Settlers Bay - Alaska - USA

Situated in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, just eight miles from Wasilla, Settlers Bay Golf Course is set within a massive 2,000-acre estate comprising the only residential golf community in all of Alaska. Offering unparalleled views of the Cook Inlet and Chugach Mountain Range, this 18-hole layout lies only a short one-hour drive north of Anchorage.

The original (par-37) 9-hole course opened in 1977, featuring a really tough closing par four hole. Twenty years later, when another nine holes were added by Ted Locke, it was decided to sequence the old holes as the back nine on the expanded 18-hole layout, shortening the new 16th to a par three and retaining the old 9th as a difficult closing hole on the new circuit.

Other notable holes include the short par three 3rd, where the green is sited around an artificial beaver dam, and back-to-back par fives at holes 6 and 7, the second of which just happens to be one of the longest three-shot holes in the state. On the back nine, short par fours at the 12th and 14th present a good chance of making a birdie.

In the new millennium, the course has been continuously upgraded, with putting surfaces converted to bent grass (2005), bunkers re-lined and re-shaped (2007), and tee boxes renovated (2014) to bring additional forward tee positions into play.