Salish Cliffs set for spring debut
The new Salish Cliffs Golf Club, which is being developed as part of the Squaxin Island Tribe's Little Creek Casino Resort near Olympia in Washington, has made rapid progress the summer, and is on schedule to open in late spring 2011.
All 18 holes and the driving range have been shaped and seeded with T1 creeping bentgrass. In addition, construction of the log and cedar clubhouse began earlier this month and is expected to be done by the end of the winter.
The clubhouse – which will reflect the style and structure of Little Creek Casino Resort - is being built next to a deep ravine situated near a bridge between hole one and ten, with 360-degree views of the Kamilche Valley. The structure will feature a wrap-around porch overlooking hole nine and eighteen.
According to superintendent Bob Pearsall, holes ten to seventeen of the Gene Bates-designed course are playable now. When construction on the course breaks for the winter months in November, Pearsall and his crew will remain on site to maintain the course as it continues to grow in and mature. The 7,300 course includes 600 feet of elevation change.
Infrastructure adjacent to Salish Cliffs is also in its final stages. The road from Little Creek Casino Resort to the golf course has been completed and the parking lot has been cleared and gravelled.