Scarecrow, the new David McLay Kidd design at Gamble Sands Resort in Brewster, Washington, will open for public play on Friday, August 1. Scarecrow is Gamble Sands Resort’s second 18-hole layout alongside the original Gamble Sands Course, which opened in 2014 and is also a DMK design.
Built on 300 acres of rumpled and rolling terrain where cornfields once stood, Scarecrow overlooks the Columbia River Valley, while watching over the neighboring apple and cherry orchards of the Gebbers’ family (owners of Gamble Sands) farm. The corn is gone but the Scarecrow still stands, serving as a defender of the fertile soil’s new purpose. In Scarecrow, McLay Kidd and design associate Nick Schaan transformed a twisted saddle of undulating land and river-view ridgeline into what golfers will find to be a worthy yet contrasting counterpart to the Gamble Sands Course.
Scarecrow plays to a par of 71, stretches to 6,900 yards and is turfed with traditional fine fescue, which provides for firm and fast surfaces. Scarecrow begins with a rollicking downhill par-4 with a blind tee shot to a massive fairway and ends with a drivable par-4 with a green that is perched on the edge of a cliff. Throughout the round speed slots, boomerangs, angles and slopes spark creativity and add to the fun, while a mix of reachable par-5s, five distinct par-3s and challenging par-4s make up the layout.
"It’s been said that a compelling landscape almost can’t help but yield a compelling golf course. When we created Scarecrow, we knew we had just such a landscape,” McLay Kidd said. “We wanted to offer the golfer a different experience than the first course but not so different as to be alien. We respected the players' love of fescue, the wide fairways and most especially the fun factor, but we added a little spice. The two courses are siblings for sure, but Scarecrow might be described as the ‘twisted sister’."
“The reviews and feedback we’ve heard from those who have previewed Scarecrow have been incredibly positive and share the common thread that Scarecrow is a blast to play,” Gamble Sands Resort general manager Blake Froling said. “We’re excited to welcome golfers from around the world to Gamble Sands.”
