Gold Mountain’s Cascade Course to get $4 million upgrade

By Mike De Felice Kitsap News Group 

(Permission from Kitsap News Group)

Challenging sand traps, some longer holes, and a few new greens are what golfers can expect from the over $4 million upgrade of Gold Mountain Golf Club’s Cascade course in Bremerton.

“Cascade will be more challenging,” promised Daryl Matheny, general manager of club. “We’ve been actually talking about this for years. The Cascade course opened in ‘71 and nothing had been done to the golf course. For the most part, it hasn’t been touched in 54 years.”

The Gold Mountain complex is owned by the city of Bremerton and consists of two 18-hole public courses: Cascade and Olympic. Cascade opened in 1971 and 25 years later, in 1996, Olympic was added.

Over the years, the Olympic track has garnered plenty of attention. This year, NBC’s Golf Pass ranked Olympic as the No. 1 public course in the state. The course has also been the site of several notable tournaments, including U.S. Golf Association national championships and NCAA tournaments. Each course garnered about half of the 92,850 rounds played on the Gold Mountain courses last year.

“One of the many reasons we wanted to update Cascade is to make it relevant again. It was considered one of the best public golf courses in the state before we opened the Olympic course. This will revitalize that property,” Matheny said.

Both courses wind through tall fir trees with elevation changes and offer scenic views of Green and Gold Mountains. There are no homes or construction on any of the 36 fairways. That, however, is where similarities end, Matheny said.

“Olympic has had its green complexes updated. There are a lot of fall-offs, undulations and collection areas. Cascade golf course is old school with flat greens that are easy to enter. It’s easier to play,” he said.

Planned modifications

Golfers will notice a number of revisions, Matheny said.

“Most of the changes aren’t going to be a complete redo. We will shift the look of some holes by adding different teeing areas. Others, we will take some bunkers out. We will be moving two green complexes.

“The changes might be dramatic for one hole and subtle for the next. There will be enough of a change where you’re going to be able to see a difference from before,” the general manager said.

He outlined some of the changes:

 • On hole 3, a 187-yard par 3, a bunker on the side of the green will be moved to the front of the putting surface to penalize short tee shots. “That’s going to be a pretty dramatic change,” Matheny said. Several new tee areas will be added.

• Hole 5, a 500-yard par 5, will get a new green, approximately 50 yards down the fairway, making it a longer hole. The putting surface, considered by some to be difficult because it is severely sloped, will be replaced with a more playable one. To test players, additional bunkers will be added to the fairway and greenside. Several trees will be removed, allowing golfers to see adjacent fairways.

• When hole 7, a 166-yard par 3, is redone, golfers will have to contend with a larger water hazard. The pond, which protects the green, will be up to five times bigger, taunting players on holes 7 and 1 also.

• On the revamped hole 10, a par 4 434-yard dogleg right, golfers off the tee will face a risk/reward decision. Trees where the fairway turns will be thinned and replaced with pesky fescue grass. If long hitters attempt to hit over the dogleg and fail, they will find themselves hacking out of heavy rough. “It’ll be a lot more dramatic as far as a tee shot goes,” Matheny said. A new tee will add 15 yards to the hole.

In Cascade’s overhaul, the number of bunkers will be reduced by 20% and several sand traps will be moved to be more in play. “Sand traps are expensive to maintain on the golf course, considering the amount of time it takes to rake and maintain them,” Matheny said.

Likewise, the number of trees – another source of high maintenance costs – will be reduced by 12%. Those that are strategically in play will remain but others that present root problems, say to cart paths, or block sunlight from fairways are subject to removal, he said.

The course’s irrigation system will be upgraded to enable maintenance personnel to pinpoint particular areas to be watered. That is expected to result in a cost savings of at least 20%, per Matheny, who added, “It’s just more efficient. It’s the difference between a Model T and a new Tesla.”

Cascade’s makeover is expected to take five to seven years, Matheny said. Two to four holes will be worked on at a time, and the course will remain open during renovations. Temporary greens will be utilized at times, he said.

Canadian golf course architect Jeff Mingay drew up the course improvements.