14 Hour SeaTac Layover !!!!

[PBokor]

^ Thanks.

 

[Mr. Butlertron]

Sorry, I mean near SeaTac and Lakewood Park. My wife sent in an application to a place pretty close to the airport that is open 7am - 7pm, it seems like the most flexible hours of operation around there.

 

[Mr. Butlertron]

I'm actually looking at something similar, but in the first weekend of April. I'll probably do an overnight before I drive out. I can report back if I play any of those courses.

So, how was your trip to Seattle? How soggy are the courses looking this time of year?

 

[Stardoggy]

So, how was your trip to Seattle? How soggy are the courses looking this time of year?

It was good. Everything was just muddy most of the time. Not over the top, but enough of a pain in the ass...

Saturday was :
SeaTac/Lakewood/Mineral Springs/Terrace Creek
Sunday was:
Gateway Guardians/Silver Lake/Ferguson Park/Lake Stevens/Church Creek/Bakerview Park/NSRA, followed by a 5 hour drive (that turned into 6.5 because of a snowstorm in the moutains).
The next Friday, I hit Cornwall Park (Bellingham)
Saturday: Steilacoom (all three courses), Ambient and East Tacoma.

SeaTac was damn fun...I'd love another run at that. The planes flying SO LOW was a trip.
Lakewood was fun, but the lack of signage is gigantic bummer. I was lucky enough to hook up with a local playing solo, or there's no way I would have figured out the nav. Mineral Springs is .....unique. If you've played it, you know what I mean. Terrace Creek was a nice surprise...I very much enjoyed it.

Lake Stevens was decent, especially with the wonky baskets. Silver Lake and Church Creek were decent 9's. NSRA was really fun...loved the scenery. Bakerview was like walking on a muddy sponge...so dirty.

Steila was fun. The 9 was surprisingly good, SE was good, and NW was really good. NW is my kinda course. Ambient...LoL. They made a decent course in a really small space.

All in all, a darn fun two weekends, with some fantastic mountain driving in between!

 

[Mr. Butlertron]

Wow, talk about grinding out some courses. That's pretty impressive. Thanks for the info, sounds like navigating Lakewood in a timely manner might require a guide.

 

[Mr. Butlertron]

Unfortunaly, my weather app forecast says 60% chance of rain on the 27th. Maybe it will clear up as Thursday nears. Either way, I'm still chucking plastic.

 

[jeffmonty]

Stardoggy, you forgot to tell us your experience at East Tacoma.

Unfortunaly, my weather app forecast says 60% chance of rain on the 27th. Maybe it will clear up as Thursday nears. Either way, I'm still chucking plastic.

I don't put too much stock in a forecast that's more than 4 or 5 days out around here, it could go either way. We've had a really wet winter, but there have actually been alot of chances to play without getting completely soaked, or even wet for that matter.

 

[Tim_the_Enchanter]

Wow, talk about grinding out some courses. That's pretty impressive. Thanks for the info, sounds like navigating Lakewood in a timely manner might require a guide.

I could likely join you if you'd like a guide. Lakewood flows intuitively once you've been through it a couple times, but it's one of those things that locals have played it for so long we forget how it looks to newcomers. Fortunately, I do believe that tee signs are planned for the near future.

 

[Tim_the_Enchanter]

It was good. Everything was just muddy most of the time. Not over the top, but enough of a pain in the ass...

Saturday was :
SeaTac/Lakewood/Mineral Springs/Terrace Creek
Sunday was:
Gateway Guardians/Silver Lake/Ferguson Park/Lake Stevens/Church Creek/Bakerview Park/NSRA, followed by a 5 hour drive (that turned into 6.5 because of a snowstorm in the moutains).
The next Friday, I hit Cornwall Park (Bellingham)
Saturday: Steilacoom (all three courses), Ambient and East Tacoma.

SeaTac was damn fun...I'd love another run at that. The planes flying SO LOW was a trip.
Lakewood was fun, but the lack of signage is gigantic bummer. I was lucky enough to hook up with a local playing solo, or there's no way I would have figured out the nav. Mineral Springs is .....unique. If you've played it, you know what I mean. Terrace Creek was a nice surprise...I very much enjoyed it.

Lake Stevens was decent, especially with the wonky baskets. Silver Lake and Church Creek were decent 9's. NSRA was really fun...loved the scenery. Bakerview was like walking on a muddy sponge...so dirty.

Steila was fun. The 9 was surprisingly good, SE was good, and NW was really good. NW is my kinda course. Ambient...LoL. They made a decent course in a really small space.

All in all, a darn fun two weekends, with some fantastic mountain driving in between!

I'm embarrassed to say that you've played some courses that I didn't even know existed.

Yeah, Mineral Springs/North Park is indeed an interesting course. It's the kind of course that would be awesome in someone's back yard, but is pretty ridiculous to have as a city course (let alone the only course actually in Seattle city limits). The history of it is kinda funny/sad--back in the early days of DG, golfers had been playing at some of the large and awesome parks in the city. But being the days before baskets, they just played object golf. All was fine and well, until some genius decided to spray paint the trees that were targets and DG was promptly stopped. The local club at the time petitioned to have a course legitimately installed, and the park they got was Mineral Springs. Seattle could have had some epic city courses, but due to some narrow thinking, we got a 2.7 acre sliver of land.

Totally agree with your assessment on Steilly too. It's always been an interesting course, but the local club really stepped up and made it great, especially the NW course.

 

[Mr. Butlertron]

I could likely join you if you'd like a guide. Lakewood flows intuitively once you've been through it a couple times, but it's one of those things that locals have played it for so long we forget how it looks to newcomers. Fortunately, I do believe that tee signs are planned for the near future.

The more the merrier, please join us. I think your suggestion on playing the furthest courses first is the approach we want to take. We're thinking about Riverside -> White River -> Lakewood as our itinerary. What can you tell me about Riverside? Are you familiar with the layout? Do they have new directional signs up yet?

 

[Stardoggy]

Stardoggy, you forgot to tell us your experience at East Tacoma.



I don't put too much stock in a forecast that's more than 4 or 5 days out around here, it could go either way. We've had a really wet winter, but there have actually been alot of chances to play without getting completely soaked, or even wet for that matter.

Ha. Calling East Tacoma a course is generous. I kinda sorta ended up doing some safari to at least feel like I threw 9 holes.

 

[Stardoggy]

Wow, talk about grinding out some courses. That's pretty impressive. Thanks for the info, sounds like navigating Lakewood in a timely manner might require a guide.

Bagging is an addiction. But yeah, you'll want a serious map or a local for Lakewood. For some reason, nobody blinked when I asked about the lack of signage on Seattle courses. I guess it's just a thing there.

 

[Mr. Butlertron]

Ok, well I'm a few hours out from catching my flight. The plan is to throw White River and then Lakewood. I'm hoping to be at White River around noon on Thursday the 27th, but that is totally reliant on arrival time, which should be 930, then getting through the airport with luggage, rental car, the traffic, ect. I will be using a temp cell phone( 5593040646) when I get there. I'll be the guy carrying a black mahal!

 

[PBokor]

...I'm hoping to be at White River around noon on Thursday the 27th, but that is totally reliant on arrival time, which should be 930, then getting through the airport with luggage, rental car, the traffic, ect. I will be using a temp cell phone( 5593040646) when I get there. I'll be the guy carrying a black mahal!

Cool. I won't be around for Lakewood (not that I would be of any use since that one is still on my list), but I will make every effort to meet you at White River. I will be the dork wearing a bright neon yellow boonie hat, bright yellow dry fit long sleeve, and a tie dye tee shirt from Mando's in Auburn (White River's host). Call or text when you are about an hour out. See PM for my contact info.

Seattle weather looks to be in your favor as tomorrow afternoon should be just scattered showers and light wind.

 

[SaROCaM]

Heads up: Lakewood may be in its 27-hole ace run configuration. It is supposed to be like that for April 22 and April 29, but they talked about leaving it like that for the whole week. Attached is a map for the ace run layout if they left it that way; otherwise the layout is on the kiosk by the parking lot.

 

[Mr. Butlertron]

Thanks for the information. I grabbed a map/score card from the pro shop, which made navigating the course much more manageable. Fun course

 

[Mr. Butlertron]

I'd like to say a big thanks to everyone for the advice and feedback. I was able to land, visit white river and lakewood dgc, then caught a flight out. Reviews upcoming shortly.

 

[SaROCaM]

It's great you were able to play a couple of the good courses in the area. Hope you had an enjoyable time, and happy travels!