Sahalee Country Club
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sahalee Country Club is a country club and golf course located in Sammamish, Washington, just outside of Seattle, USA. Sahalee is member-owned. In the Chinookan language Sahalee means "high heavenly ground".[1] The course hosted the 1998 PGA Championship, won by Vijay Singh of Fiji and the 2002 WGC-NEC Invitational, won by Craig Parry of Australia. The course architect is Ted Robinson. In preparation for the PGA Championship, Rees Jones redesigned the course in 1996, 1997, and 1998. The course has been listed on Golf Digest's Top 100 Courses list for over twenty years. The course is the host of the Northwest Amateur Tournament.
Sahalee was also to have hosted the 2010 PGA Championship. However, that was moved by the PGA of America to the Straits Course at Whistling Straits in Sheboygan, Wisconsin because of financial support in the Pacific Northwest during the same year as the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[citation needed]
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[edit] General information
Since the course is private, guests can only play with a member. Green fees for guests are $200. The pro shop is open from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Pacific Time. The dress code states that denim is not allowed and that a collared shirt and bermuda shorts are required. Metal spike shoes are not allowed; neither are groups of five. The course is open all year. The greens are aerated in May and September. The greens and fairways are both made of Poa grass.
[edit] History
Construction for the course began in 1967 and it opened in 1969. The first head professional of the course was Paul Runyan. Runyan was a PGA Tour player who won twice on the tour, played for the United States on the Ryder Cup team four times, and won the Senior PGA Championship in 1961 and 1962. In 2001 the old clubhouse was replaced with a new 43,000 square foot clubhouse.
[edit] Course information
The course is made up of three sets of nine holes, the South nine, the North nine, and the East nine. PGA tournaments have been held on the combination of the South and North nines. The course is like many in the Pacific Northwest, tall evergreen, douglas-fir, and redcedar trees lining the narrow fairways. The course has many bunkers and several water hazards.
On average, each hole has five or six hazards. The East Course has two ponds that come into play on two of the holes. This is the same for the North Course and South Course. The North Course's fairways are slightly hilly, whereas the South Course and East Course have relatively flat fairways with the occasional hump to create an uneven lie.
The combination of the North and South courses creates a par 72 layout. From the black (back) tees, the course measures 6,955 yards with a slope rating of 74/138. From the blue tees the course measures 6,754 yards and has a slope rating of 73.7/135. From the white tees the course measures 6,331 yards with a slope rating of 71.6/130. From the red tees the course measures 5,715 yards with a slope rating of 73.6/129. For the 1998 PGA Championship, the course played as a par 70 of 6,906 yards.
The combination of the South and East courses creates a par 72 layout. From the black tees the course measures 6,952 yards with a slope rating of 74/138. From the blue tees the course measures 6,769 yards with a slope rating of 73.7/135. From the white tees the course measures 6,322 yards with a slope rating of 71.6/130. From the red tees the course measures 5,725 yards with a slope rating of 73.6/129.
The combination of the North and East courses creates a par 72 layout. From the black tees the course measures 6,931 yards with a slope rating of 74/138. From the blue tees the course measures 6,769 with a slope rating of 73.7/135. From the white tees the course measures 6,335 yards with a slope rating of 71.6/129. From the red tees the course measures 5,750 yards with a slope rating of 73.6/129.
As a par 70, Greg Kraft holds the course record of 65, which is five under par. As a par 71, Robert Allenby holds the course record of 63, which is seven under par.
