The upper Northwest corner of Washington State offers a delicious menu of golf treats, all in various shapes and sizes of plush greenery.
The area north and south of Bellingham booms with golf personality and championship challenges.
Bargain prices, stellar maintenance, beautiful layouts and breathtaking views combined with the upcoming pristine spring and summer weather makes the Northwest corner of the state a can’t-miss golf destination.
From Arlington to Blaine, there’s always a fine-tuned layout to play, a posh place to stay and a price that’s guaranteed to be well worth the investment.
Every golfer, from novice to pro, can find something that suits their game and satisfies their golf appetite.
Go take a bite out of some of the state’s best courses and a region filled with enough quality to make it worth a summer tour.
Every stop along the way offers something worthwhile. Here’s some of what Inside Golf recommends each golfer experience.
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Semiahmoo: World-class resort
The 36-hole destination resort, located in Blaine, offers two of the toughest public courses in the state in Loomis Trail and Semiahmoo golf & country clubs. Plus, there are plenty of water hazards between the two. Loomis Trail was ranked No. 1 public course in Washington by Golf Digest (2005) and was the only Washington state course ranked in the nation’s Top 100. Loomis Trail, open to the public on even days of the month, combines the magic of scenic beauty and dry conditions suitable for year-round play. Tree-lined Semiahmoo, ranked the No. 3 public course by Golf Digest (2005), offers five holes with water and a course that can stretch to 7,005 yards from the tips. This course is open to the public on odd days of the month. Both courses are a bargain from March through May, Monday through Thursday at $45 for the public and $40 to those staying at the waterfront Semiahmoo hotel. Semiahmoo features a tough 1-2 punch with hazard-filled hole Nos. 11 and 12. Water lines the right side of the fairway at the 371-yard, par-4 11th hole and flanks the green, making both the tee shot and approach tough. No. 12 is a 173-yard par-3 that offers a tee shot over water, the same hazard from the previous hole. There is room left to avoid water, but miss it right and you’re wet.
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Semiahmoo Resort Course |
Sudden Valley: Two different nines
Anyone who has ever played here knows their signature hole – the 15th hole, also known as the cliff hole. This hole has golfers teeing off some 300 feet above the fairway - providing some inspiring hang-time for well hit balls. The tee shot must be precise and long for a perfect angle to the pin. The shot can be intimidating, but rewarding if placed properly.
Sudden Valley Golf Club was designed by Ted Robinson (also designed Sahalee) to be the centerpiece of a housing community and has received a four-star rating by Golf Digest.
The course is known for its two distinctly different nines. The front nine winds past the southern shores of Lake Whatcom and is relatively flat and open. The back nine wanders through the trees offering some narrow fairways and variations in elevation.
Sudden Valley has hosted several major Northwest tournaments including a Washington State Open, four Washington State Men’s Amateur Championships, a Master-40, a Washington State Senior Women’s Championship, the Men’s Mid-Am.
Holmes Harbor: Big-time vistas
Located in Freeland on Whidbey Island, Holmes Harbor Golf & Beach Club proves big things come in small packages.
The par-64 course measures just 4,371 yards, but provides many big-time vistas and one par-5 among its offerings.
Holmes Harbor overlooks an inlet along Puget Sound’s panoramic Saratoga Passage and views of Mount Baker and the Cascade Mountains. The 18th hole, the lone par-5 at 463 yards, concludes the round with great look at the harbor and the Cascades.
The course was owned by a group led by former Seattle SuperSonics standout Jack Sikma, but now is owned by Mark Schuster. Golfers can enjoy a fine meal or beverage at the Beachfire Grill, located at the marina.
Homestead Farms: Island green
The island green at the par-5 finishing hole brings many golfers back to the Lynden course. The 525-yard hole offers gutsy and talented golfers the opportunity to go for the green in two, but the shot requires a carry over water and precision to hit the island green.
Golf Digest once ranked the hole’s green as one of the nation’s top island greens. The finishing hole, surrounded by walls of flowers, water and sand, is aesthetically pleasing.
Stay dry and birdie is a possibility. Par is still a good score on this beautiful hole.
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North Bellingham: Links style golf
The link to links golf is North Bellingham Golf Course – this course gives golfers the links-style feel. The openness leaves you exposed to the elements and one’s game at the mercy of the wind at times.
The greens are firm and fast, making a balky putter something to leave at home. The well-manicured greens always roll true and put a premium on good putting. Be advised, during the summer months these greens can become firm and fast and you must take this into consideration if you are going to score here. What this course lacks in scenery it make up in character.
The layout offers 12 ponds and many white-sand bunkers. This test is accented by the views of the Cascades. | 
North Bellingham Golf Course |
Eaglemont: Hills and more hills
Mount Vernon has a true treasure in Eaglemont Golf Club with its meandering fairways, shots over wetlands and eye-opening views of the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges.
The John Steidel-designed course offers the challenge of long carries over wetlands, off the tee and on approach shots. Success with these shots is the kind thing that brings players back. But, just in case, bring some extra balls.
Because the course winds up, around, and over some pretty intense terrain, you will want to plan of riding. You might also want to throw in a camera - the last time we played here we saw a bobcat that was not in any hurry to run away from our intrusion.
The carved-from-the-forest course, which features many changes in elevation, has added new tee boxes in recent years to suit all calibers of golfers.
San Juans: Three courses to try
A trio of nine-hole courses – Orcas Island Golf Club, Lopez Island Golf Club and San Juan Golf & Country Club – provide quality golf to vacationers in the San Juan Islands.
Orcas Island is the oldest of the three courses, opening for play in Eastsound in 1949. It’s a popular destination in summer.
Lopez Island was built more than 40 years ago. San Juan sits near the popular tourist town of Friday Harbor and offers stunning vistas during the round.
Avalon: All-day golf an option
The kingdom of Avalon, home of All-Day golf – Avalon Golf Links of Burlington is the only 27-hole facility in the area and well worth the 50-minute drive from the Seattle area. Avalon, which means an island represented as an earthly paradise in the western seas to which King Arthur and other heroes were carried at death, is a golfing paradise just off Interstate 5.
The Robert Muir Graves-designed course is a bargain all the way. Avalon offers a pay-for-18 holes and play all-day promotion seven days a week, 365 days a year (rates vary depending on the day of the week). Also, Avalon provides golfers a free round on their birthday with proper identification.
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Shuksan: Nature golf at its best
The theme of the Bellingham course is nature. There are wetlands peppered throughout the course and come into play on the very first hole.
Elevated tees and greens are prominent throughout the layout, starting with the first. Ten Mile Creek meanders throughout the layout and cuts across many of the fairways keeping golfers on guard.
Shuksan Golf Club added length to the course recently and it now stretches beyond 7,000 yards from the back tees. The course makes you hit every club in your bag.
The clubhouse overlooks the front nine and a well-placed deck can be a great place to relax following a round of golf.
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Shuksan Golf Course |
Private clubs: Variety to play
They might not be the biggest and flashiest clubs in the Pacific Northwest, but Grays Harbor Country Club and Peninsula Golf Club are two private places for golfers to play on the Olympic Peninsula.
From the south, Grays Harbor has been around since 1912 with its distinctive nine-hole layout that winds through the trees in Cosmopolis.
Not only is the course a treat to play with its dual-tee layout, there is also plenty more, including a swimming pool, restaurant and more.
The ninth-hole, a 190-yard par-3, is a memorable way to finish the round. A tough tee shot to a green with sand right.
Peninsula Golf Club in Port Angeles is another older club, having opened for play in 1924. The course, which plays to over 6,300 yards and par-72, overlooks the nearby Strait of Juan de Fuca.
