Washington State University officials joyfully launched a bold two-year project on Friday, June 9, to begin construction of the Palouse Ridge Golf Course.
Hopes are that the championship golf course, designed by renown John Harbottle III, will become a destination for golfers throughout the Pacific Northwest.
The ceremony included remarks by WSU President V. Lane Rawlins, Harbottle, and other representatives of the university and local community. It was held at the tee of the final hole of the university’s existing nine-hole course.
The estimated $8.4 million course and practice facility will cover a 315-acre site that includes the existing 92-acre, nine-hole course and additional WSU land east and south of the existing course. The course will be integrated with the natural beauty of the Palouse, preserving the open space on the east end of campus while making strategic use of limited water resources. Tees will range from 5,200 to 7,300 yards.
Officials are hopeful that the course will become a catalyst for economic development in the region, potentially serving as a centerpiece for a hotel/conference center, growing research enterprises, and other local and regional economic opportunities.
(Photo above: Golf Course Architect John Harbottle III address the audience with the old course in the background.)
“We wish to create a facility that ranks with the best college courses in the nation, one capable of hosting the Pac-10 and NCAA Championships,” according to Harbottle. “The site is highly contoured, which makes designing the course a more difficult task. However, the topography will also help create very dramatic and varied character for the holes.”
(Photo above: Jordan Madison, senior, WSU Men’s Golf Team, hits a tee shot, as sophomore Tracy Broders, WSU’s Women’s Golf Team, awaits her turn.)
The design philosophy Harbottle employed for Palouse Ridge is based on his study of courses in Scotland, which offers similarities.
Operation of the course will be managed by CourseCo Inc., of Petaluma, Calif., which operates a number of courses, including the Crystal Springs and Los Lagos courses in Northern California, and was only one of four recipients of the 2003 California Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award for Sustainable Practices.
(Photo above: l-r, Butch, WSU golf Coach Walt Williams, Pullman City Supervisor John Sherman, Golf Course Architect John Harbottle III, President Rawlins, CourseCo Inc President Tom Isaak, and Mike Jones..)
The practice facility will accommodate WSU athletics, visiting golf teams, and physical education classes at one end of the course, while student recreation users and the general public will access the other end.
Phase Two of the building plans calls for construction of a $4 million clubhouse, to be located near the east side of the course, off Terre View Drive.
(Photo above: Butch Tees off too.)
For additional information on Palouse Ridge, got to http://palouseridge.wsu.edu.
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