Gamble Sands - David McLay Kidd - Photo Tour - All Holes Posted

[Richard Choi]

Flyover: http://www.bestapproachflyovers.com/GMB_gamblesands/flyovers/hole06.mp4

I am a sucker for redan holes, and even though this is not a pure redan, it has most of the elements to make it quite interesting.

The tee shot is quite intimidating. The hole is long and it looks like you have one hellacious carry between you and the hole.



But the look is deceiving as the green is significantly downhill and there is significant amount of fairway in front and right of the green that will feed the ball towards the green even if you hit a tee shot 30 or 40 yards short of the hole.



A great way to attack this hole is to hit a sweeping draw towards the bunker on the right that lands about 20 yards short of the green and let the ball run to the hole. With the long iron/hybrid you will be hitting, this hole will definitely play like a legit redan.



There is a spine in the fairway that will feed the ball to the front and back, depending on where you land it.

The green itself is divided into three shelves, which puts premium on controlling your distance with your tee shot (which is a bit tricky when you are rolling the ball into the hole).

This is probably the best par 3 on the course, in my opinion.

[Richard Choi]

Flyover: http://www.bestapproachflyovers.com/GMB_gamblesands/flyovers/hole07.mp4

This is a 4 1/2 par cape hole that is high on risk/reward.

The fairway runs left to right diagonally and the entire right side is lined with bunkers and native plants. You have to decide on how much carry you want to take on. If you take a risk and go towards the center bunker or center bunker right, you may be left with a mid or short iron into the green for your second. If you mis-judge it, your ball may not be playable in native hazards putting double bogey or higher in play.



You're dang right Brent went for it...



...and never found his ball.

The fairway is deep and wide so there is really no reason to challenge the carry if you are not so inclined. The center bunker is mostly used as an aiming device and does not really come into play (unless you are ridiculously long).



If you hit to the low side (which most people will), you will have a blind shot to the green on your 2nd and 3rd shots. If you keep to the high side, you will have and excellent view into the green and plenty of fairway to run up to the green.



The green is large and very receptive to a long approach. There is even a back stop long right to catch errant shots. Missing long left will leave you with a very reasonable chips shot as well.



This hole BEGS you to go for it.

[Brent Carlson]

Is there a better 3 hole stretch in Washington than 5-6-7 at Gamble?  Maybe 10-11-12 at Chambers?  It's safe to say this stretch is in rarified air.

Regarding #6 - check out the picture looking back from #5 green. See the wooden block on the right?  That's the back tee marker for #6.  The green to tee walks are excellent, similar to Ballyneal where one can tee it just off the green.

The right to left "redan" slope is a blast.  Like Richard said the prudent play is to utilize the slope to funnel your ball, but we saw a high fade hold the green as well.  Two plays is not enough to master the spine in the green.  With repeated plays I'm sure one can become efficient at funneling ones ball to the proper portion of the green.

The difference between back and medal tees is huge on #7.  From back tees a modest length driver can get home in two.  However from the medal tees the right side requires serious carry.  The hole is still reachable but strategy becomes much more important off the tee.  The tee shot is everything on this hole.

[Pete_Pittock]

Gold Mountain (Olympic) 16-18?
By the way I was +7 on 5 thru 7.

[Brent Carlson]

Peter,

Good call on Olympic.  Nice course.  17 is special. 

This thread has lost steam.  Richard - let's pick it up.

[Richard Choi]

I am back from the holidays and ready to finish this tour. Let’s do this!

http://www.bestapproachflyovers.com/GMB_gamblesands/flyovers/hole08.mp4

There are several drivable par 4’s at Gamble Sands, and this is the second in the series and probably the friendliest of them all.

The three center line bunkers that line the fairway (reminds me of the first hole at Tetherow) dictate everything on this hole. The fairway to the left is narrower and a bit harder to access, but it will give you a better entrance to the green. Your goal is to just step up to the tee and rip the drive as long as you can. You know it is easy when Leary hit the green with drive on both rounds…



The green is on the left side, but if you miss to the right, there is plenty of fairway to catch your errant drive. You just have to negotiate the bunkers between you and the (semi-blind) pin.



If you do hit a drive to the correct side, you have a very accessible green. There is plenty of space to miss on the left and the front right has humps to guide shorter approach towards the pin.



This infinity green provides a FABULOUS view to the river below. There are enough subtle movements from back to front to make the long putts interesting. Missing long is dead as it will run straight into natives and lies will be iffy at best.

[Richard Choi]

Flyover: http://www.bestapproachflyovers.com/GMB_gamblesands/flyovers/hole08.mp4

The ninth hole, along with the fifth, is probably the best looking hole from the tee box at Gamble Sands. Everything just looks natural, unforced and relaxed, as though this hole has been just sitting here for a millennia.



The strategy is to hit the tee shot just short of the sand trap on the left which will give you the best angle to the green. It is not necessary to hit a driver here. If you miss to the right, there is a hidden sand trap that will catch most drives and leave you with a tricky approach over the sand to the pin.



Most courses wish they had a single approach shot this pretty…



As you can see, there is a sideboard to the left and long that will help you with pulled shots. The green is two tiered so the distance control is in demand on this approach.



You can see the tiers on the green better from this view.

[Tom Kelly]

The course looks really cool, but are those fairways really as big as the photos make them look? I thought Castle Stuart was wide but this place makes it look like a (pre 2014) US Open venue!

I'm pretty sure I would be able miss a few but are missed fairways a common occurrence or rare beasts?

[Scott Weersing]

Thanks for the photo tour.

One thing that stands out to me, and makes the course a must visit sometime for me, no cart paths!

So, are there cart paths and are they in the sagebrush?

How long is the drive from Portland, OR? Are there any other courses in the area worth playing?

[Richard Choi]

Tom, the fairways are indeed wide. Probably the widest that I have played along with Streamsong Blue and Wine Valley. Most players should not have too much problem finding the fairways, though there are occasional bunkers that will catch your drives if your tee shots are not properly thought out. The natives are such that you have a reasonable chance of finding your ball as long as you know the general area where it landed. You probably won't lose a ball here on most rounds.

Scott, the cart paths are not paved and run around most greens out of the view and blend into the natives. They really did a great job with cart paths, you really never notice them even when you are playing.

The course is about 7 hours from Portland. However, you can take about an hour detour to Wine Valley (~4 hours) and drive up to Gamble Sands (another 3 1/2 hours). If you hit up Chambers on the way back, you have played three best courses in the Washington state.

[Daryl David]

Since I played Gamble Sands I thought maybe in my mind I had been over imagining the flatness of the fairways and greens. After seeing all the photos, I think not. Man, that is highway flat!  Good news:  the course has at least a dozen perfect emergency landing strips for wayward aircraft.   

[Brent Carlson]

I am back from the holidays and ready to finish this tour. Let’s do this!

http://www.bestapproachflyovers.com/GMB_gamblesands/flyovers/hole08.mp4

There are several drivable par 4’s at Gamble Sands, and this is the second in the series and probably the friendliest of them all.

The three center line bunkers that line the fairway (reminds me of the first hole at Tetherow) dictate everything on this hole. The fairway to the left is narrower and a bit harder to access, but it will give you a better entrance to the green. Your goal is to just step up to the tee and rip the drive as long as you can. You know it is easy when Leary hit the green with drive on both rounds…

Take it easy on my partner.  I owe my post round brisket to this man.  For sure number 8 is on the easy side.  It's not easy to hit the green as Leary was the only one to do so.  There are so many half par holes at Gamble.  I can't recall a course I've played with more.

There's nothing to add on #9 - fun golf hole.  I'd like to approach it from the left side sometime, as the right is not ideal.

[Richard Choi]

Flyover: http://www.bestapproachflyovers.com/GMB_gamblesands/flyovers/hole10.mp4

10th hole is fun little breather after entertaining first nine. This is the furthest spot from the clubhouse as the first nine goes out from the clubhouse and the back nine comes back.

They view from the tee is somewhat similar to the fourth hole as a sea of bunker lines the right side of the hole from tee to green. The green is divided into three sections and your goal here is to fly your tee shot into the correct area.



With the hole being so short, a ground approach is certainly not required, but it is available.



As a group, par 3's at Gamble Sands have the best greens, and the 10th hole green is good as any at Gamble Sands. While the movements are not subtle, it feels very natural and unforced. One section flows gracefully into another while providing numerous interesting pin positions. This is going to be a really fun hole to play when it is up to regular speed.

[Richard Choi]

Flyover: http://www.bestapproachflyovers.com/GMB_gamblesands/flyovers/hole11.mp4

This medium par 4 gives you a variety of choices with the tee shot.

You can layup short of the center bunker and leave yourself a long iron shot into the green from the best angle. OR you can carry the center bunker and approach the green from the left side, where you will have a blind shot to the green over the bunker. OR you can try to BOMB it over the right bunker which will give a wedge to the green with the best view.



If you are REALLY skilled, you can also thread the bunkers to give yourself this ideal approach shot to the green from the right.



Most people will opt to carry the center bunker to the left and end up somewhat left of this view where the green side bunker will hide the pin from you.



This bunker front of the green will swallow most approaches that miss the green. Which is too bad as there is much more room to miss left short and long right than it appears from the fairway.



Sorry, I don't have a better shot of the green here. The green runs from back right to left front. There is a bit of a ridge in the middle that separates the sections, but the green is fairly level, leaving very accessible pin from almost anywhere around the green.

[Michael Dugger]

Considering how badly everyone slammed Castle and Tetherow, I don't blame DMK for the flatter greens.

Can't please everyone.

[Thomas Dai]

Most interesting. Thank you for posting the thread and photos.

An open question, out of interest, how would someone go about constructing a feature such as the long bunker-waste area on the right hand side of this fairway?


How much of the work to complete this feature would have be done by machinery and how much, if any, would there have been hand tool finishing?

Is the sand we can see what's under the whole property or imported or moved from somewhere else on the site?

Are the smallish grassy tufts to the right of the sandy area a native species and thus original on-site vegetation that has arisen on their own or would they have been planted?

I note that the similar bunker-waste area on the opposite side of the fairway seems to have been machine raked but the larger sandy feature on the right side doesn't seem to have been nor are there any hand rakes visible either alongside or within the right side feature.

I've seen features generally akin to this before, in the UK at Castle Stuart for example, and in photos of various newish US courses. Anyone have any photos or videos they could post or link-to of how the construction, either of this site, or of another similar site, was executed?

atb

[Richard Choi]

This is the last of the three driveable par 4's at Gamble Sands and my favorite of the three.

Flyover: http://www.bestapproachflyovers.com/GMB_gamblesands/flyovers/hole12.mp4

The fairway bunker on the right really does not come into play, but it plays with your mind as your ideal line is right over it. This visual intimidation caused everyone in our group to pull the drive left into the bunker front of the green on the left.



Laying up short is probably a good safe play as there is plenty of room and the right side of the green really opens up for you.



But, we didn't drive 3 1/2 hours to play it SAFE!!!

So we ended up playing all of our drives out of this bunker...



This is a tough shot as the green is very deep and you have absolutely no view of the green from the bunker.

The green has a significant back to front slope with a big ridge in the middle. Any shot long right will be gathered by a backboard.



You can see the depth of the green better from this view.

[Richard Choi]

Flyover: http://www.bestapproachflyovers.com/GMB_gamblesands/flyovers/hole13.mp4

This is the most interesting par 5 at Gamble Sands as you have to hit two blind shots on your journey to a bowl green at the end.

The main focus on the tee shot is to carry the short bunker on the right, which really does not come into play, towards the center bunker.



Once you are on the fairway, your are left wondering exactly where to hit your next shot as your view is dominated by the center bunker with no other visual cues.



After hitting your second shot beyond the center bunker, you are left with the second blind shot to the green. The barber pole is the only clue you have on where to aim. Curiously, they remove the pole for afternoon rounds.

The punch bowl green is deceptively located just behind the bunker.



If you trust your aim and able to execute an awkward approach shot over the bunker, you should be rewarded with a ball safely on the large green surface.



Here is the view of the green from the opposite side. You can see there is significant movement to the green with a bowl within a bowl in the middle of the green with three wings surrounding it.



I am guessing most people are not going to be thrilled with hitting into a very large green blind. Getting a birdie here will be a real accomplishment. It is definitely a quirky hole, but I think it is used well here as other holes are quite tame compared to this one.

[Richard Choi]

Thomas, the area is sand based (surrounded by desert) and I doubt that they brought in any sand in for this course.

The sand here is very fine and they pack very tight, forming a very firm based playing ground. All they did was probably to sift the existing sand to weed out rocks and gravel.

Since they pack so tight, I doubt they have to do much raking. They don't seem to blow much in the wind either.

[Thomas Dai]

Thank you Richard. Photo tours like this take a long time to put together so well done. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the course.
atb

[Morgan Clawson]

Great looking place!

The slopes on the scorecard are quite low.  Perhaps the lowest for any significant course built in a long time.  I'm ok with that. Isn't it nice to have the chance of making a low score once in a while?!

The green sites look as "lay of the land" of anything I've seen.

Looking forward to seeing the rest.

[Ben Kodadek]

The slopes on the scorecard are quite low.  Perhaps the lowest for any significant course built in a long time.  I'm ok with that. Isn't it nice to have the chance of making a low score once in a while?!

Morgan,

Very similar rating and slope to the Streamsong courses.  Maybe these guys have figured out that losing 6 balls a round isn't such a blast.

[Brent Carlson]

Great looking place!

The slopes on the scorecard are quite low.  Perhaps the lowest for any significant course built in a long time.  I'm ok with that. Isn't it nice to have the chance of making a low score once in a while?!

The green sites look as "lay of the land" of anything I've seen.

Looking forward to seeing the rest.

Morgan,

The ultimate test is whether you want to go around again right?  We all did and had a blast.  Now some may say the course it too easy, but I found it a breath of fresh air.  It's nice to put a good number on the card. 

From the tips Gamble will be plenty of challenge for 98% of golfers.

[Richard Choi]

Low slope and ratings would not be ideal if the course was boring and uninteresting. Gamble Sands is certainly not boring and is challenging enough for the VAST majority of players. If people built more courses like this there would be more people playing golf.

[Richard Choi]

Most of the tee shots at Gamble Sands are stress free, grip-it-and-rip-it kind of affair. Hole 14 is one of the few tee shots where your sphincter may pucker up a bit.

The fairway is split into two with a wider, more accessible fairway to the right and a tighter, less accessible fairway to the left.



The decision to whether or not to take the riskier route certainly does have consequences as if you take the easier path, you have to deal with the bunker that you must carry (which also hides the view to the pin as well).



If you take the riskier route and succeed, not only do you cut about 20 to 30 yards of length, but you have a very accessible and inviting route to the pin.



The green, however, is far more forgiving as it looks since the back stop will bring back the long misses. The left to right, back to front tilt also helps a great deal with a bump and run shot from the left side of the fairway as well.



This is a really fun hole that I can play over and over again without getting bored.