Gamble Sands is situated in Brewster, Washington.
Brian Oar
As a part of GOLF’s rigorous rankings course of for our newly launched High 100 Programs within the U.S. and High 100 Programs You Can Play rankings, our fleet of 100-plus knowledgeable panelists recognized one of the best golf programs in each state.
You’ll be able to try the hyperlinks beneath to browse all of our course rankings, or scroll right down to see one of the best programs in Washington. And if you happen to’re seeking to create your individual journey sooner or later, you’d be sensible to let GOLF’s new Course Finder software help you. Right here, you may toggle all of our lists — High 100 public, finest munis, finest quick programs, finest par-3s and extra — or filter by value to create the right itinerary on your subsequent journey.
GOLF’s different course rankings: High 100 Programs within the World | High 100 Programs within the U.S. | High 100 Programs You Can Play | High 100 Worth Programs within the U.S. | America’s Greatest Municipal Programs | The 100 Greatest Quick Programs within the World
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One of the best golf programs in Washington (2024/2025)
SYMBOL GUIDE
# = High 100 Course within the U.S.
Y = High 100 You Can Play within the U.S.
V = High 100 Worth Course within the U.S.
P = Public/Resort
Ed. observe: Some programs have been omitted from our rankings as a result of they didn’t obtain sufficient votes.
1. Gamble Sands (Brewster) [#,Y,P]
After stamping his identify on some penal, polarizing programs, Bandon Dunes designer McLay Kidd had what he describes as a come-to-the-mountain second. It was time to return to his Scottish roots and the basics that had labored so nicely at Bandon. In different phrases, time to place a renewed emphasis on enjoyable. In apple-orchard nation in Jap Washington, Kidd formed fairways as large as touchdown strips whereas including contours that steer borderline photographs away from bother. Greens are sizable however tame, with tightly mown runoffs the place putter is commonly the wiser play. Whereas the course has hosted top-flight newbie occasions, it’s the poster-child of design for everybody. Enjoyable, it seems, isn’t dropping your ball. It’s discovering it with ease, after which sorting via the choices for find out how to play it subsequent.
2. Chambers Bay (College Place) [Y,P]
“Linksy” could be probably the most overused phrase in golf, however Chambers Bay is the true deal. Carved out of a former gravel mine exhausting by Puget Sound, the Robert Trent Jones Jr. format presents magnificent water views from nearly each gap. Prepare tracks and a design that welcomes bump-and-run photographs add to the British Open vibe, however the sweeping Olympic Mountain vistas are pure Americana. On the 2015 U.S. Open, the dry, bumpy greens confounded the professionals — Henrik Stenson griped that it was “like placing on broccoli.” However these fantastic fescue surfaces have since transitioned to native poa annua, so gamers now get pleasure from a a lot smoother placing expertise…once they’re not distracted by these beautiful water views.
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3. Aldarra (Sammamish)
4. Sahalee – S/N (Sammamish)
5. Seattle GC (Seattle)
6. Wine Valley CC (Walla Walla) [Y,P]
Golfers are accustomed to seeing fescue blowing within the breeze by the ocean, however what about 200 miles inland between alfalfa fields and Syrah vines? Dan Hixson, the brains behind Silvies Valley Ranch and Bandon Crossings, approached his work at Wine Valley as if he have been shaping linksland moderately than the sphere of untamed grass that was his canvas. Monstrous bunkers and rifts of waste areas require considerate play, however the fairways are large sufficient and greens expansive sufficient to supply a lot variance setup from spherical to spherical. The par-5s, together with the punchbowl seventh, additionally will make you assume: hit the exhausting shot now … or later.
7. Tumble Creek (Cle Elum)
8. Gold Mountain – Olympic (Bremerton) [V,P]
Not a lot has modified since 2011 when then-17-year-old Jordan Spieth gained the U.S. Junior Beginner right here — as a result of why mess with an excellent factor? Elevation modifications produce difficult lies on large fairways lined by 100-foot fir and cedar bushes. The greens have loads of refined breaks, and adjoining assortment areas will check your quick recreation. The course drains nicely (a useful trait within the Pacific Northwest), however there’s everlasting water on six holes. Just one gap — the signature par-3 sixteenth — is all carry over the hazard. The reachable par-4 nearer presents an enormous threat/reward alternative, with water up the precise aspect to the inexperienced. The Seattle ferry docks solely quarter-hour from the course. Charges: range with on-demand tee-time pricing.
9. Fircrest (Fircrest)
10. Canterwood (Gig Harbor)
How we rank our programs
For our newly launched High 100 U.S. and High 100 You Can Play lists — a course of that helped us create 50 best-in-state rankings — every panelist was offered a poll that consisted of 609 programs. Beside the record of programs have been 11 “buckets,” or groupings. If our panelists thought of a course to be among the many prime three within the U.S., they ticked that first column. In the event that they believed the course to be amongst Nos. 4-10, they checked that column, adopted by 11-25, 26-50, and so forth out to 250+ and even a column for “take away.” Panelists have been additionally free to jot down in programs that they felt ought to have been included on the poll.
Factors have been assigned to every bucket; to reach at a mean rating for every course, we divide its mixture rating by the variety of votes. From these level tallies, the programs are then ranked accordingly. It’s an deliberately easy and easy course of. Why? As a result of it traditionally has produced outcomes which are extensively lauded. Like the sport itself, there’s no have to unnecessarily complicate issues or attempt to repair one thing that already works so nicely.
The important thing to the method is the expertise and experience of our panel. Hailing from 15 nations and all of the worldwide golf meccas, every of our 127 handpicked panelists has a eager eye for structure, each regionally and globally. A lot of our panelists have performed greater than 1,000 programs in 20-plus nations, some over 2,000. Their handicaps vary from +5 to fifteen.
