Sahalee (South & North) - Washington - USA

Had the chance to play Sahalee on Wednesday and I had high expectations which were met by an awesome experience. Over the years, I've read both positive and negative reviews about Sahalee and it seems there is no real consensus among PNW's as to if its a top 100 course and the best in the area or just vastly overrated due to its name.

To start, I will say that the grounds around the clubhouse were probably the best manicured I have ever seen. It was PERFECT. My brother and I played the North 9 first and teed off on one which is a fantastic start. Straight away par four that is narrow with a pond around the green to get your nerves going right from the start. Number 2 was also memorable, the big fir tree that sits towards the end of the fairway is a huge obstacle and honestly probably needs to go, but it does make you think about your second shot. The remainder of the north side blended great par 4's with challenging tee shots and a gorgeous par 3 at number 8 (downhill tee shot with water in play). The final hole (par 5) gives you a chance for a birdie with a drive in the fairway. After playing nine holes, I can say that the routing was fantastic and the condition was second to none.

The south course continued the great experience. Number 1 was a straight away par 4 which was a solid starting hole. You can hammer driver and have a very short approach, but the prudent play is to hit something shorter. The one thing I will say about the south course is that the holes did seem to blend together a bit and none of them really stuck out to me. None the less, I cannot reiterate enough the conditioning of the course was ridiculous. Green and lush, greens were perfect and pretty quick although the member I played with said they are even faster in the summer.

I can't honestly see many courses being better than Sahalee in the PNW. If there are, than they will get a 5 (eagle) from me as well.

Recently I had the nice experience of playing Sahalee with a friend who's a member there. He asked me to come and provide honest feedback about the course. It's a great private members club with superb facilities and indeed the history of having hosted a major as already mentioned here. I played on a perfectly sunny day and while the course may have been over seeded and overly lush it was really in otherwise perfect condition. Not a blade of grass out of line. My overall feeling is that the course is slightly overrated in terms of its US rankings. It has been completely overrun with trees and not small ones, these are huge trees with branches all the way down to the ground. On many holes the trees are so tight that on your first play it's tough to have any idea where you are playing. Since there are houses surrounding the course I had to wonder if it would be realistic to go in there and remove a couple thousand (at least) trees and create some more light and air to firm up the turf and increase the size of the playing corridors. I'm not sure what that would do to the overall aesthetic feeling of the course or if it would be possible without making it simply another golf course built into a housing development.

I doubt seriously I will ever have the answer. It's a fun day of golf and the courses are really nice I just believe they could be so much better. We played 27 and while it was a great day, I wouldn't return to play again if my friend weren't a member.

Sahalee, located in a suburb of Seattle, Washington, was designed by Ted Robinson, his only entry on the Top 100. Caved out of the tall cedar and Douglas fir trees that are native to the Northwest, Sahalee (which means “high heavenly ground”) opened in 1969. In 1998, the course hosted the PGA Championship.

I invited my friend Larry, who lives in Seattle, to play the South and North nines, which are the courses rated for the Top 100. As we crossed Lake Washington, we could see the home of Bill Gates being built on the shore. Massive is the word that comes to mind. It was a typical wet northwestern day, and even when it wasn’t sprinkling, the course was soaked and produced no roll. It was an uneventful day, except for the fact that Sahalee was my 50th course. Next course I’d be on the back 50. Larry Berle.

I live about 2 miles from Sahalee. I have played there once as a guest and I walked the course 3 times as a walking scorer recently at the 2010 US Senior Open - including a memorable 18 with Tom Watson and Freddie Couples that I will tell my grandchildren about.Sahalee makes both the Top 100 in America and the "Most Overrated' list too. I would agree on both counts. Why? The course is asthetically beautiful in a parkland setting and is always in spectacular shape. The issue is there are just not a lot of memorable holes - they blend together. And the tight fairways are lined with huge pine trees, so it takes driver out of your hand.Would I play Sahalee again? Of course.