Photo Tour - Salish Cliffs, Shelton WA, Gene Bates (all holes posted)

[Richard Choi]

15th Hole
Par 4 – 411, 390, 367, 338, 311– Hdcp 14

Flyover
http://youtu.be/nCY1cgdGIk4

Finally, some width!  The smart drive here is to lay up short to the left bunker (or carry both of them) and play for the angle.


If you go over the bunkers, you still have quite a challenge to make sure you hit the right tier on the green which is going to be all carry with heavily bunkered right front.


The boomerang green is very wide. Even if you hit the green, two putting is not guaranteed.


Tough pin!

[Alex Miller]

Hey Rich, make sure you update the title so people can follow along.

Thanks for the tour!

[Justin Harvey]

Rich,

By the pin placements it looks like we played the same day. I must agree with you about the back 9 being much more enjoyable. Very nice pictures BTW. Some of thoughts on the holes:

The back tee on #7 has to be a joke. The chute is about 8 yards wide to the tightest fairway on the course. I'm glad I would never play from back there.

#8 has good intentions as a 3 shot par 5, but I think is too tough on the first two shots. It requires a long tee ball or the player might not be able to advance it past the trees next to the fairway bunker by the approach to have a look at the green.

#9 Wear a hardhat while playing #9. The first part of the double green sits short right from reachable Par 5 #18. I see that being rebuilt very soon as a result of many injuries from errant attempts at reaching the 18th.

#10 Very fair 3 shot par 5. There is plenty of room on the drive and approach shot, but the bunkers are well placed so the player always has them in them in the back of there mind.

Like I said earlier I had a great time on the back 9. Lots of variety in the par 4's with lots of fun tee shots and approaches into well protected greens with good contouring. My initial thought of 12 that it was almost unfair. But the green is so wide and anything short funnels to the middle of the green that it requires a wood off the tee, but long approach is not as difficult as it may appear.

I know I'm jumping the gun since you haven't posted the last three holes but the double green on the 18th is just a safety nightmare. The hole is a fun reachable par 5 with great bunkering protecting the green and layup area from any shot that isn't great. But with the 9th green sitting short right of the 18th(which is right in most golfers miss zone) I see injuries/ altercations occuring alot. Also pace of play will be slowed to a hault as players really would need to wait for both the 18th and 9th to clear to be completely safe.

Overall had a good time but the 1:30 drive and $85 rate probably wont be back for a while. Stopping at the home course would be a better choice in my opinion.

[Richard Choi]

And down the stretch we go…

16th Hole
Par 3 – 455, 428, 409, 381 – Hdcp 10

Flyover
http://youtu.be/nI-5DJ8Ojho

My favorite hole at Salish Cliffs is this beauty of a risk/reward hole.

If you want to play safe, you can lay up to the left where you will have a long iron to a lower elevation green. But if you are gambler, you can take it over the right bunker or even further to the right where there is a shorter landing zone. If you go over the bunker, you should get a boost from the speed slot and have a short iron to an open green.


If you lay up, this is the approach you have.


If you gamble and succeed, here is your reward.


A close up of the green area.

[Richard Choi]

17th Hole
Par 3 – 161, 156, 140, 136, 115 – Hdcp 18

Flyover
http://youtu.be/P1Ny6yaIyS0

How about that? Par 3 without a bunker on the left front!

This is a drop shot par 3 with about ~50 feet elevation change between the tee and the green. The back tees have to deal with the bunker on the right more.

[Richard Choi]

18th Hole
Par 4 – 537, 514, 492, 471, 406 – Hdcp 6

Flyover
http://youtu.be/X1o9yI4B3dQ

I am hoping they were just trying to copy the 18th at ANGC…

You are once again presented with a short bunker to fly over and a far aiming bunker on the left. Short hitters should be able to lay up short of the right bunker where there is some width.


Once you get around the corner, you will get a nice view to the double green that you visited on the 9th hole.


If you are a big hitter, you can try to go for the green into, but it will be an all water carry.


Here is Brent showing how the long hitters do it.


Looking back from the green.


I am not sure how dangerous this double green is. I am guessing most people are not going to be going for it in two. And if you do, I would think it is enough of a distance that most people should fail to reach the 9th green if they slice it to right. It would be more dangerous with lefties, though.

[Richard Choi]

As you can see from the tour, the course has several things going for it, namely its carpet like conditioning tee to green, some dramatic elevation changes, and nice vistas from those elevation changes. The greens really stood out for me as I thought they were challenging enough and allowed variety of shots around the green with a combination of rough and closely mowed areas.

However, for me, I find the lack of width and the similarities of the par 3’s and par 4’s with same short/far bunker combinations a bit mind numbing. I would have a hard time recommending the course to mid to high handicappers.

As for the rankings, I would say it is nowhere near the top 3 public tracks in the state (Chambers, Wine Valley, Gold Moutain – Olympic Course). It is in the third tier with other similar resort type courses like Semiahmoo and Suncadia. I am not sure when I will be back as it is a bit out of the way from Seattle and there are similar, if not better courses (cheaper too) along the way like Hawk’s Prairie (both Woodlands and Links) and The Home Course.

It’s too bad as I had high hopes after hearing about Circling Raven.

[Jim Johnson]

Thanks for posting, Rich. Great photos!

I really like the look of #16, looks like fun. How far to carry those right-side bunkers off the tee(s)?

Hope you're doing well.

Jim

[Richard Choi]

Hi Jim, thanks for asking! Getting ready for KP and 5th Major, I can't complain (except for my rapidly rising handicap...).

The 16th is a lot of fun. It uses the terrain really well to create a very good risk/reward scenario. If I remember correctly, it was about 240 or 250 to reach the little peninsula of fairway on the right of the bunker from where we were playing. Brent tried to get there with the 3 wood I believe. I think that is about perfect distance (and corresponding difficulty) for the reward you get.

[Joe Stansell]

Thanks for your photo tour, Rich. You have saved me a trip.

Like you, I'm disappointed with what appears to be a fairly mediocre effort. I was hoping that this course would be equal to Circling Raven -- a course I'd rank in the top two or three for "public access" in the Eastern Washington/Northern Idaho area. Curiously, Golfweek has a ranking for "casino courses," with Salish Cliffs finishing ahead of Circling Raven. After seeing your photo tour, I suspect that's only on account of "newness" and in time it will adjust.

[Richard Choi]

I think the high ranking is due to the conditioning and low number of raters. I cannot see how anyone can argue that this is a top 3 public track in the state unless conditioning is your #1 factor.

I need to get out to see Circling Raven to see what makes that track so much better. I have heard some very good things about it.

[Kalen Braley]

I would agree with Joe based on the pics I've seen...

CR looks a lot better with a lot more risk/reward and interesting holes, even though its also a cartball course.

When you make it over this way Richard, give me a shout out, I'd be interested in playing it again...been a couple years since I've played it.