5 minute read
Save Some Green
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1 - Bellevue Golf Course
BELLEVUE
Bellevue Golf Course, a municipal layout that combines golf challenge with a comfortable walk in the park, is a solid value too, especially if a player picks a tee time carefully. All that, and it boasts one of the best practice ranges in Puget Sound.
The par-71 course in the Bridle Trails area is operated by the City of Bellevue and managed by Premier Golf Centers. Opened in 1968, the course was designed by David W. Kent, who also designed courses in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
It’s easy to walk Bellevue, with short distances between greens and tee boxes. Changes in elevation are small here, but the bunkers require some skill and planning to avoid. Sloping on the greens is not too obviously severe, but the breaks can assert themselves.
The hardest hole on the course, No. 5 is a gnarly double-dogleg that takes a 90-degree turn to the right about halfway up its 465 yards, then takes a left turn nearer the green.
Since its 2015 opening, players love practicing on the 46-stall driving range, which is heated and lighted.
In addition to the 18-hole track, Bellevue also offers the Crossroads Par 3 Course — a nine-hole layout that is very popular and well-maintained – which you can you play in about an hour. The holes range in length from 63-107 yards. This provides more accomplished golfers an opportunity to work on their short game, while beginners can have success learning the game in a relaxed, friendly environment.
Bellevue operates under Premier Golf Centers’ dynamic pricing system that can adjust the posted reference rates according to demand. A reduction in rates may occur when the demand for tee times is low and an increase in rates may occur when demand for tee times is high. Rates that fall under dynamic pricing include adults, early bird, twilight, and super twilight.
YARDAGE (PAR 71) 5,428-6,961 yards
RATES $29-44 weekdays, $32-57 weekends*
TEL (425) 452-7250
WEB bellevuepgc.com
* Check website for current rates
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2 - Highlander Golf Course
EAST WENATCHEE
Value is as value does at Highlander Golf Course in East Wenatchee. Highlander is a premium golf course and worth it, says director of golf and head PGA professional Mark Babst.
“We’re always trying to innovate, trying to improve the experience for the player,” Babst says.
Highlander, a fairly exposed layout with amazing views over the Columbia River, opened to great acclaim in 2002. The recent addition of numerous trees (they're not too big yet, Babst says) gives it a very Northwest look.
There’s been other tinkering through the years. Just this spring, Highlander added a 110,000-gallon water feature to the fifth hole, which added an element of challenge — a forced carry — to the second of back-to-back par-5s. No. 4, at 535 yards, is rated the toughest hole on the course.
In 2013, six holes on a shortish back nine (2,707 yards) were remodeled.
Short here doesn’t mean easy. Babst calls 17, a short par-4 (247 yards from the black tees, only 232 from the whites) a “bait hole” — danger lurks, with a cliff on the right and a hillside left. No. 9, considered Highlander’s signature hole, is a 163-yard par 3 with the river canyon on the left. No. 18, with similar topography and similar length, has the canyon on the right.
In general, the fairways are generous, and the greens are big. You’ll hit a lot of greens, Babst says, and you’ll have some three-putts, too.
Babst says he looks around at what he considers golf course peers and rates Highlander’s under-$100 greens fee ($92 for full-rate weekends, with twilight and weekday discounts) as appropriate for the value received.
People are coming to play his golf course, including an encouraging number of female golfers, he says, and a lot of younger players, for whom golf has become a “cool” sport.
YARDAGE 5,428-6,961 yards
RATES $48-80 weekdays, $48--92 weekends*
TEL (509 )884-4653
WEB highlandergc.com
* Check website for current rates
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3 - The Golf Club at Redmond Ridge
REDMOND
The Golf Club at Redmond Ridge looks like a Northwest golf course should look. Traditional, with lots of stately trees skirting protected wetlands.
The course’s pricing model, along with other courses in the Oki Golf system — known as “dynamic pricing” — is anything but traditional, but it’s catching on.
Dynamic pricing ensures golfers can see tee times in real time and pick the time, price and date of their choice. There are multiple pricing options every day.
The rate model helps make Redmond Ridge a good value for a premium golf challenge.
The par-70 Redmond Ridge, 20 miles from Seattle in Redmond, was designed by renowned golf architect Gary Panks.
No. 3 is tough enough for its length alone at 613 yards from the blue tees, but water in three places — including a forced carry off the tee — make the path to the green hazardous.
The 13th hole, a long par 4, features a sharp dogleg right that can stymie many a player.
No. 5 is another long 4 (453 yards from the tips) that offers water trouble near the green.
The 17th hole looks like a straightforward par 3, but again, trouble waits in the water close to the green.
The club offers an expansive practice facility featuring multiple target greens from several grass tee stations, and a large putting surface.
Crooked Spoon, the club restaurant, offers fresh seasonal selections served home-style and complemented by the region’s finest wines and microbrews.
At Redmond Ridge, you can find a solid value for your golf dollar. The best way to take advantage of dynamic pricing is by booking online, by calling the pro shop, and being flexible in when you can play.
YARDAGE 4,818-6,503 yards
RATES See the website for current pricing*
TEL (425) 836-1510
* Check website for current rates
