Alta Lake and Rock Island GC: Two courses you might want to play in Central Wash.

Alta Lake in Pateros, Wash. is a place all it’s own…nowhere else will you feel more at home. Only three hours from Seattle, Alta Lake is where golfers come to play all the golf they want. For many, Alta Lake is a tradition that spans decades and is passed down from generation to generation.

Alta Lake Golf Resort began in 1974 as a nine-hole course with giant greens and a tiny motel tucked away on the side of a mountain. This same little hidden treasure is what the Barth family fell in love with when we came to visit 10 years later.
Twenty-five years have passed since the Barths arrived and much has changed. Alta Lake now boasts 18 unique and challenging holes as well as a 30-room motel. Alta Lake Golf Resort was founded on family and this continues to be the driving force. Don Barth and the Barth family bought the course have made plenty of improvements through the years.

Barth has owned Alta Lake since 1984 and added a 30-room motel – making the place even more popular.
“People have to make reservations a year in advance to make sure they get the room they want,” said Barth. “People come here and just fall in love with the place.”

The sister course at Rock Island is located just outside East Wenatchee and boasts 18 brand new or revamped holes. Watch out for its signature hole, #13. It’s a dogleg with a huge water hazard. Ask about joint memberships and dual-course deals.
Rock Island is now the real deal, measuring over 7,200 yards from the tips. The original nine opened in 1973, but flooded, forcing a new nine to be built in 1978. And the new holes have been opened this year, giving Rock Island 18 holes to play.
And the price is right. It costs just $27 on weekends and $24 on weekdays.
“It’s a big, big track now,” said Barth. “People will get their money’s worth. And it’s a great walking course.”

Also, Desert Canyon is now part of the Barth-owned facilities as well after Barth
and two partners Randy and Lynn Anderson bought the resort this summer.