Washington State Golf Course Reports

[bpark1210]

09/03/2014 - Trophy Lake Golf and Casting

Played an early am round there at 7.55am. Started the day off hitting at the grass range. The conditions were dewed up and a little wet in places from the recent rain storms. They recently tined the greens a week ago so it was a little bit sandy. The greens have recovered nicely from the tining and show no signs of the micro holes. Despite all the rain the greens were very firm but still receptive to full shots. Fairways are in great condition and mowed really tight. Had some really great approach shots yesterday. Tucked in a couple wedges to w/i 4-15ft.

We ordered some hot dogs at the turn and they were nice enough to drive out to us on the back nine on hole 10 to deliver the dogs, talk about great service and keeping pace of play up. We let a twosome through sometime around hole 14. We finished as a threesome in 3 1/2 hrs.

I'll post some pics later in the day.

[bpark1210]

9/03/14 - Trophy Lake Golf and Casting

Par 5 11th 558yds
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Approach on 11 from 138yds w/ wind in, took PW. You can see the ball in the air that tucked to 4ft above the hole, missed the birdie doh!
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Par 4 10th with 203yds (bad tee shot + wind left me in play but short), 5 iron ended up short of the green by 2 yds
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Sent from my iPhone using GolfWRX Mobile

[bpark1210]

09.14.2014 - Gold Mtn - Olympic Course

Beatiful, hot 85° Sunday. The course is in great shape. Fast greens require full irons/wedges to have any chance of stopping. There was quite a bit of a back up on holes 5/6/7 which was expected for a twilight round but the Marshalls were out on the tee explaining what was going on. There was a group on the back 9 that was apparently hacking it up as 20 handi's following every rule in the book. The marshall said they were searching for lost balls off the tee for 5 min and would actually head back to the tee to re-tee. Said it was causing a 3 hr pace on the front for the rest of us. Didn't bother us as we were having fun, had a couple buddies from out of town playing. Well luckily after the front 9 a couple groups turned in for the day and we ended up blasting through the rest of the course.

The course conditions are so good right now our group is heading back out there this Weds. The greens are rollling fast and true. Prob around an 11 or so. Also they haven't punched yet so they are prob at their peak condition for this dry summer we've been having. Fairways are nicely mowed and the rough is up. You can still get a good amount of roll out of the fairways here.

[flip_rome]

Anyone play Washington National lately?

[jamie]

[quote name='flip_rome' timestamp='1410909680' post='10128571']
Anyone play Washington National lately?
[/quote]
I played a couple weeks ago. I thought the course was in good shape. Greens had good speed but most of my approaches wouldn't release. I'm not the best with course reviews because it has to be pretty bad for me to have a negative review.

[flip_rome]

Thanks Jaime! We are going to play it with my brother in law who's visiting from out of town. He's only got time for a couple rounds.

[Seattle_Maslow]

Played WaNa this morning, 8:20 tee time, teeing off on a fog covered course so 1 & 2 were blind tee shots. Crazy. Conditions at the course were not great at all, but not poor either. Maybe 6 or 7 out of 10. Greens were spotty and slow and the fairways have recently been punched. The bunkers have some new sand, but huge and I mean 4" long, rocks in some places. The waste areas have recently been graded, with some areas soft and others hard packed. My friend was victimized in one in a tire track. I got lucky on #10 and had hardpan sand and spun the hell out of a wedge in, stopping it close.

Part of this is due to playing in the dew. By this afternoon, I'm sure it would be drier and prettier.

Pace of play was a hair under 4 hours. Great for a Saturday.

[murellus]

Gold Mt - Olympic - 9/29. Called in the morning to find out that aerification is tues/wed. Overcast day with some light drizzle, but the course was in great shape still. Fescue around the bunkers were all cut and didn't pose much of a problem at all. Unfortunately when Gold Mt does their fall maintenance it leaves the course in a pretty tough condition to not blame the course for my crappy play, and this will have been the last time I will play this course before I move out of the area.

To the regulars in this thread, thanks for all the updates, hope mine were of some use. My job is taking me to the Northeast (and it's 6mo golf season). Golf in the PNW is amazing, and I've had the good fortune of playing some fantastic locations in my 5 years of play, and the level of play around here is above anywhere else I've been (if you've played Gold Mt, Chambers, or White Horse there's a good chance I've played with you).

[bpark1210]

[quote name='murellus' timestamp='1412140245' post='10216297']
Gold Mt - Olympic - 9/29. Called in the morning to find out that aerification is tues/wed. Overcast day with some light drizzle, but the course was in great shape still. Fescue around the bunkers were all cut and didn't pose much of a problem at all. Unfortunately when Gold Mt does their fall maintenance it leaves the course in a pretty tough condition to not blame the course for my crappy play, and this will have been the last time I will play this course before I move out of the area.

To the regulars in this thread, thanks for all the updates, hope mine were of some use. My job is taking me to the Northeast (and it's 6mo golf season). Golf in the PNW is amazing, and I've had the good fortune of playing some fantastic locations in my 5 years of play, and the level of play around here is above anywhere else I've been (if you've played Gold Mt, Chambers, or White Horse there's a good chance I've played with you).
[/quote]

Good luck to your new endevours! Thanks for contributing to this awesome thread.

[Seattle_Maslow]

Played Druids on 9/27 @ 7:20 a.m. The course was completely socked in by fog, literally blind tee and approach shots on holes 1-6, finally clearing on #7. Even the 200 yard dead straight par 3 #6 was invisible. Carts on path only due to the recent rain. Fairways didn't look good, but they played firmer than expected, though there were some sopping wet parts. Greens were slow but in decent shape. Range is in disrepair.

I typically book online, but there is a $2.50 per person fee, so I called instead. Big mistake as the online fee was $54 with cart, while the phone booked time was $70. That sucks. The guy in the pro shop had no clue and couldn't care less. Not even close to a $70 experience.

[TMBob]

Lake Chelan over the weekend (10-4/5)

Super lush and maybe to lush these days......one of my favs

Desert Canyon same weekend

Super shape and worth the drive

[bpark1210]

10/07/2014 - Newcastle - China Creek

Twilight round. Greens are a little bumpy but they have yet to punch. I haven't played here in a while after hearing all the horrible reviews from others in this thread. The front started off great with a birdie on hole#1 and immediately got backed up on hole #2 w/ the long par 3. Pace started to pick up afterwards and really didn't have a problem until #6. The group in front was a twosome and it seemed on every hole we would catch up to them w/ no one in sight in front of that group. There was a marshall out on hole #6 and could see he was chatting it up w/ them on the tee box. As we rolled up one of the guys was obviously offended and was whining and talking back to the marshall. They tee off and the marshall starts chatting it up w/ us and he was just in shock that a group would actually be that rude. Marshall was doing his job noting the group had a 1/2 hole gap in front. The other group was on the tee on #7 by the time the twosome reached their drives. I was a little surprised at his reaction as we could tell all round that these guys had a major gap in front of them but would wait on every tee box for the group to clear the green and par 5 for 2nd shots. We calmed the marshall down and he actually thanked us for talking w/ him. Things started to pick up but by #10 we were at a major back up. Hole #11 had a 3 group wait. It was ridiculous. The twosome in front ended up leaving. We eneded up flipping coins to see if we should roll back to the front and eventually after waiting 20 min decided to just go back to hole#1. I shot a 1 over on the front and was on pace to have a record round but really disappointed w/ the caliber of players at Newcastle. The marshalls do what they have to do but the players are rude and have no golf etiquette. When did Newcastle become the course that 20+ handicappers flock to?

Trophy by far is the best Oki course I've played this year. I'd put Newcastle towards the bottom for pace of play and conditions. Newcastle gets too much traffic which causes bumpy greens. Paired w/ poor etiquette from golfers w/ un-repaired pitch marks/divots on fairways etc means I'd much rather spend my $50 elsewhere.

[bpark1210]

10/16/2014 - Trophy Lake Golf and Casting Club

What a beautiful day yesterday. Clear blue skies w/ fluffy white clouds. Course was surprisingly dry since it's been raining for almost a week straight. Greens are rolling pure and true. The tining that took place is fully recovered. Some wet/soggy spots in collection areas. The fairways were punched which provided some dicey lies but we played lift clean and place with mud balls. The punched fairways took most of the roll out of tee shots which provided for a tough scoring day. Pace was excellent. We were a foursome and let a twosome through by hole #3 but never ran into another group all day. Cruised through in less than 4hrs. Took the Fauntelroy/Southworth ferry. Highly recommend the Fred Meyers deli out there. We were surprised by the quality of that location. It's very similar to the Greenwood Fred Meyers, very Whole Foods like and they have awesome deli foods/food court style grub on the cheap.

Also to note Trophy will be offering a winter membership from Nov - Feb for $150. Yup $150 for all 5 months unlimited play M-F and weekends after 12pm! Carts are $15 per rnd. Pretty ridonk deal and I'm seriously considering as you can break even after 3 rnds. Just have to put up w/ ferry costs but those rates have also dropped for winter rates as of Oct.

[bpark1210]

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[WestCoastHacker]

Desert Canyon (10/18) - Fairways and rough were in great shape. Greens have just been punched so you might want to give it a while before heading back out there.

Gamble Sands (10/19) - Played 36 here the day after Desert Canyon. The course is in great shape and well worth the trip if you can squeeze it in before they close for the winter. Might be my new favourite track in Washington.

[TMBob]

Suncadia Prospector and Apple Tree 10/19 weekend.

Stupid rate of $22 to play Prospector on my driver over to Yakima.....a bit wet after heavy rains that morning. Greens have a lot of Poa now and easier to read. Solid shape and a steal as I played at 1:30 and hardly anyone out there. No wind to boot!

Apple Tree....solid as usual. Perfect day on Sunday and plenty of roll. No one out there with the Hawks game going on. Paid local rate which I feel was a bit high for Late Oct. With cart about $72

Both course are high on my list of State favorites.
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[dan360]

I love that par 3 @ Apple Tree....that picture makes it look like less of a drop than it really is. Folks who haven't played there, ya gotta do it!

Great pics everyone!

[flip_rome]

Anyone play Chambers lately? I'm supposed to play it next week with my boss.

[bpark1210]

10/29/2014 Trophy Lake Golf & Casting

Lucked out yesterday w/ some sunshine. Trophy greens are quite smooth and in great condition. The fairways still have punch marks in them. Since we've had all the rain lately the fairways were sopping wet. In fact flooded in some low spots, on hole#6 right before the sand trap par 5 there was a 1 foot deep pond in the right side of the fairway. It was a great day to be out since we had a little break from the nasty stormy weather. I ended up forgetting my golf shoes but still had fun w/ soaking wet feet and fell down numerous times haha. We had sun, rain, winds, and more sun.

They're still running a 2 for $80 deal out there w/ cart. Just a quick hop over on the W. Seattle to Southworth ferry.

I'll post pics as always when I get some free time.

[bpark1210]

Forgot my golf shoes doh!
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A little wet on fairway #6
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Team score -3 from 6756yds. Scores ranged from 80, 86, 75, & 81. I shot the 86 in soaking wet sneakers and fell on my a** 10 times.
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[Cheech n Jon]

11/8/14 - Salish Cliffs Golf Course

Tee time was at 12pm. It was a cold overcast day in the low 50's with a few breaks of sun. The majority of the course was slightly wet with a layer of dew on fairways and the rough similar to playing a morning game. I enjoyed being able to clean my club face by dragging it along the rough surface. Less than a handful of plugged balls. Green was a little slow at the beginning holes but started to get run faster as the day went by. Great condition unlike my mid iron game. +23 was the result.

[bpark1210]

11/19/2014 Gold Mountain - Olympic Course

Course is still in great condition. Def on the colder side w the recent Arctic air moving in. Layered up w a 1/2 zip pullover and my trusty Mizuno wind lite jacket which kept me comfortable all day. Only issue we ran into was some frozen tee boxes in the shaded areas. Greens were a little harder than usual but again from shaded areas where the ground was frozen underneath the surface. Putts were rolling nice and true w consistent speeds through all 18 holes. Started on hole# 10 and zipped through the course. Tee'd off at 11.42 & 11.48am both groups finished w plenty of daylight left. We even ended up playing an extra playoff hole on #11 to settle a bet for dinner. Won free dinner that day and played decent golf shooting an 85 from the tourney tees.

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[bpark1210]

11/26/2014 - Gold Mtn - Olympic

Driest course in the state. Most of the day was overcast and cold w/ light rain and winds up to 15mph-20mph. Still managed to card an 87. The only issue I had with this round was they decided for some stupid reason to send out their full maintenance crew to spray the neon green fertilizer that smelt like shiet. I just don't understand what the reasoning behind sending these guys out during actual rounds was. We weren't the only ones there either. The maintenance crew would just cut in front of groups where ever they could find an opening and just start spraying it all over the greens. From holes 6 through 18 we had our golf balls turn into a blueish hue from all the fertilizer. We'd hit nice approach shots onto the greens and go to pick up our balls and the smelly fertilizer would stain your ball, putter, and fingers. Just a little annoyed by the decision thinking process by the grounds crew. I would've been pissed if it weren't for the golfnow deal we got. If I paid full price I would've walked off and asked for a rain check.

Other than that pace was great, fairways were in good condition, and greens were rolling true despite the fertilizer.

[Matt J]

I've noticed a few courses around Oregon open up a ton more discounted tee times through GolfNow when they're doing maintenance like plugging greens. For instance the Running Y will only have two discounted times during the summer and then they'll have an even lower rate for every tee time for two weeks after they plug. Perhaps you got that rate because they were treating the greens? I can understand your frustration if you weren't told though. When I booked there was a note that they were plugging.

[bpark1210]

MattJ,

Nope no mention of it ever from the staff of Gold Mtn or GN about the fertilizer. Honestly they came out of nowhere in the middle of the round so I don't think it was planned. Usually major maintenance like spraying the greens would require the grounds crew to do it before or after opening. That's why it was a little frustrating to experience right in the middle of the round (waiting for greens to clear up because maintenance is literally spraying blue poopy paint on the greens is a little ridiculous). The facility at Gold Mtn is always top notch and they are usually on top of things like that, that's why I found it out of the norm. My group and I still had a great time. The course is always in great condition despite the spraying incident.

[TMBob]

BPark, in response to the Chambers post......been at Maplewood the past two months on some of those great 55+ or 60 degree days.

Course is wet in spots as it should be...back side is starting to look like Jefferson...worms pushing up sil and pop but still plenty of grass unlike Jefferson.

Greens firm and fast...,yes, firm and fast.....of and pretty darn smooth!

[blink3665]

[quote name='TMBob' timestamp='1419644090' post='10645089']
BPark, in response to the Chambers post......been at Maplewood the past two months on some of those great 55+ or 60 degree days.

Course is wet in spots as it should be...back side is starting to look like Jefferson...worms pushing up sil and pop but still plenty of grass unlike Jefferson.

Greens firm and fast...,yes, firm and fast.....of and pretty darn smooth!
[/quote]

TMBob. I'm playing Jefferson soon... how is it?!?

[TMBob]

[quote name='blink3665' timestamp='1419644617' post='10645131']
[quote name='TMBob' timestamp='1419644090' post='10645089']
BPark, in response to the Chambers post......been at Maplewood the past two months on some of those great 55+ or 60 degree days.

Course is wet in spots as it should be...back side is starting to look like Jefferson...worms pushing up sil and pop but still plenty of grass unlike Jefferson.

Greens firm and fast...,yes, firm and fast.....of and pretty darn smooth!
[/quote]

TMBob. I'm playing Jefferson soon... how is it?!?
[/quote]

Blink, I have not been up there in awhile.....it was getting so bad that I just stopped playing in my normal Sunday group.

The lack of a sanding program, crane flys, and worms doing their thing has made it muddy, and no grass even. Hard to find a spot to place the ball even with winter rules. Greens I heard were ok. Hard fir me to justify my money up there when compare to MW and that I can use book money there fir greens fees.

Let me know what you think about it

[blink3665]

[quote name='TMBob' timestamp='1419651592' post='10645599']
[quote name='blink3665' timestamp='1419644617' post='10645131']
[quote name='TMBob' timestamp='1419644090' post='10645089']
BPark, in response to the Chambers post......been at Maplewood the past two months on some of those great 55+ or 60 degree days.

Course is wet in spots as it should be...back side is starting to look like Jefferson...worms pushing up sil and pop but still plenty of grass unlike Jefferson.

Greens firm and fast...,yes, firm and fast.....of and pretty darn smooth!
[/quote]

TMBob. I'm playing Jefferson soon... how is it?!?
[/quote]

Blink, I have not been up there in awhile.....it was getting so bad that I just stopped playing in my normal Sunday group.

The lack of a sanding program, crane flys, and worms doing their thing has made it muddy, and no grass even. Hard to find a spot to place the ball even with winter rules. Greens I heard were ok. Hard fir me to justify my money up there when compare to MW and that I can use book money there fir greens fees.

Let me know what you think about it
[/quote]

Jefferson was OK. The rain held off for the morning, but they had seen some rain the afternoon and evening before. There were some muddy spots, but no more than your average Seattle Muni at this time of year. The greens were in decent shape. They were faster than what I was anticipating given the spongy conditions on the fairways. There were plenty of worm holes in areas around the trees (no grass). For $36 on a Sunday morning it wasn't a bad track.

[TMBob]

[quote name='blink3665' timestamp='1419891206' post='10656939']
[quote name='TMBob' timestamp='1419651592' post='10645599']
[quote name='blink3665' timestamp='1419644617' post='10645131']
[quote name='TMBob' timestamp='1419644090' post='10645089']
BPark, in response to the Chambers post......been at Maplewood the past two months on some of those great 55+ or 60 degree days.

Course is wet in spots as it should be...back side is starting to look like Jefferson...worms pushing up sil and pop but still plenty of grass unlike Jefferson.

Greens firm and fast...,yes, firm and fast.....of and pretty darn smooth!
[/quote]

TMBob. I'm playing Jefferson soon... how is it?!?
[/quote]

Blink, I have not been up there in awhile.....it was getting so bad that I just stopped playing in my normal Sunday group.

The lack of a sanding program, crane flys, and worms doing their thing has made it muddy, and no grass even. Hard to find a spot to place the ball even with winter rules. Greens I heard were ok. Hard fir me to justify my money up there when compare to MW and that I can use book money there fir greens fees.

Let me know what you think about it
[/quote]

Jefferson was OK. The rain held off for the morning, but they had seen some rain the afternoon and evening before. There were some muddy spots, but no more than your average Seattle Muni at this time of year. The greens were in decent shape. They were faster than what I was anticipating given the spongy conditions on the fairways. There were plenty of worm holes in areas around the trees (no grass). For $36 on a Sunday morning it wasn't a bad track.
[/quote]

Thanks for the report