Links Golf Tips - Wine Valley

[Drofdarb23]

Heading to Walla Walla, WA in a few weeks to play Wine Valley Golf Club. Have only heard great things about the course and I'm super excited but have never played a links style course before..

 

Any tips for a first time links golfer or perhaps any Wine Valley specific tips?

 

Thanks!

 

(Disclaimer: I wasn't sure which forum this should be posted in so I started here)

[ryu123]

For advice on playing links courses, check the Bandon discussions.

 

Wine Valley plays like a links course. It has wide fairways, firm & fast conditions, & large undulating greens. There is wind, especially in the afternoon. (You can see the bank of wind turbines to the southwest. They are almost always turning.)

 

Since 2009 I've played over 50 rounds at WV.

 

WV is my favorite course in Washington State. I like WV better than Chambers Bay, Gamble Sands, Aldarra, Sahalee (north/south), Salish Cliffs, or Gold Mountain. WV is almost as good as any of the Bandon courses.

 

Even though I've played WV a lot, I have a lot of trouble adjusting to the greens the first round each trip. The greens are not overly fast, but they are cut very short & the ball keeps rolling.

 

Hit a few putts on the practice green next to the pro shop & you'll get an idea of the 'friction free' nature of the greens.

 

The sideboards, backboards, & kickers Mr Hixson built into the greens & approaches are so much fun. Sometimes the best way to the hole isn't the most direct. The 'punchbowl' 7th green is a prime example.

 

Read the OneGolfersTravels blog April 2012 review of WV. It's excellent & the photos give an idea of the massive scale of the course.

[CMCSGolf]

I was just at Wine Valley last weekend and it is in good shape. It's a psuedo links course in that it is windy and relatively firm, but the grass was way different from Bandon or Scotland. At Bandon, the ball practically sits on the sand, so chipping is really hard. I did not find that to be true at WV. A lot more grass under the ball so short game work does not require as much bump and running and approach shots will not hop onto the greens as easily.

 

Don't get me wrong, it's still firm compared to most courses in the US, but it won't bounce like Bandon or the UK. The greens are large and undulating and there is more elevation change than most links courses. It seems like the holes were designed for a wind coming out of the North (I think) where the tee shot on #1 plays downwind. The long par 4s and par 5s play in this direction and the short par 5s play in the opposite. I would keep this in mind when you pick tees because if could play weird if you have an abnormal wind.

 

I've only played WV twice, so I could be wrong about the wind and hole directions, but that was my impression.

[Drofdarb23]

For advice on playing links courses, check the Bandon discussions.

 

Wine Valley plays like a links course. It has wide fairways, firm & fast conditions, & large undulating greens. There is wind, especially in the afternoon. (You can see the bank of wind turbines to the southwest. They are almost always turning.)

 

Since 2009 I've played over 50 rounds at WV.

 

WV is my favorite course in Washington State. I like WV better than Chambers Bay, Gamble Sands, Aldarra, Sahalee (north/south), Salish Cliffs, or Gold Mountain. WV is almost as good as any of the Bandon courses.

 

Even though I've played WV a lot, I have a lot of trouble adjusting to the greens the first round each trip. The greens are not overly fast, but they are cut very short & the ball keeps rolling.

 

Hit a few putts on the practice green next to the pro shop & you'll get an idea of the 'friction free' nature of the greens.

 

The sideboards, backboards, & kickers Mr Hixson built into the greens & approaches are so much fun. Sometimes the best way to the hole isn't the most direct. The 'punchbowl' 7th green is a prime example.

 

Read the OneGolfersTravels blog April 2012 review of WV. It's excellent & the photos give an idea of the massive scale of the course.

 

Thanks for pointing me in the direction of OneGolfer'sTravels review - that was excellent.

 

I'll make sure to spend some time on the practice green before we go out.

 

Can't wait to play this course!

[Wardonation]

They have had a ton of rain this spring. The course is as soft and green as I have ever seen it. The alfalfa is knee high right now, and be careful of the bull snakes in it!!! We ran into two of them looking for the only two balls that went in it that weekend, meaning we saw one 100% of the time!!! Course still plays firm considering... 1st hole hit driver OVER the right bunkers to have the best angle in... Have fun one of my favorites Dan Hixson is brilliant as well as a friend...

[Drofdarb23]

They have had a ton of rain this spring. The course is as soft and green as I have ever seen it. The alfalfa is knee high right now, and be careful of the bull snakes in it!!! We ran into two of them looking for the only two balls that went in it that weekend, meaning we saw one 100% of the time!!! Course still plays firm considering... 1st hole hit driver OVER the right bunkers to have the best angle in... Have fun one of my favorites Dan Hixson is brilliant as well as a friend...

 

Thanks for the update on the conditions.

 

Obviously my ball is always in the fairway so no need to worry about those bull snakes. (But seriously, thanks for the heads up about the bull snakes).

 

From everything I've heard and read about the course, I can't wait to play next week!

[spud3]

I'm there in mid-June for my first time too, so I'm paying attention...

[R4haehl]

Wine Valley is an absolute BLAST to play. Have so much fun. I've only played it once, but I am looking for an excuse hit that area of the state again. It's a long way from Seattle any way you cut it.

[mallrat]

Why should he watch out for the bull snakes? They want no part of him and are harmless or am inwrong

[pgww]

Great course, up there with the Bandon and Bend courses for best in the NW in my opinion. You will have a great time. Other neat wildlife experiences there are occasional coyote encounters during evening rounds. Beautiful place and the course is really good at providing water bottles for those warm summer rounds.

[jamie]

Why should he watch out for the bull snakes? They want no part of him and are harmless or am inwrong

Bull snakes are the best!! If you see bull snakes, you’re not going to see rattlers.

[SemperFi91]

We went down a few weeks ago for the Open Qualifier and the course was in great shape. One of my favorite courses. Greens weren't super fast, but very receptive. You'll have a great time.

[Drofdarb23]

Getting excited - we're leaving tomorrow afternoon!

 

Any spots in/around Walla Walla worth checking out on Saturday afternoon?

 

Also, does anyone know if the clubhouse sells yardage books?

EDIT: Any suggestions on which tees to play? I'd say most of our group is between 10-18 handicaps.

 

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions.

[wingedfeetxc]

Clubhouse sells a very helpful yardage book.

 

 

Getting excited - we're leaving tomorrow afternoon!

 

Any spots in/around Walla Walla worth checking out on Saturday afternoon?

 

Also, does anyone know if the clubhouse sells yardage books?

EDIT: Any suggestions on which tees to play? I'd say most of our group is between 10-18 handicaps.

 

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions.

[Drofdarb23]

We played Saturday and Sunday morning - both days were fantastic!

 

The course was unlike anything we have in Boise and definitely worth another trip. The greens were fast but fair - there were definitely a couple of four putts..

 

The alfalfa was thick and ate up every ball that ventured into it (we did see a bull snake on Sunday).

 

Definitely check out One Golfer's Travels Wine Valley Review if you haven't been before - it gives you a great idea of what you're getting yourself into: http://onegolferstravels.blogspot.com/2012/04/wine-valley-golf-club-course-review.html

 

The yardage book from the clubhouse was very helpful.

[spud3]

Was the course crowded/full? Looks pretty walkable - did you ride or walk?

[spud3]

Just read the review at the One Golfer's Travels link above. First of all, that's one of the best hole by hole course reviews I've ever read. Going to be studying that for the next couple days...

 

WV looks like a course that really wants to be played on the ground. That suits me just fine. I'm really looking forward to playing there, and am really glad I'm playing more than one round on that course. Looks like you could easily take a whole weekend and play a couple 36 hole days there, there's that much strategy to it. And it looks like the wind is built into the strategy - does it shift much in direction or is it pretty much always blowing one way?

[Drofdarb23]

Was the course crowded/full? Looks pretty walkable - did you ride or walk?

 

We teed of at 7 am Saturday and 8 am Sunday - neither day seemed overly crowded both rounds took a little over four hours.

 

We had carts (and most of the other groups I saw had them too) but the course seemed walkable. That said, I hit the proverbial "wall" (more mental than physical) between holes 12 and 15. I'm not sure if it was from a few too many 3 putts, the heat, difficulty of the holes, or what - but it happened both days..

 

 

Just read the review at the One Golfer's Travels link above. First of all, that's one of the best hole by hole course reviews I've ever read. Going to be studying that for the next couple days...

 

WV looks like a course that really wants to be played on the ground. That suits me just fine. I'm really looking forward to playing there, and am really glad I'm playing more than one round on that course. Looks like you could easily take a whole weekend and play a couple 36 hole days there, there's that much strategy to it. And it looks like the wind is built into the strategy - does it shift much in direction or is it pretty much always blowing one way?

 

Yeah, the One Golfer's Travels review is fantastic. Gave me a much better idea of what I was getting myself into. Definitely spend 15-20 mins on the putting green before you go out.

 

We had very little wind both days but I'm sure it makes things more difficult when it really blows out there.