It’s me, back on my bullshit. Last one for a while though!
My final bender of the year took me to the Pacific Northwest for the first time. One of my best friends who used to frequently golf with me moved to Portland while his wife finishes med school so I made a trip out there to get him back on the links. We managed 15 rounds of golf in 8 days across Oregon & Washington plus one stop in Idaho. My buddy normally doesn’t walk, but we walked all but 5 courses & by the end of the trip he unprovokingly said that he considered walkability as a factor in how good a golf course is to him. Nearly brought a tear to my eye…
The golf began on Saturday, August 2nd, ended on Saturday, August 9th, & the only day we didn’t play 36 holes was because every course I wanted to play had an event of some sort I wanted to check out Seattle. Scorecards below in order of when we played them + our route:
Summary
Saturday, August 2nd - Round 1
Wildwood Golf Course
Portland, Oregon
Bill O’Meara (1990)
Wildwood was the perfect opening round to the trip. It gave me my first foray into what golf in the Pacific Northwest looks like - lots of elevation change & massively tall trees, while also being short & simple. There was still a lot of width & multiple par 3’s played less than 100 yards so it made for a really fun round of golf. On top of that, the sasquatch carrying a golf bag is one of my favorite logos in golf & the $10 breakfast burrito was unreal. If it wasn’t nearly 100° on Sunday I would have played it again after the IndyCar race I attended, definitely worth a stop. Side note, I don’t know what the hell was going on in their bathroom, but it was noteworthy.
Saturday, August 2nd - Round 2
Waverley Country Club
Portland, Oregon
Jack Moffat (1896)/H. Chandler Egan (1912)
Waverley was a 180 from Wildwood in multiple ways. I didn’t realize it until I got there, but Waverley is definitely an old money club whereas Wildwood is full of people from every age and demographic & has no dress code. Also, Waverley runs right next to the Columbia River & has seen significant tree reduction from when Gil Hanse stopped by in 2012. As a result, it doesn’t feel as Pacific Northwesty, but was still an awesome golf course that I’m thankful I could play. The five par 3’s were a riot & the tee shot on 17 was really cool as it plays along the river & you tee off right over 16 green. The mini fridges full of uncrustables and cookies put me over the moon on top of that… I was a sucker for hole 2’s cemetery & took a bunch of pics, something @Randy would’ve appreciated too. Gil has done a great job revitalizing the Golden Age features here & it would be a fun track to play more often.
Sunday, August 3rd - Round 1
Astoria Golf & Country Club
Warrenton, Oregon
George Junor (1924)
I watched all of the hole-by-hole videos at Astoria on YouTube in 2020 before I became an architecture nerd & was blown away at how they routed the course parallel through multiple dunes. It was an extremely unique course & it was awesome to get out there, but I don’t know that I’d want it to be my every day course - especially with a better (and public) course 5 mins down the road. I had a ton of fun & loved how browned out everything looked & would enjoy pairing this with Gearhart again someday down the road though!
Sunday, August 3rd - Round 2
Gearhart Golf Links
Gearhart, Oregon
Scottish Immigrants (1892)
Gearhart had been hyped up to me by plenty of people & it surely didn’t disappoint. While not very long, the shot value is incredible & although you’re hitting a lot of wedges they’re some of the most fun shots to hit & I surely didn’t get bored of it. Hole 1 sets the tone right away & the 3rd hole is drivable with a devious green site, something I absolutely love to see & am a sucker for. The 11th is a deviously long par 3 with a great green & 15 is short with another great green. I was scolded by @Sarah for not staying longer & getting the full experience & @makersmark4 informed me I need to ask for the Craic scorecard so I’ll have to make a return visit down the road!
Monday, August 4th - Round 1
Chambers Bay Golf Course
University Place, Washington
Robert Trent Jones Jr. (2007)
Scale, scale, scale. It’s hard to fathom how large everything is at Chambers Bay, but the dunes are truly massive & everything feels so much closer to you than it really is. One of our main takeaways was that while the course was a riot, it’s pretty hard to believe it hosted a recent US Open. It seems like it would be really hard to traverse if you weren’t playing the course & many holes were fairly gettable. Having a plaque dedicating the most eagles in a single US Open to one hole (drivable 12th) probably isn’t the best either, but par is irrelevant so I won’t fret about that.
On a more positive note, we both enjoyed the course a lot & I only preferred Gamble and Scarecrow to it. The par 3’s were really fun & having a drivable par 4 is always great. My 10 handicap ass managed three birdies on the back nine while messing up the drivable 12th + I lipped another 7 foot birdie putt. It’s definitely gettable if you play from the correct tees & with the current price point I’d probably play it once a year or so if I lived closer. I’d go 8/2 Chambers vs Arcadia Bluffs if that says anything. Anybody know of any other quarries near the end of their life we could turn into a golf course?
Monday, August 4th - Round 2
Gold Mountain Golf Club - Olympic
Bremerton, Washington
John Harbottle III (1996)
Gold Mountain was an awesome pallet change from Chambers & it’s probably tough to play two better “municipal” courses in the same day. (Shout-out Manakiki & Sleepy Hollow for being the competition.) While tree-lined, I don’t recall hitting many punch shots & the course didn’t feel narrow. I’ll admit my memory vividly remembers Chambers, but Gold Mountain kind of fell in the back seat that day & a lot of the holes blended together. It closes with a drivable par 4 with bunkers, trees, and a pond in the way, but it’s a really fun finisher. I wouldn’t tell anyone they need to play it, but I wouldn’t tell anyone to skip it either.
Tuesday, August 5th
Tumble Creek Club
Cle Elum, Washington
Tom Doak (2005)
Tumble Creek is located between Seattle and Gamble so it made for a great stop on Tuesday evening. We played the “Doak” tees, which was fun, but it seemed like our host (who shot even par) was playing the tips more than we were supposed to & as a result it was by far our highest scores of the trip. Nonetheless, the course was awesome & it was cool to see the course from what Tom Doak considered the best tee shot on each hole - including 4 holes from the forward tees.
Our host was pretty reluctant to walk & I guess I accidentally guilted him into it because of my tone when I said “we’d take a cart if he wants.” Some members gave us a hard time & called us athletes, but with Tom’s emphasis on walkability I wanted to see how walkable this course in the mountains could be. The answer, extremely. Other than the hike up 18 back to the clubhouse it was not bad at all, but our host had enough at the turn and grabbed his cart lmao. Luckily I didn’t rub him the wrong way because he invited us back to crack Dungeness crabs with his wife & kids which ended up being a highlight of the trip. If only I could manage an invite to the Doak Cup at Tara Iti next year…
Wednesday, August 6th - Round 1
Gamble Sands - Sands
Brewster, Washington
David McLay Kidd (2014)
Gamble Sands should name the third course they build Mars because this place is golf on fucking Mars. Again, scale, scale, scale. It’s absolutely incredible how far away you can see from the course & how far away things are that don’t seem that far. It’s mind-boggling how different Central/Eastern Washington is from the Western part & it’s hard to believe Gamble and Tumble Creek are only 2 hours apart as one is in the forested mountains and another the desert.
The course is so much fun & I really wish I lived closer so I could play it more often. You see some of the best holes early on & need to be prepared to hit it well early as the 2nd hole is drivable. The slope ratings seemed way too low to me & shooting an 80 & seeing it do nothing to my handicap was a bit of a bummer, but I can see how really good players could tear it apart. The ball rolls forever too & as someone who was born on the wrong continent & plays a Scotland ball it was incredibly fun to see the ball roll 100+ yards after it landed. We were the only people I saw walking, but the course was an easy walk. If you gave me 10 rounds between Gamble and Chambers I think I’m going 6/4 Gamble… What a property!
Wednesday, August 6th - Round 2
Gamble Sands - Scarecrow
Brewster, Washington
David McLay Kidd (2025)
I was so lucky with the timing of Scarecrow opening that you would’ve thought it was on purpose, but the date was set before I even knew. Scarecrow definitely still needs time to grow in as it opened 3 days prior, but I think it could be the best course in Washington in a couple of years. The first green sets the tone right away as you wonder if you’ve somehow been transported to Landmand. The greens tame down a bit after, but the sheer size of some of them is crazy & the pin locations are endless. Both courses give you tons of opportunities to get the ball close to the hole without going directly at the pin & it’s exhilarating watching the ball move along the ground. On top of that, they send you home with a drivable par 4 & a great chance at a birdie. The views are insane, the golf is great, and I can’t wait to go back someday to see Scarecrow fully grown in because it seems like it has a ton of potential.
Wednesday, August 6th - Round 2.5
Gamble Sands - QuickSands (14 Par 3’s)
Brewster, Washington
David McLay Kidd (2020)
QuickSands is obviously more about the hang than the golf, but the golf is still really fun. We didn’t really keep score & I used a 3 wood to tee off on most holes, which ended up being really fun. We offered our random at Scarecrow, Dylan, to join us since his dad hadn’t shown up & there was a local high schooler, Preston, who just walks out there and plays that we told could tag along with us as well. Dylan’s dad, Fred, also showed up on hole 2 and boy did he make it fun. Fred was not a good golfer, but he was 70 years old and loved to talk shit and tell stories & we had so much fun making backstabbing remarks about each others swings that Preston said we were the best group of randoms he had ever played with. Really fun way to cap off an awesome day & definitely worth a play.
Thursday, August 7th - Round 1
Circling Raven Golf Club
Worley, Idaho
Gene Bates (2003)
Circling Raven was our one foray into Idaho golf & it was probably one of the most forgettable courses as well. The highlight of our day was that we saw two moose on our way to the green on the par 3 13th, something that definitely wasn’t forgettable. The course itself was good, but for $219 I’ll admit I expected a bit more. While the greens rolled speedy this was one of our worst putting days just because of how much less they broke than we expected & the bunkering was kind of repetitive, but still looked nice. I wouldn’t tell anybody not to play here, but Couer d’Alene is definitely enabling them to hike up the rates. I still think playing here over the Couer d’Alene resort course ($300) was the right decision though.
Thursday, August 7th - Round 2
Palouse Ridge Golf Club
Pullman, Washington
John Harbottle III (2008)
Palouse was another great pallet change from our morning round. After carving our way through the Idaho wilderness we were handed a wide open course with an insane amount of land movement. On top of that, the wind was whipping something up I hadn’t seen in a long time if ever on a golf course, 40mph gusts for most of the front nine. Looking at our scorecards, you can tell the win lightened up around hole 7 as that’s when we started scoring much better, but it didn’t take away any enjoyment from the first 6 holes. Thankfully the drivable 15th comes late & my buddy and I were both inches from eagles.
Of the university courses I’ve played this year (Michigan, Virginia Tech, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Iowa State, Washington State, & Oregon State) only Michigan & Indiana compete with it. Pfau @ IU may be a better course, but I think Palouse was more fun to play & while Michigan is near & dear to my heart, I’d probably go 5/5 between it and Palouse. Maybe this is only because I was even par on the back nine (with a three putt par) until a terrible choke double on 17 & bogey finish on 18 (both par 5’s), but Palouse stuck out as the course on this trip that deserves a lot more praise than it receives. I know it’s in the middle of nowhere, but it’s worth seeing if you’re anywhere within a reasonable drive.
Friday, August 8th - Round 1
Wine Valley Golf Club
Walla Walla, Washington
Dan Hixson (2009)
I was really excited to see Wine Valley & part of me wonders if the ownership at Gamble Sands got their idea from playing here because it feels like Gamble Jr. You’re in the middle of nowhere with sprawling views everywhere & a firm and rolling golf course; something it feels like Gamble emulated on an even higher scale. We decided to walk & like Gamble we didn’t see anyone else hoofing it, but it was a delightful walk & I’m glad we did. The course isn’t very difficult, but it’s a delight & I’d love to play another round. It would be cool if they let Hixson come back and add a second course too, but I have no idea if that’s a possibility or not. A couples trip here would probably work well too.
Friday, August 8th - Round 1.5
Lake Oswego Public Golf Course (9 Holes, Par 30)
Lake Oswego, Oregon
Dan Hixson (2025)
After grabbing some food in Walla Walla we made the 4 hour drive back to Portland & stopped at Dan Hixson’s latest work in Lake Oswego (Southern Portland). It used to be an 18 hole par 3 course, but they turned it into a par 30 executive course with an expanded range & large practice chipping/putting area. The result is great, a $26 walk (on weekends) to play six par 3’s ranging from 100-160 yards and three par 4’s playing 248, 270, & 309. The 5th hole is fucked & wins the worst hole of the trip award, honestly impressive for a course with only three par 4’s. It’s 270 yards, but a tree on the left will eat up an iron lay up or drive & trees right will eat up a lower shot + the fairway cants left towards the woods. I somehow slung a low draw through the two smaller trees, but badly shit the bed on my approach. As a whole it’s a great course for the locals & an awesome spot to work on your game. It was really fun being surrounded by a community of golfers that looked like an average community of people too, good vibes all around.
Saturday, August 9th - Round 1
Eugene Country Club
Eugene, Oregon
Robert Trent Jones Sr. (1966)
The scorecard will claim 1899 in an effort to seem older, but that was the original 9 holes that were wiped out long ago. The current routing was laid out in 1923 by H. Chandler Egan & in 1966 Robert Trent Jones Sr. came and reversed the routing, making 18 green the 1st tee and so on. This was in effort to add new water features to the course & all the greens and tees were rebuilt. As a result, I view the current course as being opened in 1966.
Eugene was really fun & you could tell when they redesigned it in the 60’s it was for the feel of Augusta. Grand bunker styling, water features, & par 5’s that gave you a crack at a 3 were all reminiscent, but obviously nowhere near the same level as ANGC. While there is an abundance of trees, the course is fairly wide & I didn’t feel suffocated throughout the round. I’d probably take Waverley 6/4 or 7/3, but Eugene was still a really good course no doubt.
Saturday, August 9th - Round 2
Trysting Tree Golf Club
Corvallis, Oregon
Ted Robinson Sr. (1986)
We finished out the trip with a round at Oregon State’s course, Trysting Tree. This also continued our run of Dan Hixson works as he graduated from there & tweaked the course a bit in 2017. Trysting Tree was probably the least inspiring course of the trip, but I still enjoyed it & am glad we played it as I love seeing university courses. After a run of so many good golf courses with holes that wowed us we didn’t really have any like that at Trysting Tree, but it was still strategic & fun - plus an easy walk. After the day was done we could hang our hats on a trip well done & begin planning for the next one! I hate the block letter hats, but BEAV was almost worth getting.
BONUS
My buddy took a killer piss after hole 2 at Gamble
If you made it this far, props & thanks for reading! There won’t be another trip until next summer so I look forward to reading others until then. This puts me at 52 new courses in 15 states/provinces for the year & while I’d love to keep adding to that it’s time to slow down & let the bank account recover.
Cheers to a great summer & craic on!
and it also has a very challenging green.
