New courses: Anticipated debuts coming soon

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ROSLYN — This Cascade town near Cle Elum appears on the threshold of being noted for something besides its colorful coal-mining history and the location for the hit 1990s television series "Northern Exposure."

MountainStar Resort, which promoters are quick to compare with Central Oregon's Sunriver Resort, plans to open the first nine holes on the first of three golf courses for the July 4 weekend. The back nine might open in late August.

The course was designed by Arnold Palmer's design team. It remains unnamed and is referred to as "the Palmer course."

Some construction already has started on the second course, which will be private. The private course is designed by Tom Doak, who designed the acclaimed Pacific Dunes course in Bandon, Ore. The first and third courses will be open to the public.

MountainStar Resort, which has been in the works for nearly two decades, is a $2 billion, 6,225-acre project with plans for 3,700 home and condominium sites, a hotel, shopping area, bike trails and even an ice rink. Some home construction will begin this summer.

The developers are JELD-WEN, a Klamath Falls, Ore., company that is the world leader in door and window manufacturing, and Los Angeles-based Lowe Enterprises.

JELD-WEN owns two resorts in Oregon — Eagle Crest Resort and Running Y Ranch. John Thronson built those two courses and he is putting the finishing touches on the Palmer layout.

Lowe has developed other high-end resort communities, including The Reserve in Indian Wells, Calif.

Brady Hatfield, who once worked at Sunriver, is the head professional at MountainStar.

Hatfield said, "As far as mountain golf courses, this is as good a piece of property as I've ever seen a course built on."

When completed, the Palmer-designed course will be a par-72 layout with four sets of tees and measure 7,110 yards from the championship tees.

Hatfield said the tentative plan is to charge $35 (including tax) for nine holes and in the neighborhood of $95 for a full 18-hole loop when the second nine opens. The greens fee will include use of a motorized cart but walking will be permitted.

Hatfield came to MountainStar from Alderbrook Golf and Yacht Club outside Shelton, where he was general manager. He said his two favorite holes on the front nine are Nos. 5 and 6. The fifth hole is a short par-4 (336 yards from the back tee) with a pond on the left. He calls the sixth hole "as challenging a par-3 as you'll ever play." The hole is 190 yards from the back tee and features a pond on the left and a narrow and deep green protected by a large bunker on the right.

Hatfield will operate out of temporary quarters when the course opens, but a 32,000-square foot clubhouse with 18 lodging units is scheduled to open next summer.

The Golf Course at Bear Mountain Ranch

Don Barth said he has a problem.

"I'm trying to figure out which hole is my signature hole," he said. "There are legitimately 12 holes out there that are special and spectacular and that's unusual out of 18 holes."

Barth is the designer of The Golf Course at Bear Mountain Ranch that overlooks the south end of Lake Chelan. The course is expected to open some time this summer.

Barth, owner of Rock Island Golf Course outside Wenatchee and Alta Lake Golf Course north of Lake Chelan, will operate the course as managing partner.

Reven Fontenot, president of Golf Course Construction, Inc., did the final shaping and built the greens and tee boxes.

"We worked together real closely on the construction of this," said Barth, who did a lot of the earthmoving himself. "He has a world of knowledge, having worked on more than 80 golf courses over 40 years."

Barth said Robert L. Yount, a Bellevue landscape architect, did a lot of the early routing.

The course will be part of a real-estate development, but Barth said plans call for clustered residential groupings that won't impinge on the course. The property is owned by Jerry and Mary Pat Scofield of Chelan.

The course is on 210 acres with lake and mountain views on every hole. Some fairways will be on what were once cross-country ski trails.

Barth said carts will be required because of the elevation gains.

"I don't think someone could walk it and play a decent game of golf," said Barth, who noted that the elevation gain is about 800 feet.

He said on some holes, "You are teeing off cliffs."

Barth said greens fees, including cart, probably will be $65 or $70, with offseason rates probably $40 or $45.

Championship-tee yardage will be 7,400 yards and front-tee yardage 5,100. The par-5 18th hole can stretch to 682 yards.

Par will be 73 or 72 depending on which set of tees a golfer chooses for No. 18.

"It's going to be a breathtaking golf course," said Barth, who also wonders out loud "if some golf purists will like it."

He said the view from the first green is so spectacular that golfers can see Mission Ridge outside Wenatchee, downtown Chelan and 25 Mile Creek, which is about 25 miles up the lake from the course.

"Five different people may think there are five better views than that one," Barth said.