The 2006 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship will be, of course, the most prestigious championship to grace the Olympic Course at the Gold Mountain Golf Club in its nearly 10 years of existence. However, it’s far from the first time a major competition has been held on the Olympic Course, and this national championship conducted by the United States Golf Association might be viewed more as the coronation of the philosophy embraced by both Gold Mountain and its municipal owners, the city of Bremerton (Wash.).
Ever since it opened, Olympic has been the site for numerous collegiate competitions as well as regional championships and qualifiers. Now, it will draw players from all across North America and sometimes beyond for championship week, July 10-15.
“I think we have the quality golf course to warrant a national reputation, and I think that’s why the city is eager to do this because there aren’t many places where that’s even a possibility,” said Scott Alexander, the general manager at Gold Mountain.
The two courses at Gold Mountain, the original Cascade Course and now the Olympic Course, offer flexibility. Because of that, Gold Mountain has been able to hold the Washington State Amateur, U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying, and the annual (University of Washington) Husky Invitational intercollegiate tournament.
“We feel fortunate that they’ve turned out to be as championship caliber as they are,” Alexander said. “And I think if you are a championship-caliber golf course, the one thing you can do to give back to the game is to make yourself available for things like this. To get the greatest players that you can possible find, and you make it available to challenge those types of players.”
The one sticking point about all this is that it can cost money – or more precisely, it stops the flow of money from the public coming in when the course is tied up for an event. “I think the city’s philosophy is it’s more than just dollars and cents in what happens that day,” Alexander said.
Looking at the bigger picture, the financial benefits of being the host course for a U.S. Amateur Public Links comes in exposure and prestige. “They named us host of this thing in 2002,” Alexander said. “We’ve had lots and lots of players ever since then say, ‘Gee, I was coming to town and saw you were going to host the U.S. Amateur Public Links.’ ”
Alexander and his staff are glad to hear those comments, and what generally happens afterward. “The only reason they really say anything is because they come in after the round and say, ‘Man, this is every bit as good as what I thought it was going to be,’ ” Alexander said.
Gold Mountain and the city of Bremerton have counted on hundreds of volunteers to help prepare for the APL. “I definitely see a real excitement in our men’s club of being involved, putting this championship on, putting our golf course out there for display for everybody to see,” Alexander said.
It took a display of confidence from Alexander long ago to make sure the Olympic course even exists today. If somebody were looking for the exact moment that the concept for the Olympic Course was launched, they would be taken back to 1992. Fourteen years later, it will be the site of the 81st U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.
Alexander approached city of Bremerton officials in 1992 and said adding a second course to go along with the Cascade Course at Gold Mountain would be beneficial for everyone involved. Alexander was told there wasn’t enough demand to warrant a second course. Instead of accepting that analysis, he went about proving otherwise. Alexander directed his staff to mark down every time someone called for a tee time and was told the Cascade Course was booked. The staff asked each caller if there were one, two, three or four golfers turning elsewhere for a chance to play golf.
“At the end of the year, we tallied that all up, and we turned away something like 64,000 rounds,” Alexander said. He went back to the city, which had ample land nearby for another course, and told them of his research. This time, he was met with encouragement, as well as a new mayor, Lynn Horton, who provided the necessary boost for the project.
“She really was the one who said this is a totally viable project,” Alexander said of Horton, whose husband, Frank Horton, is the chairman for the 2006 U.S. Amateur Public Links. “She got us all together and said, ‘We’re going to be playing golf two years from this day, and whatever it takes, you guys better get on the horse and help me get it done because that’s what we’re going to do.’ ”
And in 1996, the Olympic Course, designed by John Harbottle III, joined the Cascade Course, designed by Ken Tyson and opened in 1971, as the 36-hole Gold Mountain Golf Club. For the past 10 years, golfers on each side of the Puget Sound have been enjoying either Olympic, a 7,073-yard par 72 layout, or the 6,707-yard, par-71 Cascade. Both courses operate out of a 13,000-square-foot clubhouse that opened in 2002.
Bremerton has had Alexander as an independent contractor handling the operations of the complex since 1984. The agreement is not a typical lease agreement, instead it’s based on percentages. Therefore, if things go well financially, both parties benefit. “Now, we have a Board of Directors, we meet basically once a month, and they really let Ed Faulk, the greens superintendent, and myself operate it,” said Alexander. “But they know what’s going on, they’re involved in the budget and know how much is being spent on the golf course.”
After a struggle in his first year because of drought conditions, things have run smoothly the past 22 years for Alexander. “From that point forward, after that year of water problems, we promoted the course and got more play,” Alexander said. “I couldn’t pat the city more on the back that they never tried to take that money and do something else. They always put it back in the course, and made it better and better and better and that’s really been their goal all along.”
And that also was the goal in designing and building of the Olympic Course. When Alexander first walked the site, he knew the prospects were good for a quality course. “We walked this thing, and it had enough terrain, but not too much, and we knew the soil was really, really sandy and would drain,” he said.
Then the course architect was brought in. “It was one of those deals where Harbottle walked it and said, ‘You know, you’ve got a great opportunity, there’s no restrictions with lots or houses, you’ve got an incredible piece of ground,’ ” Alexander remembered. “We can build something really, really good for not really that much more money.”
The two courses are on watershed property owned by the city of Bremerton, so there will be no housing developments ever impinging upon any fairways. And the slopes of Gold Mountain itself, providing spectacular views north of the course, are part of that watershed, and so those 500 or so acres will remain in their natural state.
About the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship The Public Links determines the national champion among players who don’t have regular access to a private course. The winner also is invited to play in the 2007 Masters. For more details, visit
http://www.usapl.org. For more information about Gold Mountain, call 360/415-5432 or visit
http://www.goldmt.com.
