Royal Oaks Country Club - Washington

Royal Oaks Country Club was founded in 1945, a month before World War II ended, when fifty Vancouver businessmen each pledged $1,000 to purchase enough land for a new golf course. The first nine opened for play two years later, with a full 18-hole layout in operation by 1952.

Founding members didn’t just contribute money towards the club, many of them also helped build the course by picking rocks from the fairway during construction, so there’s a palpable pride in what has been achieved at this progressive golf facility in a relatively short space of time.

The 18-hole layout at Royal Oaks is set out close to downtown Vancouver on a rather constricted site, with little by way of elevation change across the property. Tight, tree-lined fairways are routed in such a way that Burnt Bridge Creek is brought into play at a number of holes.

Notable holes include the 160-yard 5th (“Waterloo”), played to one of only two water-protected greens on the course, the 555-yard 13th (“The Monster”), which is both long and narrow from tee to green, and the 415-yard 18th (“Headin’ Home”), where the home green is virtually surrounded by sand.