Play your next rounds in Chelan

In need of a summer escape, highlighted with a round or two or three of golf? Well head west from Spokane and hit the links at one of six courses in and around the Lake Chelan Valley where views are breathtaking and the sun is always shining. Boasting over 300 days of sunshine a year, the Chelan Valley is the ideal place to tee up from early spring through late October and beyond. This charming, historic resort community just three hours west of Spokane, is nestled where the Cascade Mountains meet the Eastern Washington desert. With a population of roughly 10,000, the Chelan Valley spans the 55-mile Lake Chelan, and includes the towns of Chelan, Stehekin, and Manson. On the southwest side of the lake is Bear Mountain Ranch Golf Course, where you’re invited to “Play a round. Stay around.” This “18-hole masterpiece” and Private Residence Club opened in 2005 and boasts the atmosphere of the “enduring quality of rustic elegance,” surrounding guests with 6,000 pristine acres and providing panoramic views of the lake and mountains at every hole. “The course looks great this year,” says Cory Pickerel, director of golf at the resort. “Sales are up 23 percent this season…business has been good.” Voted one of six “Favorite New Courses in the Country” by PGA Professionals in 2008 and one of the top 10 most difficult courses in the state by the Washington State Golfer’s Association the same year, this course is skillfully designed and perfect for golfers at all levels of play. Rates start at $79 (includes cart rental), Monday thru Thursday, and $89 Fridays through Sundays, with discounts beginning at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. Also sitting high above the lake to provide the most amazing vistas is Lake Chelan Golf Course, featuring 6,440 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 72 with natural landscaping that includes a shot over a canyon at #10’s 406 yard Par 4. Opened in 1970, this long-time favorite carries a rating of 70.3, with a slope of 119 on Blue grass and is perfect for the beginner to the seasoned golfer. Rates are $37 for 18 holes and $22 for 9 holes with discounts during twilight hours, and for juniors and seniors after 2 p.m. depending on the schedule of the day, Monday through Thursday. PGA Staff lessons are available daily. If you’re interested in introducing your kids to the fine sport of golfing, a great day on “The Green” is waiting for you at Don Morse Park. This championship putting course is just minutes from downtown Chelan and features a stream, waterfalls, and fountain as well as a vibrant floral landscape. With bentgrass greens, sand bunkers, water hazards and gentle slopes, this course offers fun, but also challenging play for any skilled or novice player. Head south of Chelan to Orondo, and you’ll find one of America’s Best Public-Access Courses for Washington as nominated in 2006 by Golfweek Magazine. Desert Canyon Golf Resort, also rated by Golf Digest in 2005-2006 as one of the top courses for Washington, provides a picturesque desert course that features 18-holes of championship golf, as well as an 18-hole putting course. When renting your cart, you’ll find it GPS equipped, helping you to navigate all the better the 7,217 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 72. And with a course rating of 73.9 and a slope rating of 134, you’ll be ready for some refreshments in CJ’s Oasis Restaurant, Rattler’s Sports Bar, or Tully’s Coffee Shop, all open seven days a week. Onsite accommodations at the Great Links Resort at Desert Canyon offers luxury one-, two-, and four-bedroom suites supplied with amenities including a flat-screen TV in the living room and bedroom of every suite. Opened in 1993, the course is managed by Century Golf Partners/Arnold Palmer Golf Management. Close by in East Wenatchee, is the Highlander Golf Club, a true Scottish course that sits atop a cliff edge nearly 800 feet above the beautiful Columbia River. Built by Jim Haley of the famed Bandon Dunes Golf Resort on the Oregon coast, this championship 18 hole links course was a 2003 Best New Course nominee by Golf Digest. The 6,466 yard course with dramatic vistas and gaping pot bunkers on nearly every hole has a course and slope rating of 70.9/125, challenging even in perfect conditions. So precarious is one hole, that even the scorecard warns golfers – “If the ball ends up in the Ravine on hole 9 - Do not attempt to retrieve, EXTREME DANGER.” “The land in Wenatchee…is amazingly like the Highlands of Scotland, barren of trees but rich in wind swept fescue grasses and rolling rocky ground. Below it all…this ribbon of blue water…like the deep lochs of Scotland. I knew this was truly a magnificent site…to create a classic inland Scottish course,” said Haley when he found the site in 2000. Amenities include an award-winning pro shop, driving range, lessons, a beautiful clubhouse, and The Highlander Grill which offers on-the-go food items as well as a sit-down menu and beer and fine wine. Just north of Chelan in Pateros, Washington is Alta Lake Golf Resort, an incredible 18-hole course with just over 6,600 yards of play. Built in 1974, this family-owned resort has a “cult following”—a tradition for many who started playing here when it was just nine holes, with giant greens and a tiny motel. The Barth family has since grown the resort to include new unique and challenging holes with three sets of tee boxes at each hole and a 30-room motel, with reasonable rates starting at $75 plus $55 all-you-can-play green fees. “Alta is a place all its own,” said Leighanne Barth. “We like to think there’s not another resort anywhere in the world that can feel this much like home!” And if you ask some of their regulars, they’ll probably agree.