81
SAHALEE COUNTRY CLUB
PAR 3 213 YARDS
Sammamish, WA
425.868.8800
www.sahalee.com
On almost every hole in the towering forest you are reminded of Sahalee Country Club's
original mission: to create a golf course capable of hosting a major championship. It
is never more apparent than when stepping on the tee of the South Course's gracious
and greedy ninth hole. The distance from the back tee, where the pros played it in
the 1998 PGA Championship, is a healthy 213 yards; a par 3 that takes no prisoners
and demands nothing less than total commitment.
There is simply no bailout. You either hit the green with your tee shot or find a placid
pond that runs in front and left of the green. Consider playing right, away from the
water, and nasty bunkers wait on the right-front of the hole. No matter where the pin
is placed, the best play is to the middle of the green—if you can hit it that far and
straight. Getting on the green doesn't mean the challenge is over, however. Subtle
mounds running both front and back of the putting surface often demand a putt that
can swing four or five feet on its way to the hole.
The club opened in 1969, a product of both designer Ted Robinson's vision and the
founders' mission to take full advantage of the club's site on the Sammamish Plateau
east of Seattle. Sahalee, which means "high heavenly ground," didn't stop with
getting the PGA. It held the NEC World Championship in 2002 and the US Senior
Open in 2010, all the while supporting amateur golf with its annual Sahalee Players
Championship and the Edean lhlanfeldt Invitational for women collegiate players.
9
Photograph by Rob Perry
South Course
