Anchorage golf, should I?

[PixlPutterman]

My wife has a work trip in a few weeks in Anchorage and I have the opportunity to come up for 3 days... Should I bring my clubs?

[Johnny Biarritz]

Of course. I’ve played every full size course in Anchorage and the Mat-Su valley. Moose Run Creek is the best, IMO. Anchorage Golf Club is also really nice and hosted a USGA Championship a couple years ago; Senior Women’s Am, I believe. Can see Denali from AGC if the weather is perfect. Palmer is nice, pancake flat but nice holes. View from #1 tee at Palmer is all-world. Settler’s Bay is OK. Moose Run Hill is…well, it’s there.

 

For non-golf, Double Musky for food if you have time. Mirror Lake is fun. There’s Collegiate Summer League baseball up there, but the season might be over. 
 

Anchorage is a cool town.

[PixlPutterman]

5 hours ago, Johnny Biarritz said:

Of course. I’ve played every full size course in Anchorage and the Mat-Su valley. Moose Run Creek is the best, IMO. Anchorage Golf Club is also really nice and hosted a USGA Championship a couple years ago; Senior Women’s Am, I believe. Can see Denali from AGC if the weather is perfect. Palmer is nice, pancake flat but nice holes. View from #1 tee at Palmer is all-world. Settler’s Bay is OK. Moose Run Hill is…well, it’s there.

 

For non-golf, Double Musky for food if you have time. Mirror Lake is fun. There’s Collegiate Summer League baseball up there, but the season might be over. 
 

Anchorage is a cool town.

Thank you! This is what I needed 😁

[Johnny Biarritz]

3 hours ago, PixlPutterman said:

Thank you! This is what I needed 😁

I went back and looked at my ranking for courses. I use a bootleg version of Doak's Confidential Guide scale. I have Anchorage Golf Club at 6/10, Moose Run Creek 5/10, Settlers Bay 4/10, Palmer 4/10, and Moose Run Hill 3/10. Thinking back and looking at pictures, I might re-rank them Moose Run Creek 6/10, Anchorage 5/10, Settlers Bay and Palmer same, Moose Run Hill 2/10.

 

For Outdoor activities, you can just pull off the road and find absolutely incredible places to hike and view. There's this walking trail thing downtown that has different places that show the relative distance of planets from the sun, I can't remember exactly where it starts. Alyeska Ski Resort has this tram that'll take you up the mountain and the view is stunning. If you can get ATVs or if you're super fit, go to the far backside of Eklutna Lake and climb up some of the small hills, unbelievable view down the old glacier canyon. 13 miles each direction. You can walk on a glacier out at Mat-Su Glacier. A bit north of Palmer is this super cool drive called Hatcher Pass, there's a moderate hike out there (starts at April Bowl if you look at Google Maps), that goes up to a really cool view on Hatch Peak. There's also a cool spot out there they call the Butte, use the West Butte Trail if you go.

[PixlPutterman]

On 7/19/2025 at 12:03 PM, Johnny Biarritz said:

I went back and looked at my ranking for courses. I use a bootleg version of Doak's Confidential Guide scale. I have Anchorage Golf Club at 6/10, Moose Run Creek 5/10, Settlers Bay 4/10, Palmer 4/10, and Moose Run Hill 3/10. Thinking back and looking at pictures, I might re-rank them Moose Run Creek 6/10, Anchorage 5/10, Settlers Bay and Palmer same, Moose Run Hill 2/10.

 

For Outdoor activities, you can just pull off the road and find absolutely incredible places to hike and view. There's this walking trail thing downtown that has different places that show the relative distance of planets from the sun, I can't remember exactly where it starts. Alyeska Ski Resort has this tram that'll take you up the mountain and the view is stunning. If you can get ATVs or if you're super fit, go to the far backside of Eklutna Lake and climb up some of the small hills, unbelievable view down the old glacier canyon. 13 miles each direction. You can walk on a glacier out at Mat-Su Glacier. A bit north of Palmer is this super cool drive called Hatcher Pass, there's a moderate hike out there (starts at April Bowl if you look at Google Maps), that goes up to a really cool view on Hatch Peak. There's also a cool spot out there they call the Butte, use the West Butte Trail if you go.

I'm only in town 3 days and 2 of the days are booked up for glacier cruise and some fishing, golf seems like the perfect thing to add!

[PixlPutterman]

On 7/19/2025 at 12:03 PM, Johnny Biarritz said:

I went back and looked at my ranking for courses. I use a bootleg version of Doak's Confidential Guide scale. I have Anchorage Golf Club at 6/10, Moose Run Creek 5/10, Settlers Bay 4/10, Palmer 4/10, and Moose Run Hill 3/10. Thinking back and looking at pictures, I might re-rank them Moose Run Creek 6/10, Anchorage 5/10, Settlers Bay and Palmer same, Moose Run Hill 2/10.

 

For Outdoor activities, you can just pull off the road and find absolutely incredible places to hike and view. There's this walking trail thing downtown that has different places that show the relative distance of planets from the sun, I can't remember exactly where it starts. Alyeska Ski Resort has this tram that'll take you up the mountain and the view is stunning. If you can get ATVs or if you're super fit, go to the far backside of Eklutna Lake and climb up some of the small hills, unbelievable view down the old glacier canyon. 13 miles each direction. You can walk on a glacier out at Mat-Su Glacier. A bit north of Palmer is this super cool drive called Hatcher Pass, there's a moderate hike out there (starts at April Bowl if you look at Google Maps), that goes up to a really cool view on Hatch Peak. There's also a cool spot out there they call the Butte, use the West Butte Trail if you go.

Have a tee time at Moose Friday, Creek course 😁