TPC Snoqualmie Ridge sold to BrightStar Golf Group--any thoughts?

[Peter_Herreid]

Saw a blurb in the morning paper that the TPC-Snoqualmie complex has been sold by Quadrant Homes to BrightStar Golf Group.  Perhaps other can chime in, but it looks as if this is the VC'ed, management group now owning Pradera, Redlands Mesa and Whitney Oaks, to name a few...

Does anyone have any knowledge of their management strategies, vis-a-vis semi-private, high-end publics, etc.?

TPC Snoqualmie is by no means a gem architecturally, but I have always found it a darn-playable "Nicklaus Design" lay-out, with a host of different playing options on more than a few of the holes.  Over various times in its still short life, I have heard rumors of gross mismanagement, misrespresentation to prospective members, etc, but one thing you don't ever hear much is that many people actually play it!

The views are, to put it mildly, stunning, considering there's no ocean in sight.

For a course that holds the de facto only pro exposure in town, albeit the Champions Tour, it gets very, very little buzz at all....

While I always wondered whether it could make a go of it as a true semi-private type operation, it does have a very short golf season for this area, which would cram member play into an already narrower window.

Any other thoughts or news about TPC Snoqualmie from the Seattle-area treehouse?

[tlavin]

I can't comment on the significance of the ownership change, but I will readily agree that Snoqualmie is a great golf course and a delight to play.  I'm not the biggest fan of Nicklaus designs, but the terrain and the vistas overwhelm the occasional doses of vanilla that the cognoscenti would probably gag over.  Sahalee and Chambers Bay get the ink, but Snoqualmie ridge is certainly a course that should be put on the Seattle itinerary.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I found SR routed on land ill suited for golf.  I agree it is a stunning place.  Nicklaus did a wonderful job routing the course on the land given to him.  But it is far from a great course and am not surprised that it is having financial problems, although I am not certain the course had anything to do with their financial woes.

[Sean Leary]

I think that it might do OK as a semi private layout if they decide to go that way.

The course has been hurt by the homes  built on now every hole. They have been selling tee-times to the public for a while now, but it will be interesting to see what they do. The weather there is tough as they get a lot of frost and a ton of wind, compared to other courses in the area.

Seattle are privates aren't necessarily great, but they are an absolute bargain right now, considering the metropolitan area and wealth that is here.

[Bill Satterfield]

I also can't comment on the ownership change, but I can comment on playing the course.  I quite enjoyed the layout at Snoqualmie during my visit a couple of years ago.  I love elevation changes throughout a course and Snoqualmie certainly delivers there.  I think elevation changes not only provides some nice drama and views, but it tests a player's distance control, depth perception, accuracy, and ball trajectory in ways a flatter course can't.  The course affords some beautiful scenary and features one of my most favorite and unique par 4s I've played in the 484-yard driveable downhill cape shaped 14th.  I really enjoy the challenge of trying to decide how much, if any, you want to cut off that hole with your drive.  I also think the variation in hole lengths is commendable and provides a solid challenge.