White Horse Golf Club
9260 NE White Horse Drive
Kingston, WA 98346
7,093-yards/Par-72/Slope 144/Rating 74.9

White Horse Golf Club in Kingston, Wash., was the last piece of the puzzle in terms of completing the Kitsap Peninsula series of reviews. Did we save the best for last? Unfortunately, no, but it was close. Gold Mountain’s Olympic Course still owns that title.

It’s a shame too, because the potential is there for White Horse to take the top spot. All the elements needed for consideration as a championship golf course are in-place: length (over 7,000-yards); 130 bunkers sprinkled throughout that are filled with a spin-inducing, locally-sourced gray sand; tantalizingly narrow and slick greens; and numerous elevation changes, all amidst a serene forested environment. 

It is common to see golfers walking around Kingston's harbor with their golf clubs in tow

And there are perks to playing at White Horse that you won’t find at most golf courses, such as the journey to the golf course. We parked at the Edmonds ferry dock and walked on the Kingston ferry with our golf clubs. After a 25-minute, scenic crossing of the Puget Sound we were met by the free White Horse shuttle on the Kingston side, and within minutes were at the golf course.

Following our round of golf, we took the shuttle back to the ferry dock area, walked around downtown Kingston for a bit, exploring its shops like tourists, and then ate a nice dinner at the Main Street Ale House. Afterwards, the ice cream shop across the street stole our attention before we ferried our full bellies back to our car in Edmonds and called it a day.

It was a unique experience that turned a normal round of golf into a mini-vacation.

So what’s the kink in the White Horse’s armor? 

The one and only problem, and it was a minor one considering the maturity of the golf course, was with White Horse’s greens, which could have doubled as odd-shapped cul-de-sac’s they were so firm. Even lob wedge-approaches were rejected and bounced over the greens into trouble. Playing a bump and run game to the golf course’s well protected greens didn’t work either. If a bunker wasn’t blocking the pin, the turf surrounding the greens was soft, preventing bounces to the putting surface.

The slopes on the 441-yard, par-4 7th hole are diabolical -- it must run in the Dye genes. Good luck getting an approach shot to stick on this green!

Scoring at White Horse was difficult, especially on a first pass. Don’t go there and expect to shoot within your handicap. If you are like me and don’t mind a round every now and then that tips the ghin index towards higher numbers, then you won’t mind that 80-something on your scorecard after 18-holes at White Horse. If you like to play darts with your irons and abhor the short game, skip the cool boat ride and slate greens for now and wait until next Spring.

White Horse has an excuse for its greens. The golf couse is only two years old. Perhaps, with some maturing, the it will fulfill its destiny and land on Golf Digests’ Top 10 list, but for now, White Horse is struggling with its playbility factor. Golf course designer Cynthia Dye (niece of the legendary and wicked architect Pete Dye) has a vision for the future of White Horse, which is that it, “the golf course mirrors the vision of (owner/developer) Bob Screen in that if offers championship-level play for the price of a municipal golf course.”

Let’s hope that vision comes true. In terms of the hard greens, Dye put the onus on White Horse’s surprisingly arid location (less than 30-inches of rain per year) and the sagging economy by saying, “aeration is the key to keeping the greens soft, and when you are a public course it’s hard to do the maintenance that is required because of economics, but also because it often turns players away. Now that White Horse has been awarded the Washington State Amateur a lot more attention will go to getting the golf course, and especially the greens, in prime condition.”

In 2010, White Horse GC will play host to the Washington State Golf Association’s Amateur State Stroke Play Championship. 

Signature Holes:

#7 — listed at 441-yards, the par-4 7th hole is pure evil. An uphill tee shot through an alley of trees leads to a fairway that slopes hard from left to right. If you are lucky enough to be in this fairway, club way down and aim way left. Balls hit anywhere on this green end up long, and in trouble.

#13 — a fairly benign-looking par-3, the green on this 206-yard hole will eat your lunch. It’s possible to 3-putt from 15-feet away here.

The view from the tee on the 435-yard, par-4 18th hole is both beautiful and intimidating.

#18 — probably the best hole on the golf course, and dramatic from the tips, the 18th is a 435-yard par-4 where water comes into play on both the tee shot and approach. The 18th green, like the 13th, is three-putt territory.

Value: White Horse charges a reasonable $47 for 18-holes during the week, and $63 on weekends. A golf cart will set you back another $15. Memberships are also available. Click here for more information on rates.

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Canterwood Golf and Country Club
12606 54th Avenue NW
Gig Harbor WA 98332
Gold Tees: 6,718-yards, Par 72
Rating 74.1/Slope 142

The Kitsap Peninsula is home to some of the state of Washington’s best golf courses, including the 8th-ranked course as dictated by Golf Digest, Gold Mountain’s Olympic Course, which receives the lion’s share of the press. Sitting quietly amongst the tall Pines in Gig Harbor, however, is the state’s 7th-ranked course, CanterWood Golf and Country Club. A private club whose course was designed by PNW-based architect Rober Muir Graves and opened in 1988, Canterwood is a shot-makers delight featuring ultra-fast greens.

Members at Canterwood are presented with a sanctuary inside a gated community in one of Washington’s coolest towns in Gig Harbor. Just a few miles from busy Highway 16, the club offers standard country club amenities in a quiet and relaxing atmosphere dominated by all colors of Rhododendrons. Once on the golf course, however, that quiet tranquility is replaced by balls bouncing off trees and golfers groaning over three-putts.

Perhaps best described as a mix of the best attributes from both the Olympic Course and McCormick Woods, Canterwood easily ranks as the top golf experience on the Kitsap Peninsula, with apologies offered to White Horse (which has not been reviewed yet). 

Upon arriving at the club I was greeted by Head Professional Mike Drake, who offered some local knowledge tips (stay below the hole!), and some advice on following the correct path around the golf course, which sounds easier than it is. After careful consideration, I opted for the Gold Tees, rather than the Black Tees, a seemingly prudent choice at the time. On the scorecard the Black’s stretch to an unimaginable 7,388-yards, a difference of 670-yards between the two boxes.

I later learned from Drake that there was a misprint on the scorecard, and that the actual yardage is 7,188-yards.

Regardless, Canterwood played much longer than its listed yardage, which is a consistent theme from the golf courses reviewed so far on the Kitsap Peninsula. The area’s heavy. Puget Sound-air and hilly terrain combine to help those 6,718-yard courses play more like 7,000-yards.

Canterwood's Signature 390-yard, par-4 4th Hole

A good example of how Canterwood plays is the 390-yard, par-4 fourth, a hole once featured in Sports Illustrated’s “Golf Courses of the World”, and which not only requires a forced carry over a creek from an elevated tee box to a narrow fairway, but an extremely confusing second shot. From its listed yardage a good drive in the 275-yard range should have yielded a wedge approach, but instead I found myself hitting an 8-iron to a green 30-40 feet above the fairway, with limited view of the pin.  My approached went past the hole, leaving a downhill 20-footer that produced an immediate three putt.

On those rare occasions when I manged to place an approach shot below the hole at Canterwood, I was rewarded with realistic birdie opportunities. It was fair, and highly playable.

Canterwood currently ranks at the top in the Kitsap review series because it requires every club in the bag, keeps players guessing on every shot, and because of its well-manicured, but difficult greens.

Signature Holes
#7 — undeniably beautiful, the 177-yard, par-3 seventh hole requires a solid tee shot for a chance at par. With a green that slopes dramatically from back to front, it is essential to keep the ball below the hole. From the tips, the seventh plays to a lengthy 227-yards.

#9 — don’t miss this awesome green and short-side yourself in the process. It will take your best pitch, or chip to avoid a double bogey on Canterwood’s most undulating green.

#10 — the 10th tee box is breathtaking. The hole features a forced carry over a lake and group of tall pine trees. Playing 409-yards from the Gold’s, the par-4 10th requires two good shots to get it close to the flagstick.

#18 — the finishing hole at Canterwood, a 486-yard par-5, is deceiving in its length, because most of the hole is played uphill. The tee shot requires a big fade, even if hitting a 3-wood from the tee, as the fairway is guarded by water on the left and huge trees on the right. Assuming your drive finds the fairway, and depending what club you hit from the tee, the 18th could serve up a bogey just as easily as a birdie, making for an exciting finish.

Club Membership
Canterwood Golf and Country Club is actively seeking members on all levels. Those interested should click here. 

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McCormick Woods Golf Course
5155 McCormick Woods Drive, SW
Port Orchad, WA 98367
Blue Tees: 6.658-yards/Rating 73.2, Slope 131

The third installment in the Kitsap Peninsula series, McCormick Woods, represents the best value of the four golf courses being reviewed. A very walkable track, McCormick Woods possesses soft, undulating greens that roll slick and true. The thick, surrounding woods of fir and cedar that hug, and even meander into the fairways. provide a unique, ampitheater-style setting. It’s like Augusta Light, but for only *$29.

The golf course tips out at 7,040-yards, but was reviewed from the 6,658-yard blue tees, which manage a hardy slope of 131 and rating of 73.2. Was McCormick Woods more difficult than both Trophy Lake and the Olympic Course, the other Kitsap courses reviewed so far? The answer, of course, is subjective, but I would say no. Birdie opportunities were aplenty, provided I stuck to the architect’s plan off the tee, and kept the ball below the hole on my approach shots.

Then again, there were some ugly bogeys on the scorecard too. There is literally no wiggle room at McCormick Woods in terms of missing fairways. If you are lucky a hooked, or sliced drive will kick off a tree and into the short rough, or even the fairway, but more often than not that Titliest gets tossed into the deep woods. That’s why playing within the architect’s design structure led to good scores, because often that mode took the driver out of my hands and replaced it with a 3-wood, and in some cases a hybrid.

Prior to arriving at the course, I had asked McCormick Woods’ general manager Shawn Cucciardi to point out the golf course’s signature holes, which he pegged as the 225-yard, par-3 4th and the 375-yard, par-4 5th. The relatively small green at the 4th was tough to hit from the back tees, but fairly easy to get up and down from with a miss. And the 4th, despite a slick green that slopes towards trouble, provided an easy birdie opportunity after a sand wedge approach. Both holes are spectacular, don’t get me wrong, but in terms of playability and authenticity I chose the holes that gave me the most trouble and/or the most excitement as my ‘signature holes’.

Signature Holes

#2 -- The 515-yard par-5, 2nd-hole is temptingly short, but trouble lurks from the tee box to the green.The tee-shot on the 2nd-looks like an alleyway in Brooklyn. McCormick's 'woods' introduced themselves rudely.

#3 -- The 411-yard 3rd-hole is a fader's delight, but allows for a draw off the tee if placed down the right side of the wide fairway on this dog-leg right, par-4. A good drive will leave a short-iron approach to a heavily guarded green. Miss it left and your ball is in the lake. Miss it right and find yourself stuck behind a massive fir tree in the bunker.

#16 -- the 411-yard 16th hole is a monster. Simply put, there is no easy way to play this hole as it plays much longer than it's listed yardage, and its continuous left-to-right slope tests even the straightest of shots. A hard drive up the left side should offer a 6, or 7-iron approach to a heavily-guarded green that slopes hard from left-to-right.

Value: as mentioned in the beginning, McCormick Woods offers some killer deals and is probably the best value on the Kitsap Peninsula. *The $29 weekday twighlight fee starts at 2:00 p.m. For those familiar with golf in the Northwest, the afternoon is often the best time to play. 

Walkability: the best of the Kitsap series golf courses so far, McCormick Woods is an easy walk despite a rolling layout.  

More Photos:

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Gold Mountain Golf Club – The Olympic Course
7263 W. Belfair Valley Road
Bremerton, WA 98312
Blue Tees: 6,505-yards/Rating 71.3/Slope 129

The Olympic Course seems far removed from the concrete jungle that exists just a few miles away on Washington’s Highway 16. Driving into the Gold Mountain Golf Club complex, visitors are greeted by a shady row of huge, old growth trees, whose wet bark is covered in thick, dark green moss; truly one of the more beautiful entryways in golf.

The rainforest-like conditions in the driveway disappear, however, as soon as one steps out of the car and onto Gold Mountain’s practice putting green. This is golf in a true alpine environment, ala Keystone Ranch in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain’s. Surrounded by majestic views of the Olympic mountain range, deep, dark woods full of golf balls, and pine-scented breezes, the Olympic Course immediately refreshed my senses.

A PGA Sectional tournament had played the golf course that morning, and as a result, it was in impecible condition for late April. Driving the ball with confidence was easy, as the fairways were wide and well-drained, and gave off some nice roll. The real challenge at the Olympic Course was in managing its small, potato-chip-shaped greens, which on that day, were set up to test the pros.  

The Olympic Course's Signature 15th and 16th Holes

The finishing stretch of holes, while not the most difficult in golf, certainly should qualify as some of the most thrilling. After carding a birdie on the 14th, another birdie on the ‘Augusta-like’ 15th, a solid par on the scenic 16th and a double-bogey on the brutal 17th, I stood on the 271-yard, par-4 18th tee looking for revenge. And eagle seemed a real possibility after driving the heavily-bunkered green with a sweet 3-wood, but then in a twist of nasty fate, a three-putt par landed on my scorecard.

The playability of the Olympic Course is a huge factor in why the Gold Mountain Golf Club receives so many accolades and hosts so many good tournaments, including last year’s NCAA Men’s West Regional tournament. Golfers of all abilities face a number of good chances to make pars and birdies on the Olympic Course, but often watch those scores balloon to bogeys and double-bogeys with a shaky putter.

Signature Holes

#9 — don’t relax after hitting a good drive and second shot on the 585-yard, par-5 9th, as there is more work left to do with the approach shot. This green is a killer.

#15/#16 — I put these two holes together because they are joined by a lake, and not only provide scoring excitement, but the best-looking holes on the golf course. The 15th is a 334-yard par 4 that offers an easy birdie, or so it seems from the fairway. And the 16th is a 157-yard par-3  that will eat your lunch if you don’t hit the green with your tee shot.

#17 – the 440-yard 17th hole is a bruiser that requires accuracy above all else. 3-wood from the tee is a smart choice. The potential to blow-up on the 17th is huge.

Value — perhaps the best value of the golfing options on the Kitsap Peninsula, the Gold Mountain Golf Club’s daily rates are cheap and its club memberships, which include play on both the Olympic and Cascade courses, are super cheap.

Walkability — while the terrain is a bit up and down, the Olympic Course is still very walkable for a mountain design.

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 Trophy Lake Golf & Casting Club
3900 SW Lake Flora Rd.
Port Orchard, Wash., 98367
Championship Tee: 6,756 yards/Rating 72.8/Slope 132

Washington State’s Kitsap Peninsula is just minutes from downtown Seattle by ferry, but feels far removed from the urban environment. Surrounded by water on three sides and dominated by deep woods and striking views of the Olympic mountain range, this area also features some of the best golf in the Pacific Northwest.

Start with Trophy Lake Golf & Casting Club. That’s right, casting club. You can fish there too. Lunker Rainbows dominate the many lakes found on and around the property, and near dusk the mood and chatter at Trophy Lake changes from golf to fishing.

It is the golf, however, that will leave a more lasting impression, or mark, if you prefer. Trophy Lake boasts a front nine  difficult enough to send a good player packing at the turn, be it mentally or physically. The yardage from the championship tees was listed as a paltry 3,376 on the scorecard, but played much longer.

The back nine, while playing to a longer yardage of 3380, seemed a breeze compared with the brutal front nine. In fact, I didn’t have to pull a long iron out of the bag on the back until the par-3 thirteenth hole, where I smashed a 6-iron all of 178-yards uphill, to a front pin.

Trophy Lake's Signature Par-3

The beer-cart-girl, who once made a hole-in-one on the very same hole, called it a “money shot.”  

And it was. By the end of the day Trophy Lake’s ‘length’ and toughness had me hitting confident money shots, from tee to green, leading to a birdie-par-birdie finish that would bail out those poorly timed double-bogeys laid on the front nine.

Signature Holes

#4 — a par-4 that stretches to 441-yards, all of it playing uphill and into the wind. After an average, but straight drive I was forced to hit a 21-degree hybrid (the Bobby), and scramble for par.

#6 — While standing on the tee for the scenic , 396-yard, par-4 sixth hole, my senses were bewilderd by the awesome views of Mt. Ranier on the left and the Olympic mountains on the right, and I promptly sprayed one onto the seventh fairway. A miracle shot with the Bobby ended up in yet another par.

#13 — pictured and described above, simply a great hole.

#18 — a great finishing hole, this 532-yard par 5 offers a chance for big hitters to go for it in two, but with a shallow green and a creek in front, the best chance for birdie is a lay-up.

Value: of the three courses being reviewed for the Kitsap Peninsula series, Trophy Lake is the most expensive, but then not by much. The OKI card is a great way to play Trophy Lake for cheap, and spring rates are very reasonable. Considering the quality of the golf, the club’s rates seem perfectly reasonable.

Walkability: with a push cart, Trophy Lake is fairly easy. Carrying a bag? Not so much.

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