Puget Sound Trip Report August 2018

[cvhookem63]

Sounds like a great trip! Did you happen to see the rogue "pilot" joy-riding the hijacked passenger jet last week?

[duffer987]

Sounds like a great trip! Did you happen to see the rogue "pilot" joy-riding the hijacked passenger jet last week?

The poor chap was actually flying around right by Chambers Bay - as you can see from some of the footage - and the smoke from the crash was visible from the course on Friday, but it was gone on Sat morning. I was at CB Sat and some of the staff were talking about it.

[cvhookem63]

Sounds like a great trip! Did you happen to see the rogue "pilot" joy-riding the hijacked passenger jet last week?

The poor chap was actually flying around right by Chambers Bay - as you can see from some of the footage - and the smoke from the crash was visible from the course on Friday, but it was gone on Sat morning. I was at CB Sat and some of the staff were talking about it.

 

That was definitely a wild story to follow as it unfolded. Some of the videos of the plane randomly flying around were pretty crazy - and scary to those around I am sure.

[CMCSGolf]

 

Also, I love traffic circles, but why do so many drivers STOP before entering the circle when there's no traffic? Ugh. Traffic circles are an opportunity to use my Bondurant Driving School skills.

 

It's funny that you mention this. Coming from the midwest, it's weird to see how people use traffic circles here. It is the exact opposite of how you're supposed to use them. A lot of people let cars into the traffic circle and assume the car entering the circle has the right away rather than the car already in the circle. It's completely backwards and bizarre.

[Argonne69]

Sounds like a great trip! Did you happen to see the rogue "pilot" joy-riding the hijacked passenger jet last week?

 

No, I was flying into SeaTac when it occurred. My plane was put in a holding pattern before we were allowed to land. I guess I got a lucky, as a number to planes were low on fuel, and had to land in Portland.

 

[Argonne69]

A wonderful round at Salish Cliffs this morning. I can see why it got its name, as many of the holes zig zag back and forth along a hill, allowing nice views of the valley below. While they course is technically a parkland layout, there is a lot of prairie grass, so it has something of the feel of a prairie style layout at times. The holes are fairly wide, so you can really let your driver go. There are a few nice elevation changes (e.g. #1 and #3), but for the most most part the holes are relatively flat. I loved the bunkering on the course. They're not overdone, and really help frame the holes. There are a couple of short par 4s, but otherwise the holes pretty well play the same length. The front nine really shines. However, I thought the middle section of the back began to look alike before the final three holes. The greens were fairly large, and a reasonable challenge without getting crazy. The par 5s were fairly straightforward, and the par 3s were a good mix.

 

Course conditions were great. The sand in the bunkers was perfect. Greens were rolling true with moderate speed.

 

The struggle with the irons continued, as my back slowly gives out. I drove the ball well, hitting 12 fairways, but I could only manage 10 greens. A few scrambles for par allowed me to nudged a shot inside 80.

 

Definitely a course to play. There were only a couple of "Wow" holes, but everything else is very solid. With excellent conditioning, it's a no brainer.

[Argonne69]

A great afternoon at Tacoma Country Club. I'd like to thank my host leejohnkieh for letting me play this wonderful old course. This parkland gem is devilishly tricky, with perfectly positioned fairway bunkers that seem to gobble up "perfectly" hit drives. Lol. It takes a daft touch to manage one's way around the course. The greens were tough, but fair. There was a very nice mix of long and short holes, and the short ones were no pushovers.

 

Course conditions were immaculate. Fairways were like carpets, and the greens were pristine and speedy.

 

What do you get when you cross too many rounds in a short period of time with a tough course? A train wreck. Lol. Talk about an azz whooping. I thought I drove the ball OK, but I managed to find more fairway bunkers than fairways. The irons were chunk city. I started double, triple, double, and it didn't get a whole lot better. My putting was actually good, but I was rarely putting for par, so it couldn't really help this terminal patient. There's nothing like a tough, old school layout to knock the cockiness out of one's game. Oh well.

 

If you get a chance to play the course, please don't pass it up. It's everything you'd expect from a high caliber private club.

[mallrat]

Ok Argonne, be honest, how good are Tacoma’s greens? I really want to find a way on the course and rumor is they are the best in the PNW and as pure as any Poa greens anywhere.

[Argonne69]

They're pure as driven snow. If you get the ball rolling online, it's going to keep rolling. You definitely have to stroke the ball, and not hit it.

 

They don't have huge undulations, but rather a nice set of multi-tier greens, and lots of subtle breaks.

 

Nicest greens I've played on in a few years.

 

[leejohnkieh]

It was great having you out here Mark.

[Argonne69]

My final round of of the trip was at Washington National. It's a parkland layout, but it has numerous open (native) areas that give it a bit of a prairie style feel at times. On the drive up it was quite hilly, so it I was expecting some elevation changes on the course. Alas, it's basically flat. It does have some man mad mounding, so it's not perfectly flat. The key feature of the course is the bunkering. Numerous holes have extensive bunkers, and they really help frame the holes. The par 4 7th and 9th are good examples. There were a few short par 4s, but the 4s were generally around 380 to 400 yds from the blue tees. Three of the par 3s had a nice look. The 8th was bland. The green complexes had character, but were not overly difficult.

 

Course conditions were very spotty. There were numerous dead spots in the fairways. There was a surprising amount of wet spots, which seems to indicate that they've been watering the heck out of the course to keep it green. The greens looked and rolled great, although they were rather slow. The bunkers were wet, and filled with way too many small rocks.

 

A real struggle again. Bad case of the lefts, which simply means my back is telling me to stop. 7 fairways and 8 greens. I did manage a few very nice shots, but it was mostly off and on.

 

Overall I thought it was a solid layout. I liked the natural look, including the bunkers. There were no real "Wow" holes, but no real dogs either. I'd like to have seen more elevation change. I wouldn't classify it as a must play, but I don't think one would be disappointed with a round here.

[Argonne69]

I'm enjoying a nice imperial stout at Airways Brewing in Kent before heading to SeaTac for my mid-afternoon flight home. I'll Photoshop my pics tomorrow, and post them shortly. On Saturday or Sunday I'll be post my course rankings and final thoughts.

[spud3]

Thanks for bringing us along!

[kaschreiber]

Great to hear a visitor's perspective on some of our local tracks. Thanks for sharing Argonne!

[Argonne69]

The Home Course (Front 9)

 

#1

 

 

 

#2

 

 

 

#3

 

 

The par 3 4th

 

 

The par 5 5th

 

 

The par 3 6th

 

 

#7

 

 

7th approach

 

 

The 7th green

 

 

The par 5 8th

 

 

 

#9

 

 

[Argonne69]

The Home Course (Back 9)

 

The par 5 10th

 

 

 

#11

 

 

The par 3 12th

 

 

#13

 

 

 

The par 3 14th

 

 

#15

 

 

The par 5 16th

 

 

 

#17

 

 

 

#18

 

[Argonne69]

The Golf Club at Hawks Prairie - The Woodlands (Front 9)

 

#1

 

 

#2

 

 

#3

 

 

The par 3 4th

 

 

The par 5 5th

 

 

#6

 

 

The par 3 7th

 

 

#8

 

 

The par 5 9th

 

[mukster]

Argonne, thanks for reviews and trip report. I have played most of those, except, Salish, Tacoma CC and Washington National. I agree with every one of your reviews. They may have made a few changes to Whitehorse since I played there. I remember some of the holes being nice. Chambers was a lot of fun to play. Unfortunately, we were a twosome and we were paired with a couple who had a caddie and he would allow the wife about 10 shots before recommending she pick up. it was a 5 and a half hour round, maybe a little longer. The course was fun to play.

 

I love both the Gold Mountain courses. Trophy Lake is okay. The Hawks Prairie complex will never see me again. We played a social tournament there a few years ago and we all felt that the Parkland course was better suited for housing! Your review was far more gentle. The Links course was okay. The Home Course was really good value for money. I agree that some of the views are not really that great.

 

Cheers

[Argonne69]

The Golf Club at Hawks Prairie - The Woodlands (Back 9)

 

#10

 

 

The par 3 11th

 

 

#12

 

 

The par 5 13th

 

 

#14

 

 

 

The par 3 15th

 

 

#16

 

 

#17

 

 

 

The par 5 18th

 

 

[Argonne69]

Chambers Bay (Pre-round)

 

 

 

 

[Argonne69]

Chambers Bay (Puget Sound - Par 5 1st)

 

 

 

 

 

 

A view of the par 3 17th green

 

[Argonne69]

Chambers Bay (Foxy - Par 4 2nd)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking back towards the tee

 

 

A look at the par 4 16th

 

[Argonne69]

Chambers Bay (Blown Out - Par 3 3rd)

 

 

 

[Argonne69]

Chambers Bay (Hazard's Ascent - Par 5 4th)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Argonne69]

Chambers Bay (Free Fall - Par 4 5th)

 

 

 

[Argonne69]

Chambers Bay (Deception Point - Par 4 6th)

 

 

 

[Argonne69]

Chambers Bay (Humpback - Par 4 7th)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Argonne69]

Chambers Bay (High Road / Low Road - Par 5 8th)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking back towards the tee

 

[Argonne69]

Chambers Bay (Olympus - Par 3 9th)

 

 

 

 

 

Looking back at the tee

 

[spud3]

Captions for most of the pics of CB #4:

 

"Don't go here."

"Or here."

"Or here."

"Really don't go here."

 

Great pics!