Fall colors at Washington courses

With changing of the colors, the chance for some early snow in the mountains and the availability of tee times, golf is a great fall option.

Here are a few we recommend you put on your play list this fall:

•  North Bellingham Golf Course: Opened in 1995 and is a Scottish style links golf course. The openness leaves one exposed to the elements and one’s game at the mercy of the wind at times.

The greens are firm and fast, making a balky putter something to leave at home. The well-manicured greens roll true and put a premium on good putting.

 The layout offers 12 ponds, making 14 of the holes play with a water hazard and 58 white-sand bunkers. In fact a two-year bunker project with new sand in all the bunkers throughout  the course was completed in 2014. North Bellingham also has plenty of holes that will grab your attention early and keep it the rest of the round.

• Loomis Trail/Silver Reef: Loomis Trail was ranked as the No. 1 public course in Washington by Golf Digest (2005) and was the only Washington state course ranked in the nation’s Top 100. Loomis Trail  combines the magic of scenic beauty and dry conditions suitable for year-round play.

The course was purchased by the Lummi Nation Indian Tribe and they have made sure the course has stayed true to its opening with great conditions and a layout which is one of the most challenging in the Northwest.

Loomis Trail also is partnered with the Silver Reef Casino Resort and has packages catered to the golfing crowd. There are a variety of quality rooms and the resort has a little something for everyone.

• Shuksan Golf Club:  The Shuksan Golf Club in Bellingham, the theme is nature. There are wetlands throughout the golf course and the first bit of water trouble comes into play on the very first hole from an elevated tee.

Elevated tees and greens are prominent throughout the layout as the course varies over 100 feet in elevation. Ten Mile Creek meanders throughout the layout and cuts across many of the fairways to keep golfers on guard.

• McCormick Woods has been ranked among the top courses for years since opening in 1986. The course is a treat with 18 holes wrapped among the tall firs and cedars. A spacious 24,000 square foot clubhouse offers views of the golf course and events up to 300 people.

•  LakeLand Village in Allyn offers 27-holes of golf with three distinctly different nines in Generation I, Generation II and Generation III. The popular residential community dates back to 1972 with each nine added as new housing sections opened up. Each course has elevation changes, tall tree-lined fairways and well manicured greens. And there is plenty real estate action around the course as well from homes to town homes.

• Cedars at Dungeness: The Olympic Mountains deflect the rain clouds around the city of Sequim, making the Cedars at Dungeness one of the driest courses in Western Washington – an average of 13-15 inches of rain per year.  With an 18-hole layout measuring over 6,400 yards, Dungeness is protected by sprawling bunkers and narrow approaches to elevated greens. 

The signature hole is the par-5 3rd with a series of bunkers in the shape of a Dungeness crab. Even the sand in this hazard is red.