Seattle Golf Club (Photo Tour)

[Peter Ferlicca]

Seattle Golf Club is located in Seattle a little north of the city along the Puget Sound.   The clubhouse occupies the Sound view, but that doesn't take away from the setting that the golf course is in.  I found Seattle Golf Club to be a lovely round of golf on a stimulating course.  IMO, it felt like Olympic Club and Gold Mountain Olympic Course a lot of times throughout the round with the uphill downhill holes.  The course has quite a bit of elevation change to it.  It has had a lot of designers leave their touch on it, there are photos in the clubhouse on how it looked in each stage of its life.  The oldest routing obviously had very few fairway bunkers and A LOT less trees.  There were about 3 or 4 holes that felt pretty tight of the tee, but other than that it was pretty open.  The greens had subtle breaks and were rolling perfect for poa greens.  This was a very enjoyable round of golf.  The course favors a right to left shot, at least that is how I felt since I play a cut and felt very comfortable out there, except on #15.  All the par 5's are reachable which makes it birdies opportunities very easy.  The course is not that hard, and is set-up for the older membership.   I actually prefer a course with lighter rough for pace of play issues.  I am sure all the Seattle GCAers will chime in on their thoughts. 

Here is the course

Hole 1 Par 4 (422 yards)  A gentle left to right tee shot over a hill, with an approach to a green just below the grade of the fairway. 





Hole 2 Par 4 (366 yards)  This is the hole like Olympic, a dogleg left hole with the fairway sloping hard left to right, and the approach is very uphill.





Hole 3 Par 4 (393 yards)  A dowhill tee shot to an uphill green approach.  Must be a little right on the tee shot or will be blocked out by the trees short left of the green.







Hole 4 Par 4 (363 yards)  A hard dogleg right, must be able to hit a cut here. 





Hole 5 Par 3 (204 yards)  A long par 3 with a narrow entrace onto the green. 





Hole 6 Par 4 (409 yards)  A straight par 4 with bunkers guarding each side of the fairway.





Hole 7 Par 5 (523 yards)  First par 5 on the course,  another tee shot where a power fade will set you up perfectly to be able to approach the green that has water left.






Hole 8 Par 3 (180 yards)  Par 3 with water right





Hole 9 Par 5 (511 yards)  A steep uphill Par 5, but is still reachable after a good drive.  I love how you aim at the flagpole on the second shot. 






Hole 10 Par 4 (424 yards)  I love the look of this hole, the fairway tumbles downhill letting everyone hit a deep drive, then the approach shot is to a green cut into the side of the hill sloping hard back to front with two perfect bunkers on the left.    Great looking ampitheatre






Hole 11 Par 3 (194 yards)  Par 3 over water, plays tougher than it looks




Hole 12 Par 4 (391 yards )  As Saltzman was so fond of the Maxwell tee shots over a slight hill with no significance on where to go.  You would have no clue that the hole bends hard right with an approach downhill with water right.  Good Hole




Hole 13 Par 4 (398 yards)  A hard dogleg left with bunkers flanking the whole right side of the fairways for the sliced ball.  The approach shot is uphill to a green guarderd by bunker





Hole 14 Par 5 (533 yards)  A cool downhill par 5 tee shot where you better place the ball perfectly if you want to have a go at the green.  Every shot is important, as the layup must be positioned perfectly left of the overhanging tree to have a shot into the green.







Hole 15 Par 4 (396 yards)  I found this to be the most difficult tee shot and then noticed it was the #1 handicap hole.  Must hit a tight draw to avoid all the trees of the tee.  Then hit a well struck iron to a uphill green sloping back to front. 





Hole 16 Par 3 (197 yards)  Par 3 with water left




Hole 17 Par 4 (404 yards)  A hard uphill dogleg right that goes up the hill the whole hole





Hole 18 Par 5 (528 yards)  A downhill tee shot to a generous fairway with water left.  You then must thread a good second shot in between the trees that guard the green uphill. 

[Frank M]

I know pictures of golf courses in the northwest tend to make everything look much tighter than they are, but from my experience with courses like Capilano and pictures in general, they usually deceive.

[Matthew Essig]

The pictures aren't that deceiving. It really is that tight.

[Frank M]

The pictures aren't that deceiving. It really is that tight.

I really only have issue with two or three holes being tight in the photos, and even then it's really only one or two specific trees.

[John Kirk]

As always, Peter, great photo tour.  It looks very nice.  Perhaps not a comprehensive test of golf, but a pleasant, lush walk through the woods.  To me, the par threes look quite similar, and seem to have similar lengths.  Did you hit different clubs on the par threes?

Thanks again.  Hope you are enjoying your summer up here.

[Matthew Sander]

Thank you for the photos Peter. Yeah, it may look tight in some spots, but it is the Pacific Northwest.

You know, on most of these photo tours I browse through the pictures first and then go back and read the poster's descriptions. When I was looking at the pictures, the 10th really stood out to me and my own mental notes turned out to be almost identical to your description. Great minds...?

I hate to belabor the topic, but one question regarding trees. What in the world are those small trees (I assume saplings, but I'm no  arborist) doing in the first photo of hole 13?

[Peter Ferlicca]

John,
I hit 4 hybrid on #5, and then 6 iron on #8, 5 iron on both 11 and 16.  Yeah the par 3s didn't blow me away by any means.

As for the tightness goes, for the Pacific Northwest there are really only a couple holes that are pretty tight, other than that it is pretty open on both sides. 

Matt,  I didn't even notice those trees when I was teeing off, I just looked at them now that you pointed them out, and yes they are very ugly and out of place.

And for others out there I can't emphasize enough about how when you are at the clubhouse, you have the putting green, 1 and 10 tee, and then 9 and 18 green and then there is a huge drop off down to a lower valley, it creates quite a view standing up on the putting green. 

[Sean Leary]

The pictures aren't that deceiving. It really is that tight.

Totally disagree. Compared to most other "like courses" in the PNW, it is not tight at all. Like Sahalee or Eugene, the trees are huge so pics make it looks tighter than it is.

On a nice day, no better place to spend an afternoon around here than at than Seattle GC. Very cool place.

[Matthew Essig]

I hate to belabor the topic, but one question regarding trees. What in the world are those small trees (I assume saplings, but I'm no  arborist) doing in the first photo of hole 13?

As I caddied there for a very short amount of time, I can answer that. When the course was lengthened and renovated, the trees were put in to add color to a very green colored course. In the spring, the trees have beautiful pink blossoms. They are located in a few other spots. However, the members agree with you guys; they are ugly the rest of the year and there is a strong chance they will be removed.

While some holes have some width, most holes are quite tight. As a caddy there, the number one thing you focus on is not losing balls that go slightly offline.

[Sean_A]

I guess PNW parkland courses are not my bag as I detest the green walls - especially the christmas tree variety.  The course looks as if it is being consumed by green. 

Thanks for the pix Peter.  These really do prove that golf is a big world.

Ciao

[Kalen Braley]

While this course may not be my fav visually....it still looks a lot more appealing to me than Sahalee.  At least there is some room to work with out there.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I played the course a dozen years ago.  When I looked at the pictures it didn't seem like the course I played.  I didn't remember it being as tight as the pictures seem to indicate.  Also, I found the course more interesting than the pictures show.  It just proves that pictures do not necessarily tell the whole story of a course.

[Pete_Pittock]

Pete,
It been about 30 years since I played there. It doesn't look that tight if you use the sliding bar at the bottom of the pictures.

[Steve_Lovett]

I played Seattle Golf Club a month or so ago. It's a terrific golf course and a special club. The clubhouse is one of my favorites anywhere - classical and timeless, with a great setting.

The notion that Seattle Golf Club isn't a comprehensive test of golf is wrong. It hosted the Pac-10 golf championships a couple of years ago and I understand that it presented a severe test. Unfortunately, the photos flatten the courses features - especially the greens. The scale of the mature trees are impressive and makes the golf course feel tighter than it is. There are a few places that ARE tight (#3, #12, #14, #15, #17), but not unreasonably so.

If you ever can play Seattle Golf, I highly recommend that you do...