Golf in Alaska

[Tommy Williamsen]

If asked about golf destinations, Alaska does not come to mind. It is like going to North Dakota for a downhill skiing vacation. After all, why would anyone trade a glacier for a chip shot or Denali for a chance to putt on a bumpy green? There are 22 courses in Alaska, but only eight have 18 holes. All of the courses have public access. My wife and I were in Texas for a late August wedding and played golf there. I suggested that we make a side trip to Alaska on our way home to Virginia. She asked, “When was the last time you looked at a map?” We did go for ten days. We still had our clubs, so we thought, let’s play between cruises, plane rides, train rides, sightseeing, and hiking. All of the courses are fun, and the staff are welcoming. If you aim to play in all fifty states, you must play in Alaska. I only have three to go.

We landed in Anchorage about noon. We were going to drive to Seward. Anchorage GC is on the way, so we stopped and played there. Anchorage GC is a municipal course routed over some bumpy lumpy ground, with nary an even lie. It was great fun, and we enjoyed our round. The staff was great, and we could not have had a better time. Anchorage hosted the 2022 USGA Women’s Senior Amateur and did some major bunker renovation prior to the championship.

[Tommy Williamsen]

The drive from Seward to Denali takes you past Moose Run GC, a 36-hole military facility that allows civilian play. The user-friendly walkable Hill Course gets the most play, and then there is a Robin Nelson designed beast called the Creek. It plays at 7300 yards from the tips but has shorter tees for 76-year-old mortals like me. I played it from about 6200 yards and just enjoyed the heck out of it. The fairways were in excellent condition, albeit a bit wet from a rainy summer. It has some very inventive holes. This was my wife’s favorite course.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Driving back to Anchorage, we played Settlers Bay in Wasilla, about forty miles north of Anchorage. It is a public residential course. The view from the first tee is enough to want to play it. The course is very playable but not as strong as the other two. It did have the best-conditioned greens.

[DFarron]

They have a local US Open qualifier there, they get around 15 players for it.


I hope to play in it some year, seems like it would be really fun!

[Tommy Williamsen]

They have a local US Open qualifier there, they get around 15 players for it.


I hope to play in it some year, seems like it would be really fun!

I guess it is at the course in Palmer. We were not able to get there, but played with a member who said from the back tees it is as much as anyone could handle.

[Steve Lang]

   Tommy,


Did they tell you how late in evening you could play??  We were there once in July and they said at course in Anchorage, tee times no later than 1030 pm because of the bears...


Did you take in any king crab at Simon & Seaforts? 


best

[Tommy Williamsen]

  Tommy,


Did they tell you how late in evening you could play??  We were there once in July and they said at course in Anchorage, tee times no later than 1030 pm because of the bears...


Did you take in any king crab at Simon & Seaforts? 


best

Sunset was about 8:45, but we played in the middle of the afternoon on our drive to some destination. They talked mostly about Moose damage. I guess they like to run around on the greens. No, we did not get to S&S but had some great salmon and scallops. We did have some crab cakes, but after having lived in Annapolis for 33 years, it was a mistake. We should have had the king crab. We had reindeer it but felt like eating Rudolf.

[Richard Hetzel]

I regret not playing in Alaska when I visited a relative for three weeks one summer.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Have any of you played in Alaska? I can't be the only one.

[Doug Bolls]

Don't I wish - it's the only state I haven't played in.  Maybe sometime.

[Stewart Abramson]

Have any of you played in Alaska? I can't be the only one.

Just got back from eight days in Alaska and did play Anchorage GC. I really enjoyed it. I was impressed by the greens which were mostly large and had lots of movement. The course has lots of elevation changes and a nice variety of holes, short and long, a few doglegs and a couple of blind shots that the two locals I played with were helpful in showing the lines to play. Despite the hilliness, the course was not a hard walk. The tee sheet was very busy and most of the players walked. There was only one long walk from green to next tee. (17 green to 18 tee). In addition to the course itself, there are plenty of beautiful views. Could even see Denali from the 18th fairway, which my playing partners said is very rare due to the almost ever present overcast. I was lucky that this was the nicest weather day of the trip.


The course was designed by Bill Newcomb. I did a quick search here and most of the comments have been pretty negative about his courses, other than Calderone in Michigan and this one.


Here are a few photos and  a link to photos of all 18 holes: https://www.flickr.com/photos/golfcoursepix/albums/72177720319950956







Anchorage #2 827 approach





Anchorage #3 830 par 3





Anchorage #5  approach





Anchorage #6  par 5





Anchorage #8 par 3





Anchorage #11  downhill approach





Anchorage #12  from tee





Anchorage #12  view back





Anchorage #15 short par 4 from tee zoomed





Anchorage #17 par 5

[Tommy Williamsen]

Nice pictures, Stweart. I'm glad you enjoyed the round. It is a beautiful place to play, and my wife and I enjoyed the round immensely. The topsy-turvy landforms add to the fun. The player has to negotiate the uneven lies.

[Forrest Richardson]

Hadn’t seen this thread. We’ve been working at Anchorage GC for the past 16 years. It’s a slow process due to logistics, hesitancy to interrupt play (short season!) and my trouble getting everything from sand to supplies to shapers! Still, it’s a great setting and we’ve made good headway at rebuilding bunkers and some of the greens that needed work. Thanks for the nice comments.

[Stewart Abramson]

Hadn’t seen this thread. We’ve been working at Anchorage GC for the past 16 years. It’s a slow process due to logistics, hesitancy to interrupt play (short season!) and my trouble getting everything from sand to supplies to shapers! Still, it’s a great setting and we’ve made good headway at rebuilding bunkers and some of the greens that needed work. Thanks for the nice comments.

Some of the bunkers could definitely use additional sand. A few looked like hard pan. I'd guess that based on the weather/climate that's difficult to avoid without a big budget


I thought the greens were really good. Many had capacity for numerous fun pin placements that would require different types and landing zones for approach shots. There were a few with internal humps, but the green speeds were perfect to enable makable downhill putts. I wish I had taken some close up photos of the greens I liked the most.  Which greens do you have planned for future changes?

[Garland Bayley]

Driving back to Anchorage, we played Settlers Bay in Wasilla, about forty miles north of Anchorage. ...

Could you see Russia from the clubhouse? 

[Tommy Williamsen]

Driving back to Anchorage, we played Settlers Bay in Wasilla, about forty miles north of Anchorage. ...

Could you see Russia from the clubhouse? 

No, I guess you can only see it from Palin's home.

[Paul Rudovsky]

So in mid August 2017, I had played about 980 courses and had played in 48 states...missing UT and AK.  Do I flew Delta BOS to MSP...and played Keller...a superb public track (for certain a "6" or "6+" on Doak scale) that has hosted two PGA Championships ('32 and '54) and one Western Open ('49).  I then flew (Delta again) non stop to SLC and played The Country Club there to get to 49 states finishing play in th eafternoon and catching a non stop Delta flight to Anchorage landing around midnight.  Course is about 3-5 miles from airport  so stayed in nearby hotel and was on the first tee for my reserved tee time at about 7:15am.  Got in my round and flew immediately to Seattle and onto Southern Calif so that I could play San Joaquin CC, Del Paso CC, Edgewood Tahoe, Clear Creek (by far the best track on this trip), and Lahotan the following several days.  Anchorage was #982 for me and Lahotan #987.  I hit the 1000 mark at U of NM Championship Course about 6 weeks later.  In between Lahotan and NM I had been to (in order) WI, CT, MA, Scotland and NY.  Such was the life of a golfing madman!


I really liked Anchorage.  Tommy...just had a thought while typing this post that something about Anchorage reminded me of La Tourette in Staten Island which I would guess you know every sq inch of.  Had never had that thought before (only played La Tourette 1x in early 1970's and have no idea what aspect of the two courses (other than both having 18 holes with flagsticks in each hole) made me have that thought.


If you are having trouble sleeping...then go to my old Blog (Google "Rudo's Golf Travels") posts #89-101 August-October 2017.  That should cure any insomnia. BTW stopped posting to the blog a few years ago as I was traveling and playing so much I didn't have time to create the posts

[Forrest Richardson]

The sand in Anchorage is FAA airport runway sand used to prevent icing. The last batch we got had to come from the Air Force base as they had all of it in the region.

Greens yet to work on: 6, 7, 10, 11, 16 and 18. Plus a 6-hole par-3 course called the “Little Bear” which the USGA helped fund for planning.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Forest, when I was there last year, the GM and pro only had good things to say about what you have done/are doing. It is a wonderful course for the locals to play. Did you have anything to do with expanding the practice area?

[Forrest Richardson]

Yes, we did expand the practice area.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Yes, we did expand the practice area.

Seems like you had to move a lot of dirt to do it. It is a great practice area.

[Forrest Richardson]

Thanks. We worked with a local contractor who lowered the upper area at right so we could level out the hillside. It’s tricky in Alaska as we’re always needing equipment, shapers and components — drainage pipe, irrigation, etc. It’s a battle! Nothing’s easy, but we enjoy the people and challenge.