Cascade Golfer August 2023

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Dick Stephens & Kirk Tourtillotte

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Tony Dear

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PRODUCER AND OWNER OF THE

LIV or

Party’ and frustration from inside/outside the ropes of a pro golf fan

I’ve loyally followed pro golf ever since I can remember — I thank my parents Siv and Gary Stephens for that. They were part of the mobilization of ‘Arnie’s Army’ back in the heyday.

We lived in Chicago in the late 60s and early 70s and my folks took me to the Western Open each year to see Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Billy Casper and of course Palmer. My memory is faint, but I can tune in a few memories of being there when I was five.

My mother Siv tells the story well of what may have anointed me as a golf fanatic — being touched by ‘The King’ himself. It was the opening round in 1974 at Butler National and Palmer’s fans were wooing him close to the gallery ropes, hoping he would notice.

Perhaps it was the warm June day and my 25-yearold mom’s penchant for brightly colored sundresses, but Arnie walked to the rope where we stood. He came right up to her, signed an autograph, smiled at my dad, looked me right in the eye and patted me on the head.

It was at that moment that I kept an eye on the sport and saw pro golfers as gods and goddesses.

I’m waxing retrospective because the PGA and LPGA Tours are sacred to me, and I have felt their standard tarnished with the LIV Golf showdown. It’s bumming me out and making my head spin.

The clash and possible merger of the two Tours is both imminent and perhaps impossible. In fact, Congress is now involved in the review of the merger. Politicians — really?

It worries me that the national interest of the PGA Tour is in jeopardy. Until LIV emerged, I always saw the PGA Tour as a pillar of strength. But the truth is LIV and the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, have the billions and brawn to morph the sport.

I follow golf daily and from my seat, I don’t think we really understand where the merger and future of the pro game is headed. What’s obvious is LIV’s freak wealth is making powerful people weak, leaders into lemmings and dividing up our heroes as they choose teams.

I am not here to call out the character or character flaws of the players and leadership embroiled in this. What I’m stating is this crack in the sport has now become a crevasse and the only things that will salve the gaping wound is compromise and a new foundation to be poured. This foundation will support what pro golf will likely sit on in years to come — whatever that looks like.

We saw this to some degree in the sports world when Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) went head-to-head and formed Indy Racing League (IRL). CART had all the talent, but IMS and IRL had the money and power. The 1990s and 2000s saw the slow death of CART and the best open wheel drivers and teams died on the vine.

The fanbase was divided and made loyalists choose

Block was the story at the PGA and Colonial.

sides. I’m an IndyCar fan (which is what the merger is now called) — it took 20 years for the sport to heal and grow again. Pro golf is much larger than IndyCar, but the LIV/PGA Tour battle seems similar.

I admire Rory McIlroy for his stand and some LIV players for speaking their piece. But, for me, the brightest boy in pro golf sparkled in May when Michael Block, the club pro from California, took center stage with his top 15 finish at the PGA Championship — ‘acing’ his way into our hearts. He went from absolute nobody to the biggest thing in sports in one weekend — and didn’t win the tourney.

It had NOTHING to do with LIV or the PGA Tour. It was done with class, magic and a fundamental belief that anything can happen. I got to see and feel the ‘Block Party’ at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial in Fort Worth the week after the Major miracle. It was pure and identifiable. He’s the closest thing to Roy ‘Tin Cup’ McAvoy we’ve ever seen, and he brought the sport together — golf can do that!

We’d love to hear your opinion on all this. Email us or post on our Facebook page and lean in. Harness the last couple of months of summer and, AS ALWAYS, TAKE IT EASY.

let die, the ‘Block

SHORT GAME

Troon Golf now operating Ocean Shores

GC with new visions for improvements and increased play

Troon Golf, a global course management, development and marketing company headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., began operating the city-owned Ocean Shores Golf Course, 25 miles west of Aberdeen, Wash., on May 1 having been selected by the city council to succeed leasee Curt Zander.

Zander, who had worked at the course for 30 years alongside wife Tonya, announced last August that he wished to retire at the end of 2023 and sell the remaining years on the lease. A replacement was sought but, after receiving no responses, the city was forced to broaden the search, inviting management companies to apply for the role.

Three companies applied to manage the course which opened in 1961 with just six holes before offering the full complement of 18 in 1966. Entertainer Pat Boone was largely responsible for the upgrades to the course having become a resident and stockholder in Ocean Shores Estates and hosting a celebrity golf tournament at the course between 1966 and 1970. When Boone’s event ended the course became a regular stop on the LPGA Tour hosting the likes of Kathy Whitworth, JoAnne Carner, Althea Gibson and Patty Berg.

Troon manages close to 600 public and private courses around the world.

All revenue from the course is now going back to the city which, according to a Grays Harbor Daily World April 1 report, is paying Troon Golf $7,500 a month in management fees while the city is responsible for labor costs. The number of rounds at the course is expected to rise from about 17,000 a year to 27,000 and profits will be used

for capital improvements to the course.

Ocean Shores has been added to the list of courses that are part of Seattle-based Premier Golf’s Frequent Player Program (in March 2019, Troon purchased OB Sports management which purchased Premier later that year).

Director of Operations at Troon Golf Michael Fosnick says that since Troon took over several important changes have taken place. Gary Enholm, formerly of Seattle Parks, was installed as the course’s new superintendent and extensive marketing programs have been initiated. “And we’ve hired other local employees who are making a big difference,” he adds. “Our goal is to attract many more golfers to this hidden gem over the summer months with specials, discounts, and stay and play packages.”

Ocean Shores Golf Course

Three CG Cups remain at Oakbrook, The Classic and Chambers Bay vacations to Maui, Vegas and Myrtle Beach on the line

Good weather has been the story for golfers in the Northwest in 2023, and the first four Cascade Golfer Cup events of the season have been nothing but pristine skies, mixed with a cold drink and great two-person formats and courses.

We’ve seen first time winners as well as veteran teams win at The Home Course, Salish Cliffs, White Horse and Port Ludlow. Now another great set of courses await.

Oakbrook will host the Michelob ULTRA Open Aug. 12. This two-person aggregate Stableford will hand out stay and play packages to Maui as overall grand prizes for both net and gross, courtesy of our friends at Ka’anapali Golf Resort. The top 10 in the net and gross divisions all prize out, as with all CG Cup events.

Following Oakbrook we head to The Classic for our Cascade Golfer Invitational, which is a two-person best ball on Sept. 9. This great layout will host this stop on our tour for a third straight year. Teams are battling it out for new drivers and putters along with golf experiences to Las Vegas. Plus, another 20-plus prizes are up for grabs.

If you can’t make any of the above, do yourself a favor and put Sept. 30 on your golf schedule, when we finish off the season with our Annual Fall Classic at Chambers Bay.

This concludes our 13th year of the CG Cup, and no track has hosted more Cup events than our illustrious local U.S. Open venue. A couple of teams will win stay and play

packages to Myrtle Beach, why not you?

You can view all information, registration, results and prize winners at CascadeGolfer.com/Cup. As always, all our CG Cup events are open to anyone. If you’ve never played in an event, sign up and join us. Each event is unique with its own prize pool.

In addition to sending folks to Maui, Bandon Dunes, Central Oregon, Pinehurst, Myrtle Beach and several other destinations this year, CG Cup events also hand out all sorts of other serious 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, The Home Course, Loomis Trail, Port Ludlow, Cedars at Dungeness, The Classic, Oakbrook, Snohomish and several others.

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.

Get a partner, a handicap and sign up at CascadeGolfer.com/Cup. We’ll see you inside the ropes.

The CG Cup Fall Classic is Sept. 30 at Chambers Bay.

Win Maui trips at the Michelob ULTRA Open.

SHORT GAME

High-tech simulator the latest in Eagle’s Pride public golf arsenal of indoor and outdoor options

The installation of a golf simulator at the Eagle’s Pride Golf Course this past February was met with acclaim by the military personnel there. After all, so many of these folks are drawn to the service because of the opportunity to operate the latest in electronics, technology and military gadgetry.

This was a natural fit, the chance to break down every aspect of their golf swing with readouts in high-tech detail, while pretending to play Pebble Beach or Pine Valley.

“It tells you everything, like Trackman” says Eagle’s Pride General Manager Jeffery Clark. “Loft, lie, clubhead speed, face angle at impact, carry distance, etc.”

Clark, who operates the 27-hole Eagle’s Pride course across I-5 from the Joint Base Lewis-McChord, had become aware of golf simulators “popping up all over the place,” and figured his community would welcome this type of indoor activity, especially in the winter. He toured several simulator facilities in the region, received approval from the commanding officers, and finished the installation in February.

The simulator can accommodate up to eight players at a time and can be used for games other than golf — tee ball, soccer, football, or the ever-popular Zombie Dodgeball.

Because of the transient nature of a military base, there are plenty of ‘hail and farewell’ parties for individuals coming and going that use the simulator. But it isn’t exclusive to military personnel as the general public can use it, just like the golf course. That may be the best kept secret in the region as a golfer of any stripe can get around the well-maintained course for around $40.

“There are things everyone can do here,” says Clark. “The word is out. We’re off base. We’re open to the public (year-round), we have 27 holes and you can come anytime you want.”

While the course is busy this summer, the simulator will remain fairly quiet. That’s expected. The purchase was intended as an off-season activity to give golfers something to do and help their games during the long winter months.

Eagle’s Pride new simulator and 27-hole complex gives golfers year-round playability.

Northwest Golfers Playbook with 120 offers — is now only $19.95

If you love saving money and playing golf in Washington and Oregon, you won’t want to leave home without this. And now you can buy the book for half off.

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.

Normally $39.95, you can purchase a book online for $19.95. Use the code HalfOff to save $20. Put the book in your golf bag and count the savings all fall and winter long. Pick one up at NWGolfersPlaybook.com and start saving today!

Sudden Valley Golf Club Bellingham’s Hidden Gem

Dana Kimble and The Pro Shop ‘engineers’ relationships

Dana Kimble understood early on just how the game of golf plays a subtle but significant role in career opportunities within the construction industry. And for years she was basically in denial of even picking up a club.

Kimble works for Skanska, one of the largest construction engineering companies in the country. She observed how some men, with less seniority and fewer qualifications, might be promoted over her. Naturally, she wondered why.

“Construction has always been a male-dominated industry,” she says. “Golf was a very good tool for business, for networking and developing relationships. I saw the men do that.”

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

Those men, some not particularly skilled at the game, nevertheless wriggle their way into foursomes with the bosses which naturally results in closer relationships, smoothing the way for career advancement.

Kimble, an excellent athlete who played soccer at Woodinville High and the University of Washington, had never played golf. She didn’t want to just show up and make a fool of herself. But she also didn’t want to play the fool.

“I was my own problem,” she says. “And I realized a lot of men struggled with the game, too. But still played.”

So, she took lessons and improved to the point where she could hang with the men. She plays in all the company tournaments. But she noticed that she was among the few of her gender to participate. Other women refrained, she says, because of intimidation, or concerns over the quality of their game or because it was just socially awkward to mix in. Kimble would tell them to get over it.

A year ago, Kimble and a select group of construction industry women formed The Pro Shop, whose mission statement is to empower women in architecture, engineering, and construction into greater positions of influence, through the game of golf.

The other four founding members are all involved in the construction/building trades: Christina Millan (OAC), Lisa Ulrich (UMC), Andrea Vanderlende (Interface) and Melissa Kelii (TGB Architects).

The organization, which has grown to 160 members mostly from Seattle-area companies, provides basic information on equipment fitting, the game’s rules and nuances, avenues for instruction, and it has even partnered with a golf apparel company for the latest in golf fashion.

“Golf provides so many benefits, both personally and professionally,” says Kimble. “It’s great for your mental well-being. You can manage your stress-level better. You can perform under pressure better, and you are building important relationships with people.”

Kimble (right) with the guys from Evergreen GC at the Golf Show.

SHORT GAME EXTRA

Canuck and former UW star Nick Taylor drains a 72-foot eagle putt to win the Canadian Open

His face was unaffected by the chaos surrounding him, his demeanor impassive. Nick Taylor seemed oblivious to all the hoots and hollers from his overwrought countrymen trying to will him to victory at the RBC Canadian Open in early June.

A Canadian golfer had not won his own country’s tournament in 69 years. Taylor, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and raised in Abbotsford, B.C., had a country on his shoulders. A former University of Washington star, Taylor was a virtual Maple Leaf walking down the Oakdale Country Club fairways. The rabid Toronto crowd wouldn’t let up, but Taylor didn’t seem bothered by any of it.

“Under pressure, everyone speeds up,” Matt Thurmond, head golf coach at Arizona State, said back in the days when he coached Taylor at the University of Washington. “Your mind speeds up, you walk faster, you swing tighter, faster. Somehow, Nick slows down when there’s more pressure. His swing, his mood, his tone of voice are all slower. He always has been that way from when he first started playing the game. I’m sure his heart is racing, but he’s able to manage it. He’s done that in his career over and over again.”

More than once, Taylor, now 35, has responded positively to pressure, whether it’s to win a PGA Tour event or when trying desperately to hang onto his Tour card. In 2014 he shot a career-best 63 in the final round of the Web.com Tour Championship to finish 21st and earn his first Tour card.

Then, four events into his PGA Tour career, he won his first tournament — the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi. It may have been too much, too soon as Taylor virtually disappeared over the next five seasons, missing a total of 60 cuts and finishing 50th or lower 34 times.

In 2018, entering the Tour’s final event, he stood 129th in the FedEx Cup standings and in danger of losing his card. He needed to finish in the top 10 and responded when it mattered most. After matching that career-best 63, he finished eighth and secured his card for two more seasons.

“If my back is against the wall I tend to perform well, but I don’t want to be in

that situation again,” Taylor said following the tournament. “That’s more pressure than trying to win a golf tournament. I was trying to keep my job. I was trying to keep my status. The consequences are not as great as losing a tournament.”

Then, in February 2020, ranked 229th in the world at the time, Taylor was tested again after starting the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with a one-stroke lead over Phil Mickelson who had won the tournament five times. The left-hander, now a LIV player, had 39 other PGA Tour victories including five majors whereas Taylor had gone 146 events since his first win, with no second-place finishes, no thirds and just 11 top-10s. Taylor, who barely mustered a hoot from the pro-Phil crowd, was again unflappable. He eagled the par 5 6th with a 47-foot pitch from the bunker, chipped in at the 15th and closed with a two-under 70, finishing the 72 holes four shots clear of Kevin Streelman and five ahead of Mickelson who shot 74.

That all prepared Taylor for his Canadian Open pressure-cooker on Sunday, June 11, as he was in contention amid much patriotic bedlam. In the fourth to last group to tee off, Taylor was playing catch-up with the leaders — England’s Tommy Fleetwood, ranked 21st in the world, and C.T. Pan of Taiwan, his former UW teammate.

In the end, it would be Taylor v. Fleetwood with an oppressively pro-Taylor crowd hanging on every shot. Taylor also drew strong support from his Canadian peers — Masters hero Mike Weir, Corey Conners and his old friend from Abbotsford, Adam Hadwin.

Fleetwood and Taylor tied at the end of regulation at 17-under 271, before sparring evenly for three playoff holes. At the fourth extra hole — the 499-yard 18th — Taylor reached the green in two and was 72 feet from the cup. Fleetwood was 22 feet away in three.

Looking steady and stoic, like he was back at UW listening to a finance lecture, Taylor bent over his lengthy putt and rolled it in for a winning eagle. It was the longest putt of his PGA career, and the gallery exploded while Hadwin, attempting to spray his good buddy with champagne, was leveled following a nifty open-field tackle by a security guard.

Taylor had become a three-time PGA Tour winner, and Canada had a new golf icon — the first winner of the country’s prized event since Pat Fletcher in 1954. And Hadwin lived to spray another day.

Photos courtesy of Bernard Brault/Golf Canada

Taylor ended a 69-year Canadian drought after holing a miracle putt to take the title.

SHORT GAME

The Tribute Club set to open in 2024 at Thornburgh Resort in Central Oregon

Agolf course, routed by Bill Coore and designed by Rod Whitman, Dave Axland and Keith Cutten (known collectively as WAC), is slowly taking shape on 200 acres of a 2,400-acre resort property 10 miles southwest of Redmond, Ore.

Construction of the 18-hole layout at the Thornburgh Resort began at the end of 2021 and the course is currently being grassed with a view to opening next summer. Called The Tribute Club, the course uses Coore’s second routing at Thornburgh as he and co-designer Ben Crenshaw’s first, completed in 2005, fell victim to the 2007-09 financial collapse.

By the time plans for the course were revived in 2019, changes had inevitably been made to the masterplan, so Coore was recalled to devise a second routing. Because he and Crenshaw were incredibly busy, however, they were unable to complete what they’d started, so suggested the resort’s developer, Kameron DeLashmutt, hire Axland and his partners to complete the job.

While the routing was already in place, the details such as fairway widths, contours, bunker placement, green complexes, etc., were all up to WAC.

DeLashmutt was disappointed Coore and Crenshaw couldn’t return but is happy with their replacements. “Rod and Dave seem to have the same mindset as Bill and Ben,” he says. “And Keith has learned the same lessons, most of them alongside Rod. They are all true artists.”

Thornburgh Resort ranks among Oregon’s most contentiously litigated land developments in history, with around 70 appeals concerning water usage and fish/wildlife habitats being lodged by environmental non-profit Central Oregon LandWatch.

Grandson of the land’s former owners, Eva and Everett Thornburgh, DeLashmutt has countered every single complaint and is moving ahead with the project which will offer 950 residential lots, a man-made lake, a village comprising a beach club, kids’ camp, outfitters, fitness center, a boutique hotel, biking/hiking trails, as well as the golf course with a second course (Coore’s 2005 routing) being added somewhere down the line.

“We’re pursuing community-wide energy initiatives which could make Thornburgh the model of sustainability,” DeLashmutt told Cascade Business News in April.

SHORT GAME

Snohomish High’s Palmer Mutcheson posts an albatross on a par 5 at WIAA Championship

A

s everyone knows, an albatross is a large, cold-climate seabird with a hooked beak and long, narrow wings. Less well-known is that it is also an Asian or African butterfly of the genus Appias.

As far as Snohomish High School junior Palmer Mutcheson is concerned, however, an albatross (‘double eagle’ in the U.S.) is a score of three-under-par on a hole and an extremely rare bird, especially in high school tournaments.

How rare are the odds? “One-in-12,000 for a hole-inone; one-in-six million for an albatross,” says the 17-yearold who recorded one in the first round of the WIAA 3A State Championship at Indian Summer Golf and Country Club in May.

After a 309-yard drive at the 530-yard 3rd hole, Mutcheson had 221 yards to the hole and hit a 5-iron which never left the pin. Mutcheson didn’t see it go in, but the shouts of the Snohomish Panther faithful up at the green told him it had.

The shot carried a shocked Mutcheson through the rest of the round, but unfortunately wasn’t caught on

camera. “It might have been on Sportscenter,” says Joey Mutcheson, Palmer’s father and the Panthers coach, who was nearby.

The albatross helped Palmer to a 32 on the front nine. A 43 on the back saw him round in 75, and a second-day 78 gave him a 36-hole total of 153 and 15th-place finish. The Panthers, meanwhile, finished eighth.

This honor student has a busy summer of local, state and national junior tournaments lined up, and has reason to expect a solid senior-year in 2024 (the Panthers’ top five players at state were all juniors). The prospect of col lege and more golf looms in Mutcheson’s future.

‘Albatross’ has another usage in English-language idi om — an ‘albatross around one’s neck’, first suggested in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s epic poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” is a heavy mental burden that hinders future success. Will a one-in-six-million event stand in the way of Palmer Mutcheson’s success in life?

That, like the golf-related albatross, seems an extreme longshot. Palmer is clearly destined for greatness.

Mutcheson after draining the deuce.

Seventeen-year-old Kylie McGrath can clearly play this game. In June of 2022, the Liberty High School student made her first hole-in-one, and then shot just four-over-par at the WIAA 3A State Championship, fin ishing 13th out of 142 players. A few weeks ago, having just completed her junior year, she finished 13th again.

Though certainly helpful, it wasn’t her strong show ing in two state tournaments, or even her hole-in-one, that helped Kylie win the latest Duke’s Junior Golfer Scholarship after being nominated by Liberty’s assistant girls coach, Amanda Thrash. A 3.9 GPA while being part of several advanced-placement classes was likewise im pressive without proving decisive.

For John Moscrip, CEO of Duke’s Seafood and the scholarship’s creator, what tipped the balance was Kylie’s volunteer work at the First Tee of Greater Seattle where she serves as a Junior Advisory Board Member and coach. She’s helped raise more than $10,000 to support both the First Tee and the American Junior Golf Associ ation (AJGA) ACE Grant which helps young people earn college scholarships through golf.

Kylie is hoping to play collegiately, and is currently considering Western Washington University, University of Redlands and a few other D-II/D-III schools. “Golf is important certainly,” she says, “but I’m also focused on finding a school with a strong engineering program.”

This summer, Kylie, who may use the scholarship money for some new rain gear or perhaps a TaylorMade Stealth driver, will play in the First Tee National Champi onship at Stanford University, and also help organize a junior Ryder Cup-style event called the Washington Cup in which 24 junior golfers from across the state will com pete at Sahalee Country Club in October.

Each player will commit to raising funds for the First Tee and ACE Grant, with the aim of donating $50,000 collectively. You can find Kylie’s fundraising page here: leadershiplinks.org/washington-cup/kyliemcgrath.

Seems you can add initiative, resourcefulness, and enterprise to Kylie’s plus column.

McGrath makes it happen on the course, at school and as a young philanthropist

Kylie McGrath

SHORT GAME EXTRA

TRAVEL THE NORTHWEST

Down by the bay

Swinomish Golf Links, casino and lodge features fine dining and a relaxing vibe for players looking for a local getaway

It’s a lot more than golf when you book a supremely affordable stay-and-play package at Swinomish Golf Links, owned by the Swinomish Casino and Lodge.

Why not make it a destination for a little longer?

With a panoramic variety of views, Swinomish Golf Links sits between Fidalgo Bay and Similk Bay with Mount Baker as a benevolent backdrop.

Anacortes can be found well under two hours north and then west of Seattle and less than an hour south of Bellingham. It is a gateway point to the wealth of recreational opportunities for which the northwestern region of Washington is so well-known.

But if casino-adjacent golf is your bliss, why go farther afield? Swinomish’s delightful golf course (6,182 yards, par 72, 68.7/116) offers generous landing areas on its treelined fairways and approachable greens, with challenge added by elevation changes on many holes.

The hardest is No. 7, a dogleg-left par 5 of 520 yards. And you’ll need to navigate some water near the green to achieve your score on No. 16, a tricky 403-yard par 4.

After your 18 holes (or more, if you wish), the casino and lodge offer a nearby panoply of food and entertainment options — and a place to lay your head.

The 98-room Swinomish Lodge offers stay-and-play packages for $189 a night (plus tax) and include unlimited golf. Add a second night’s stay (and another day of as much golf as you can play) for only $100. Call (888) 288-8883 to make a lodge reservation.

Something to con-

sider when planning your stay-and-play: Book some time at the Swinomish Golf Links Performance Center. Here, you’ll find a competitive selection of top-brand merchandise and knowledgeable staff to help you find the gear that suits your game and physique.

State-of-the-art golf simulators offer statistical readouts of the sweet perfection of your golf swing or pinpoint the (tiny) tweaks that might be necessary. The simulation experience also helps the certified club-fitters in the Performance Center fine-tune your selection of shafts and lie angles.

So, forget about golf for a while now that you’ve done your daily duty. Looking for some food? Your dining options in and around the casino are nearly unlimited, from the fine cuisine of 13moons to the casual splendiferousness of Fatburger.

The acclaimed 13moons offers an upscale menu of the freshest Alder wood-grilled seafood and handcut meats (don’t skip over the Marsala Mushroom Pork Chop). The lodge-like atmosphere is enhanced throughout by Swinomish Native tribal art.

If you’re a vodka martini guy or gal, you’ve found your place at 13moons. The lounge also boasts a well-curated wine list, premium spirits and great representation from the plentiful craft beer makers of northwest Washington.

For a classic American food experience, check out Carver’s Café any time of day. Soups, sandwiches, salads, burgers, classic entrées, breakfast and desserts, all in a setting rich with historical Swinomish photos and art and

Enter to Win a Camaloch Twosome on Camano Island

We love the mom-and-pop courses and Camaloch GC is one of the best. A Camano Island favorite, Camaloch is a great blend of playability and a tough test of golf — you’ll hit every club in your bag. Enjoy a twosome on us!. Enter to win today at CascadeGolfer.com.

furnishings hand-carved by Swinomish artists Kevin “Wa lee hub” Paul, Frank Campbell and Nakiya Edwards.

If you feel like you need a sports bar after tucking away the clubs for the day, they have one at Swinomish, and it’s a cut above the run-of-the mill. All the sports bar classic food items are here, of course, available among the thousand (give or take) TV screens. You can get a sports bet down here, too, in the new Unibet Sportsbook at Swinomish. Place bets on big-time sporting events using one of the eight convenient betting kiosks.

Lovers of fast Asian food in the region know about Manchu Wok. You better believe the orange chicken is irresistible.

At the very nucleus of the Swinomish Casino floor is the Center Bar, which means you’re never far from the table games and slot machines while you sip a hand-crafted cocktail or one of a dozen beers on tap.

Did we mention they have a Fatburger? ‘The Last Great Hamburger Stand’ inspires true loyalty among its fans — the classic burger menu starts with the Fatburger Original and includes the somewhat excessive (but incredibly satisfying) XXXL Triple Kingburger. Or try the Cajun chicken sandwich, which we bet was not on the original Fatburger menu back in 1952.

All the fun and food you could want. And golf, too. It’s here at Swinomish.

Swinomish Golf Links SwinomishCasinoandLodge. com/golf/ is located at 12518 Christianson Road, Anacortes, WA, (360) 293-3444.

RISK vs. RE WARD

Suncadia Resort Prospector GC

Hole No. 18 Par 5 517 yards (Blue Tees) By Simon Dubiel

Setup

Prospector has numerous holes with great character, and 18 is one that leaves a mark. This tree-lined par 5 that bends slightly to the left has a fairly generous landing zone, opening up to a slightly downhill approach to a green guarded by water left, a not-so-friendly greenside bunker right, and a grassy hill long. Fours can be had here, but many great rounds have met a bitter ending as well.

Risk

If you split the fairway, it is very enticing to raise the stakes and remove a headcover. The scene ahead is beautiful and tantalizing, but tread lightly my friends. The bunker right can lead to some impossible third shots while water left is obviously dead. Hit one pure and you may run through the green and be faced with one of those downhill stances coming out of thick rough onto a green sloping away from you. No thank you.

Reward

Sometimes the game is simple. Strike your second shot perfectly and you’ll find yourself on the dance floor. These are the shots you talk about on your hour-plus drive back to the westside, the shots you talk about for the rest of the summer, and the next time you’re standing on Prospector’s 18th tee. Glory moments. Remember the last time you heard someone telling you about the great layup shot they hit? Didn’t think so. Let the big dog eat. Sure, you can’t lose much if you don’t put the chips in the middle — but you can’t win much either.

Final Call

A well struck drive will likely leave you somewhere in the 250-yard range. A wise man once asked “Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya?” From 250 out you better be dialed in. For our money, it’s always better to drag a small pot than lose a big one, and that’s why we’re playing this hand today. Keep the headcover on and take out your trusty mid-iron. Lay up to your number and go throw a dart for your third. Giddyup!

PRESENTED BY

Mukilteo’s magical Arthur Hills design is a delight

PROPERTY

Like so many golf courses around the country and our region, Harbour Pointe GC welcomed a multitude of new golfers who took up the game during the pandemic.

“Golf was the only activity they could do safely. It brought a lot of new people to the game,” Harbour Pointe General Manager Shawn Beattie said. “Once they played, they got hooked. And many are still there.”

As a way of keeping those newbies around to continue to enjoy the game and the course, Beattie, superintendent Lance Kilbride and the maintenance team sought to improve the product. They brought in a company last October to apply an abundance of sand all over the course.

“We aerated every single fairway and approach,” Beattie said. “You know it gets wet here (Northwest) and this was a way to bolster it. It really helped out a lot.”

The project, which cost $60,000, is paying dividends this summer with firmer, faster, dryer and lusher playing surfaces. There’s a bounce in everyone’s play.

“It’s really paying off. The grass is growing in much better,” Beattie added. “When you don’t do that for a while, the fairways can get pretty thin. We have a nice sand base now.”

Harbour Pointe, always regarded as a fair test of golf, probably is best known over the years for one hole — the par 4, 395yard 11th hole. Standing on the tee, you have no idea where the pin is. It’s at the bottom of a steep slope. What you see, between a forest sandwich, is an infinity view of the Puget Sound.

Beattie offers his assessment of his club.

with GM • Shawn Beattie

Toughest Tee Shot 17th hole

I’d say 17, a long par-4 (426 yards) and just over 400 from the member tees. The fairway slopes right to left and there’s out-of-bounds over there. Most people are going to have to hit it 160 to 170 yards (approach). There are bunkers to the left and a drop-over to the right.

Best Birdie Opportunity — 8th hole

No. 8 (par 4, 347 yards) from the member tees (296 yards) or whites (241 yards). For some, it’s a drivable hole. You have to hit over a waste area and land inside 100 yards on your approach. There’s water on the right with a bunker and bunkers along the left side of the green. The big hitters can take on the green.

Best Par 3 7th hole

Hole No. 7 (177 yards from the back tees). You hit over the water. It’s a long green and goes along the contours of the water. You can add another 40 yards (with the pin) in back. There’s a hazard left and a bunker protecting the left front.

Favorite Hole 11th hole

Got to be No. 11 (par 4, 395 yards). It’s one of the best views in the Northwest looking out to the Sound. It’s a gorgeous hole. You need to hit your drive as close as you can to the top of the hill then hit an iron, inside 150 yards, to the green.

Emergency Nine front or back?

The back nine. That’s our original nine. It offers the best views, the Northwest at its finest. You see the Sound on 12, 13 and 18. There’s the big tree in the center (on 18) and a view of the Sound, too.

Go-To Lunch Item On The Menu

The club sandwich is always among the best, but we sell tons of our prime rib dip. That’s probably our most popular sandwich.

With vivid Puget Sound views, Harbour Pointe is Snohomish County’s hotspot since 1990

A Bucket

IN THE BAG

PRODUCT REVIEWS and equipment news you can use

BY TONY DEAR • CG EDITOR

Late summer releases to swing, drive, wear and wow your playing partners

Summer is a curious time for major manufacturers to be introducing significant new product lines. The odd club here and there is common enough, or maybe an accessory or two. But entire families of clubs is unusual.

In this issue, however, we are excited to highlight new lines from TaylorMade, Titleist and new ladies products from Ping. The golf equipment industry is always evolving, and we are here to bring you the latest.

Anyway, how’s your summer going? Putting any decent rounds together? By now, we hope you’ve rounded into good form, are hitting the ball sweetly, and really are enjoying the greatest of games. If you’re new to golf, you’re no doubt discovering just how great summer tee times are, especially those early in the morning when the course comes to life, or during the evening’s golden hour when the sun is going down and casting glorious shadows across the fairways.

We hope that golfers who have played in any of the Cascade Golfer events that have happened so far this year enjoyed the experience, and that those just home from the Corona Premier Shootout at Gamble Sands had as good a time as we did.

Wherever your game’s at though, and whatever the time of year, you know that Puetz Golf has everything you need to play better, more enjoyable golf. See PuetzGolf.com for current prices on these products.

It’s almost four years since Ping introduced its G Le2 clubs that helped female golfers to hit longer, higher shots with a combination of lighter components, lower Centers of Gravity (CG), and higher Moments of Inertia (MOI). The new G Le3 uses some of the technology found in the company’s successful G430 clubs and, in place of the G Le2’s garnet accents, has a unisex Hydropearl chrome look. The G Le3 family comprises an adjustable driver, four fairway woods, four hybrids, irons, and four putters. The 460-cc titanium driver has 11.5 degrees of loft and a high MOI making it extremely forgiving. It’s optimized for golfers whose driver swing speed is 80 mph or slower. The clubface is forged which gives the club great feel, and there is a weight positioned toward the back in the sole which lowers the CG helping you launch the ball easily off the ground. Ping’s famous Turbulators and Vortec Cavity improve the aerodynamics of the club helping you to swing it a little faster. The Trajectory Tuning Hosel 2.0 allows you to adjust the loft by 1.5 degrees either way. As with the G Le2, the irons set is an irons/ hybrid combo. Heel and toe weights in the irons make them extra forgiving. The multi-material PurFlex cavity badge provides great sound and feel while helping the clubface to flex a little more ultimately resulting in more distance. The sand wedge benefits from EYE2 technology but with a slimmer hosel, wider sole, machined grooves and a more contemporary look.

PUETZ GOLF PRICE Driver $489.99 Per iron $169.99

Sunday Golf was founded by Ronan Galvin in San Diego three years ago and quickly developed a large and enthusiastic following of golfers who prefer the more casual side of the game — a swift nine holes, an unscheduled stop at the driving range, or quiet, Sunday stroll with nothing on the line. Last December, the company signed a six-year-old golfer to play with its thin, ultra-light carry bags, emphasizing that, for most of us, golf is meant to be recreational and relaxed and fun and not to be taken too seriously, which is to say it’s supposed to be serious fun. Galvin took up golf later than most, on a par 3 course where a full set of clubs wasn’t necessary. The company makes three main styles — the Loma, El Camino, and Ryder, which is a standard-sized bag. The Loma was the company’s first product and weighs under two pounds. It can hold half a dozen clubs comfortably, has a built-in stand, and a cushioned shoulder-strap. The insulated drink pouch keeps your beverage at just the right temperature, while the velour-lined pocket holds your keys, phone, wallet, etc. There’s ample room for tees and balls, and it’s available in 14 different colors. The XL version weighs 3.4 pounds, has a double shoulder strap, can hold two or three more clubs, and is available in eight colorways. The El Camino is made from PU leather and water-resistant. It weighs 3.9 pounds, can hold up to 10 clubs, and is also available in eight colorways.

& S70s Golf Watch

Just when you thought tech companies couldn’t possibly cram more features into their devices, Garmin shows up with its S70 GPS-enabled watch which makes you shake your head while simultaneously stealing the show…er, for now. You’d expect the GPS feature to provide quick and accurate yardages to the front, middle, and back of the green. That goes without saying nowadays. But it does so on a bright, 1.4-inch AMOLED (Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode) touchscreen display. The 43,000 preloaded courses really comes as no surprise anymore either. Scorekeeping and stats measuring — of course. But the S70’s Virtual Caddie has been improved to not only give you club suggestions based on wind, elevation, your swing data and more, but also hazards that might be in play given your choice of club. The enhanced PlaysLike feature gives you effective yardages that consider elevation and environmental conditions. Green Contour shows you how the green breaks. It monitors your pulse, heartrate, hydrations level, stress level, every level and monitors your sleep. It can create workouts and training plans based on your health stats and estimate if your body is older or younger than you are — incredible. You can download your playlists and read your emails or texts when paired with your smartphone. It comes in three standard colors though there are 48 different color/style wristbands available so you can choose your favorite look. The 42-millimeter version gives 10 days of battery life in smartwatch mode and 15 hours in GPS mode (47-millimeter — 16 days/20 hours).

Having been a near-constant feature on the fairways of Britain and Ireland, Continental Europe, and Australia and New Zealand for several years, the powered trolley — a cart with a battery that you don’t need to push or pull (Manual Mode does allow the user to walk behind the caddy like a traditional pushcart without the need of a battery) — is slowly catching on in the U.S. And Australian firm MGI, founded in 1993, has created a number of the most popular models available today. We’ve featured several MGI products before but nothing as technology-laden as the Zip Navigator AI which has an integrated GPS system built into a highly responsive, high-resolution 4-inch full color, all-weather touchscreen display, which will connect you to over 40,000 courses worldwide. There’s a USB charging port. The AI can be operated via a remote control from up to 110 yards away, but the Topbox allows you to control the speed of the cart without the need for a remote control. Patented Gyroscope Straight Tracker technology keeps the caddy on track across any terrain. The quick-fold, five-wheel design incorporates an adjustable, ergonomic T-bar handle and bag support. The Advanced Click & Go Lithium battery system and quick-release rear wheels make setting up the trolley and disassembling it easy. The AI’s dimensions when open are 45.6 x 22.6 x 39.3 (inches), and when folded 24.4 x 18.1 x 15.3. Without the lithium battery (good for 36 holes), it weighs 33.3 pounds. With the battery, it’s 39 pounds.

PUETZ GOLF PRICE $1,899.99

SUN MOUNTAIN C-130 Cart Bag & 4.5LS Stand Bag

PUETZ GOLF PRICE $249.99 — $269.99

Sun Mountain, founded in California in 1981, but since 1986 based in Missoula, Mont., (1986’s Eclipse was the first lightweight bag with a collapsible stand) continues to earn countless five-star reviews for basically everything it makes — bags (cart, stand, travel), outerwear, carts (trolleys) and luggage. The C-130, the company’s best-selling cart bag, has been updated for 2023. Players love the reverse-orientation top (driver furthest from you, putter closest as you stand facing the bag from behind the cart) with three utility handles, cart bumpers, the Smart-Strap System, and a convenient, roomy, velour-lined rangefinder pocket with a magnetic-closure, have been joined by an additional velour-lined pocket, and the top has been streamlined. Meanwhile, the 4.5LS Stand Bag, likewise a popular item since first being introduced in 2016, has also been updated for this year. The 4.5LS was built for carrying but has numerous cart-friendly features such as the cart strap passthrough slot which runs behind the clothing pocket so the bag can be secured to a cart without hindering access to the pockets. The leg-lock system and cart-friendly bottom really make it the complete package. New features include a thermoformed pocket face on the valuables pocket which provides extra protection for your phone and an upgraded range finder pocket with magnetic opening. What sets the Puetz-only C-130 and 4.5LS bags apart are designs that will strike a chord with Pacific Northwesterners and Seattleites in particular — Kraken, Music City, Yeti and Pacific Trail.

PING Hoofer: Standard, Lite, 14 & Craz-E-Lite 6

Unlike the limited group of famous clubs and balls that have achieved iconic status, we can only think of one bag that has risen to such levels — the Ping Hoofer. Though many think it was its collapsible legs that made the bag famous (they had been around for a while — first patented in 1952 and re-introduced by Sun Mountain in the mid-1980s) it was actually the angled bottom that allowed the bag to sit squarely on the ground when the legs were activated that separated it from other stand bags. There have been numerous upgrades, additions and rebirths over the last 30-something years, but the basic shape remains the same. The 2023 Hoofer has an innovative bottom on the inside that keeps all your clubs from meeting at the base, thus making it easier to remove the club you need when you need it. There’s also a new slimmer, stacked pocket configuration for easier access, a larger ball pocket that prevents balls from spilling out (16 total pockets) and available in nine colorways. The Hoofer Lite likewise has the segregated bottom. There’s also a stacked pocket configuration, expanded ball pocket and comes in 14 colorways. The new Hoofer 14 (14-way divider at the top) also the reconfigured bottom, fresh new styling, an elevated access pocket, a slimmer stacked pocket configuration, and a total of 17 pockets — with seven colorways. Lastly, the Craz-E-Lite weighs only 3.25 pounds but remains extremely durable with a high-tensile-strength fabric. It has seven pockets and five new colorways.

$159.99

Callaway has made some successful wedges in recent years with its Mack-Daddy, Jaws, Sure Out, PM Grind and Big Bertha clubs. Its latest model, like the Big Bertha, is aimed at game-improvers and features a sizeable cavity to mitigate off-center strikes. The CB Wedge has a relatively high toe — an effective feature when opening the blade on high flop shots. It is available in 48- through 60-degree models. The 54-, 56-, 58- and 60-degree clubs feature full-face grooves which helps you impart a lot of spin on lofted, greenside shots. The head is slightly larger than it is on Callaway’s other wedges and the top line is slightly thicker which gives the higher handicapper a little more confidence. Callaway’s urethane microspheres improve the feel of impact, and Jaws grooves help you put some serious bite on the ball. The Tri-Sole not only helps you avoid digging into the turf but also makes the club versatile from a number of different types of lie. The CB Wedge is fitted with either the Elevate 95-gram steel shaft or Project X Catalyst 65-gram graphite shaft. The club comes with 10, 12 or 14 degrees of bounce which, again, prevents the leading edge from digging into the turf resulting in the ‘fat’ shot that plagues newer-golfers’ short games. It also helps you get the ball out of sand that much easier. The word ‘help’ appears frequently in this text for a reason — the CB Wedge will help you turn three shots into two around the green more often.

PUETZ GOLF PRICE

TAYLORMADE TP Reserve Putters

Milled putters really are the aristocracy, the nobility, of the putter market — beautifully-crafted, drilled to perfection with a bit that accurately shaves off tiny amounts of metal, and invariably a little bit pricey (though the TP Reserve is noticeably less expensive than the competition). Surprisingly, TaylorMade hasn’t produced a milled putter since 2010, and its return to the category probably has much to do with the success of its Spider Mallet over the years, as well as a desire to encroach a little on Scotty Cameron’s dominance. Regardless of why the Carlsbad-based company has chosen now to reappear though, the first thing you should know about the TP Reserve putters is that they are extremely good-looking and will attract several envious glances from covetous playing partners. They have their own logo — a small green ‘R’, heel/toe weights that allow you to dial in your preferred swingweight, and grooves cut to a depth that creates a delightfully soft but crisp sound at impact. There are nine putters in all — three blades (or what passes for blades nowadays) and three mallets. They are named after the head-shape — B1, B2, and B3, M2, M3, and M4, and further identified by a second number which specifies the neck type — 1 for plumbers-neck, 3 for short-slant, 7 for spud-neck and 9 for flow-neck. Hence B11, B13, B29, B31, M27, M33, M37 and M47. The putters are fitted with a KBS 120 Chrome Stepless shaft and have a Black Lamkin DeepEtched Pistol Grip. These will be a surefire summer hit.

The T-Series, first introduced in 2019, gets its latest update with the arrival of the new T100, T150, T200 and T350 (and the U505), and it’s not too much of a stretch to suggest golfers from Seattle to Miami are eagerly awaiting their arrival. The T100, labeled the ‘Modern Tour Iron’, will likely continue to win club counts around the world. Fully forged with a dual cavity, milled face, D18 tungsten weights, an improved variable bounce sole, and relocated CG, the new version is designed to feel better, sound sweeter, move through the turf cleaner and enable skilled golfers to play with even greater precision. The T150 is likewise fully forged but designed to be faster and longer. Stronger lofts (2 degrees) and a refined Muscle Channel mean more distance while a larger clubhead and tungsten weights result in greater forgiveness. The T200, whose internal construction has been reengineered to create a stiffer clubhead, is a player’s distance iron that Titleist describes as the “do everything iron for the golfer who wants the best in distance and forgiveness plus enhanced look and feel.” T200 custom long irons (Utility-Build) combine speed with precision and enhanced forgiveness. The T350, meanwhile, is a forged, hollow body ‘Player’s Improvement Iron’ that looks remarkably like a player’s club and is designed to launch the ball easily and high for golfers with slower clubhead speed. The shallower-faced, lower CG U505, is described as an “extremely versatile, high-launching utility iron that now looks and feels dramatically better.”

You’ve seen enough now to know that having your clubs custom built will likely have a dramatic impact on how well you swing them, how well you hit the ball, how well you score and how much fun you have playing golf. A six-foot 25-year-old who swings a driver at 110 mph will need very different clubs than the average septuagenarian who swings out of his shoes to reach 80 mph. The flex, weight and length of the shaft will need to reflect each golfer’s respective size and level of athleticism as will the clubs’ lie angle and loft. The set will probably need to be composed differently — driving irons instead of hybrids, four wedges instead of three or two, maybe blades rather than game-improvement irons. You can learn a certain amount during a static clubfitting in which the fitter will measure your height, the distance from the tip of your middle finger to the ground and the size of your hands, and assess your current clubs’ lie angles. Puetz offers these static fittings free of charge. You and your award-winning Puetz Golf fitter will learn significantly more during a dynamic fitting with a launch monitor in which you hit balls, however. Results from a dynamic fitting at any of Puetz Golf’s four locations (Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma and Tukwila) will help your fitter pinpoint exactly what clubs will help you shoot lower scores. It costs $49.99 — waived with club purchase.

PUETZ GOLF PRICE Static is Free, Dynamic $49.99 or free with club purchase

Mixology Master Dan Pagard

Dan Pagard, owner of The George and Dragon Pub in Seattle, knew the Tullamore Dew Bar Stories competition was about Irish whiskey, one of his favorite things. So, when he set about creating a cocktail for the competition, he knew immediately his drink’s story had to be about one of his favorite people.

Pagard’s late great-grandmother, a woman named Lucille Dailly, is the story’s heroine and inspiration for the cocktail, which was recognized in this region during the competition. That was some years back, but the story and cocktail live on.

The story is a beauty. Many years ago, Pagard was excited, but nervous, to have his great-grandmother meet his then-girlfriend, who was blond and blue-eyed. All went well, but when Pagard later asked his great-grandmother for her impression, she said, “She’s very sweet but, when you’re done sowing your oats, we’ll find you a good Irish girl.”

No other name for his cocktail concoction would work. It had to be ‘A Good Irish Girl’. Before he entered the competition, Pagard tested his recipe on patrons of The George and Dragon, to positive reviews.

Late summer sipping in Fremont with

A Good Irish Girl

Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey hits the spot all August at the bar and home

BY BART POTTER • FOR CASCADE GOLFER

Pagard wanted a strong cocktail, better to reflect on his great-grandmother, a very strong woman. “I wanted something that wouldn’t get taken over,” he says. “I wanted the flavor of the whiskey to still come through.”

Then, it was a case of finding the right alcohols in the right proportions. The Rosé adds sweetness. “She never said a bad word about anybody.” Add a little bitterness from the Amaro, an Italian herbal liqueur and Firewater Bitters “for the spice and temper Irish girls are known for”. Pagard says his family is mostly Scandinavian and Irish. “So, stories are a big thing for us.”

The story of this strong whiskey cocktail, like the drink itself, is one of his favorites. The George and Dragon (TheGeorge.com) is located at 206 N. 36th St., Seattle, (206) 695-2768.

At Home Bar Mixology

A Good Irish Girl

By The George and Dragon

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5 ounces Tullamore Dew

• .75 ounce Lillet Rosé wine

• .5 ounce Melleti Amaro

• .25 ounce Cardamaro

• Dash of Scrappy’s Firewater Bitters

• Edible flower petals

INSTRUCTIONS

• Stir and serve ‘up’ in a coupe glass.

• Add edible flower petals as garnish.

• To batch this multiply your serving.

Dan Pagard of George and Dragon

On the rocks, neat or mixed Irish Whiskey always works

Greg Bodine does double duty as Bryson DeChambeau’s new caddie and as co-owner of Evergreen Golf Club with Jermaine Kearse

BY BART POTTER • FOR CASCADE GOLFER

Back Bag On The G

reg Bodine will tell you he can hold up his end of a conversation, and then some, which you’ll know if you get on the other end of it. It’s a nice quality to have in the partnerships he’s forged, in golf and the business of golf. He can chat it up, he says, and he tries not to be annoying. It’s served him well rising through the ranks of professional golf-caddying, where communication and rapport are as important as technical golf expertise. He’s now on the bag of major-winner and iconoclastic student of the game, Bryson DeChambeau.

Whether he wanted it or not, Bodine has also been adjacent to the conversation in golf about the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, about which it could never be said they agreed to disagree because it would have meant they agreed on something. As of early June 2023, LIV and the Tour have agreed to agree — on exactly what no one is sure.

And Bodine is growing a new golf business, an enterprise and partnership that might never have taken shape if a conversation begun in a Starbucks hadn’t lasted and lasted and finally ended with a handshake.

Bodine and Bryson at the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill.

Photos Courtesy of Greg Bodine

Let’s start here. Two Lakewood guys talking business on a couch in the Starbucks just off I-90 near Newcastle. The other guy on the couch in that April 2021 meeting was Jermaine Kearse — Lakes High School, University of Washington, Seattle Seahawk/New York Jet wide receiver.

Despite their common roots in Lakewood, Bodine and Kearse didn’t know each other when they sat down together. Andrew Putnam, Bodine’s cousin, best friend and fellow Life Christian Academy alum, had brought them together.

Putnam, now a PGA tour regular, gave Bodine his start in caddying when he was playing on the then-Web.com tour in the early 2010s. By 2021, Bodine was out of caddying, having lost his six-year gig with Tony Finau.

Kearse was newly retired from the NFL after an eight-year career and reached out to Putnam to say he was contemplating a new golf business. To Putnam, it sounded remarkably similar to what he knew Bodine had in mind — a multi-purpose indoor golf and instruction facility, a sort of golf lifestyle center. Putnam saw to it that Bodine and Kearse connected.

So, they talked, and talked, on that Starbucks couch, and four, maybe five hours later, Bodine remembers, they were partners.

Today, Evergreen Golf Club is a premier indoor golf facility in Redmond with eight Trackman simulators, two full-time swing coaches, and professional golf fitness instructors. The EGC short-game area features a chipping green and a sand bunker with real sand. Memberships are available (visit evergreengolfclub.com/memberships/ for complete information) and, as of mid-June, the membership roster was at 153 and counting. A full junior program of 32 learners aged six and up are all returning for the next session this fall. In the meantime, EGC’s series of four-day junior summer camps launched in July.

In early May, DeChambeau, one of the most prominent players on the LIV Tour, came calling. Would Bodine consider coming on as his caddie? The two, known to each other from the insular world of players and caddies, talked for about two hours to get a feel for each other before DeChambeau made an offer.

Yes, Bodine was interested, but he needed a night to think about it. This decision would need a couple more conversations. The first was with his wife Kelsey. The couple’s sons — Brooks, 6, and Parker, 4 — were in on the discussion. The second was with Kearse, his business partner.

All parties gave their blessing to Bodine’s return to working a bag. “Jermaine took a load off me so I can go out and caddie,” Bodine says.

Four days later, he was on DeChambeau’s bag for the LIV Tour’s event in Tulsa. Only days after that, he was in Rochester, N.Y., for the PGA Championship, his first major as a caddie since 2019. In June, he worked the U.S. Open in Los Angeles.

The thing about partnerships is they can dissolve. The working relationship between a top-tier PGA Tour player and his caddie rarely seems destined for permanence. Cases in point: Tiger and Fluff, Phil and Bones and Tiger and Stevie.

Bodine and Kearse on the Main Stage at the 2023 Seattle Golf Show.

Jermaine took a load off me so I can go out and caddie, Bodine says.

Photos Courtesy of Greg Bodine

Bodine

and Finau

were together for six years.

Summer Junior Golf Camps Begin in July

Golf Course is in excellent shape as High Cedars Golf Club will hold the Boeing Classic qualifying in August

Back Bag On The

Evergreen Golf Club is a

Ladies Golf Lessons & Wine Tasting openings available

High Cedars Golf Club

One of the best practice facilities in Western WA. Over 40 stalls with 20 covered Over 400 yards long Grass tee area

Real range golf balls - not limited flight!

Putting greens

Chipping green and a practice bunker

Or Bryson and Tim Tucker and Finau and Greg Bodine. Bodine had been on Finau’s bag since 2014 and was there when Finau earned his first PGA Tour victory in Puerto Rico in 2016.

By 2020, Finau was ready to make some changes, hoping to step beyond a raft of second-place finishes on tour. He changed his equipment company. He changed his putter. He changed his body. Finally, in the summer of 2020, he changed his caddie.

“I was one of the last few pieces,” Bodine says. “I don’t think it was anything personal toward me. I didn’t take it that way.”

Now, with DeChambeau, who had parted ways with Tucker, Bodine has a firsthand perspective on an unusually interesting golf professional.

DeChambeau is known for his intense, metric-heavy theories on how to move his game and the greater game of golf forward.

DeChambeau saw, and studied, what LIV Golf had to offer. The money played into it, Bodine says. So did the three-round, no-cut tournaments. LIV’s team concept, Bodine says, is no joke. The players and the fans enjoy it, he says. When the LIV-PGA Tour merger happened, DeChambeau wasn’t surprised, though it happened a couple years earlier than he expected.

“His thought was it makes sense,” Bodine says. “It was what he thought would happen all along. He told me he thought a merger was the endgame to all this.”

For the foreseeable future, Bodine has a thriving business and a caddie job with a top pro. He tries not to lose sight of what he believes makes him a good caddie and helped him get where he is in life.

At a tournament, a caddie spends hours upon hours a day with his pro. You’d better get along. It helps that DeChambeau has fun out there. “I have a blast with him. At the core, he is a very, very, very good person.”

So far, caddie and player are a good match.

“One thing that makes me a good caddie is being good company, honestly,” Bodine says. “When you’re around someone 12 hours a day, you’d better keep things light, keep things funny.

“To not be annoying … I think that’s a job well done.”

Photos courtesy of Evergreen Golf Club and Greg Bodine

premier indoor golf facility in Redmond with eight Trackman simulators, two full-time swing coaches, and professional golf fitness instructors.

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BY TONY DEAR • CG EDITOR

There are a lot of great aspects to life in Washington, but we’re not sure anything beats a summer trip over the passes and the promise of long, warm, sunny days in the central part of the state. You might be heading east just for the weather (last year when the temperature cracked the 100-degree mark notwithstanding, is there a better place in the country from the middle of May through the middle of September?), but many will also be weighing the car down with kayaks, rafts, bikes, water skis, Jet skis, campers, tents, hammocks and golf clubs.

If you do bring your sticks along for the ride, you likely know there are loads of great places to tee it up at. There’s nothing like the same concentration of courses that there is in the Greater Seattle area, of course, but there’s more than enough for you to enjoy a memorable summer sojourn.

And we’re not taking about modest, unadorned nine-holers (though we love a quick spin around them, too) but regionally, even nationally acclaimed courses that the national publications have awarded four stars or higher. Although Gamble Sands in Brewster gets a few headlines for this part of the state, here are some of our other favorites, together with a nearby winery for each course because a tasting after your game turns ‘a day’ into an ‘A+ day’.

All photos courtesy of the course or by Rob Perry

All roads lead to CENTRAL WASHINGTON where warm weather, golf and wine meet you at every turn

Bear Mountain Ranch • Chelan

Suncadia Resort CLE ELUM

If only we could spend all summer at Suncadia. What a few weeks that would be. We’d spend time at the pool, kayaking on the lakes and streams, hiking and biking, and playing a little bocce and croquet. We might throw some axes, fire some arrows on the archery range, go rafting and fly fishing. There might be a little spa time. And, yes, we may even go to the fitness center to build the energy levels and stamina we’d need for all these activities.

Most of all, though, we’d play golf.

There are three courses at Suncadia — one private (Tumble Creek) and two that anyone can play — Prospector and Rope Rider. Prospector was designed by the late, great Arnold Palmer, opened in 2005 and, like every course ‘The King’ ever built, is all about letting as many golfers as possible have as much fun as possible. Though he certainly won a few in his time, Palmer didn’t build courses to hold championships necessarily — layouts so difficult only very good golfers could possibly enjoy them.

That’s not to say Prospector is easy — you need to play well to score well — but it won’t chew you up and spit you out. Nor will Rope Rider, designed by Peter Jacobsen and Jim Hardy and opened in 2011. Rope Rider is perfect for young golfers as six-hole loops are quite possible thanks to the course’s routing, but the full 18 is a memorable round.

Visit Suncadia.com and write your own narrative there.

TASTING NOTES

Savor Suncadia at Swiftwater

Swiftwater Cellars SwiftwaterCellars.com was built right on top of Coal Mine No. 9 (Roslyn, Cle Elum, and Ronald mining operation). The winery houses the Rope Rider pro shop and is steps from the 1st tee.

Apple Tree Resort YAKIMA

Nine miles southwest of Yakima, lies one of Washington’s most popular courses. A John Steidel design with seven good-sized water features that opened in 1992, Apple Tree was built on, and is surrounded by, land whose trees have yielded delicious fruit for over 100 years.

If, for whatever reason, you’ve not heard of Apple Tree, and reach the 17th tee without knowing what comes next, you might get quite a shock (of course, if you’re reading this it will be less startling), but most will have prepared themselves mentally for the shot over water to the 10,000 square-foot apple-shaped green.

The 17th may get 99 percent of the attention directed at what Cascade Golfer readers voted the 13th best public course in the state last year, but there’s plenty more good golf. The apple hole is part of magnificent closing stretch that begins with the 544-yard 14th whose green features a waterfall at the front left of the green.

The long par 4 15th seems to narrow significantly as you approach the green, and the short-ish, uphill par 4 16th has a string of bunkers up the left which you should do all in your power to avoid. The closing hole is a splendid par 5 with water left. Get a good drive away though and you should find your way to the green safely. Beyond the course, Apple Tree is known for its excellent service and great food.

Drop your next pin and visit AppleTreeResort.com to book today.

TASTING NOTES

Our Yakima AVA fave is Gilbert Cellars

Owned by Charlie and Gloria Gilbert who both studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Portland, Gilbert Cellars GilbertCellars.com opened in 2004 a couple of miles west of Apple Tree GC.

Lake Chelan Golf Course

CHELAN

The residents of Chelan are a lucky lot. Not only do they live in some of the most beautiful country in America with the narrow, 50-mile-long, and always-beautiful Lake Chelan right on their doorstep, they also can take the short trip up Highway 150 and No See Um Road to a municipal golf course that rarely fails to provide a great day out, especially in the summertime.

The views over Spaders Bay and whatever else of the lake you can see are the main attraction of a course that opened in 1964 and which stretches to 6,459 yards. It’s not difficult by any means but be careful the lake and mountains in the background don’t distract you too much.

Hold steady on the tougher front nine before letting loose on the ‘gettable’ back nine where five sub-400-yard par 4s and a couple of sub-500-yard par 5s give you a chance of shooting a summer score to remember.

See what lake life is all about at CityofChelan.us.

TASTING NOTES

Vino Victory at Vin du Lac

In between the lake and golf course, about a mile southwest of the clubhouse is Vin Du Lac VinDuLac.com whose first vintage was in 2002. With a beautiful view over the lake as well as a bistro which uses vegetables and herbs from its own garden, it’s a great place to visit following your round.

Bear Mountain Ranch CHELAN

We love each of the courses listed here, but Bear Mountain Ranch might well be the highlight of your trip to central Washington. The design team of Jerry Scofield, Robert Yount and Don Barth stitched together a few exhilarating holes here high above Lake Chelan. However, it’s important to note that Mark Miller, a former Seattle resident now based in his native Colorado, made some changes to the 5th, 6th, and 9th shortly after the course opened.

Following a slightly idiosyncratic tee shot at the 1st, the front nine opens out into some gorgeous golfing country with superb views of the lake. The back nine is very different, climbing to the highest point of the course at the 13th green and dropping down to a tough stretch home that includes par 5s of 586 and 680 yards, assuming you’re playing the black tees at 7,231 yards which, perhaps, you shouldn’t if you’re looking for a pleasant game with a few birdie chances.

Visit BearMtGolf.com and you’ll see what we’re talking about.

TASTING NOTES

We’re toasting Tsillan Cellars

Visit this winery’s web site TsillanCellars.com and you’ll understand why we’re recommending it within a second or two. The beautiful Italian country retreat architecture as well as the wine, of course, not to mention the wonderful restaurant will make Tsillan as big a part of your day as the golf.

Enter to Win a Highlander Twosome

Highlander is a mix of some exciting unique holes and a ton of fun! The 9th hole is one of the most beautiful par 3s in the state while No. 17 is screaming for you to go for it — but don’t blame us if you slice it off the cliff. This twosome is on us. Enter to win today at CascadeGolfer.com.

Highlander GC EAST WENATCHEE

Golf is great wherever you play it, but there are just some places that work better than others. Some courses linger longer in the memory and are just thrilling to play. Highlander, which opened in 2002 six miles southeast of Wenatchee, is just such a place.

There are holes at this John Steidel design, situated 800 feet above the Columbia River, where you wonder how great a task if must have been to build a course at all. The bookends to each half are spectacularly located to put it mildly. Steidel had Jim Haley to count on, however, so the course worked out just fine. Haley is hugely experienced and a widely respected construction expert who worked with Pete Dye, Rees Jones and David McLay-Kidd at Bandon Dunes.

A number of changes have happened at Highlander over the years, especially in 2013 when the back nine was transformed with the addition of the new canyon hole at the 17th. And the course has recovered well after very high temperatures more or less destroyed the greens in 2021.

“The course is in great shape considering what the heat did to it,” says Mark Babst, the head golf professional and director of golf. “The new greens, plus all the other greens that were affected have recovered nicely. We were concerned obviously but are very happy with how everything has turned out.”

At 5,899 yards, with those amazing views of the Columbia, and the greens back to good health, Highlander is once again a great spot for a summer visit. Surf the web to HighlanderGC. com and book today.

TASTING NOTES

Make your way to Martin Scott Winery

Owned by the husband-and-wife team of Tim and Becky Scott, Martin Scott MartinScottWinery. com started out from very humble beginnings but has grown into one of Wenatchee’s favorite wineries.

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Desert Canyon Golf Resort ORONDO

Twenty-five miles north of Wenatchee in another spot where golf must have seemed an unlikely possibility at one time, lies Desert Canyon, designed by Jack Frei and opened in 1993.

Set in the high desert well above the river valley, Desert Canyon might even outdo Highlander’s views, especially as it is a little more remote and there are fewer houses around.

The back tees are set at 7,285 yards but unless you play golf for a living or represent your club/state/country, and are just looking for a fun summer jaunt, you’re far more likely to enjoy your day out if you stick to the blue or whites. There are numerous standout holes, but the par 5 7th and 15th are the two that many remember most fondly.

Delve deeper at DesertCanyonResort.com.

TASTING NOTES

Cheers to Chateau Faire Le Pont

Desert Canyon is out there, so to speak, so you’ll need to head back to Wenatchee to visit the nearest winery. Chateau Faire Le Pont FaireLePont.com is at 1 Vineyard Way on the east side of the Columbia. Great wine and a terrific restaurant too.

Kahler Mountain Club LEAVENWORTH

A year ago, we outlined the changes that were going on at Kahler Glen, or rather The Kahler Glen Golf and Ski Resort, or rather the Kahler Mountain Club — it’s come of age and so has its new name and look.

Details are ever-evolving about this amazing destination. It’s spearheaded by new owner Scott Peyree, a career entrepreneur and Kahler homeowner, who invests heavily in the resort and community-owned condo and second-home destination.

What we can happily tell you though, is that the bunker renovation Kahler Mountain Club told us about last year, is now complete and that the course looks great. “The work was done by our superintendent and the maintenance crew,” says Blaze Paul who works in the pro shop. “The course looks fantastic now, and the greens are as good as I’ve ever seen them.”

This Randy Pelton-designed course, the first nine holes of which opened in the late 1980s with a second nine completing the full 18 in 1990, has always felt a little secluded, but it’s only five miles from Coles Corner on Highway 2.

And with the new-look bunkers and the greens in terrific shape, now is a great time to play it. See the exciting changes at KahlerMountainClub.com for yourself.

TASTING NOTES

Pouring it on at Plain Cellars

Named for the town, Plain Cellars PlainCellars.com has been making award-winning wines since 2005. Be sure to try the Summer Solstice Red, a delicious Cab/Malbec/Syrah blend that was their first-ever wine. Located about seven miles southeast of the golf course in the community of Plain, Wash.

Follow The Sun To These Other Favorites

As noted in the introduction, there are plenty of courses (nine and 18 holes) that you can play in this part of the state that will make your summer trip that bit more enjoyable. We don’t have space to list them all, but it would be remiss of us not to mention a few others we particularly enjoy are:

Alta Lake Golf Resort • AltaLakeGolf.com

Leavenworth Golf Club • LeavenworthGolf.com

The Links at Moses Pointe • MosesPoint.com

Othello Golf Club • Othellowa.gov

Gamble Sands Resort • GambleSands.com

and a Cascade Golfer and Seattle Golf Show favorite Sun Country Golf Course • GolfSunCountry.com

Alta Lake Golf Resort • Pateros

Best

BY BOB SHERWIN • FOR CASCADE GOLFER

They return in August, the legendary familiar faces — as they usually are on the Champions Tour circuit — for the 18th edition of the Boeing Classic at The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge.

The 78-player tournament, set for the week of Aug. 7-13, is continuing to emerge from the shadow of COVID-19. Three years ago, the 2020 tournament was cancelled because of the pandemic and the past two have been progressively better. This year, with golf booming and record crowds turning out for professional golf events, it should allow the opportunity to put all of it behind us.

Attendees may see the indefatigable Bernhard Langer, the dominant force on the Champions Tour for the past 15 years. The German now has 46 career Champions victories (as of this publication) — surpassing Hale Irwin’s all-time record of 45 — with his win at the U.S. Senior Open in Wisconsin last month. As of this writing, he has two wins this season, and is certainly one of the biggest stories in golf this year. Boeing could be his time to shine again — he is a two-time champion here.

The field for the Boeing event will not be known until a week before the tournament, but here’s a look at the possibilities and preferred places to view the action.

Photos courtesy of Boeing Classic, Shutterstock and PGA Tour

OUR FANS GUIDE of players and places to watch the Champions Tour at The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge Aug. 7-13

FOLLOW THESE THREE LEGENDS

Couples Langer Jiménez

Of course. He’s Seattle’s most celebrated golfer, ever. Jefferson Park. Beacon Hill. Masters (1992) champion. World Hall of Famer. Effortless swing.

In April, Couples became 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 — of 63 years, 80 days. He finished 50th while players such as Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Bubba Watson didn’t even make the cut.

We all know him, follow him, pull for him. Couples once said that he’d love to win this tournament in his hometown, and he competes here every year. He has finished third four times (2010, ’13, ’15, ’19). He had a five-shot lead entering the final round in 2019 before his swing let him down, likely caused by his chronic back issues. Assuming he’s fit, he’ll surely tee it up this year.

Bernhard

Now that the pressure is off with Langer picking up his 46th Champions Tour win, we can view this hall of famer through the lens of a great player rewriting history every time he wins another event. Only the greats like Jack Nicklaus, Sam Snead and Tiger Woods are in an all-time class like the German.

Langer, who won here in 2010 and 2016, would be the first three-time Boeing champion. Other honors the twotime Masters champion has earned: six Charles Schwab Cups, nine player-of-the-year awards, 11 money titles, 12 Champions Tour majors, 10 multi-win seasons, 13 wins after turning 60 and five more since turning 64. He has also shot his age eight times in competitions.

Langer and Couples had one final-round battle, in 2015, but Billy Andrade pushed past both for a one-shot victory.

The anti-Langer, not stoic or reserved. He is not contemplative. No, the 59-year-old Spaniard is the Champions Tour’s sangria-drinking, stogie-smoking free spirit. The one thing he has in common with Langer is he’s also a Boeing champion. He’s the defending champion, beating David McKenzie by two strokes in 2022.

Jiménez has had 21 international victories, but in 153 career PGA Tour starts his best finishes were two seconds and a third. However, he has thrived in America on the plus-50 circuit where he has 13 victories in his nine seasons, including three last season. Boeing was his last victory (no wins this season, as of this writing).

Fans love his easy swing, his contorted fitness stretches, his brief celebratory flamenco dances, and his overall quirkiness. He gives folks the feeling that he’d be a fun addition to their foursome.

Fred

Miguel Ángel

Keep An Eye On These Two ‘Major’ Champions

Great Gallery Viewpoints

13th Hole Mt. Si-Gh

A 210-yard one-shotter, the 13th is probably the course’s most scenic hole, looking at the Cascade Range with Mt. Si in the foreground.

“The 14th may be the best spot for action, but for scenery it’s got to be the 13th,” says Tournament Director Ryan Ingalls who adds that fans sitting on the right side of the green, are high enough to see every swing and putt and, without moving, tee shots on the 14th. A two for one vantage point.

14th Hole Bear’s Canyon

The risk/reward ‘Canyon Hole’ measures 448 yards and has been the most popular viewpoint for fans since the beginning.

Justin Leonard

The 1997 Open champion is in his second season on the Tour and is yet to have a podium finish. His appearance is uncertain because of his Golf Channel TV analyst duties.

Leonard does seem to be ready to make his Champions Tour presence known, however. His steady play and magic wand on the greens suit Snoqualmie well.

Ernie Els

The four-time major champion is the ultimate easy swinger. The 53-year-old South African has won three times on the Champions Tour, though his best Boeing finish was 11th in 2021. The fact that Boeing is his primary sponsor may contribute to his appearance here.

Els is long off the tee. The Boeing layout with the elevations and corner cutting opportunities could bring him favor in going low in the red numbers as aggressive play must play a part in winning the title here.

There is no better perspective or experience. The tee sits near the highest point of the course, looking down over a formidable canyon to a not-so-ample green below. A full carry is necessary, as the green begins where the canyon ends. Those golfers not willing to risk it, can bail out to the fairway on the right and still have an excellent chance at birdie.

Ingalls says the pros “play it accordingly”. When the tee is back in the 400-plus-yard range, they need to bail out right. When the tee is moved up to the 278-310-yard range, as it often is, “it’s a whole new ball game” says Ingalls. “Then it is a true risk/reward hole. They will try to drop the ball on the green and putt for eagle.” The tournament recognized years ago that 14 would be the fan focus, so it set up a series of bleachers along the perimeter for ‘Canyon Club’ fans. It’s sort of the course’s version of the wacky par 3 16th ‘Stadium Hole’ at TPC Scottsdale, host of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

“You sit down near the green and it looks like the ball is coming right down into your lap,” says Ingalls. “Then it drops down in the fairway or green.”

Tournament officials elevated the fun index last year with the installation of a tower another 30 feet above the grandstands. This allowed fans to cycle through (no seats) and watch what was happening on 14 but, with a 360-degree view, they could also turn around and see approach shots on the par 3 17th or tee shots on the par 5 18th.

“If you’re looking for fun and want to watch fans interact, that’s where you want to go,” Ingalls adds. “People are obviously attracted to the cheers.”

18th Hole Craftsman

The 498-yard hole plays uphill to a heavily bunkered green and was designed with tournaments in mind. Behind the green is a large, sloping, grassy amphitheater that can accommodate virtually any number of spectators.

Down the left-hand side are wine-toting corporate guests and more hospitality tents are positioned on the right. They all surround the green complex, intimately close to the action. And there has been plenty of drama there over the tournament’s 17 years.

Five tournaments ended with playoffs, all finishing at 18. In 2007, Denis Watson won a remarkable seven-player playoff by sinking a 22-foot eagle putt on the 18th. It was the third time he had played the hole within an hour.

“It’s a great finishing hole,” says Ingalls. “Tournament officials watch the scores and might move the tee box up on Sunday to see if the final group can make a move. It’s a gettable hole, where players are expecting to make a birdie at least. No one is out of it.”

Because birdies are in play and eagles are feasible, the championship invariably comes down to the 54th and final hole. Besides the five playoffs, three tournaments have been decided by one stroke and three by two strokes.

Holes That Can Make Or Break The Field

4th Hole

Twin Firs

The 426-yard hole features a tee shot over a ravine with OB left and right as well as thick fescue down the right side. “It can make these players human,” says Ingalls. “They may have scores they wish they could have back. Some play it beautifully, of course, but it can get the better of others.”

15th Hole Valleys

This long par 5 (590 yards) plays downhill so it is the scene of some of the longest drives on the entire Champions Tour. Players don’t hold back here, and generally go for it in two which is a kick to watch.

9th Hole Screaming Eagle 10th Hole Bunker Hill &

For those who don’t want to follow one group the whole way round and would rather camp out shortly after parking the car, watching players at the water-carry, 207-yard 9th and short, uphill par 4 10th provides perfect viewing.

You can see players take on the large lake at the 9th where there’s always a good deal of drama before the short walk to the 10th tee.

Depending on the tee location, the pros may try reaching the green at the 353-yarder. It’s another risk/reward shot, much like 14. If they reach the plateau green, an eagle is possible. If they are just a tad short, the false front will repel balls well down the hill.

Visit BoeingClassic.com for complete tournament, ticket and transportation information.

Trophy Lake Golf & Casting PORT ORCHARD 1

For those sometime golfers who might be apt to say, “I’d rather be fishing,” the answer at one Olympic Peninsula golf course is, “Boy, have we got a deal for you.”

The name of the course is a dead giveaway — Trophy Lake Golf & Casting. The Port Orchard, Wash., property is unique in the Northwest for its great golf and real-life flyfishing in ponds stocked with rainbow trout.

At Trophy, designed by 1977 U.S. Amateur champion John Fought, the clubhouse sits like an old-style fishing lodge. And while golf is the main game here, fishing is no novelty add-on. Ponds by holes 6 and 18 are thick with rainbows, and instruction is available in the art of casting a fly rod. Visit trophylakegolf.com/casting/ for all the details.

Head golf pro Riley McKean is happy to talk about the golf experience at Trophy Lake, where the trees are profuse around generous greens and fairways. Houses and even other holes are rarely visible from any given golf hole. That being said, there’s no lack of challenge.

The pace of life, and therefore the pace of play, is friendlier here than at busier public golf courses in the area. “The vibe is different here,” McKean says.

No. 7 and No. 18 are good candidates for signature-hole status. The seventh, a dogleg-left par 5, features one of the bigger bunkers in the state. “It’s always a good hole if you’re struggling through the first six holes,” says McKean. The home hole, a long par 5, is a worthy finishing hole. And not to worry — anglers at the adjacent pond are in no danger from your errant golf shots.

At full price, Trophy Lake will never rank among the lowest-cost courses. But budget-minded players can get a half-price $47 weekday rate by purchasing a Trophy Lake Club Pass. And the Oki Card, with discounts at all courses in the Oki system, remains a solid option.

One final note: McKean says most visitors to Trophy Lake either fish or play golf, but if so inclined, you really can do both in the same day. That’s Trophy Lake in all its glory.

YARDAGE (PAR) 5,342 - 7,206 yards (Par 72)

RATES Dynamic pricing, see website*

TEL (360) 874-8337

WEB TrophyLakeGolf.com

* Check website for current rates

Trophy Lake Golf & Casting • Port Orchard

Rob Perry Photography

2

Indian Summer Golf & CC OLYMPIA

Indian Summer Golf & Country Club is making its semi-private business model work without, for the most part, any formal marketing.

When General Manager Kevin Myers rides out on the course periodically for a check-in on play, and encounters players he’s never seen and who he knows aren’t members of the club, he asks them what they think of the course. He’s been gratified by what he hears from the public golfers welcomed onto Indian Summer since late 2022.

“Can’t believe we’ve never been here” and “We’ll be back” are common answers. “Word of mouth is the best way of promoting anything,” Myers says. “There’s still a piece of business out there that doesn’t know we’re open to them.”

The private-public model has not compromised any of the stiff golf challenge for which Indian Summer is known.

“It’s difficult” says Myers. “Every tee shot has its demands. That’s probably the number one thing. Course condition-wise, it very much has that private-club feel. Fairways are tightly mowed, the rough is very well-defined.”

Course designer Peter Thompson used 71 bunkers to frame the challenge on every hole, and players do well to know their capabilities and limitations when choosing clubs and which tees to play.

“If you hit it to 150 yards, that’s the widest part of the fairway,” Myers says. “If you want to take on a hole a little more, well, then things start to narrow.”

Myers says he gets less resistance these days when he suggests some players launch their tee balls from forward tees.

“More and more people are finding the enjoyment in the game the way it was meant to be played,” he says. “They’re not going all the way to the tips. They’re realizing it’s pretty fun to hit driver/7-iron instead of driver/3-wood/wedge.”

Myers says the value at Indian Summer is in the course-conditioning and overall golf experience, adding “We’re pretty darn proud of what we do around here.” The green fees are a little higher than at most clubs in the area, but there are ways to save, including discounts offered by the popular Oki Card.

YARDAGE (PAR) 5,162 - 7,272 yards (Par 72)

RATES $60 - $95*

TEL (360) 923-1075

WEB IndianSummerGolf.com

* Check website for current rates

Indian Summer Golf & Country Club • Olympia

Rob Perry Photography

Jackson Park Golf Course SEATTLE 3

Here in northeast Seattle, the neighborhood golf course uses tools that bring technology to bear on the modern game of golf. At the same time, it takes full advantage of a quieter setting than its more urban brethren.

It’s known as the driest course in the city. It’s not the longest, it’s not the shortest.

Take all these ingredients and shake them up. And there, at 1000 N.E. 135th St., you have Jackson Park Golf Course. “You’re going to find a very fair course, but a challenging one as well,” says Tony Wilkins, the general manager here since 2019.

Jackson Park, opened in 1930, is one of three fulllength 18-hole golf courses in the city operated by Premier Golf Centers. Jackson also boasts a nine-hole executive course on the property.

Jackson is better integrated in its residential surroundings, in Wilkins’ view, than Jefferson Park Golf Course in Beacon Hill or West Seattle Golf Course. “Because we’re kind of settled back amongst a neighborhood,” he says, “we hide a little differently. We’re a little bit more ‘escaped’ here.”

As for the golf itself, Jackson “doesn’t beat our players up” with its length, according to Wilkins.

“Total yardage is not where Jackson Park gets challenging,” he says. “It’s in the layout, and our greens are just phenomenal.”

The par 4 No. 14 is a favorite hole here, with its elevated tee box looking out to a well-protected green.

On the front, the 523-yard 5th is “just a very friendly par 5.”

Affordability is a trademark of the city and its ‘dynamic pricing’ model. Top green fee on a weekend is $47.50, with steep discounts on weekdays.

Technology comes into play at Jackson with the equipping of every golf cart with Tagmarshal GPS which, along with a robust volunteer marshal program, significantly improves the pace of play, Wilkins says.

Another way tech talks around here are the ever-popular Toptracer systems installed in all 50 bays of the double-decker range.

Says Wilkins, “The addition of Toptracer technology on the range is definitely another value added to what was

already a phenomenal practice facility.”

YARDAGE (PAR) 3,397 - 6,085 yards (Par 72)

RATES $16 - $47.50 (9 holes)*

TEL (206) 363-4747

WEB PremierGC.com/sites/courses/

* Check website for current rates

Jackson Park Golf Course • Seattle

Interbay Golf Center SEATTLE

So, what’s lacking in the golf experience at Interbay Golf Center? Not a thing unless all you’re looking for is a full-length 18-hole course.

It’s more fun at Interbay to enumerate all you do find here. When you’re done doing that, you won’t much notice, or mind, what you don’t find. Comfortable, high-tech practice range? Yes, and with a view. Expansive practice areas for chipping, pitching and putting? The short game is the scoring game, you know.

Nine impeccably groomed golf holes? See for yourself. Top-quality greens? As good as any in the city. Onsite café? It’s been said the Warbird fried chicken sandwich will knock your socks off.

Affordability in all of the above? Check, check and check …

“The beauty of Interbay is no matter what you’re looking for, you can find it here,” says General Manager Josh Scothorne.

It might be easy to think of Interbay as the little sibling among the four Seattle courses, run for the city by Premier Golf Centers LLC. But the breadth of facilities and services here puts the lie to that idea.

“We’re very much a part of the family,” says Scothorne — Interbay holding its own alongside the full-length 18s at Jefferson Park, Jackson Park and West Seattle.

The Interbay practice range has two tiers, each with 40 stalls. The whole bottom level is heated and every stall has Toptracer.

The on-course experience starts with a 290-yard par 4. Thereafter, they’re all par-3s, ranging from the shortest at 100 yards (No. 3) to the 175-yard No. 6. Did we mention the short game is the scoring game?

The pricing for the short-course round is $21.50 for a weekend nine, with ample discounts on weekdays for juniors, seniors and super-seniors. Says Scothorne, “We offer something for everybody here.”

YARDAGE (PAR) 1,366 yards (Par 28)

RATES $12.50 - $21.50 (9 holes)*

TEL (206) 285-2200

WEB PremierGC.com/sites/courses

* Check website for current rates

Interbay Golf Center • Seattle

PRESENTED BY

Wazzu alum and golf course architect Nick Schaan has made his mark around the world

BY TONY DEAR • CG EDITOR

If golf course architects were rated like PGA Tour pros, Nick Schaan says he wouldn’t appear at the top of any statistical category but would be in the top dozen or so every time.

“I do a bit of everything well,” he says. “Be it drawing up plans, routing a course, or building one, I’ve been fortunate to do it all. And I expect a lot of myself. Most importantly, though, I love what I do.”

Schaan, of course, is David McLay-Kidd’s right-hand man, a partner in DMK Golf Design since 2015 having joined the company in 2006. A native of North Dakota and graduate of Washington State University where he earned a degree in Landscape Architecture, Schaan is 44 now and has had a hand in the creation of some of America’s best courses.

After beginning his career with Tacoma-based architect John Harbottle, Schaan worked briefly for course-builder Heritage Links before getting his big chance with McLay-Kidd. “John encouraged me to try for the job with David,” he says. “He asked if I’d rather keep playing for the Tacoma Rainiers or give myself the opportunity of playing for the Yankees.”

Not yet 40, McLay-Kidd was a big name in the business having already built the original course at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Queenwood in London, Powerscourt (West) in Ireland and Nanea in Hawaii.

The first project Schaan worked on with the vivacious Scotsman was Huntsman Springs, now Tributary, in southeast Idaho.

While the views of the Tetons were amazing, the site itself wasn’t great as precious little elevation change made drainage a problem. McLay-Kidd had the idea of digging valleys for the golf while positioning the development’s residential

lots on the resulting ridgetops. Schaan, just 27 at the time, played a vital role in making the technically complex plan work, and building a superb course that, because it’s private, has never really got the attention it deserves.

He thinks of Tributary like a “first-born” and is obviously proud of what he accomplished there together with McLay-Kidd who appreciates the partnership the two have built. “I get the notoriety while Nick figures out the details,” McLay-Kidd says. “We often say I fly at 10,000 feet while he’s in the weeds.”

Every course Schaan has worked on since Tributary has had something special about it but those he mentions in particular include Mammoth Dunes in Wisconsin where he first got to walk a site with Bandon Dunes owner Mike Keiser; Rolling Hills in California where he helped turn a mediocre course that had opened in the late 1960s into a sandy, strategic masterpiece; and Comporta Dunes in Portugal which will open this fall, several years after the firm began work there. “Seeing that course finally open after so many setbacks that were out of our hands is very satisfying,” says Schaan.

Then there’s Gamble Sands, of course. Schaan didn’t play a huge role in the making of the first (Sands) course, but he’s heavily involved with the yet-to-be-named second. “I’m there three days a week,” he says. “We’ve made a lot of changes to our first routing, and we now have nine holes shaped. Irrigation is underway, and we’ll begin grassing later this year.”

After 17 years working together, Schaan says he’s learned a great deal from McLay-Kidd, mostly about the business of course architecture, but also the details of design itself. “David’s always said routing is about the journey” he notes. “If you were to walk a site for the first

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time, you wouldn’t go back and forth in straight lines, but explore it all. That’s how you route the most interesting golf course.”

The father of two has built a good many interesting courses with DMK Design, and says he has to pinch himself when he thinks of all the cool places he’s been and interesting people he’s met. One wonders, though, if it might be time to consider setting up his own company.

“Why would I?” he asks. “I get to be creative and work on some of the best projects in the world. I really enjoy it, have a lot of respect for my business partner, and love the team of people and clients we work with.”

Good points. McLay-Kidd is pretty happy with how things have turned out, too. “I’m so proud of Nick. As well as being a great collaborator, he’s also a loyal friend, which means more than any golf course we might create.”

McLay-Kidd (left) and Schaan

Photos courtesy of Nick Schaan