Salish Cliffs finishing off first year in business as an award winner

If you haven’t heard the name Salish Cliffs Golf Club by now, you are not a true Pacific Northwest golfer. The course, which opened for play last year, is completing its first year and everything has gone according to plan. Maybe even better.

The course, which is part of the Little Creek Casino and Squaxin Island Indian Tribe, opened with plenty of fanfare last year as Fred Couples was on hand for the grand opening. From there, it’s been up, up and away for the course.

Salish Cliffs, designed by Gene Bates, is a 7,300-yard treat. The course plays through the trees, has plenty of elevation changes and enough water and sand along the way to definitely keep your interest.

And the awards have followed quickly. Salish Cliffs was named No. 8 on GolfWeek’s listing of the Best New Courses to open in 2011 and the course is ranked fourth in the state of Washington in terms of the best courses in the state. Salish Cliffs was also ranked 11th among the top casino golf courses as well.

And Salish Cliffs has become the first Salmon Safe Certified golf course. The Salmon-Safe Golf Course Certification program is an offshoot of the popular Northwest eco-label for agricultural and vineyard practices, administered in Washington by the Seattle-based non-profit Stewardship Partners.

Business has been steady at the course since opening. And a new space for weddings, meetings and parties has opened in the Salish Cliffs clubhouse.