The true definition of a "hidden gem."

Played here today. Hardly anyone out there on a clear, but very cold and windy day. Played by myself, teeing off a little after noon. Finished in under 2 hour... Continue »

The true definition of a "hidden gem."

Played here today. Hardly anyone out there on a clear, but very cold and windy day. Played by myself, teeing off a little after noon. Finished in under 2 hours, playing through one other single along the way. Cart path only restrictions after heavy rains yesterday. $30 was a fair rack twilight price.

Again, I was pretty impressed by the conditions overall for this time of year. Tee boxes and fairways were generally nicely kept. Rough had lush coverage. Everything well maintained with just some soft/mushy spots here and there. Still not too bad. Several of the courses in this region benefit from a lot of St. Helens ash in the soil that helps the turf drain well. Greens were soft and slow, showing signs of a fairly recent aeration. Will probably be better in another couple weeks and you can tell they take good care of them here. The bunkers are interesting because it's a really dark sand (perhaps some ash in it, as well?) and looks like it's going to be hard-packed and wet. However, it is surprisingly soft and nice to play from, though it was still pretty heavy and damp.

Really didn't know much about this course, but my brother recommended it as one of the better Southern Washington options. I ended up really liking this course a lot. It's pretty much a traditional parkland layout with no changes in elevation. All fairways lined with tall, beautiful evergreens. Then, there are a few holes that really stand-out. The side-by-side 16th and 17th green/water hazard complex is really cool and one of the neater spots on a golf course I've seen in awhile. The blue skies and afternoon shadows really lit this place up and I was taking pictures like crazy. Really happy I decided to play here today because it blew away any expectations I would have had.