The list of courses in the Northwest keeps shrinking as two more will close

There was a time when the game was golf was growing around the country – and especially in the Pacific Northwest. Not any more.

A pair of courses in the Puget Sound area, Elk Run and Tyee, are both expected to be closed for good at the end of the month leaving golfers searching for more places to play.

These closures come on the heels of other courses in the Northwest closing with Colwood in Portland, Sumner Meadows in Sumner and Bayshore in Shelton.

And on the other side, the only course to open in the last few years is Gamble Sands in Brewster, a gem of a course that is expected to win a slew of national awards.

Elk Run, located in Maple Valley, Wash., opened as a nine-hole course in 1989 and expanded with a second nine in 1995. The course is owned by Roy Humphreys and Daryl Connell who have done a terrific job in making the course a popular place for golfers in the south Puget Sound area. But recently, King County made the decision to sell the land that the front nine is located on. The county will sell part of the land to the Tahoma School District to build a new high school.

The original front nine property is still owned by Humphreys and Connell but they decided they would sell that property as well.

“A lot of people are disappointed,” said head professional Doug Eisele. “This was a great medium-priced golf course for people to play. The course was popular and the price was right for a lot of people.”

Tyee Golf Course, located at the south end of Sea-Tac Airport, has gradually shrunk through the years. First, losing holes because of the third runway construction and then more holes because of other construction. The course is currently nine holes, but will also shut down this month.

The reason: A bird problem with geese near the end of the runway is causing problems for planes taking off and landing.

Mark Olson has run the course for years and is sad to see it go away. The course opened in 1965 and offered up close and personal views of planes landing and taking off as you played your way around the golf course.