Play 36

Perfect pairings of neighboring courses will make it a day to remember

BY BART POTTER • SPECIAL TO CG

Some days, some places, 18 holes of golf on one course is not enough golf and not enough variety. Sometimes, you need more.

Western Washington has you more than covered. From the outer edge of Pierce County in thesouth to the sprawling Olympic Peninsula to the west and north, to the upper reaches of Skagitand Island counties and the easternmost parts of King County, the courses we’ve paired up herelend themselves to 36-hole days of rich and diverse golf experiences.

A more leisurely approach to these two-fer destinations might find a golfer playing one coursetoday and the other tomorrow, in between seeking out rejuvenating food and drink and a place torest their weary bones. Our pairs we offer are, as they say, for your consideration.

THE HOME COURSE + EAGLE'S PRIDE

South Puget Sound

The Home Course

Eagle's Pride

You wouldn’t know it from the three-plus mile drive, pro shop to pro shop, between these two golf courses, but they actually abut one another, sharing a DuPont address and a dividing fence through wooded country in western Pierce County that is well-used by birders, hikers and bicyclists.

The Home Course, operated by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association and Washington Golf, boasts a new clubhouse — open since June 2020 — and a golf reputation that grows with each new championship event it hosts. The next capital investment at the Home Course will be a teaching facility, complete with launch monitor and all the shafts and heads to be a “full-on fitting center,” according to Justin Gravatt, the course’s general manager. A PNGA/WA Golf headquarters facility is farther into the future.

Eagle’s Pride, located west-northwest of Interstate 5 just off Exit 116, is the most accessible to freeway travelers of any course mentioned here. Though open to the public, it is managed by Joint Base Lewis-McChord, so active and retired military get a break on green fees. It originally opened in 1940 as an 18-holer called Fort Lewis GC which is why many golfers still refer to it as ‘The Fort’. A third nine was added in 1979, and the name changed to Eagle’s Pride in the mid- 1990s. You’ll love the course, but civilians might enjoy pro-shop courtesies accented by “ma’am” or “sir” even more.

Either course, by itself, is a rugged test of golf, though the physical challenges are quite different. “Our golf course doesn’t have a whole lot of elevation change,” says Gravatt. “Our biggest challenge is it’s just an expansive property. There’s some distance in between holes, and holes are long. The fairways are wide — you travel farther to find your ball. Eagle’s Pride is a traditional layout, with the tees right next to greens. And out there, you get a considerable amount of elevation change on some holes.”

One spring-summer option here is the City of DuPont/Home Course Summer Golf Fest — Stay, Then Play for Free promotion, running May through July.

SWINOMISH GOLF CLUB + WHIDBEY GOLF CLUB

Island County

Swinomish and Whidbey

In covering the 20 or so miles between Swinomish Golf

Club in Anacortes and Whidbey Golf Club in Oak Harbor, you’ll cross a bridge over the grand Deception Pass, at the same time crossing out of Skagit County and into Island County. Deception Pass deserves better than fleeting glimpses from a moving car, so leave enough time between your morning and afternoon round so you can pull off, stroll to an overlook and gawk ‘til you get your fill. You won’t be the only one.

In figuring out your sequencing for a 36-hole day, know that Whidbey is a private/public course — members-only until 1 p.m., public play after that. The formerly fully private course, opened in 1961, is a test by any measure (rating/slope 72.4/127 from the black tees). The 577-yard No. 6 hole is a par-5 with bite.

Swinomish is a player-friendly parkland course that packs a decent challenge into its 6,157 yards. Practice amenities include the Callaway Performance Center, where golf meets high technology (360-293-3444). Another virtue is its proximity to Swinomish Casino and Lodge which can take care of all your after-golf desires, whether that means gaming, dining or sleeping — stayand-play options are available.

PORT LUDLOW + CEDARS AT DUNGENESS

Olympic Peninsula

Port Ludlow

Cedars at Dungeness

It’s nothing, the time it takes to drive the 40 or so miles up Highway 101 between Port Ludlow Golf Club and

Cedars at Dungeness. It’s peninsula time, after all. At one end a seriously scenic resort course. At the other a seriously scenic resort course.

Cedars at Dungeness in Sequim is part of the 7 Cedars Casino complex, operated by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe. It’s not crazy-long, befitting a resort course, but beware the pincers of the Dungeness crab-shaped bunker on No. 3. The two bunkers guarding the long No. 7 green, while not shaped like any known sea creatures, help make this 579-yard par-5 the hardest hole on the course.

Port Ludlow was designed by Robert Muir Graves, much-honored for his golf architecture in the Western U.S. It’s longer, at 6,861 yards from the tips, and rarely will you land your ball on a flat piece of ground, even in the fairway.

In a region so dedicated to tourism, the 100-room 7 Cedars Hotel completed the picture for the casino property when it opened in the summer of 2020. Several stayand-play golf plans are available. Port Ludlow Resort is a venerable peninsula destination, featuring a boutique 37-room inn situated a well-struck 9-iron from the golf course. Check out the stay-and-play package.

LEGION MEMORIAL + WALTER HALL

North Puget Sound

Legion Memorial

Walter Hall

Whichever of these City of Everett courses you play first on a 36-hole day might depend on where you live and which Boeing shift traffic you want to battle. Legion Memorial to the north and Walter Hall to the south are separated by roughly 12 miles if you stay on Highway 526 or about 10 miles if you take I-5. Again, pick your traffic poison.

If the golf experience governs your order of play, Shayne Day, general manager of both courses, suggests playing Legion in the morning if you want the stiffer challenge first. Legion is tougher and newer, last renovated in 2019 to add retention ponds for the city which also added four new holes (see a flyover here).

Walter Hall is generally flatter, with less undulation on the greens. Both courses are consistently well-maintained tee to green, and a “tight-knit family environment” fostered by the managing Premier Golf Centers, says Day, keeps a solid core of customers coming back to both courses.

Our feeling, is both of these courses will receive some new exciting exposure from out of the market with the growth of the new PAE Airport at Paine Field in the coming years.

MOUNT SI + SNOQUALMIE FALLS

Cascades

Mount Si

Snoqualmie Falls

Scott Barter, General Manager at Mount Si in the town of Snoqualmie, grew up in the Snoqualmie Valley and played a lot of golf at both these courses. Says Barter, this 36-hole combo will challenge the avid player but not overwhelm the novice. The nature experience it provides, he says, is exceptional.

Both courses are walker-friendly, neither is overly long, and the views of Mount Si (the actual mountain) and the Snoqualmie Valley are outstanding.

Barter says he has heard excellent things about conditioning not only at his own course but at Fall City’s Snoqualmie Falls, too. “And If you start your day at Snoqualmie Falls,” he adds “you can take the beautiful drive up the hill past the falls [the actual Snoqualmie Falls] for your afternoon round at Mount Si. I can’t think of a better pair for walking 36 holes.”

Snoqualmie Falls is a pleasant walk in the country. It’s forgiving but also offers many risk vs. reward opportunities in its 5,832-yard layout. It’s a great track to enjoy that early morning cup of coffee or late afternoon cold beverage.

OAKBROOK + MEADOW PARK

Metro Tacoma

Oakbrook

Meadow Park

These two courses, four miles apart in Lakewood, take a different approach to serving the golf public. Oakbrook, a former country club now open to public play, offers a hybrid membership model under the management of Ryan Moore Golf. Meadow Park, operated by Metro Parks Tacoma, is a community course in every sense of the word, with steady business on the practice range and Williams Nine executive course, and active junior golf programs.

In purely golf terms, Oakbrook is more traditional, more open, more of a finished product, according to Meadow Park General Manager Chris Goodman. Oakbrook markets its greens as the best public-course putting surfaces in the state.

Anyone who takes on Oakbrook in the morning will see immediately in his afternoon round that Meadow Park is rougher around the edges. “Here is a kind of quirky, tight golf experience,” Goodman says. “It’s a long 6,100 yards. You’re going to have to hit every club in your bag.”