Cascade Golfer June 2023

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Sunseeking and self-reflection my summer golfing goals

EDITORIAL STAFF PUBLISHERS

Dick Stephens & Kirk Tourtillotte

EDITOR

Tony Dear

ART DIRECTION & GRAPHIC DESIGN

Robert Becker

WRITERS

Bob Sherwin, Bart Potter & Taryn Hauglie

FOR EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS AND INQUIRIES: Dick Stephens • Publisher stephens@varsitycommunications.com

FOR ACCOUNTING INQUIRIES: Kirk Tourtillotte • Publisher kirk@varsitycommunications.com

ADVERTISING & MARKETING STAFF

SALES/MARKETING MANAGER & TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR

Simon Dubiel simon@cascadegolfer.com

COPYRIGHT 2023 Cascade Golfer. PRINTED IN THE USA.

All rights reserved. Articles, photos, advertising and/ or graphics may not be reprinted without the written permission of the publisher. Advertising and editorial contained herein does not constitute endorsement of Cascade Golfer or Varsity Communications, Inc. Publisher reserves the right to edit letters, photos and copy submitted and publish only excerpts. The publisher has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all material contained in this issue. However, as unpredictable changes and errors do occur, the publisher can assume no liability for errors, omissions or changes.

All photos are courtesy of the course or individual unless otherwise noted.

PRODUCER AND OWNER OF THE

Perhaps like no other region of the United States, ‘springing forward’ weatherwise seems so much more profound and sudden here in Seattle, doesn’t it?

In the blink of an eye, we go from wet, mushy, marshy April showers to warming days and milder eves when June arrives.

Our solstice here at 47 degrees north (topographically-speaking) is unparalleled — pun intended. We see the most daylight of any major market American city in June, which is one of the reasons I still dig living in Jet City. I’m ready to enjoy my 45th endless summer with the sport.

So, with all that temperate talk and waxing about weather, let’s get back to golf as I’ve been thinking about my game and my relation to it. And when I say my game, I’m considering the animal, vegetable and mineral elements of it.

The animal being me — the guy swinging the club. What can I do to better my game and cure the long-lasting ills that tether me to what seems like an endless 18hole result ranging between 82-87.

The vegetable being where I play. There are some spots that are old favorites, tracks I’ve yet to cross off my list and microclimates I want to get lost in this summer.

And, lastly, the mineral, which is the equipment I’m using. I’m turning 55 and looking at midlife tools in my bag that will elevate my game and be right for me — I know my sticks need tweaking.

Given this self-actualization, here’s my summer list of things I am ready for.

FIND A PRO — I am super excited about taking a good look at two things as it relates to my game — swing tempo and putting. Reading our Rick Fehr feature in this issue by Bob Sherwin (page 42), it really hit home that I need a swing doctor. Perhaps Rick can fix the part of my game that sucks the most since he was the number one ranked putter on the PGA Tour for a while. I’m also open to an Al Czervik putting device if I can find one.

REGIONAL GOLF BUCKET LIST — I have a list of courses I must play this summer at certain times of the day because I am so in love with where these places are located.

I really want to do 36 on the peninsula — McCormick Woods in the morning and Gold Mountain (Olympic) in the afternoon. I love the way the morning marine layers

hang in the trees off Old Clifton Road where McCormick is. And capping my day with a twilight walk up the 18th at Gold Mountain with the setting sunrays casting through the cedars in Bremerton is bliss to me.

I also want to drive over Stevens Pass at dawn, eat breakfast at Wenatchee’s Pybus Public Market (amazing fresh food) and be at Desert Canyon by 9:30 a.m. — top down and music blaring (Rush, The Clash, Pearl Jam and maybe some Annie Lennox) while I hug the road. It’s so warm and calm in our high desert.

This route I’ve outlined, by the way, will allow me to feel temps in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s all within a short morning window — that’s living.

I’ll be winding up in Chelan later for afternoon wine tasting and dining on some of the best bistro food in Washington — all on foot. It’s a little slice of Heaven. Then, bed down at Campbell’s Resort and hit Bear Mountain Ranch or Alta Lake GC the next day early. Just playing, eating and imbibing in an epicurean fashion with the right company is what’s on my mind over there.

MY BAG — I’ve had stiff-shafted clubs my whole adult life whether I’ve been fit for them or bought them off the rack. However, after hitting out of my youngest son’s bag (Fletcher, 18) on the range recently, I had a thunderbolt discovery. Using his 10-year-old KZGs, featuring regular flex Penley shafts bequeathed to him by my late father, something clicked. I slowed down my tempo to let the shaft flex match its desired speed and whip.

It was like I discovered fire it felt so good. Slowing everything down, sacrificing a little bit of distance and grooving it was allowing me to shape some shots again. Drawing a flighted 7-iron at will — holy crap, is there anything better?

So, given that, I think I might need to leave my stiff Titleist AP3s and Vokey wedges (I got blended irons three summers ago). I’ll let a real clubfitter give me a green light, but my feeling is that it’s time for a ‘Cool Change’ as the Little River Band sang it and look for something more flexible.

I can hardly wait to follow through on all I shared and bared here. It’s time to let the light in, embrace change, enjoy life, make memories and see golf as soulful recreation. I hope this stirred you a little and we wish you a summer of mindfulness. AS ALWAYS, TAKE IT EASY.

Bear Mountain Ranch GC • Chelan

Jet City’s Couples makes Masters history as oldest player to make cut at 63

SHORT GAME W

hen Fred Couples shows up at Augusta National for the Masters tournament every April his chronic back doesn’t flare up, his swing is timeless, and it seems his ball flies higher and farther than players 30 and 40 years younger — some of whom he can still beat.

“Fred has a special relationship with Augusta National,” says Rick Fehr, a Seattle golfing icon who, three years younger, was once Boom Boom’s teenage rival. “He defies his age when he shows up there.

“His high degree of talent, his creativity, and a magical short game matches up well with Augusta. We’re just used to seeing his name above the cut line, that’s for sure.”

It has happened 31 times in his 38 appearances at the Masters. That includes this year when he became the oldest golfer ever to make the cut at 63 years, 187 days (the old record was set by Bernhard Langer in 2020 at 63 years, 80 days). Couples also holds the record — with Gary Player — for the most consecutive cuts made at 23. Tiger Woods tied them this year.

Couples, a 15-time PGA Tour winner, has 11 top 10 Masters finishes, including a victory in 1992, vital to his election into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013. His victo-

ry essentially was won fortuitously on the iconic par 3 12th hole in which his drive appeared destined for Rae’s Creek but inexplicably stayed dry. The slope below the hole is so steep that short drives almost always find the water. But his ball held up in the wet grass, one foot from the muck.

“How it stayed up is a miracle,” Couples said later. “And so is winning the Masters.”

He would wedge the ball over the slope to within 18 inches to get his par. He went on to win by two shots over Raymond Floyd, who was 50 then, yet still somehow competitive. Thirty-one years later, it’s Couples who remains competitive. (Note that Rory McIIroy, Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau, who can hit a drive into tomorrow, all missed the cut).

“It was not a surprise to see him play well there and extend his streak,” Fehr added.

Couples has had other significant achievements. He won the 1985 and ‘96 Players Championship and was a two-time PGA Tour Player of the Year. He won three times in Europe, 24 other times around the world, played on five Ryder Cup teams, and competed and captained (combined) in seven President’s Cups. His 161 top 10s

rank among the elite of all time.

But there’s one tournament he said he wants most of all before his competitive spirit fades — the Champions Tour Boeing Classic in his hometown. If his back allows and he’s feeling competitive, it’s expected that Boom Boom will tee it up at The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge Aug. 11-13.

Fred Couples

Photo courtesy Shutterstock

SHORT GAME

CG Cup winners at Home Course off to Maui next up is White Horse and Port Ludlow with trips to Bandon Dunes and Central Oregon on the line

It was yet another great trip down to The Home Course for the Cascade Golfer Cup Season Opener on April 29. Although the sun was shining on the entire field, it was the teams of Mark Jones/Mark Anderson and Ben Willetts/ Peter Bennett that shined the brightest, winning the Net and Gross Divisions respectively.

Willetts shot an incredible 68 on this own ball, including a string of four straight birdies on holes eight through 11. With their wins both teams won a golf package to Maui courtesy of Ka’anapali Golf Resort and Hyatt Regency Maui. The event was also highlighted by a hole-in-one from Lucas Jones on the 12th hole from 169 yards.

Up next are events at two Northwest favorites, with a two-person shamble at White Horse June 10 and two-person best ball at Port Ludlow July 8. These two tracks have been some of the best conditioned courses over the past few years and are always a great test of brain versus brawn.

If you can outlast the rest of the field, we are sending four players from White Horse to Bandon Dunes while the

Port Ludlow winners are off to Central Oregon. Yes, you read that correctly — Bandon Dunes. The top 10 of the Net and Gross Divisions all prize out.

In addition to sending folks to Bandon, Maui, Central Oregon, Myrtle Beach, Pinehurst and several other destinations this year, CG Cup events also hand out all sorts of other great loot.

This includes drivers, wedges, putters, rangefinders, watches, pull carts, bags and, of course, a ridiculous amount of great golf. We’re awarding twosomes and foursomes to: Gamble Sands, Chambers Bay, Suncadia, Salish Cliffs, White Horse, Apple Tree, Home Course, Loomis Trail, Port Ludlow, Cedars at Dungeness, The Classic, Oakbrook and many more. The list is long.

The Cup continues Aug. 12 at Oakbrook with an aggregate Stableford, followed by another two-person best ball, Sept. 9 at The Classic. The season concludes with our annual pilgrimage to Chambers Bay, with the Fall Classic Sept. 30. You don’t want to miss this event.

In addition to prizing out each event, the CG Cup is also a season points race, so there are prizes for the top 10 teams in Gross and Net on the season. Plus, you are allowed to have an alternate, so when you have a conflict and your buddy still wants to grab a partner and play, no problem. Consider it a three-person team for the season. It is never too late to get involved. Play in one, play in them all. Have fun either way. You will, we promise.

Get a partner and a handicap and we might be talking about you next issue. Check it out at CascadeGolfer.com/ Cup for details and upcoming tournament dates.

SHORT GAME

UW Husky senior linksters Hruby and Kwon lead Dawgs run into Pac-12 postseason

It was apparent entering this season that the UW men’s golf team was going to be challenged. The Huskies had much to defend, including the 2022 Pac-12 Conference title, and had to do it without three key contributors from a year ago.

The Huskies graduated Patrick Wu, R.J. Manke, a fifthyear senior transfer who had been part of Pepperdine’s 2021 NCAA title, and Noah Woolsey, who sank the winning putt to give the Huskies their Pac-12 crown. It was the school’s first men’s golf title since 2010 and seventh overall (beginning in 1958).

The season’s leadership roles fell to seniors Petr Hruby and Bo Peng. Hruby, from the Czech Republic, had a high point March 7 when he took medalist honors at the Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic by three strokes with a 12-under 204 score. He was named Pac-12 Player of the Week. Peng, from China, had his best effort April 1, third place at the Goodwin Tournament at TPC Harding Park.

But the Huskies couldn’t pull together the overall depth to compete for titles, as third place at Lamkin was the season’s highest finish.

The Huskies entered the Pac-12 Championship April 28-30 at Stanford as the defending champions and were tied for first place entering the final day. They finished fifth overall. Peng led the Huskies with a sixth-place finish.

The NCAA Regionals were May 15-17 — see GoHuskies.com for details.

The UW women’s golf team also had two returning seniors, Brittany Kwon from Bremerton, and Winnie Ng from Malaysia. Much like the men, the Husky women have not had the overall strength and experience to be as competitive as season’s past.

The Huskies did win the Causeway Invitational Feb. 28 in Sacramento, as three Huskies finished in the top 10: Camille Boyd (T2), Kennedy Knox (T5) and Stefanie Deng (T8).

Deng was the Huskies best finisher April 17-19 at the Pac-12 Championships in Phoenix. She shot a threeround 1-under par 215 to finish 11th. The Huskies placed ninth overall.

Deng and Boyd both qualified for the NCAA Regional at Palouse Ridge May 8-10.

Brittany Kwon

Petr Hruby

Photos courtesy University of Washington

With 120 offers, Northwest Golfers Playbook pays you back all summer long

f you love saving money and playing golf in Washington and Oregon, you won’t want to leave home without this.

The 2023 Northwest Golfers Playbook is jam packed with great offers all over the Northwest. Several of our best tracks such as Gamble Sands, Wine Valley, Suncadia, Apple Tree, White Horse and Port Ludlow have an amazing offer for you. This is in addition to all our local favorites, too many to list.

Golf is busting out and we are also seeing the indoor golf craze in full bloom. We’ve had several new indoor facilities jump into the book, including Five Iron Golf on Capitol Hill, Lounge by Topgolf in Kirkland, Kutting Edge Fitness in Redmond and Loft Golf out of Olympia. This is in addition to our playbook vets Golftec, Back 9 Parlor and Pacific Northwest Golf Centers. The summer weather is here now, but come this fall when the raindrops start again, earmark these offers.

Whether you live in Seattle, Snohomish County or hang in the South Sound, there’s tons of options for you. Plus, if you love to hit the road, we have 18 tracks on the peninsula or across the passes to central and eastern Washington. Road trip after road trip can be made by flipping through the 120 pages of savings.

What type of offers you ask? Anything goes. If you are looking for 2 for 1s, 4 for 3s, percentage discounts, free carts, lessons, range balls, twosome specials or foursome offers it’s all jammed in there.

With more than 120 pages of golf deals, you simply need to use a coupon or two and you’re already in the black. If you can’t save money using the playbook, you need to get out and play more often.

You can purchase a book online for $39.95. Use the code SAVEBIGONGOLF to save another $5. Put the book in your golf bag and count the savings all year long. Pick one up at NWGolfersPlaybook.com and start saving today!

Play at beautiful Snoqualmie Falls Golf Course

Tickets on sale after Labor Day for 2024 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Sahalee

You can’t buy a ticket yet or even circle a definite date on your calendar, but the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is coming to Seattle next summer and host club Sahalee, together with the PGA of America, has some major plans.

One of the LPGA Tour’s five major championships, the KPMG last visited the region in 2016 when an 18-yearold Brooke Henderson won her first major. Next year’s dates aren’t yet known, but the tournament is usually held in the third week of June which would put it around the week of June 17.

“We’ll be launching ticket sales after Labor Day,” says Jackie Endsley, the PGA of America’s championship director. “They’ll be available on our website KPMGwomenspga.com.”

The tournament was first held in 1955 as the LPGA Championship. The PGA of America took over the event in 2015. Sahalee, with its rare ability and fervent desire to host major events, stepped forward for the 2016 tournament and hosted a doozy with Henderson shooting a final round 65 and beating Lydia Ko on the first extra hole after both golfers had completed 72 holes at six-under-par 278.

This will be the first time the event will be held for a second time by the same club. The Sammamish, Wash., course opened in 1969 and was designed by Ted Robinson with a renovation by Rees Jones in 1996.

There are 27 holes with the North and South nines used for the tournament. The East course, meanwhile, is used for parking, media, merchandise, and sponsor hospitality along with the popular Women’s Summit.

Among those expected to compete, besides Henderson and Ko, are the talented Korda sisters, Nelly and Jessica. Nelly, now 24, was an up-and-coming junior golfer when Sahalee first hosted the event. She turned professional in 2017 and now has eight wins on the LPGA Tour including victory in this event in 2021, the year she also won Gold at the Olympic Games in Japan. Jessica, 30, has won six times and, like her sister, has finished in the top-10 50 times.

Sahalee has just completed a $2.5 million bunker renovation project and plans to remove some trees and expand the tees following next year’s KPMG.

This year’s tournament will be held at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J. June 22-25 with a purse of $9 million — up from $4.5 million just two years ago.

Lydia Ko

Photo courtesy Shutterstock

SHORT GAME

at Snoqualmie’s Boeing Classic this August

If you want colorful and someone with iconic moves and an unconventional swing, then make your way out to The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge Aug. 7-13, for the Boeing Classic and the 18th edition of the hugely popular Champions Tour event.

Miguel Angel Jiménez, the free-spirited 58-year-old Spaniard with the distinctive man bun and 56-ring Cuban cigar, will likely return to defend the title he won last year shooting a five-under 67 in the final round to beat David McKenzie by two strokes and celebrating with an abbreviated flamenco. It was Jiménez’s 13th Champions victory following a 21-win career on the European Tour (now the DP World Tour).

The 81-player Boeing field will not be official until the week before the event, but there are two other compelling players expected in the field. One is the antithesis of

Miguel Angel Jiménez

Jiménez — indefatigable German Bernhard Langer.

Now 65 years of age, Langer has been a relentless force on the Champions Tour for 15 years. He just doesn’t seem to fade. Entering this season, the two-time Masters champion had 45 wins on the over-50s tour, tied with Hale Irwin for the most all-time.

It’s likely that Langer, who has won the Boeing Classic twice (2010, 2016) will break the record before he gets here, but his overall numbers are hard to believe — he has won six Charles Schwab Cups, nine player-of-theyear awards, 11 money list titles, and 11 Champions Tour majors. He has had 10 multi-win seasons, 12 wins after turning 60, and four more since turning 64. He also has shot his age eight times in competition.

The other compelling golfer expected to tee it up is, of course, popular Seattle native Fred Couples, who’ll arrive

with an enhanced resume having become the oldest player ever to make the cut at the Masters — 63 years, 187 days. He beat the old record — set by Langer in 2020 — by 107 days.

The 1992 Masters champion finished 50th in April while players such as Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Bubba Watson didn’t even make it to the weekend.

Of course, Couples has never won the Boeing Classic, but he would dearly love to don the winner’s bomber jacket. He has finished third four times (2010, ’13, ’15, ’19) and had a five-shot lead entering the final round in 2019 before falling back.

Over the years, Couples and Langer have had one final-round battle — in 2015, but Billy Andrade pushed past both players for a one-shot victory. How great it would be to see these legends slug it out again.

Go to BoeingClassic.com for details and tickets.

Jiménez to defend his title, Langer looks to beat Irwin’s record

Photo courtesy Shutterstock

SHORT GAME

At a glance, not much has changed at Lakeland Village Golf Course — still 27 holes of quality golf in a setting of rural sophistication.

Take a longer look, and a regular visitor notices the results of work this year and last to enhance the overall golf experience.

Lakeland Village occupies a niche in northeastern Mason County, a few hundred yards west of Highway 3 in the town of Allyn, well-situated in a swath of good public courses north, south and west in Mason and south Kitsap County.

So, what’s new around here?

Head PGA Professional Tyson Odden is happy to point out Lakeland’s new floating driving range with floating balls, the short-game practice area and the new indoor golf simulator.

For the golf course itself, it’s mostly an adjustment in terminology. The former Lakeland nines were known

as Generation I, Generation II and Generation III. Now, we have the 18-hole Ranch Course at Lakeland Village, formed by combining Generations II and III, which has always been a common configuration here.

Generation I is newly christened as an executive course, shorter in length than its sister nines, and called — wait for it — Generation I.

The quality and affordability of Lakeland Village hasn’t changed. The Ranch Course (6,471 yards from the blue tees) has a top rate of $50 on weekends, $38 Monday through Friday, with twilight rates set at $24 and $20.

Generation I (2,589 yards, par 35) is the best value on the property — 18 bucks anytime.

When people talk about Lakeland, they talk about the greens.

“The number one thing I hear day in, and day out is how good our greens are and how challenging they are, both with speed and the overall design and slope,”

Odden said. “We think we’ve got some of the best greens in the state.”

For good ball-strikers, Lakeland offers challenges often unforeseen. They note the yardage and course ratings and expect Lakeland to be easy to attack.

“It’s actually very challenging,” Odden said, “but it’s fair, and people do really enjoy it.”

Some things don’t need to change. Learn more at www.lakelandvillagegc.com.

Exciting new floating driving range, practice area, indoor simulator and upgrades at Allyn’s Lakeland Village enhance the 27-hole complex

Lakeland Village’s greens are known as some of the best in the state.

Inglemoor HS girls’ golf team wins Duke’s award

If there’s one thing that’s become abundantly clear since Duke’s Seafood began awarding its Junior Golf Scholarship in 2015, it’s that the nominees’ ability to play the game is only a part of what John Moscrip looks at when deciding the winner.

“Playing the game at a high level is certainly important and part of our selection criteria,” says Duke’s COO who conceived the idea for the scholarship. “But integrity and a focus on sportsmanship, well-roundedness and attitude are at the top of the list.”

That’s not to say the most recent winner(s) — the girls’ team at Inglemoor High School in Kenmore — aren’t good golfers. The team had a solid spring season with one team member, Jewel Malmoe, cutting her average nine-hole score by 15 strokes. Sophomore Kandyce Diep had several strong finishes and is a regular at Washington Junior Golf Association (WJGA) events.

Rather than highlighting her team’s good play in 2023, Coach Teresa McCausland spoke of camaraderie, leadership, teamwork, application and fun when asked to comment on her players who, collectively, won the WIAA Academic Award for the Outstanding Scholastic Team with a 3.58 GPA.

“They bond over their experiences together,” McCausland adds. “And they choose to ride in the team van together when they don’t have to.” And while it isn’t at all surprising to hear these teammates encourage each other, it does come as something of an eye-opener to learn they root for their opponents, too, offering praise for good shots and solace when anyone struggles.

“Other teams recognize and appreciate this,” says McCausland. “Which is why the team won the King County Sportsmanship Award, as voted on by players in the conference.”

It was Mindie Wirth, mother of team member Lauren Wirth, who contacted us late last year to nominate her daughter’s team and comment on the example co-coaches McCausland and Matt Coglon had set. “I’m so grateful my daughter has been able to learn from them,” she says. “They’ve been a wonderful influence. And, in addition to cheering for their opponents — something you have to see to believe, the girls have also handled some unsportsmanlike behavior and opponent’s rule violations with grace and dignity.”

Graceful, dignified, hard-working, encouraging, and devoted to golf — now that’s a Duke’s Scholarship winner.

Photo courtesy of Em Regala and Quinn Marshall

Destination Spokane

When considering the always forward-looking Kalispel Golf and Country Club, it’s rewarding to look the other way, back in time, to the earliest days of golf in Spokane, Wash.

It’s a long history. And it all started, in 1898, with the Spokane Golf Club.

The founders put the first golf course at 14th and Perry Street in the South Hill district of Spokane. Early on, the members sought a better fit. The next location near Hart Field served four years until the clubhouse burned, and the club moved to another site near the Little Spokane River. There, the new course opened on July 8, 1911, and there it remains today.

The club, in attempting to build its memberships, used a jitney (a small bus) to help members bridge the distance between the club and Spokane’s main population centers.

Over the years, the club hosted a U.S. Women’s Open (1946), won by Hall of Famer Patty Berg.

Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Curtis Strange, Nancy Lopez, Fred Couples, Chip Beck, and Nick Price all made appearances at the club. Tom Watson set the course record.

Flash ahead to 2015, when the Kalispel Tribe of Indians acquired the club and renamed it Kalispel Golf and Country Club. Among other updates at the property, the restaurant on-site became a

gastropub renamed the 1898 Public House, in honor of the year the course was founded.

Kalispel is a full-fledged golf destination, in partnership with the Tribe-operated Northern Quest Hotel and Casino. The golf on this richly scenic site has remained much the same through the years — top tier — and was only enhanced when esteemed golf architect Robert Muir Graves did a remodel of the course in 1988.

The course has been honored as a Top 50 Resort Course in the U.S. by Golfweek. The par 72 course, meandering alongside the Little Spokane, features 54 well-situated bunkers and water hazards in play on seven holes.

The golf course is fully private, but the visiting public can get on Kalispel by reserving a stay-and-play package. It’s a good deal — the resort welcomes “members for a day” to play golf and gain access to members’ amenities in the casino, spa and dining venues.

Hotel stay-and-play packages start at $209 per person and include a round of golf for two at Kalispel, a night’s stay in a luxury room, and dining and drink discounts at the 1898 Public House and members-only Kalispel Grill, both located at the golf course.

A lower-cost but still upscale stay-and-play alternative

Enter to Win Port Ludlow and Cedars at Dungeness Twosomes

If you have a little adventure in you, jump on the Edmonds ferry and make your way to the peninsula. Dungeness is as beautiful as it is playable while Port Ludlow is a hidden gem with spectacular playing conditions. Come see for yourself. The juice is worth the squeeze for this duo, especially when the golf is on us. Enter to win today at CascadeGolfer.com.

is a night in a luxury cottage at Northern Quest RV Resort, with packages starting at $159, which offers the same golf access and resort amenities as the hotel package.

Dining and drinking options are virtually unlimited at Northern Quest. It starts with Highball, an opulent lounge near the Pavilion entrance to the casino.

East Pan Asian Cuisine on the casino level offers madein-house noodles and a contemporary take on Asian dishes. Neon Pizza is all about pizza, and EPIC Sports Bar offers the nachos and buffalo wings you expect, plus craft cocktails and an epic beer roster.

Masselow’s Steakhouse is the prime fine dining option on the property, with top-grade grilled meats, fresh seafood and house-made pasta among its menu offerings. This joint is popular: reservations with credit card are required.

If your gaming plans include wagering on sports, the Turf Club Sports Book invites you to show off your betting acumen while enjoying a cocktail or cold beer.

Post round, you don’t need to venture from the clubhouse to find good grub. The 1898 Public House is hugely popular among the non-golf Spokane public and offers menu items a considerable cut above typical golfcourse fare.

The frog in the Kalispel logo symbolizes health, balance and community in the Kalispel tribal tradition. At Kalispel Golf and Country Club, it stands for world-class golf far into the promising future. — Bart

Potter

Port Ludlow Golf Course

Kalispel G & CC has a proud history, vibrant present and promising future

SHORT GAME

Improvements at the Cedars at Dungeness part of Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s major investment

For several years, the story you read about the Cedars at Dungeness centered on how dry the course was because of what little rain the surrounding area received — 17 inches per year or roughly half what Seattle, just 75 miles away, endures.

There was also ‘Old Crabby’, the crab-shaped bunker guarding the 3rd green, of course, but it was the Olympic Mountain rain-shadow that got most of the ink.

This year, however, the story may change. No, the rain-shadow’s not going anywhere, and the course will remain one of the driest courses in western Washington. But 2023 is going to see some major changes to the layout whose first nine holes opened in 1969 (the second nine followed a year later) and which the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, whose 7 Cedars Casino is located 12 miles southeast of the course, purchased in January 2007.

The work scheduled to take place doesn’t constitute a full renovation by any means and it’s not like visitors won’t be able to recognize the course they’ve enjoyed for years, but some necessary changes recently have been completed and more are coming.

The pond on the 8th hole is currently being deepened to give four weeks’ worth of reserve water, and an area adjacent to the pond has been identified as the site for a new green coming in five to eight years’ time, says the course’s Director of Golf, Chad Wagner. “The ninth tee has been rebuilt on one level with a retaining wall,” he adds. “The 11th tee has been flattened and reseeded, and a new pump house is being built.”

These improvements will certainly enhance the playing experience, but they pale in comparison to the importance of what’s coming in October. “What’s going on now is in preparation for the installation of a new irrigation system,” says Wagner. “It’ll be a game-changer, allowing us to target certain areas of the course and control exactly how much water those areas receive. That means we can avoid dry spots, and help the turf maintain a nice, consistent color year-round.”

It’s a busy time for the Tribe. In addition to what’s going on at the golf course, it opened a $33 million, 100-room hotel adjacent to the casino in August 2020. More additions to the hotel are in the pipeline. Visit 7Cedars.com for current information and offers.

Old Crabby, the famous 3rd hole at Cedars at Dungeness in Sequim, Wash.

David McLay-Kidd

Course Designer of Gamble Sands, Bandon Dunes, St. Andrews Castle Course & Several Others Plus the new course at Gamble Sands!

This once-in-a-lifetime event will give tournament participants an opportunity to look through the lens of a legend

BENEFITTING THE MS SOCIETY

McLay-Kidd Will Ride With Your Group

David will ride along with with your group for three holes on the Sands course, receive a special photo and he will also sign your scorecard.

Fun Thrill Ride On The Quicksands Course

You and the other participants will play the amazing 14-hole Quicksands Short Course with the Scotsman! Take some pics and get info from the mind of the master.

An Evening On The Green With David Saturday Night

Enjoy festivities on the putting course, learn about the new developments, win incredible auction items and compete for prizes.

A four-time Washington Open champ takes us on a tour

Significant changes in the operation of Oakbrook Golf Club in Lakewood over the past decade have had a profound impact on the success it now enjoys.

The biggest change came in 2012 when Shawn Cucciardi and Michael Moore, father of PGA Tour professional Ryan Moore, purchased the course and changed the business model from private club to semi-private. That gave the public the opportunity to play the course which had been open only to members and guests since opening in 1966 while a new roster of members was established.

“We offered them reduced green fees,” says Todd Erwin, Director of Golf Programming. “Members would pay $200 per month, which meant an average green fee of $12-$13 if they played 15 rounds a month. That proved pretty popular and is the number one reason for the club’s success.”

Membership increased as did the amount of overall play, allowing the new ownership group to make improvements to enhance the property. Even before the ownership change, the course had benefitted from a tree removal program that enabled more sunlight to reach the turf. That meant drier, healthier grass.

“It allowed the course to dry out quickly during the winter,” says Erwin, who occasionally authorizes carts even after a winter storm. “It’s phenomenal and the second reason the course is flourishing.”

These changes, combined with the ‘pandemic boom’ that so many courses experienced after the lessening of COVID restrictions, allowed Oakbrook to fill its tee sheets.

Erwin, the four-time Washington Open champion and former University of Puget Sound golf coach, has been at Oakbrook for two years. Here’s his capsule view of his workplace.

Oakbrook Golf Club

8102 Zircon Dr. SW • Lakewood, WA 98498

(253) 584-8770

• oakbrookgolfclub.com

Built in 1969

A Bucket with Director of Golf • Todd Erwin

Toughest Tee Shot 14th hole

I think you’ll get a different answer depending on who you talk to, but I believe the toughest is probably the 505-yard 14th. It’s a very, very narrow tee shot, and one side doesn’t favor the other. There’s out-of-bounds both right and left. Someone who hits it straight might say it’s not that hard, but it is for me.

Best Birdie Opportunity 1st hole

Again, from my perspective, I’d say the 504-yard opening hole. It’s an open tee shot, and there’s plenty of space for the second shot too. It doesn’t present too much danger, other than being the first hole of the day. Most of our avid players would say No. 1 is ‘gettable’.

Best Par 3 13th hole

No. 13 (198 yards). It’s our signature hole with an elevated tee looking down to a green guarded by a water hazard in the front. It’s definitely the most difficult par 3 and the most scenic. Not super-friendly.

Favorite Hole 12th hole

My favorite isn’t necessarily the hole I score best on. I’d probably say No. 12 (par 4, 442 yards). It’s the No. 2 handicap hole and, for me, is designed to be played a certain way. You can lay up to the corner and have a longer second shot in. Or you could try to cut around it but, boy, that’s a huge gamble. It’s just a really, really good par 4 (par 5 for women). It plays anywhere from 400 to 440 yards on any day.

Emergency Nine — front or back?

Front nine. It’s more scorable. In my opinion, it’s probably a shot and a half easier than the back. There are more birdie opportunities. There are two par 5s on the front and only one on the back. That immediately changes things, in my mind.

Go To Lunch Item On The Menu

The mushroom soup is very well-known. It’s phenomenal. If I was not watching my waistline, which I always seem to be doing, I’d also have his (Chef Bill Trudnowski at the Adriatic Grill) rigatoni. That’s great too. Not often do you go to a golf facility and eat the kind of food that he makes.

Since 1966, Oakbrook Golf Club has been an ever-changing and inviting place to play in Lakewood

RISK vs. RE WARD

Whidbey Golf Club Hole No. 1 Par 5 497 yards (Blue Tees) By Simon Dubiel

Setup

At under 500 yards, the opening hole is the first of several great risk vs. reward holes at Whidbey Golf Club. Your tee shot needs to split two fairway bunkers to get in the go zone at 200-240 yards away. The approach is to a challenging green that is heavily guarded with bunkers on both sides and water waiting for anything that is short and right. With the green angled to the right one must commit to the yardage and line.

Risk

If you take the big stick out, you’re putting your chips in the middle — all gas and no brakes. The water right is no spot to start your day, while all three of the bunkers can leave some very challenging shots at different pin placements. Anything hard left will likely leave tree issues and a rough angle to try to get on the putting surface. Bad approach shots will burn a piece of your stack so make sure you give it a go.

Reward

Whidbey offers many options for club selection on a ton of holes, and your very first decision comes at you quickly. If you can pound your 225 club at the putting surface, make sure you take a healthy swing at it. Something left to right but not overcooked is on the menu, better long than short. Fours can be made here. Sometimes you just have to gamble a little.

Final Call

Hitting great shots you remember is part of what golf is all about. It is fun to push the action. However a gambler must know their limits and birdie dreams can turn into double bogey nightmares quickly on this hole. We are going to find a better spot to make our first big bet. Layup to your perfect yardage and go stick a wedge tight. There is more than one way to win a pot and we don’t need to go broke on the first hand of the day anyway.

PRESENTED BY

Mixology Master Autumn Nessibou

As the days get longer and the weather heats up, a crisp, refreshing cocktail might be the best thing you can have before, during, or after a round at your favorite golf course. And Operations Manager and Beverage Program Director at Farrelli’s Pizza, Autumn Nessibou, thinks Milagro Tequila is a great spirit to get the party started.

Farrelli’s Pizza is a family owned and operated woodfire pizzeria local to the Pacific Northwest, with 10 locations in the south Puget Sound area.

Nessibou said they have a close partnership with William Grant and a good portion of their portfolio is part of the beverage program at Farrelli’s. “We have found a quality in their brands and portfolio and people that align with our mission values of quality, integrity, family, and fun.”

She added, “Milagro is a really quality product at a good price point, which I think is important. With brand recognition, you know what you’re going to get, it’s consistent, and it tastes good.”

It’s an endless summer with the Q Sparkling Paloma

Milagro Tequila is just the juice for June and

July

cocktailing

BY TARYN HAUGLIE • FOR CASCADE GOLFER

Tequila neat or mixed on the rocks never misses

The Q Sparkling Paloma was a partnership with Nessibou and Kelli Looker, their local Republic National Distributing Company partner. They looked at their Point Ruston location, which features a waterfront balcony, perfect for dining in the summertime. “Palomas are a little bit bitter, sour, and not super sweet, so it was something refreshing we were excited about. We were manifesting summer,” Nessibou exclaimed.

Many of the Farrelli’s locations are conveniently nearby several golf courses. “I think it’s super easy to find a Farrelli’s, go in, and grab a Milagro crafted cocktail before or after a round of 18 holes,” Nessibou suggests. She also stated many tequila-based cocktails are easily made into large batches to share with golfers, so whether you are out on the course or entertaining friends at your next backyard barbecue, a Milagro cocktail is sure to be an effortless crowd pleaser.

At Home Bar Mixology

Q Sparkling Paloma

By Farrelli’s Port Ruston

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5 ounces Milagro Tequila

• .75 ounce Giffard Pamplemousse

• .25 ounce fresh squeezed lime juice

• One bottle of Q Grapefruit

INSTRUCTIONS

• Combine Milagro Tequila, Giffard Pamplemousse, and lime juice in a shaker with ice.

• Shake vigorously to your liking.

• Strain contents over fresh ice.

• Top with Q Grapefruit.

• Garnish with a lime wheel.

Autumn Nessibou of Farrelli’s

IN THE BAG

PRODUCT REVIEWS and equipment news

you can use

BY TONY DEAR • CG EDITOR

Summer sizzles with these Puetz picks for June

How’s your season going so far if, indeed, it’s even begun? While certainly not the worst spring on record or in living memory, March and the first couple of weeks of April had their usual mix of rain, sunshine, frigid temps, blue sky, and heavy cloud cover, so knowing whether or not the weather was going to be fair or foul for your allotted golf time has been a bit of a lottery.

If you woke up to find dark clouds in the sky, deep puddles on the ground, and the needle barely making it above the 45-degree mark, then we hope you were able to find a covered range at least or somewhere indoors where you could play the game virtually. If, however, all was fair and you not only got 18 in but had time for another nine, then lucky you and we hope your game was in decent shape.

Whether you got out or not though, summer is imminent and all of us will be teeing it up sooner or later. When you do, will you pull a Lietzke and uncover a a banana peel underneath your driver headcover (you know the Bruce Lietzke banana story, right?) or will you touch the ground running and reach mid-season form before May is out?

Wherever your game’s at, you know Puetz Golf stocks whatever you need to keep the season flowing or get it off to a good start. Here are 10 items that’ll help.

allaway’s original ‘Big Bertha’ driver came out in 1991. All steel, its clubhead had a volume of 190 cubic centimeters — significantly larger than the persimmon driver heads that were still around (Bernhard Langer was the last player to win a men’s major — the 1993 Masters — with a persimmon driver) and which they would soon replace. Titanium, every bit as strong as steel but 45 percent lighter, was first used for a driver head by Mizuno in 1990. It quickly took over, Callaway launching the 253 cc Great Big Bertha in 1995. The 290 cc Biggest Big Bertha arrived in 1997. Now, of course, driver heads can be a maximum of 460 cc and club technology, advanced by seriously smart aeronautical and metallurgy engineers, has enabled clubs to become ever lighter, faster, and more forgiving. Callaway’s 2023 Big Bertha driver is 30 grams lighter than the typical driver on the PGA Tour and made with a Triaxial Carbon Crown and Forged Carbon sole that allowed Callaway clubmakers to push the center of Gravity (CG) back and low in the head, increasing the Moment of Inertia (MOI) and thus stabilizing the clubhead when contact is made away from the sweet spot. Callaway’s innovative Jailbreak technology increases the amount of energy imparted at contact and the AI-designed flash face lowers spin to increase carry distance. It’s a similar story in the irons whose titanium face/body and tungsten weight cartridges help you swing the club faster and still get impressive results from off-center strikes. Urethane microspheres inside the hollow body enhance sound and feel.

PUETZ GOLF PRICE Driver $499.99 7-Piece Iron Set $1,399.99

XXIO

Prime 12 2

Driver $899.99 Fairways $599.99

Hybrid $419.99

ew companies do lightweight clubs better than Japanese brand XXIO (pronounced Zek-zee-oh). Lightweight is what they’re all about — that, and cool black/ white ads with beautiful people taking private planes on weekend sojourns with clubs in tow — and not forgetting the unmistakably high-end prices, of course. XXIO released Prime — its highest-end range of premium clubs in April, borrowing established tech from previous models and adding new features to help moderate swing speed players stop the decrease of clubhead speed as they age. ‘Rebound Frame’ is an alternating pattern of stiff and flexible zones that focuses more energy into the ball, increasing ball-speed. The Prime Driver has four alternating layers of stiff and flexible zones plus a new Super-TIX 51AF Titanium Flat Cup Face to expand the flex area of each clubface helping to maximize distance. ‘ActivWing’ manipulates airflow around the clubhead during the transition and downswing helping to ensure the clubface meets the ball squarely. ‘Weight Plus Technology’ puts a little extra weight in the butt-end of the club, counterbalancing it and enabling you to swing it with better rhythm and tempo. The SP-1200 carbon-fiber shaft, meanwhile, is light and combines the ideal amount of flex with balance and a kick-point that helps seniors and ladies generate as much power as possible. The fairway woods and hybrids use the same tech plus a floating sole weight pad designed in the shape of a cannon to assist in launching the ball high, even when you strike the ball low on the face.

IN THE BAG

FOOTJOY

Premiere & Tradition 3

Premier $199.99 Tradition $139.99

The Premiere, designed with input from Footjoy staffers like Adam Scott, Justin Thomas and Webb Simpson, has all the elegance, stability and performance characteristics you’d expect from the flagship shoe of what is commonly regarded as golf’s top shoe manufacturer whose history extends back more than 150 years. The upper is, of course, made with premium full-grain leather (from Pittards, which began producing performance leather for gloves, footwear and other leather goods in Somerset, England, in 1826) that is waterproof (two-year guarantee).

The Versa-Trax outsole, together with Pulsar cleats from SoftSpikes, more or less ensures perfect stability from any lie, the Ortholite Fitbed (insole or layer immediately below the foot) provides great comfort, and the Laser Street last gives you a full, rounded-toe and slightly narrow heel, which has become an extremely popular feature with Footjoy wearers on Tour. The Premiere is available in three distinct styles (Wilcox, Packard, and Tarlow), each with multiple colorways. The Tradition is another typically good looking shoe from Footjoy that might be described as the ‘Premiere-lite’. The leather, though still stylish and durable, isn’t quite the same quality as that of the Premiere and offers only a one-year waterproof guarantee. The lightweight, foam midsole provides comfort together with the molded, high-density, EVA Fit-Bed. Like the Premiere, the Tradition uses the Fast Twist 3.0 system to secure the cleat into the sole of the shoe. The most advanced system in the industry, the low-profile Fast Twist 3.0 is very comforatble.

MJ (can we call Michael that?) is an ultra-keen golfer, of course, and very, very cool — he opened his own 18-hole, Bobby Weed-designed course called Grove XXIII (23 was the number he wore for the Chicago Bulls) in Hobe Sound, Fla. in 2020, which is nice. So, it’s no great surprise the golf shoes that bear his familiar styling are also pretty…er… happening, slick, fire, stylish, lit, dope, etc. Nike says the ADG 4 was a direct request from Jordan himself, adding that the shoe “infuses an incredibly classic silhouette with retro Jordan flavor.” A ‘silhouette’ is, as you’d imagine, the basic outline/shape of the shoe. The ‘retro Jordan flavor’ comes from the famous Tinker Hatfield-designed elephant print on the heel — the elephant ‘skin’ first appeared in 1988 on the Air Jordan 3, the very shoe that Jumpman made its debut — and the Jumpman logo inside. The ADG 4 is an attractive blend of classic, cool, and functional. The full-grain leather upper is soft and supple and Nike’s lightweight, durable, foam called ‘React Technology’ makes this an incredibly comfortable shoe or, as Nike says, it ‘delivers a smooth, responsive ride’. The rubber sole has what the company calls an ‘integrated traction pattern,’ which is a rugged-looking pattern of nubs that provides a solid grip even on wet turf. The ADG 4 is available in six colorways: Football Grey/Alabaster/White/University Blue, Wolf Grey/Smoke Grey/White, White/Black/White, Grey Fog/Cement Grey/Burnt Sunrise/White, White/Pure Platinum/Fire Red/Black, Black/ Cement Grey/Metallic Silver/White, and sizes 3.5-16.

PUETZ GOLF PRICE

PUETZ GOLF PRICE

PUETZ GOLF PRICE $184.99

VOICE CADDIE T9 Watch 7

It’s difficult to imagine how distance-measuring devices continue to get better with each new model, but they do. As if Bushnell’s Tour V5 wasn’t all the rangefinder you’d ever need, the Kansas City-based company has found ways to improve it. Granted, the improvements are fairly small and might not excite the V5 owner, but for those looking to update their 10-year-old V2, 2023’s V6 is very impressive and a clear winner on the PGA Tour where, Bushnell claims, well over 90 percent of players use its products. It goes without saying the V6 is extremely accurate — to within a yard. And while its competitors have an average range of around 800 yards, the V6’s extends to 1,300 yards. It’s unlikely anyone (not even Long Drive champion Kyle Berkshire) will ever hit a drive, or an approach shot quite that far, but it’s good to have if you need a distance to the halfway hut, or if you use your rangefinder away from the golf course. It’s always confidence-building to know when your device has locked on to your target and the V6 not only vibrates (JOLT) but also flashes a red circle on the LCD display. The V6 is also the most weather-resistant rangefinder Bushnell has made (IPX6 — meaning it can resist high-pressure, heavy sprays of water). The Slope-enabled V6 has all the above with the added Slope feature which enables you to compensate for elevation changes (just remember to turn this feature off in competitions as it’s not USGA-conforming).

In the second century, the Romans used a nifty device called a ‘Dodecahedron’ to measure distance, but it was a Scottish company that developed the first rangefinder we might recognize as such about 1,500 years later. Laser rangefinders have been used for golf since the mid-1990s and, though they might be ubiquitous now, they were slow to catch on. The first models were, not surprisingly, basic but expensive. In 2013, golfing entrepreneurs Clay Hood and Jonah Mytro saw a gap in the market for rangefinders whose quality was comparable to that of the industry’s best, but which were considerably more affordable. They formed Precision Pro in California, recorded triple-digit growth during the company’s formative years and disrupted the market sufficiently to force major players to lower their prices. Hood and Mytro moved their company to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2017 to have a more central location and have continued to release quality products at reasonable prices. The NX10 has a sturdy build, optics as clear as anything else available today, and is likewise as accurate as its competitors. What sets Precision Pro rangefinders apart though, besides the price, is the extensive range (38) of removable ‘skins’ that allow you to customize the look of your rangefinder. The NX7 first appeared in 2017 but was refreshed in 2021. The tech may be a notch below that of the NX10, but it has everything most golfers will ever need. Precision Pro also offers a 90-day money-back guarantee and free battery replacements.

Based in California and in business since 2011, Voice Caddie has produced over 30 laser rangefinders as well as portable launch monitors, GPS units and, since 2014, the T Series of watches. The T9 is the newest addition and comes equipped with shot and putt-tracking that keeps track of your score. It has a full-color touchscreen (1.2 inches), provides yardages to the front, center, and back of the green, and has advanced features such as ‘Active Green’ that rotates the green according to the direction you approach it from, thus increasing the accuracy. It also has V-Algorithm 3.0 that automatically gives the Slope measurement. Additionally, with Green Undulation (can you guess what that does?), Putt View, gives you an arrow showing the direction of the putt’s break. The Smart Green function moves the green reflecting your position, while giving you a better grasp on the speed and line of your putt. The cool Practice Tempo Mode allows you to set your ideal swing tempo and compare it to subsequent swings. Track shots and analyze all your important stats following your round with the free MyVoiceCaddie app. Move the pin on the green to show its exact position on any given day. There are no fees or subscriptions necessary, and you can measure your distance and 40,000 courses worldwide. You can choose from a variety of watch faces and the unit comes in two colors — black or gray. The battery lasts for 10 days in watch mode and 27 holes in golf mode.

PUETZ GOLF PRICE

NX10 $229.99 NX10 Slope $279.99 NX7 Slope $199.99

PUETZ GOLF PRICE $349.99

GOLF PRICE

IN THE BAG

As golf equipment buyers know, improvements in new gear are hard-earned and rather small — how do you keep improving a ball that has been the Tour and market leader since it was launched more than 20 years ago? Titleist, like most other manufacturers to be fair, insists it never launches a new product that isn’t better than what came before. The major difference between the 2023 Pro-V1 and its predecessors is the ‘high-gradient’ core that is relatively soft in the middle but gets increasingly firm as you move outward. This type of core has become increasingly common in high-end balls and reduces spin with the longer clubs. Lower spin, though generally desirable, won’t give you greater distance alone. It needs to work together with the ball’s aerodynamics that are determined by several elements, most importantly, the number, size, and depth of its dimples. The three-piece Pro-V1, ideal for most golfers, has 388 tetrahedral-design dimples — unchanged from 2021, while the firmer-feel, higher-flight, four-piece Pro-V1x has 348 — also unchanged. While the ball’s core is regarded as its engine and changes within it affect how far the ball travels, short-game performance is dependent on the cover material — in Titleist’s case a proprietary Themoset Urethane that mixes two urethane components, which are cast onto cased golf ball cores and then cured. Recognizing the Pro-V1 and Pro-V1x’s short game characteristics — greenside spin, feel and control were ideal, Titleist was loath to make any changes to the process this time.

The eighth generation of the Japanese manufacturer’s popular, premium, three-piece Z-Star is a family of three balls and features the new FastLayer DG core which, like the Titleist Pro-V1’s High-Gradient core, is soft in the middle and harder on the outside. Unlike Titleist, however, Srixon has altered its cover technology updating the signature coating that is engineered to maximize the ball’s greenside spin. Spin Skin-Plus digs deep into your groves of your irons and wedges to create the spin that stops the ball quicker on the green. The new Z-Star has what Srixon calls a ‘338 Speed Dimple System’ that seeks to create less drag and more lift to boost distance. It’s also designed to make the ball fly straighter, even in a steady wind. The Z Star has a compression of 92 and is optimized for driver swing speeds of 90 mph and up. The Z Star XV is also a three-piece ball but designed for even higher ball speed and, therefore, greater distance. It has the same FastLayer Core, Spin Skin-Plus and dimple configuration as its standard sibling, but a thinner cover and higher compression — 102. It is designed for players who swing a driver at more than 100 mph. The Z Star 8 Diamond gives you the best of both worlds, combining the cover thickness of the Z Star with the Z Star XV’s compression. It too features the FastLayer Core, Spin Skin-Plus and dimple design, but the compression/ cover thickness dynamic provides another option for today’s equipment-savvy golfer.

Like the Srixon Z Star, Callaway’s highly successful Chrome Soft ball comes in three models — standard, X, and X LS. The Carlsbad-based company invested over $50 million in developing a system of 3D X-Ray machines that measure every part of the ball ensuring every single one is manufactured to the tightest tolerances (1/1,000th of an inch). That guarantees the claims Callaway makes about its flagship ball are true for each one that leaves the factory. The latest version of the standard Chrome Soft is a three-piece unlike its four-piece predecessors and, though soft golf balls are rarely fast/long golf balls, Callaway has managed to make the Chrome Soft a little softer while increasing the distance it can travel by losing one of the mantle layers. The resulting larger core — called the ‘Hyper Elastic SoftFast Core’ — gives ball speed a boost. A new Tour Aero design with the company’s HEX-shaped dimples keeps the ball stable in the wind, and the ultra-soft urethane cover is designed to optimize greenside spin, feel, and control. The four-piece Chrome Soft X is quite a bit firmer (though still part of the Chrome Soft because, well ‘Chrome Soft’ sells) than the standard version with a compression in the mid-90s, and the most-played Chrome Soft on Tour. The four-piece X LS is a little softer than its predecessor, but the new core gives it a slight distance boost. The intriguing part is its new softer cover which generates a little more greenside spin.

Play Fehr

Seattle icon and former PGA Tour standout

Rick Fehr

launches Rick Fehr Coaching, focused on bringing a ‘do no harm’ approach to his students

BY BOB SHERWIN • CG STAFF WRITER

What sets up Rick Fehr as an outstanding golf instructor is his incomparable wealth of experience, as the one-time Seattle wunderkind reached a competitive peer level where he played and beat the greatest golfers in the world.

Barely into his teens, Fehr had a fluid and elegant swing that made him, along with Fred Couples, a local player destined for greatness. He would go on to win state and national junior tournaments, was a two-time All-American at Brigham Young, low amateur at both the Masters and U.S. Open in 1984, then spent a couple decades on the PGA Tour with a pair of victories, nine runners-up, 41 top 10s, and ranking as high as 45th in the world.

He is uniquely qualified to pass along vital insights to his accomplished clients as to what was required for him to make 238 cuts on Tour.

By the same token, and perhaps more importantly, he can detail what was missing in the 168 cuts he didn’t make. That might

be more relatable for his aspiring students, how he dealt with his struggles, when his swing declined and his mind stuttered.

“When I had my first extended struggle, I kind of questioned how I did things,” said Fehr, who made the decision to change swing coaches as both his career and the century turned. “I wish someone had said, ‘relax, don’t make any changes.’ We made significant changes that I now recognize the risk in doing that.”

It was a futile search for a swing that he would never find, at least not one that allowed him to compete again at that elite level.

“That influences how I teach now,” Fehr added. “If a player has a stated goal of X, my feeling is, ‘can he achieve that with his current swing technique?’ Change is difficult. It takes a lot of work. It can be disruptive at best and devastating at worst. It is possible for players to get worse and for coaches to be part of that process.

“I do coach scared, so to speak, and ‘do no harm’ is sort of the first guiding principle.”

Photo courtesy of PNGA and WA Golf

Photo courtesy of PNGA and WA Golf

Photo courtesy of PNGA and WA Golf

Play Fehr

W

hat all this means — all his successes and failures, all his physical swing changes as well as his mental swings — is that Rick Fehr has been fully rounded and adequately prepared to improve the level of play for any golfer of any age or skill level. He experienced it all, at the highest level. He had all the shots and, ultimately, took all the hits. He was a winner and was wounded, gifting him with essential learning tools from both extremes.

Fehr, 60, who has been teaching golf for more than 20 years at various clubs and courses in the area — most recently at Aldarra Golf Club in Fall City. This spring, he started his own teaching business, Rick Fehr Coaching. He works out of Newcastle Golf Club in Bellevue as well as an indoor facility, Mercer Island Golf Club.

“This is where I’ve landed,” he said. “There’s no place like Aldarra, but I’m available to more golfers now.”

He takes on all varieties, the older golfers seeking 10 more yards as well as the young ones reaching for the stars. He offers advice and instruction for young teens, just like he once was, seeking a spot on a college team. He also works with accomplished golfers from the University of Washington with professional dreams, as he once achieved.

“We can identify with other sports, whether it’s Scott Servais (Mariners) or Pete Carroll (Seahawks) or a good high school football coach, communicating clearly is very important,” he said. “It starts with, for me, being empathic. I think I have the ability to sense what the golfer is going through and figure out a way to communicate effectively.”

Empathy. That’s the word. That’s what he brought back with him from his lifetime of fairway walks and range routines. Empathy is in his mental briefcase, intertwined with his lessons, advice, tips, warnings and caveats that he can be to the benefit of any client.

Fehr now teaches at Newcastle and at a studio on Mercer Island.

Photo courtesy of Steve Turcotte/Inside Golf

“Some people need to feel it, others need to see it,” he said. “I like to think I can take complex things and simplify them. That’s really been my pursuit. My depth of understanding and what I’ve studied from different aspects of human performances, allow me to get to the root of the issue.”

His method is not wholesale swing changes but to work with what the player has. As he says, “that’s the least invasive surgery.

“The difficult thing for a player and a coach working with him is to evaluate how do you play your best,” he added. “Then do we need to move the bar so that the best is better or is the best good enough?”

If there is one element of the game that has been consistent in Fehr’s career, it’s putting. He’s kind of a specialist in that area. He was consistently among the Tour leaders in putting, including No. 1 on the Tour in putts per round (27.71) in 1998.

Putting, of course, is a different golf discipline. It doesn’t have all those body parts working in unison for the perfect drive or wedge. It’s a much simpler setup that requires a sharp eye, a steady stroke and accurate touch. There is not much variation in putting styles for professionals, perhaps different grips or postures but basically the same. So, why are some players — generally the Tour’s elite money-winners — consistently better? What makes the difference? It may have to do with something unseen.

“The brain is a huge component to everything we do.

All motion originates upstairs, in our brain,” Fehr said. “It’s a complex sport, from everything that’s going on in our brain and our mind to our technique and all the other factors.”

It’s particularly apparent over a putt. Once the golfer has set up, determined the line and figures how much force is needed to reach the hole, that’s when the brain takes over. Or should. It’s the brief quiet time to minimize distractions, eliminate doubt and believe that the ball will fall. As Fehr says, paraphrasing sports psychologists he follows, “performance equals ability minus interference.”

Once mind and body are lined up — which is the eternal challenge — then see it; hit it. And make it quick.

“I think the best putters in the world are pretty quick,” said Fehr, adding that the longer a golfer stands there, deliberating, the more opportunity for the brain to be muddled. “There’s a time for processing and thinking, making your decision, but then once you step into the shot or over the putt, go. You don’t want to figure out then what you’re going to do.”

Fehr is there to help those trying to figure it out. He enjoys what he does and believes he’s making a difference.

“It’s been a number of years since I’ve played competitively and I think there’s a similar, perhaps an exhilaration, but it feels pretty good to accomplish something,” he added. “In this case, what other people are accomplishing.”

Go to fehrgolf.com and learn about his sessions, options and rates, which are reasonable and bring a pro sizzle to say the least.

Photo courtesy of PNGA and WA Golf

TRUE NORTH

NORTHWEST WASHINGTON GOLF

from Seattle

BY TONY DEAR • CG EDITOR

It was probably a throwaway line, an insincere remark said jokingly but quickly took hold — you know how these things work. Whatever it was, 20-odd years ago, Bellingham and Whatcom County golf somehow got labelled the ‘Monterey Peninsula of the North’. And yes, it sounded every bit as silly then as it does now. Whatcom County and its county seat don’t need to liken themselves to anything, or anywhere, else. The 2,503 square miles (397 of them water) of the country’s most northwesterly county are some of the most beautiful in the world, (yes, world). And the City of Subdued Excitement is a cool college town with a chill vibe, excellent restaurants, and bars, and more than its share of good golf courses. There may not be any U.S. Open/PGA Tour events on the schedule for this area of Washington, but there definitely are half a dozen or so courses worth escaping Seattle for.

Loomis Trail • Blaine

is picturesque, abundant, dependable, playable and most importantly just two hours

LOOMIS TRAIL

Lummi Nation-lifted Loomis Trail is always a test

And Loomis Trail, 19 miles north of Bellingham and just four miles south of the border, may well be the pick of them. This Graham Cooke design that opened in 1993 was part of the Semiahmoo Resort along with the Arnold Palmer-designed Semiahmoo Golf and Country Club (now a private club but accessible to resort guests), until being purchased by the Lummi Nation in late 2018. Since then it has benefitted from numerous upgrades.

There have been no changes to the design itself though General Manager Josh Williams is quick to comment on the sterling work Superintendent Victor Mereno (together with his predecessor, and former boss, Bill Dier-

SUDDEN VALLEY

dorff) has done in maintaining the course.

“There has been a major focus on agronomy since the Tribe took over, with several drainage and irrigation projects,” says Williams, nearing his fifth year in charge. “And our greens are in excellent condition, as good as I’ve ever seen them.”

Improvements to the bar and grill, cart fleet, and retail side also have significantly enhanced the visitor experience. Additionally, golfers who’ve not yet encountered the former NCAA Division II National Championship venue and home to qualifiers for the U.S. Senior Open, U.S. Amateur and 2023 U.S. Open should know it can be a

serious challenge with water and hazards on 17 holes. If that doesn’t sound like your most refreshing cup of tea, you should also know there’s a set of tees for everyone with distances ranging from 4,317 yards to 7,131.

The course is closely linked with the Lummi-owned Silver Reef Casino, 13 miles to the south, which offers stay and play packages, a sports book, and numerous events including a qualifier for the Notah Begay III Junior National Championship, hosted at Loomis Trail.

Walking Loomis on a summer Saturday for just $75 (ride for $90) is a terrific value and one you should take advantage of. Go to golfloomis.com for more information.

Sudden Valley’s championship layout is lakeside golf at its finest

Ten years after opening in 1971, this beautiful Ted Robinson design eight miles east of Bellingham on the shores of Lake Whatcom hosted the Washington Open, giving it genuine championship status.

Though usually associated with courses that are a stern challenge — local player and Sahalee legend Rick Acton’s three-round total of 214 was the second highest winning score in the first 22 years after the tournament transitioned from a 72-hole to a 54-hole event. And while not necessarily the walk-in-thepark breather you might be looking for on a pleasurable weekend away, Sudden Valley is really a fun course with a lot of very attractive holes, particularly the fifth and sixth, which finish and start (respectively) down by the lake.

Those two holes are truly a test of skill and set a tone for the front nine, which is a little longer than the back. The front nine is generally considered the easier of the two. The firs and cedars on the back nine will show little mercy to wild tee shots and can threaten to blot your scorecard, but there’s also two or three decent birdie opportunities. Sudden Valley’s condition has sparkled in recent years thanks to the efforts of former superintendent Jacob Close and his replacement Greg Wadden, and we highly recommend you add it to your itinerary. Put suddenvalleygolfcourse.com on your list of sites to peruse.

There are numerous recreational opportunities to be had at Bellingham’s 745-acre Lake Padden Park, and before taking on the Roy Goss/Glen Proctor-designed course who’s front nine opened in 1971, a year before the back, may we suggest a gentle stroll around the 2.5-mile lakeside loop. That will get the blood pumping before you head out onto one of the state’s most heavily wooded and beautiful courses.

It’s common practice for courses these days to remove trees — a trend we understand as they can harm turf and block views. We may be Pacific Northwesterners who love trees, but we also love healthy turf on our golf courses. Situated within a second-generation old-growth forest, Lake Padden Golf Course has a lot of sturdy specimens, but they’ve always been here and have remarkably little impact on the turf — take a bow superintendent Mike Votipka. The course wouldn’t be nearly as popular as it is if the trees were poorly managed and the resulting fairway corridors chokingly narrow.

They’re best avoided certainly, but the trees at Lake Padden are plenty far enough apart and a huge asset to what is one of the top five city-owned courses in Washington. And if you arrive in time for a Friday afternoon game, stick around in the evening for a live concert on the patio. Check out lakepaddengolf.com and read about their links and lake life.

North Bellingham is Whatcom County’s North Star N. BELLINGHAM

North Bellingham opened in 1995 on a 200-acre, claw-shaped property (only half of which is used for the course) six miles north of downtown. Once a cow ranch, the land on which the course sits is unlike that of the stereotypical western Washington golf course cut through a deep forest. Rather, North Bellingham is strangely exposed to the prevailing southwesterly wind with views north to British Columbia’s North Shore and Coast Ranges and east toward magnificent Mt. Baker.

Head professional Nathan Vickers says the course has no major plans this year, though a new fleet of carts is on order and the practice range is due for some upgrades.

Demand for tee-times in the post-COVID world has meant that green fee specials are a rarity now, though, Vickers says, anyone spending $150 or more in the fully stocked pro shop does get a free round of golf in the afternoon.

The course always has one of the busiest tournament calendars in the region, and its packed 2023 schedule includes a Washington State Golf Association Amateur Championship qualifier in June and the Pacific Northwest Golf Association Junior Boys and Girls Championship in August. This is a western Washington golfer favorite course for sure. See northbellinghamgolf.com for more details.

Enter to Win Sudden Valley and Loomis Trail Twosomes

If you want to challenge your game and enjoy all the beauty this little corner of the country has to offer at the same time, look no further than a day taking a loop around Sudden Valley and Loomis Trail. Loomis is everything you want in a test with water coming into play on most holes, while Sudden Valley will make you use every club in your bag. Grab your playing partner and let them know green fees are on you. Enter to win today at CascadeGolfer.com.

Lake Padden Golf Course is a magnificent muni LAKE PADDEN

Pretty as a picture, Shuksan shines

Designed by the course’s owner, Rick Dvorak, the original owner of Loomis Trail (Dvorak sold Loomis to a Japanese company that, in turn, sold it to Semiahmoo in 2000), Shuksan is wedged into a gorgeous, partly wooded, undulating 250-acre parcel between Axton and High Noon Roads, 10 miles northeast of Bellingham’s handsome City Hall.

It begins with an abrupt drop from the 1st tee — an invigorating opening shot. Then it follows a mostly clockwise path for the opening nine holes, the highlights being the sharp rise to the wide but extremely shallow par-5 4th green and the drivable par-4 5th, where the green sits in a bowl out of sight from the tee and where Mt. Baker forms an awesome backdrop.

Tenmile Creek affects play on a handful of holes and pops up later in the round, too. The anti-clockwise back nine was altered slightly five years ago when the heavily-wooded par-3 11th, 100 feet or so above the 10th green, was replaced by another par 3 at a lower elevation — a redesign that also meant changes to the tee shot at the 12th.

The most memorable hole on the back, perhaps the whole course, must be the 307-yard 15th, another drivable par 4 whose large, flat green sits well above the fairway. Go for glory or risk disaster — that’s fun golf. Visit shuksangolf.com for a deeper look.

You’re on island time at Whidbey Golf Club

Okay, we’ve moved out of Whatcom County and into Island County, but we wanted to include Whidbey as it rarely gets the attention it deserves. And though we went to press a few days before the club published the full details, we do know it is actively seeking new members in 2023. We also know newcomers will be offered unlimited golf and range balls “plus all the other benefits that come with golf club membership” for $259 a month.

General Manager Erik Dahlen calls it an ‘aggressive membership drive.’ That might not interest most Seattle golfers who probably aren’t looking to be members of a club 90-plus miles north of the Space Needle. Frankly though, we can’t think of anything much more pleasant than taking the Mukilteo-Clinton ferry on a Saturday morning and driving up to the course that opened in 1961 on beautiful, mostly flat ground a couple of miles west of Oak Harbor.

Born the Whidbey Golf & Country Club, the Board voted to drop the ‘Country’ part in 2013 to lose the club’s exclusivity tag. The new Whidbey Golf Club offered various new membership tiers as well as opening for public

Other Great Options In Skagit

and Whatcom Counties

Other courses within a two-hour drive north of Seattle that we always enjoy are:

HOMSTEAD GOLF CLUB

Homestead in Lynden whose closing hole possesses an island green that makes the approach shot — be it your second or third — one of the most exciting in the state. homesteadgolfclub.com

AVALON GOLF LINKS

Avalon’s 27 holes cover roughly 150 acres of the bucolic Skagit Valley. Avalon has been making a name for itself since it opened. avalonlinks.com

SWINOMISH GOLF LINKS

play. The move certainly attracted interest, but Whidbey GC remains something of a secret. Let us be the ones to reveal how pleasant the golf here is. Go to whidbeygolf.com and see for yourself.

And don’t forget Swinomish Golf Links, which is part of the Swinomish Casino and Lodge and enjoys views over both Fidalgo and Similk Bays. It’s gaining more and more attention — rightfully so. And a postgame meal and cocktail overlooking the water and surroundings at Swinomish Casino is purely breathtaking. swinomishcasinoandlodge.com

Elevated

Central Oregon never disappoints, always strives to best itself and has crafted a culture where golf, lodging, cuisine and libation always rise to the top

Crosswater • Sunriver, Ore.

BY BOB SHERWIN • CG STAFF WRITER

Central Oregon, which spent more than three decades establishing a reputation as a prime West Coast golf destination, was, like so many tourist spots across the nation, challenged by COVID restrictions.

The crisis cut deep into the summer travel plans for so many regular visitors to the area, further complicated by high fuel prices, deepening inflation and colder/wetter than usual conditions.

But the area took the panic out of the pandemic. It came through the storm revived, intact and back in the tourist mainstream again. The area’s golf courses are resurgent, from wilderness chic 63-hole Sunriver Resort, 20 miles south of Bend, all the way up Interstate 97 to venerable and time-honored Aspen Lakes, 30 miles north of Bend.

“We were the same as everyone else, hammered during the pandemic,” said Howie Pruitt, head PGA professional at Aspen Lakes. “Now we have a full tee sheet in the morning and full in the afternoon. I guess that’s the silver lining.”

That’s also consistent with what other courses around the country have been reporting. As the restrictions eased, golf became one of the few activities that got folks out of sheltering, providing a way to exercise within a safe environment. For the past several months, courses and clubs have enjoyed full sheets and full memberships, salvaging many courses as well as the game.

Aspen Lakes, a family owned (Cyrus) course that opened in 1995, used the pause in play to make much-needed improvements.

“We had a 13-year-old cart fleet so old they (batteries) couldn’t go a second 18,” Pruitt said. “We were losing significant revenue.” Course owners, Keith and Connie Cyrus, authorized funds for a new fleet.

Then a series of unfortunate circumstances last fall nearly took the entire course off the grid. The course’s irrigation system failed during an extended dry period. That was complicated by the departure of the course superintendent two months earlier.

“We were in a terrible condition,” Pruitt added.

Enter Bob Fluter, hired as the course superintendent in October to save the day. He repaired the system and restored the lush grass conditions.

“He made a huge difference,” Pruitt said. “The course is in amazing shape now.”

“The word is out,” Pruitt said. “We started to turn the corner last year. We’re getting more groups with 16 to 20 people. We’re on a good trajectory.”

Pruitt added that from what he has seen there’s been a slight shift in the customer base. What used to be about a 75-25 split between tourists/locals in the past, is now 60-40, while the bulk of the visitors continue to be from Portland and Seattle.

What remains the same is Aspen’s distinctive signature red cinder look in all its bunkers. When the course was designed three decades ago, it was determined that it would be cheaper and environmentally preferred to use ground up local cinders in the bunkers, creating a unique and visually pleasing red contrast to the green grass.

Recovering from the pandemic didn’t seem as daunting for Sunriver, the stylish 3,300-acre property south of Bend, as its recovery from World War II. The remote wooded acreage was once a World War II training facility, Camp Abbott, with divots as big as bomb craters.

It opened in 1942 to train combat engineers as they headed overseas. The camp operated for two years, closing in June 1944 as D-Day commenced. The Officers’ Club is the only remaining structure from the war years. It has been renovated and given the time-honored and dignified status as ‘The Great Hall’ on the Sunriver property.

Peace reigned over the land for more than a couple

Aspen Lakes • Sisters, Ore.

Image courtesy Visit Central Oregon

Meadows • Sunriver, Ore.

Image courtesy Visit Central Oregon

Crosswater • Sunriver, Ore.

Aspen Lakes • Sisters, Ore.

Image courtesy Visit Central Oregon

Elevated

decades as the land needed time to heal. It wasn’t until 1968 when renovations and new construction revived the area with the intention of making it a wilderness resort. It was helped along by Hollywood, as John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn brought attention to Sunriver in the early 1970s while filming the movie “Rooster Cogburn.”

The first of four courses were opened in 1969, signaling Sunriver as a top West Coast golf destination. The Meadows was designed by Fred Federspiel and remodeled in 1999 by Portland’s John Fought who has designed other courses in the western U.S. It was built next to the Sunriver Lodge and the layout skirts the Sun River on seven of its holes. The course has a slew of national awards and earned recognition from the start.

The Woodlands course, designed by world renowned architect Robert Trent Jones, Jr., was added in 1982. It meanders through the ponderosa forests, wetlands, and lava rock outcroppings. Both Meadows and Woodlands have been honored as a top 10 family golf destination in America by Golf Digest.

It wasn’t until 1995 when the Crosswater course, a layout designed by Bob Cupp (who also did Pumpkin Ridge and Liberty National) for members and resort guests, that Sunriver hit the national consciousness. Golf Digest named Crosswater one of “America’s 100 Greatest Courses.” The 600-acre layout, which hosted the 2006 NCAA Division I

Aspen Lakes • Sisters, Ore.

Tetherow • Bend, Ore.

Sudden Valley Golf Club Bellingham’s Hidden Gem

Championship, runs 7,700 yards through meadows, wetlands and close by the Deschutes and Little Deschutes Rivers. You do, as you might suspect, cross water frequently.

Crosswater, combined with The Meadows and Woodlands, fortified Sunriver’s family golf reputation (kids under 11 are free). There is also a private, nine-hole course, Caldera Links, that gives Sunriver 63 holes of possibilities.

If an 18-hole walk is not enough for you, there are 45 miles of paved biking/walking trails along with tubing, canoeing and kayaking down the gentle streams, horseback riding, art walks, tennis, and fly fishing.

For tee times and best rates visit our website at suddenvalleygolfcourse.com

For those who like to mix in indoor activities, especially when the snow flies, the choices are abundant. In 2021, undeterred by COVID, the Sunriver community opened a $40 million indoor water park facility, the Cove Aquatic Center, that features a huge, heated pool, spas and a ‘Cinder Cone’ water slide that weaves out then back into the facility.

“The big destination resort is Sunriver,” Pruitt added. “It brings people to the area, and we find that they’ll play here (Aspen Lakes) at the end of their vacations.”

There are other highly ranked golf courses on the visitor agendas, such as Tetherow, just south of Bend, and two layouts at Black Butte Ranch, about 15 miles north of Bend.

Tetherow is a challenging layout designed by Scottish architect David McLay-Kidd. Kidd, one of the golf world’s most dynamic designers, best known for Bandon Dunes. He also designed the St. Andrews Castle Course and Machrihanish Dunes in Scotland, and Gamble Sands in Brewster, Wash., among others. Tetherow, once ranked 82nd in the world among the 100 best courses you can play, is a links-style, high-desert course that plays firm and fast. But playing 7,293 yards from the Kidd tees, you’ll need your big boy pants.

Black Butte features two quality tracks, Big Meadow and Glaze Meadow. Big Meadow, the three-decade-old Robert Muir Graves design (updated in 2007) stretches more than 7,000 yards through lush meadows and Ponderosa pines. After a $3.57 million renovation in 2012 by John Fought, Glaze Meadows was hailed as one of the most iconic classic designed courses in Oregon. The course weaves through rolling hills with breathtaking views of Mt. Washington, North Sister and the Cascade peaks.

As with any golf designation region, Central Oregon also has its share of obligatory post-round adult beverage establishments, whether it’s brews, spirits or wine.

For those who love their vino, the area does not have an abundance of wineries because of the limited growing days, but one of the more popular tasting rooms is the Bledsoe Family Wine on North Industrial Way in

Black Butte Ranch • Sisters, Ore.

downtown Bend. Former professional quarterback Drew Bledsoe, who played at Washington State then 14 NFL seasons, has been producing wines for more than 15 years at his Doubleback Winery in Walla Walla, Wash. He specializes in Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.

Faith, Hope and Charity Vineyards in Terrebonne, about 20 minutes north of Bend, perhaps is the most renowned local winery, known for its Frontenac reds and La Crosse whites.

The region has a robust craft beer community with dozens of quality outposts. Just a quick four-mile drive after an Aspen Lakes round is Three Creeks Brewery in Sisters, calling itself the ‘Gateway to Central Oregon Beer and Adventure.’ The Dankness IPA and Crowdpleaser IPA please the masses.

It’s difficult to get more Oregonian than the flagship Deschutes Brewery & Public House, the eighth largest craft brewery in the nation. The brewery, established in 1988 on NE Bond St., downtown Bend, has expanded its reach across the state and nation, as more than 30 states carry Deschutes selections.

Craft vodka, gins and rum establishments also have been embedded in the community for decades. Popular Cascade Spirits in downtown Sisters has a variety of fruit-infused vodka mixes such as Wild Roots and Sun Ranch Spirits along with Cascade Street potato vodka and Broken Top Whiskey.

When the skis are finally put away here, the sticks and spirits become central to this community.

Tetherow • Bend, Ore.

Aspen Lakes • Sisters, Ore.

Aspen Lakes • Sisters, Ore.

The Classic Golf Club SPANAWAY 1

Accessibility is a priority at The Classic Golf Club, and the word has at least two meanings around here.

In one sense, accessibility means the golf course, now eight years beyond the removal of almost half the trees on the property, is playable and enjoyable for a wide range of players of all skill levels.

In another way, it means the pricing structure for members and daily-fee players, ushered in under the business model of RMG Golf, keeps The Classic affordable.

None of this is new news. RMG, the management company founded by Ryan Moore, Tacoma native and PGA Tour pro, took over at The Classic in 2012 and in February 2015 engineered the removal of 1,600 trees.

It’s a distant memory to some golfers here and unknown to others, but the defoliating let in air and light and opened new spaces on the course, and it’s still paying dividends in 2023.

General Manager Joe Beach, in his 13th year here, can tick off on his fingers the benefits of letting the golf course breathe.

“Grass really likes the sunshine,” he said.

The Classic, opened in 1990, has long been known

for the undulations and unique shapes of its greens, and the tree removal helped make fast greens even faster.

The course is generally drier these days, and maintenance crews use less fungicide and other chemicals.

Beach worked 15 years as head pro at a golf course where an annual membership could only be acquired in a lump sum once a year. The Classic’s annual can be purchased in 12 monthly installments, no matter what time of year it starts.

Daily green fees are reasonable, too, with a top rate of $55 on weekends and $45 Monday through Friday. Twilight rates ($30 and $28) and senior and first responder rates offer further discounts.

What you get for your money is a course that’s not overly long (6,256 yards from the blue tees). Beach says that as an “older” pro he doesn’t love the bomb-andgouge mentality that some courses encourage. Here, driver is not the play on many tee boxes, and most holes offer a variety of ways to play them.

The biggest virtue of losing 1,600 trees is a roughly 30-minute average reduction in the time it takes to play a round at The Classic.

YARDAGE (PAR) 4,474-6,256 yards

RATES $28-$45 weekdays; $28-45 weekends*

TEL (253) 847-4440

WEB theclassicgc.com

* Check website for current rates

That’s a benefit the golf course and everybody on it can appreciate.

—

Bart Potter

The Classic Golf Club • Spanaway

Lynnwood GC LYNNWOOD 2

Dan Smith is the only head professional Lynnwood Golf Course has ever known.

He was there when the City of Lynnwood opened the course in 1991, and he’s there now as general manager, overseeing a course known — maybe not as widely as it should be — as an impeccably maintained 18-hole muni that mitigates its relatively short yardages with significant challenges on every hole.

There’s not much to distract you from your game at Lynnwood — no practice range, no restaurant. “Pure golf,” Smith says. “What we have is well-done.”

And the greens … let Smith tell you about the greens.

“They’re great,” he says. “They’re smooth, they roll out, they’re always in excellent condition.”

Smith is often a man of few words and short answers, according to Aaron Lamb, his assistant general manager. Lamb was willing to fill in around the edges. “For being such a short course, we make up for it with how narrow the fairways are,” Lamb said. “That’s part of the character of every hole.”

For example:

No. 1, at 375 yards one of the longest holes on the course and featuring a sharp dogleg left, is a testy opener.

Nos. 11 and 12, back-to-back short par 3s (131 and 115 yards), are where most of the holes-in-one are made on the course.

No. 13 is a well-laid-out par 4, with water in the middle, a lot of character and a lot of options — lay up or try to carry it.

And the greens … Lamb can only echo his boss. “For the price,” he said, “these greens are pretty tough to match.”

Green is also the color of money, and you don’t have to drop a wad to play here. Lynnwood is one of 11 Seattlearea courses in the Premier Golf Centers family and sets its green fees under Premier’s “dynamic pricing” model. This means the green fee could be adjusted according to demand: on a super busy day, the fee could go up; on a slow day, it might go down.

For reference, listed green fees on a recent day showed $41 for a weekend 18, $37 Monday through Friday; college students (Edmonds Community College is close by) pay $25 for a weekday 18.

By any measure, Lamb said, “We’re wildly affordable.”

Smith was typically terse when asked what one thing he would want the world to know about Lynnwood Golf Course: “We’re always well-maintained.”

Well said.

— Bart Potter

YARDAGE (PAR) 4,741 yards

RATES $29-$37 weekdays; $29-$41 weekends*

TEL (425) 672-4653

WEB lynnwoodgc.com

* Check website for current rates

High Cedars Golf Club

ORTING

In the local version of the “fiddling while Rome burns” tale, it goes more like this: Humans playing golf beneath the thunder and fire of the great erupting volcano, unperturbed by onrushing waves of boiling mud soon to engulf them and the golf course and the entire Puyallup Valley.

So far, at least since High Cedars Golf Club opened in 1971, it’s just a story, part of the ancient past and unimaginable future. Mount Rainier, the grandest of the Cascade volcanoes, watches quietly and regally today (and tomorrow?) over players at this popular course in eastern Pierce County.

That’s the value proposition at High Cedars: Good golf, good prices, and the mountain, too. The views are free. General Manager John Benedetti has worked at High Cedars for 23 years and lives on the course, 200 yards from the 17,000-square-foot clubhouse.

He looks out and sees the driving range being “crazy busy.” The nine-hole executive course, with seven par 3s and two par 4s, is well-used ($18 for 18 on weekdays, $12 for a niner anytime for juniors and seniors).

The championship 18 stretches to 6,647 yards from

the tips (course rating 71.5/slope 120), with a top rate of $40.

The course plays alongside the Puyallup River on holes 6, 7, 15, 16 and 17.

High Cedars has been selected for the last half-dozen years to host qualifiers ahead of the PGA Champions Tour’s Boeing Classic at Snoqualmie Ridge. The course is happy to have them, and by all accounts the players are glad to be there.

“They’re very complimentary to us,” Benedetti said. “They’re amazed at the condition of the course.”

Benedetti said the course plays at a “sneaky long” 6,800 yards on qualifying days for the over-50 pros, still shorter than most of the tour courses they might play.

“They like it because they have to hit golf shots here.”

Likewise for low-handicap amateurs who want to “bang it” — High Cedars doesn’t suit that mindset.

What’s on the mind of the mountain?

“That mountain’s not going anywhere,” said Benedetti. Just in case, he’s got a contingency plan for those 22 minutes after eruption the experts say is all local humans

will have before mudslides swallow the world: “My wife and I are going up on the roof to drink Manhattans.” And if the volcano blows while you’re on the course? No sweat. You’ll have time for one more hole. — Bart Potter

YARDAGE (PAR) 5,295-6,647 yards

RATES $25-$40 weekdays; $30-$50 weekends*

TEL (360) 893-3171

WEB highcedars.com

* Check website for current rates

High Cedars Golf Club • Orting

CG readers love Bremerton’s Gold Mountain Olympic Course for a simple reason it just getter better with age

BY BOB SHERWIN • CG STAFF WRITER

Folks at Gold Mountain Golf Club have it figured out.

They have had a business plan, for decades now, that has made the 36-hole complex among the most popular and populated courses in the state.

The two 18-hole courses, Cascade and Olympic, that meander through the vast forested watershed on the Kitsap Peninsula have been consistently ranked among the top public golf courses in the state. Cascade Golfer readers annually vote Gold Mountain among the top four, alongside Chambers Bay, Gamble Sands and Wine Valley.

The reason might be because of the club’s “four percent formula.”

Gold Mountain is owned by the City of Bremerton and operates under what’s called ‘enterprise funding.’ That means that the city council oversees the club but does not provide any taxpayer money for its operation.

“We rely on our own business dollars to pay our way,” said Daryl Matheny, Gold Mountain’s general manager.

And golf courses are not a one-and-done business. Courses depend on regulars, as well as newcomers, for multiple repeat rounds. They must want to come back. Matheny understands that the repeat golfer must believe he’s/she’s getting a fair deal on green fees and that the grounds are maintained well. In that regard, Gold Mountain annually puts aside four percent of its operating revenue for capital improvements.

“It’s a business model that has worked over the years,” Matheny said. “And it’s still working.”

The club has been able to purchase more modern equipment, enhance and improve various greens and tee complexes and rework sever-

al bunkers, more recently on Nos. 4, 5 and 7 on the Olympic course.

Matheny said it was a difficult stretch in 2020 when revenues dried up for six weeks when the state mandated golf course closures during the pandemic. “We didn’t know what the heck was going on,” he said.

But what followed was a resurgence, as cabin-fever shut-ins surged back to the fairways and greens for what was considered safe exercise. “We’ve had a ton of new golfers,” Matheny added. “Since we reopened, we’ve tried to increase our budget, not just to maintain the course but make it better.”

Matheny said that was the silver lining to the pandemic restrictions. Full tee sheets and revenue increases. Consequently, it also brought in more maintenance cash under the four-percent formula.

Among the targets for its capital improvement fund is a remastering of the 52-year-old Cascade course. Cascade has not had a wholesale revision since it opened in 1971. The course, designed by Ken Dyson (also Madrona in Gig Harbor and Lake Spanaway in Tacoma), was among the best in the state until transcended by so many new ones, including sister layout Olympic in September 1996. The game has changed in a half century and Cascade needs to be brought along.

“When it was opened in 1971, it was just open and go,” Matheny said. “We’ve never done anything much to it. There are some bunkers out of play that we can remove, add and create more expanded tee areas. Create a different look.”

Olympic was designed by the late noted Northwest

Enter to Win The Classic and High Cedars Twosomes

What a great 36 for anyone wanting to take a quick trip towards South Hill. The Classic is one of the most underrated layouts in the state while High Cedars stakes it claim to hosting the Monday qualifier for the Boeing Classic. Both are a ton of fun, even more so when the price is FREE! Enter to win today at CascadeGolfer.com.

architect John Harbottle. He did scores of projects before his untimely death in 2012 at age 53. Among his state efforts were the creation of Palouse Ridge in Pullman and revisions to Broadmoor, Fircrest, Inglewood, Overlake and White Horse GC.

Olympic is considered the better of the two courses, although Matheny said Cascade “has such character to it. There are some who prefer Cascade over Olympic.”

Matheny said the two-course system has its advantages “as we can host events while the other course remains open to the public (generally Cascade).” Olympic hosted the 81st U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship in 2006, the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2011 and the NCAA Men’s Regional Championship in 2008 and in 2015. Olympic also holds the annual Husky Invitational each fall and just last month held the West Coast Conference Women’s Championship.

Asked about what holes, on each course, are the most memorable to the regulars, Matheny said No. 8 (par 4, 413 yards) on Cascade “comes up a lot.” He said the par 5, 550-yard (back tees) 18th also has its admirers (just 445 yards from the Tourney tees).

For the Olympic layout, Matheny offers a few choices, such as No. 7 (par 4, 462 yards) and the longish par 3, 251-yard 12th hole. The course finishes with two intriguing beauties, No. 16 (par 3, 188 yards) that is all carry over water to a green tough to hold, and No. 18 (par 4, 305 yards) that sets up as a birdie hole if your drive threads an OB needle.

Asked which holes, on each course, generally yields the most holes-in-one, he said No. 3 on Cascade (180 yards, No. 17 handicap hole) and No. 5 on Olympic (159 yards, also the No. 17 handicap).

Gold Mountain Golf Club, Olympic Course • Bremerton

The Classic Golf Club