Inside Comments by Steve Turcotte

North Shore Golf Course: New Name and facelift

I have always enjoyed North Shore Golf Course in Tacoma for a couple of reasons. One, the course is close to the house so not a long drive. And second it has always been a durable layout with plenty of challenging shots and holes along the way.

But now, things are different at North Shore.

Sure, the drive from the house is still close but the course itself looks different. Way different. This is not your father’s North Shore anymore.

The Puyallup Tribe of Indians purchased the course a few years ago and knew right away they were going to make changes. Now the biggest changes are out there for all to see. Plus, there is a new name – Cedar Irons.

This project started in November of 2024. Pacific Northwest architect Dan Hixson came up with the re-design for North Shore and he worked some of his magic. There are still some of the same old North Shore but there is plenty new.

First, the back nine went through some changes and re-opened last year. And now, the front nine has re-opened and North Shore looks like a different golf course.

One of the biggest changes you will notice when you stand on the first tee is that you can see all the way to the other end of the front nine. Trees were removed. Greens were moved and par on a couple of holes were changed. 

Let’s take a sampling of what the Puyallup Tribe of Indians has done to their golf course:

    • The irrigation system was replaced.

    • Six greens were moved or partially moved. and all of the greens on the golf course were all recontoured.

    • All bunkers were rebuilt with new sand.

    • All tees were rebuilt and levelled.

    • A new par of 72 has been introduced.

    • The pond on the fourth hole was given a new look.

     • And the driving range was re-graded.

On a recent visit it was the new look at some of the holes that really caught my attention.

On the back nine, the 17th hole was turned into a short par-4 and the 18th tee box was moved.

On the front side the third hole was converted from a par-5 to a par-4 and the fifth hole was turned into a par-5 from a par-4. Those are big-time changes that make the course look even better. Many of the front nine holes don not look like they used to. Hixson did a terrific job with the movement of some of the holes, especially on the front side.

The Puyallup Tribe of Indians had some goals in mind when they started this project and those goals are being realized from making the course more fun to play to reducing water usage to opening up internal views of the course to more efficient course maintenance for the crew.

This is all good stuff. The work by contractor Ridgetop Golf and Casey Kalbrener looks impressive. If you haven’t been to North Shore in a while, you will be in for a surprise.

Steve Turcotte is editor of Inside Golf Newspaper. He can be reached at sdturcotte@comcast.net.