Gamble Sands Golf (Scarecrow)

Scarecrow will be many things to many golfers, but there’s no denying it is one of the most visually compelling courses anywhere in North America, with sweeping views of the Columbia River. The second 18-hole course to open at Gamble Sands Resort, slightly more than a decade after the first, David McLay Kidd collaborated on Scarecrow with his design partner Nick Schaan in a creative competition of sorts between the two. Rumbling along valleys and ridgelines, with incredible vistas of staggering Washington beauty, Scarecrow winds its way through 300 acres of untouched golfing wonder. That provides a level of intimacy in the design with holes running closer to one another, though Scarecrow’s fairways offer similar width to that found on the first course at Gamble Sands. While the greens at Scarecrow are slightly smaller than those on its sister course, and the bunkering is unique to the site, playability and fun remain key.