

From close to further
Redmond- willows runs. two decent courses great super twilight rates
Newcastle- two good oki courses but high cost.
30 minutes south-druid's glen (some of the best par 3's in the state), washington national, Great course
30 minutes north, harbor pointe.
1 hr accross the water - def worth a day trip, Gold Mountain
1hr south- home course, one of my favorite in the state

gmu155 · April 1, 2013

Jefferson or w Seattle are about 15min from the amazon lake union campus. Jefferson has a decent range and a practice bunker and pitching area. All muni are extremely slow on the weekend unless you play before 9am. I can usually get 9-13 holes in from 4:30pm to 8pm

gmu155 · April 1, 2013

Glendale is $ for a membership, I live across the street from it. I usually go to Bellevue muni range or play Jefferson twilight since I work downtown Seattle.

TMBob · April 1, 2013

Grew up on Glendale...you are close enough to try Maplewood....20 minutes if that south

KaymerGolf88 · April 1, 2013

I purchased an Oki Platinum card and a lot of their courses are great. I work on N. Lake Union and frequently swing by Interbay to practice. They have a pretty good set up. I live by West Seattle and also play there regularly. Let me know if you ever need companions.

bereachad · April 1, 2013

From the looks of things I will probably go to Interbay on the nights I get off work early ( don't know what time software engineers at amazon work till) at least once a week, and then play Bellevue regularly, it ins't a bad price at all. I might buy one of those Oki Cards, but I prefer a stable place where I can work on my game rather than traveling to play a course just 1 time, I would rather be able to go and play it multiple times to see how I improved once I get used to the course.

I would be willing to travel to any of those courses though throughout the summer if anyone is going to be playing them and is looking for someone else

bradski · April 2, 2013

from where you live willow's has the best practice area and is only a few minutes from bellevue gc. (the have a practice green over by the par 3 course where I prefered to go . the range there is average.
Interbay is an awesome range. I don't know if they do now but they used to have double balls at night.

RJfisher · April 5, 2013

I live 5 minutes from Interbay and go at least once a week. It's great for ranges around here, but fully covered and mats only gets a little old. The short game area is nice and large and can just bring my own balls and work on short game for free, also double balls after 8pm under the big lights. I [i]believe [/i]Willows Run has a grass hitting area during certain months, but it's been awhile since I've been out there. I think Bellevue Muni is all around terrible, had the longest round of my life there.

Living in Bellevue is probably better from a golf accessibility standpoint IMO, since I'm not a huge fan of the Seattle Muni courses, plus I live in Queen Anne and getting in/out of the city is generally a pain.

Oki card is a pretty good deal, especially for the Twilight Rates. I think Redmond Ridge is underrated, Harbor Pointe is worth it for the back 9 but a tad over-priced, and Echo Falls is very scorable despite some bad layout decisions and the completely stupid 90yd par 3 10th. Newcastle is expensive, but has some fantastic views and is always in good shape. Mt Si is also a decent option: cheap, walkable, good conditions for a public, and nice scenery.

If you're willing to take a drive on the weekends, hit up the Home Course and Washington National, both are great. You'll love the summers in the NW, makes the other 9 months bearable.

bereachad · April 7, 2013

Ok thank you for all your input, from what I reading, the courses in the area aren't the best and a bit overpriced, muni courses take forever (where doesn't it), and to get outside the local area when I can and play Home Course and Wash Na

teevons · April 16, 2013

You'll love the summers in the NW, makes the other 9 months bearable.
/quote][
I think he means you will love our summers, it makes the other 11 months and 3 weeks bearable, that week in August when it got over 80 was awesome!!

kmartel · April 30, 2013

Only problem in Washington is if you don't want to play complete garbage you're looking at over $60 per round. Bellevue is a horrible course in my opinion. If you don't mind driving 45 minutes it opens up a lot of your options. In my experience, I can play 36 holes at Mill Creek starting at 4pm, where if I go play a muni, you're lucky to finish 18 in under 5 hours. If you don't mind driving North Mill Creek would probably work with you on a 3 month membership. They give out memberships for young adults for 1200 a year anyways. You play about 5 rounds at any decent course in Washington and you're getting close to that number . Even the garbage courses are about $30 per round. I would rather drive for 45 minutes and play a ton of golf on a beautiful course but that's just me.

bereachad · May 1, 2013

Thanks I will look into it when I get there in about two weeks or so

[quote name='kmartel' timestamp='1367337168' post='6944233']
Only problem in Washington is if you don't want to play complete garbage you're looking at over $60 per round. Bellevue is a horrible course in my opinion. If you don't mind driving 45 minutes it opens up a lot of your options. In my experience, I can play 36 holes at Mill Creek starting at 4pm, where if I go play a muni, you're lucky to finish 18 in under 5 hours. If you don't mind driving North Mill Creek would probably work with you on a 3 month membership. They give out memberships for young adults for 1200 a year anyways. You play about 5 rounds at any decent course in Washington and you're getting close to that number . Even the garbage courses are about $30 per round. I would rather drive for 45 minutes and play a ton of golf on a beautiful course but that's just me.
[/quote]

bpark1210 · May 6, 2013

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 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. Twilight at 3pm for $60 w/ cart and grass range time.