Road trip to Anacortes

By Steve Turcotte, Inside Golf Editor

There are some destinations for travel and golf that are somewhat of a secret. Count the Anacortes area among that group. Anacortes is known for several things, but not much when it comes to golf. Anacortes is known for fishing, crabbing and of course, an oil refinery. But there is some golf to be found in the area. And this is not just any golf, this is good golf.

From the Swinomish Golf Links to the Deception Pass Golf Center, public golf can be found in the area. And of course, there is some semi private golf too with Useless Bay Country Club and Whidbey Golf Club.

I have been fortunate to head to the Anacortes area a handful of times in the last few years and every time it always seems like there is something new to either see or do. This time around I decided to partake in the usual – family crabbing in the Puget Sound, some bike riding around the city of Anacortes, taking in the Shipwreck Days Festival, which closes off the main street through downtown with a variety of booths.

But this time I decided to head south down Whidbey Island. As you cross the bridge from the mainland onto the 52-mile long island, you see Deception Pass with terrific views as you stand on the bridge and take a peak at the waters below. I’ve had friends who had taken their boats through the pass. One said never again after surviving the currents. And recently a pod of Oracas made it through Deception Pass giving people walking along the bridge a terrific view of the Orcas passing through.

A little further down the road was a pleasant surprise, the Deception Pass Golf Center. I didn’t expect much, but there it was, as you turned into the parking lot, a mini putt-putt course, a disc golf course, a driving range and 9-hole executive length course.                                   

There are a couple of private courses in the area and both worth the trip as you will find Useless Bay and Whidbey Golf Club (Whidbey is basically semi-private). Whidbey Golf Club sits right in the town of Oak Harbor and offers 18 holes that bring all of your clubs into play and with the nearby fighter jets roaring over head, gives you a kind of a Top Gun feel.

Gallery Golf Club sits next to the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station and is open to the public besides being a home for the folks on the base. One funny story, years ago an Admiral and his wife were playing a blind Par-4 hole and two enlisted men playing behind hit into them. That did not go over well with the Admiral who thought the ball was going to hit him or his wife. He was not a fan of the blind shot. The next day the hole became a par-3 – and no blind shot. Rank rules.                     

Swinomish Golf Links is tied to the Swinomish Lodge and Casino and is another public course to try. It used to be called Similk Beach Golf Course but the Swinomish Tribe came in and bought the course, changed the name and made some nice changes.

The town of Anacortes has long been known for its oil refineries – which makes it is exciting when you are out on the water and the huge oil tankers come creeping through the channels and between the islands.

Anacortes is also the place where you can catch the ferries to the San Juan Islands.