Category: Course Features

Offering an unparalleled level of play and challenge for golfers of every ability.

If you’re going to visit Pebble Beach, chances are you’ll fly into the San Francisco area and then drive out to Monterey. If you fly in early enough, it’s probably a good idea to get a warm-up round in before challenging golf on the coast.

TPC Harding Park, a municipal championship course, is the perfect spot to stop.

The Harding Park Course was substantially renovated in 2005 to better suit it for PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions events. The restoration of Harding Park focused on maintaining the course’s integrity and unique characteristics while enhancing the original layout designed by world-renowned golf architects Willie Watson and Sam Whiting in 1925.

Set against the cypress tree-lined Lake Merced, the improved Harding Park Course layout features soft bunkers and graceful undulating fairways. An additional 400 yards was also added to the course to make it a championship-caliber golf facility ready for PGA TOUR action.

Since that renovation, the course has hosted two World Golf Championship events, the 2009 President’s Cup, and three PGA Champions Tour events.

Located just an hour north of downtown Seattle, Avalon Golf Links has rebounded from the early part of the century and is flourishing. Avalon was the host site of the 1994 and 2001 US Open Qualifier, host site of the 2007 Pacific Northwest PGA Senior Championship and 2009 Pacific Northwest PGA Championship.

Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland, Oregon is a public golf course that plays host to thousands of rounds per year. Owned by regional agency METRO, Glendoveer has grown from a suburban club built in 1926 to a center of community and neighborhood activity. With two golf courses, a tennis facility, and dedicated walking and running trail, the facility has something for just about everyone.

The East Course is the more difficult of the two courses at Glendoveer. The round starts with a short par four with water on the right side, and a bunker on the left. A tee shot that lands between those two hazards will usually leave about 135 yards into a small, fast green tucked behind a greenside bunker. Pretty typical of the challenge golfers face throughout the round. 

The course has a great layout with several challenging holes throughout the round and, if you’re feeling your oats, a drivable par 4. Accuracy off the tee is a very important part of scoring on this course as it plays long and uphill with several blind tee shots. Course conditions are well maintained, including smooth and fast greens. 

The West Course, added in 1928, is considered easier with wider fairways and fewer bunkers. Both courses, however, are walkable and fun to play.

The practice facility has several practice greens and a double-decker driving range with plenty of space to work on your game, loosen up your swing or practice your long shots before you head out on the course. The entire facility, both golf and practice, are perfect for junior players looking for an affordable place to work on their games. For those under 18 years of age, the course participates in the Youth on Course program, offering $5.00 greens fees for registered players.

The staff includes a few instructors, so if you find yourself struggling or need some suggestions on how to improve your game, you can purchase lessons for a very reasonable price. 

Glendoveer also offers tennis options if you want to change up your daily workout with private lessons, city league teams, or memberships. 

The facility has also played host to some of Portland’s most popular restaurants. Currently, Von Ebberts Brewing calls Glendoveer home, offering excellent food options and micro-brews to players making the turn or looking to settle their bets after a round.

For more information about Glendoveer or to book a tee time, visit www.playglendoveer.com.

Desert Willow Golf Resort, nestled in the heart of Palm Desert, offers 36 holes of championship desert golf on layouts designed by Mike Hurdzan, Dana Fry and PGA Tour professional John Cook. The Firecliff and Mountain View courses have been rated 4 out of 5 stars by Golf Digest Places to Play, with each providing five sets of tees that make a challenging test for experienced players, while also providing a fun and rewarding round for amateurs.

The Desert Willow layouts provide all the excitement and vistas of desert golf, without the long forced carries that are sometimes prevalent on these types of layouts. There are some natural desert areas to carry, but the tee shots are reasonable in length.

On property is a beautiful clubhouse that features a wonderful pro shop, locker room facilities, restaurant & lounge that provides an extensive lunch menu, and an outdoor patio that affords spectacular golf course views. There is a full service practice facility with targeted grass range, putting greens and short game area. Pro Link GPS is standard on all carts, as are ball & club washers and ice chests.

At Firecliff, golfers will notice immediately the intricately designed sand bunkers that are strategically located along the well manicured fairways, and near the mildly undulating green complexes. In total there are 100 bunkers – though their intricate designs makes it feel like more. The desert waste areas that help define the fairways are cleaned out so that recoveries are sometimes possible.

The finely sculpted tee boxes are adorned with wildflowers and landscaped shrubbery, and are layered with desert in between – reminding one that this is truly a desert layout. The setting is pristine and spectacular, with mountain views and natural areas highlighting an experience that all levels of players will appreciate. Water hazards on seven of the holes also add to the aesthetic experience and challenge.

Though just a short ferry ride from downtown Seattle, Trophy Lake Golf and Casting Club feels like you’re a million miles away from civilization. Set on the Kitsap Peninsula, the area is surrounded by water on three sides and offers some of the best views of forests and mountains available to golfers.

Trophy Lake is unique in offering not only golf, but also fishing. The ponds and lakes are full of rainbow trout, bass, and more. Throughout a round, you’ll encounter serious anglers trying to land a trophy fish.

It is the golf, however, that will leave a more lasting impression, or mark, if you prefer. Trophy Lake boasts a front nine difficult enough to challenge the best players. The yardage from the championship tees is listed as a paltry 3,376 on the scorecard, but plays much longer. The back nine, while playing to a longer yardage of 3380, seems a breeze compared with the brutal front nine.

With so many excellent holes and views to choose from, it’s hard to pick a true signature hole for Trophy Lake. Employees in the pro shop said the course really has 18 signature holes. However, the par-4 fourth and par-5 eighteenth stuck out when all was said and done.

The fourth hole stretches to 441-yards, all of it playing uphill and into the wind. It’s easy to miss this green because of the long approach shot, making this a scramble hole for sure.

The 18th hole is just a great finishing hole, Measuring 532 yards, the par-5 offers a chance for big hitters to go for it in two, but with a shallow green and a creek in front, the best chance for birdie is a lay-up.

In all, Trophy Lake is a reasonable priced round of golf that will challenge everyone in your foursome. It has the amenities you’d expect and is a nice course to walk.