Gamble Sands recognized by Pacific Northwest Golfer Magazine

Par-3 sixth selected as one of the ‘Great Holes of the Northwest’

In the December 2024 issue of Pacific Northwest Golfer magazine, the par-3 sixth hole at Gamble Sands in Brewster, Wash. is recognized as one of the “Great Holes of the Northwest,” one of just four holes selected each year by the Northwest’s largest and longest-running golf publication.

This long downhill par 3 offers two options. If the golfer can carry it 210 yards on a string with confidence, then there is no problem. But the other option, which allows more room for error, is to aim 30 yards to the right of the green, hit one less club, and let geography be your friend.

Throw the tee shot over the cart paths, over the waste area, out into space, and let gravity, and physics, and everything learned on every playground while growing up, take over. Watch the ball land on grass, in an area designed specifically for this purpose, and then watch it disappear as it begins to roll toward the green. And then see the ball reappear, somewhere near – and then on – the putting surface.

Opened for play in 2014, Gamble Sands was designed by David McLay Kidd. The links-style, fescue-grassed layout immediately garnered numerous awards from several national golf magazines, and has been the site of several high-profile events, including the 2018 Washington Men’s Amateur. The resort soon opened their par-3, 14-hole short course, QuickSands, and in the summer of 2025 will open their second championship course, to be called Scarecrow. Kidd designed all three courses at the resort.

(Photo of Gamble Sands’ sixth hole is by Brian Oar.)

With a direct-mailed circulation of over 120,000 households, Pacific Northwest Golfer magazine has been the voice of golf in the Northwest for over 30 years. It is the only Northwest golf publication with a verifiable demographic of its readership. It is the official magazine of the British Columbia, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Alaska and Pacific Northwest golf associations, as well as the Pacific Northwest Section PGA. Published by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association, a 501c3 charitable international amateur golf association, Pacific Northwest Golfer is a member benefit delivered to Golf Canada members in British Columbia and to those who utilize the USGA GHIN Handicap System through clubs of the PNGA’s member associations in the U.S., either public or private.