David McLay Kidd has been hired to build a 14-hole short course at Gamble Sands in Brewster, Washington. The par-3 Quicksands course is expected to open for limited preview rounds this fall.
Gamble Sands’ 18-hole course, also built by McLay Kidd and opened in 2014, is rated No. 1 on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list for public-access tracks in Washington and is No. 42 on Golfweek’s Best list of modern courses in the United States.
Quicksands will be laid out on 25 acres of dunes to the east of the Gamble Sands clubhouse. Holes will stretch from 60 to 160 yards, with hole names including Plinko, Crater, Donut and Boomerang. Those names should provide some clue as to the fun challenges awaiting players.
“We expect a lot of whooping and hollering throughout the course, giving it a strong social vibe,” Brady Hatfield, general manager of Gamble Sands, said in a news release. “Plus, Quicksands will not be an overly stern test of one’s golf game. With limited forced carries and tons of turf, golfers will have lots of shot options.”
The past decade has seen a growing trend in top golf destinations offering popular short courses that sport features sometimes too extreme for most fullsize courses. Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon and Pinehurst in North Carolina are among those to capitalize with their respective Preserve and Cradle short courses. With just a few clubs in the bag, players can walk the courses easily, often firing balls into greens with dramatic slopes and interior contours.
“Historically short courses were often afterthoughts, squeezed into useless corners for non-golfers to go try their hand,” McLay Kidd said in the news release. “Today, short courses have become a serious addition to world-class golf resorts. The best land is sought, the best talent is brought to bear, expectations are high and we don’t plan to disappoint.”
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