Kingston-area course set to open amid raves

The new Kitsap County golf course that can trace its history to a man looking for a horse pasture 19 years ago is about to open.

White Horse Golf Club, an 18-hole public course outside Kingston, is gaining national attention because it is designed by Cynthia Dye McGarey, a member of one of golf's most famous architectural families — the Dye clan.

The course is sure to gain state notice because it is the latest quality course in golf-rich Kitsap County and will be mentioned with the Olympic Course at Gold Mountain, Trophy Lake and McCormick Woods.

This is a course with length (7,093 yards from the farthest of five sets of tees), variety, separation of holes and beauty. It is a "second-shot golf course" because most fairways have wide landing areas for drives, but approach shots are demanding and one reason is a bunker population of 137.

The course also offers views of Puget Sound, the Olympics and Cascades and presently there are homes on only four holes.

The course has a memorable 18th hole — a downhill par-4 bordered on the left by a lake.

Staffers enjoy asking visitors: "Name a better finishing hole in the Northwest?"

The facility also has a good practice area with an excellent range.

This is a walkable course, but there are three long hikes between greens and tees.

The rolling terrain gave McGarey plenty to work with without having to move a lot of dirt. The soil is sandy, which means the course drains well. Sand from the site was used to build tees and greens, which are reasons construction costs were under $4 million.

McGarey, 51, is a member of the famous Dye golf-design family whose best-known member is her uncle, Pete Dye. This is the first solo U.S. effort for McGarey, who said she considers herself fortunate to work with property so conducive to good course design.

She was chosen to design the course by owner Bob Screen because he liked her work on a Utah course and what he calls her "attention to detail."

"The course evolved over quite a few routings," said McGarey, who once encountered a bear during early work on the course.

She is pleased with the end product and proclaimed, "Every hole has its own character."

The story of White Horse began in 1988 when Screen, a Bainbridge-based marketing and advertising executive, was looking for pasture for his daughter's horse, Boomers.

He found property he liked — a lot of it — five minutes south of Kingston then told himself, "I should turn this expense into an investment."

He had read PING golf founder Karsten Solheim quoted in The Times about the lack of a quality course in northern Kitsap County. He knew Solheim often vacationed in the area and tracked him down at Solheim's sister's restaurant outside Kingston.

Eager to have the golf inventor see the property, Screen approached him and said, "I've got some land up the street and I'm wondering if ... "

Solheim and his son left the table and followed Screen to the property where they drove around on logging roads.

Solheim's pronouncement: "Bob, you've got a great piece of land for a golf course."

After consulting with friends, Screen decided to build a course and envisioned one surrounded by a residential community.

It took much longer than he thought.

He filed for Kitsap County permits in 1991 and anti-development opponents fought him for five years until the county approved the project. That was Round 1. Round 2 was fought in Superior Court, where Screen finally prevailed in 2002.

Ground was broken in 2003. Construction of a clubhouse is scheduled to begin next summer.

One beneficial outcome for Screen from the long delay is that the value of home sites soared over the years and they now cost between $190,000 and $325,000 in Phase I, which has 65 lots. The total number of homesites will be 224.

When the course opens later this month, greens fees will be $45 plus tax Monday through Thursday and $60 plus tax Friday through Sunday and holidays. There will be a $25 twilight rate Monday through Thursday and $35 on other days. Carts will be $13 per rider.

The director of golf is Bruce Christy, who has been head pro at Inglewood Golf Club and director of golf for Everett's two municipal courses. He likes to call White Horse "a tactician's golf course."

White Horse plans to have a complimentary shuttle service where golfers can walk on the ferry in Edmonds and be picked up at the Kingston ferry dock and delivered back there after their rounds. They will have plenty to talk about on the way home.