Seattle/Vancouver 8/15

[elevated plastic]

Starting to roughtly plan my trip to Seatlle/Vancouver. Disc is the main reason for the trip. Can any locals give any insight on must plays and where to avoid. I prefer challenge and quality. If possible could you recommend the smartest way to attack 3 courses a day and the best order to avoid traffic/crowds etc. I plan on 2-3 days in Seattle and 3-4 in Vancouver. Thanks!

 

[Tim_the_Enchanter]

I assume you mean Vancouver, BC? It's been a long time since I've been up there, great city but not a whole lot to offer on the disc front. Now if you mean Vancouver, WA, you're right by Portland so that's a whole new story.

As for Seattle, Lakewood and Seatac are the only really noteworthy ones in Seattle "proper" (neither are technically in city limits.) They're both good courses, Seatac is 27 holes and tough, Lakewood is 20 holes, fun and a lot more forgiving. If I'm playing both in a day, I like to play Seatac first and then Lakewood after so I can feel better about myself. Best to play on a weekday, naturally, Lakewood in particular can get really busy on nice summer afternoons.

Within 1-1.5 hours of the city, you have:

Ft. Steilacoom in Tacoma (2 18's, both challenging, 1 course marked well, the other not so much), about an hour south. Some good elevation changes, and a good mix of open and woodsy holes.

Several high quality courses in the Bremerton area, ~1.5 hours driving or ferry. NAD, Kitsap Fairgrounds, and Bud Pell are all very much worth a visit, and within 15-20 minutes of each other. NAD and Bud Pell have 2 sets of tees, all three are mostly woodsy, but Bud Pell has some open areas too. I always recommend visitors drive around to Bremerton to play, and catch the ferry back (cheaper to ride to Seattle than from it). It's especially nice if you can manage to sail right around sunset, it's some pretty spectacular scenery.

About 1.5 hours south is Shelton Springs. Only 1 course, 18 holes, but it's a good one. Woodsy for the most part, flat, and well thought out. A nice feature is that the short and long tees are offset from each other, so shooting from each one gives the hole a unique feel, so it's worthy of playing multiple times.

Best courses in the area, IMO, if you're looking for good challenging golf are: Seatac, Steilacoom NW course, Bud Pell, and Shelton Springs. Problem is that they're not all that close to each other, so it might be hard to hit all in 3 days, but I don't think you'd be disappointed with any.

 

[elevated plastic]

Thank you for the response. Seatac and Ft Steilacoom caught my eye for sure. Vancouver BC is correct. I forgot about Vancouver WA. I've played there and most everything in Portland. Golf Island Park looks interesting. I'm wondering if it's worth the effort.

 

[Tim_the_Enchanter]

I just remembered this morning that I'd heard good things about Pender Island, and see that that's one and the same as Golf Island. Dunno if it still happens but there had been a big annual tournament there that was supposedly tons of fun--unsanctioned, with all that that implies. Looks like Passive Park in Langley is worth a visit too. The only course I played in Vancouver was Queen Elizabeth park, which was a fun little course with lots of safari potential built into it, but nothing special. It was kind of agonizing, the park itself is huge and gorgeous, but the course is just 9 holes sequestered into one small corner. It could be an epic course, but never will be--like so many great city parks.

 

[GordEzo]

Vancouver BC

Vancouver BC hit list would be ;

Langley -18 holes
Mission - has a very fun 9 holer , not too far from Langley
Grouse Mtn.- pay per play 18 holes , loose your mind views from high above city and ocean . Plays down and back up a ski run , I doubt you could put yourself thru 2 rounds in a day !
Quite a few of the other Vancouver courses are quite small , but can have dozens of alternate layouts

Nanaimo - a ferry ride away is Bowen Park on Vancouver Island . Cheapest to walk on and taxi to the course . 18 holes around oak trees in a city park , tunnels to downhill crushers , has it all . Only downside is that it is on the island. If I could play that one everyday......
Squamish - an hour north of Vancouver , a 9 hole ball golf course has ordered 18 baskets and this will be a gem . $10 pay all day
Whistler - an hour past Squamish has 27 holes , was a great course but the Hydro company came thru and removed most trees under the power lines . Kinda wide open for 8 holes now , but a good day trip to a 2010 Winter Olympic venue .

If you were driving , I would almost insist that the 3 hour drive to Kamloops would be mandatory as there are 3 awesome courses up there too . A completely different climate zone than the coast .
And there are a few tourneys coming up that will use other parks in the city of Vancouver , if your timing was right , it could be an epic trip !

 

[elevated plastic]

Thanks for the info.

 

[InnocentCrook]

White River in Kent, WA is a nice course along with the others mentioned. Seatac and Lakewood make for a nice 1-2 Seattle punch. Lakewood after Seatac is good advice.

Langley is the best of the Vancouver bunch. We also played Quilchena and Queen Anne just because we had some extra time. Don't waste your time with Quilchena(crowded and plays around other park users.), but Queen Anne was solid. My brother in law and I took a lot of the pics for those courses.

Another fun one just North of Seattle is Lake Stevens which uses those crazy egg shaped baskets. Almost worth the trip just to play on those. I was lucky enough to randomly run into some friendly older hippy locals who showed me through the course. I'd recommend it, maybe on the trip up towards Vancouver.

 

[InnocentCrook]

Sorry, Queen Elizabeth Park (Little Mountain DGC), not Queen Anne.

 

[JedV]

Unfortunately we don't have many true 18 hole courses in the Vancouver area. Langley Passive Park is one of them, Grouse Mountain is the other (but is very expensive to access - ride the tram up at full price = $ 40 ticket).

All the other courses have Safari holes that the locals play to round up to 18 hole layouts. With land being so Damn expensive up here, we have to make due :-\

 

[elevated plastic]

Any info on Grouse Mountain sounds tasty. I have no problem with $40 for the experience. Thanks again everyone.