Anchorage, Alaska Golf Summary

So during a recent trip to Alaska, the writers here played six courses, five 18 hole courses and one 9 hole course. Those six are added to another played a few years ago means that seven of the ten courses in close proximity Anchorage (close being defined by normal distances, not Alaska Distance; to some in Alaska, Fairbanks is "just up the road" from Anchorage...yet it's 6 1/2 hours and 360 miles away) Of these seven, all six of the 18 hole courses in the area are included. These courses are generally of fair quality.

Ranked from top to bottom, in this writers opinion, the courses played are:

Eagleglen GC: 6

Anchorage GC: 6

Moose Run (Creek): 5

Settlers Bay GC: 4

Palmer GC: 4

Moose Run (Hill): 3

Fishhook [9 holes]: 2

Those numbers are certainly respectable for a city of nearly 300,000 residents, plus more in the metro area. In fact, they may be just as good as most comparable metro areas in the United States, especially if only considering public courses. After all, what is the level of quality of golf in places like Los Angeles, Chicago, or New York when all the private clubs are thrown out? No, truth be told, the residents of this part of Alaska have a great selection of courses to play. Anchorage is not exactly a golf travel destination like Myrtle Beach or Pinehurst by any means, but the courses are of fairly high quality for locals and visitors.

All the reviews for courses played are linked above.

This area has some very unique features with which it must struggle. On top of the inhospitable winter weather, the courses also must deal with the fact that they get virtually no play from non-local golfers. And the courses certainly have no national members such as courses in places like Park City, Utah that have similar weather conditions. But overall, the Anchorage metro area has a solid selection of golf courses and those courses are good enough to hold the interest of golfers.

Settlers Bay Golf Course- Wasilla, AK

This is the only housing development course in Alaska and the course uses that tidbit of information in it's advertising, though this writer is not sure if saying your courses is routed through houses is really a good thing. But that aside, the course is not bad. It has some up and down spots, as most do, but as a whole, it is a fair course. However, it must be said that having the range and first tee occupiying the most scenic part of the property might not have been the best way to route the course. On the front nine, the houses are generally not obtrusive, only coming into play on a single hole. However, on the back nine, they are more in play, indeed it seems that one hole was even altered due to homes being built. This course is certainly not the best course in Alaska, but it'd not a poor choice either.

Holes to Note

Hole #1: Par 4, 429 yards

Occupying the finest piece of ground on the entire property is never really a good thing for the first hole. However, this one does. The hole itself is not a bad hole, quality dogleg left that plays substantially downhill off the tee and overlooks Pioneer Peak in the distance. The best play off the tee is to play to the inside of the dogleg, over the depression. This widens the fairway and shortens the approach. The shot to the green is uphill to a modestly defended green that has some decent interest. Good opening hole in general, but sadly, the scenery never again comes close to matching that from the first tee.

From the tee, the hole opens up nicely for the player with the mountains providing a beautiful backdrop.

From the fairway, the player is left with this uphill approach.

From up close, the interior movements and fall-offs are visible

Hole #7, 630 yards

Playing downhill from just below the clubhouse, this is the longest par 5 on the course. On colder days, this hole would play as a real monster. The hole plays dead straight and really just requires the player hit two solid shots in order to be left with a reasonable shot into the green. But the green is one of the best this writer has played in the state. It sits as a biarritz green (which just warms the heart, naturally) and can be approached either from the air or on the ground, as it should. The green certainly makes up for the otherwise average nature of the hole.

From the tee, the player is not shown any options. The play is simply to hit the fairway as far off the tee as possible.

On the second shot, though it cannot be seen here the proper play is down the left side of the fairway, leaving a better angle into the green. It should be noted that the cart path crossing the fairway is a real eye sore. Why do courses do that?

Once closer to the greenm the bunkers that protect the putting surface are visible. This green is not a 100% biarritz green because it is aligned at a slight angle from the fairway/approach, but it is very close.

Here, the central valley and the front and rear plateaus are visible. The front pin, as usual, offers it's own unique challenges for distance control. The ball seen in the picture roughly a yard off the right fringe landed perhaps 5 yards right and 1 yard long of the flag, then released out to 35-40 feet from the cup. One has to wonder how many of the golfers here recognize the similarity in the green contours?

Hole #13: Par 4, 313 yards

This hole is of note only because it is a very poor hole. The golfer, upon leaving the 11th green, is not given a direct route to the tee. He must walk down to directly in front of the teeing area and then back about 75 yards to get to the back tees. Once there, he finds a teeing area that could have its own postal address. The tee is situated between the back decks of two nice homes and might actually draw a crowd to watch during a tournament. From there, the hole plays downhill. There is a bunker situated on the right side of the fairway roughly 250 yards off the tee. The best play is to play as close to the bunker as possible, or over it for the longest players, to leave the best shot into the green.

From the back tee, there seems to be little room for error, though the opening is slightly wider than it would appear. The bench visible by the forward tee pad is roughly where the player arrives after leaving the 11th green before walking back to the tee. The target bunker is visible in the center of the image with a house directly behind it.

On the second shot, the golfer is confronted with one of the worst hazards this writer has ever seen. The bunker sized hazard on the right is not a bunker, it is a fronting pond. This green is one of the highest points of the course, so there is no need for the pond from a drainage perspective. It is simply there to inflict severe penalty on the golfer. This course had significant potential to be good until this hole. From here, the course just goes downhill.

As mentioned above, the course starts off very well on the first hole and the entire front nine is generally solid. But the back nine is very lacking. Holes 10 and 11 are good, but from there, the course really staggers to the finish. 4 out of 10

Moose Run Golf Course (Hill)- Fort Richardson, AK

This is the older and short course at Moose Run. This course is also a bit wider and generally easier than the Creek course. The two nines were built at different times, and while this writer does not know which nine was built first, there is an obvious quality difference between the two. The front nine occupies rolling land and has solid holes. The back nine occupies a very flat section of land and, sadly, is rather repetitive. The par 4's blend together on the back nine because they are all flat, though the one par 5 has some interest and is scenic playing back to the mountains. But this is simply an average course and, due to the back nine, the lowest quality course among the six 18 hole courses around Anchorage and out into the Valley.

Holes to Note

Hole #2: Par 4, 422 yards
From the tee, this hole bears a passing resemblance to the eighth hole at Pine Valley. The landing area is obscured by a large hill that enters from the left and slopes down across the fairway to the right. The best play is to aim for the center or left-center of the fairway and let the ball feed down to the right. The green is easy to approach from either side of the fairway, but players that reach the right side will be afforded a flatter lie and level approach. From the fairway, the player may choose to either fly the ball to the hole or bump it along the ground. The green is equally receptive to either shot with very limited protections from approach shots. Easy second hole and a fairly good chance for birdie.

From the tee, the hill is imposing and blocks the landing area from view. For those who have seen it, the resemblance to #8 at Pine Valley is readily visible. 

From the right side of the fairway, the green is easily accessed from a flat lie. The green sits in wait with limited protections.

Hole #5: Par 5, 518 yards

Solid par 5 that plays blind over the hill to the fairway. The hole bends to the left, but the player is given no indication of that from the tee. The best line is to play up the right side, leaving the player a chance to go for the green with a straight shot. From the top of the hill, the hole spreads out in front of the player and, while not an exceptionally strategic hole, it's certainly photogenic. The green is, like most here, lightly defended (the green actually has a bunker left and also long, but due to green shrinkage over time, they are so far offset that this writer failed to even notice them on the course and only saw them upon looking at the course from overhead).

 Completely blind off the tee, the player has no idea what is in store.

 Fortunately for him, there was no trouble awaiting in the fairway and the only concern is whether or not the ball ended up in the fairway and if he can make an attempt to go for the green in two shots.

From the 150 yard marker, the shot is uphill to the green and not very difficult.

This course could be a solid golf course if they did some work on it and perhaps brought in a professional designer to add a bit of interest to the back nine. It simply gets repetitive on the closing stretch. But there have been changes over time here. Bunker shrinkage can be seem in numerous places, as can green shrinkage. An aerial view of the front nine shows how far offset the bunkers are from the greens. If there existed some cash to spend on this course, it could be as good as the other courses in the area, if not better than some. 

The square edge indicates where the green used to be and how much rough encroachment exists on the third green.

This course is not bad, indeed it is actually average. It is actually something of a compliment to the quality of golf in this area overall that this course is at the bottom of the heap. For an area with as short a golfing season as Alaska, there exists a generally high quality of golf here. This course: 3 out of 10.

Moose Run Golf Course (Creek)-Fort Richardson, AK

This is one of the newer courses in the State of Alaska and it shows. The creek crossings have significant buffer areas unlike Eagleglen where the golf course butts directly up to the same creek. The course is also longer than other courses in the state, playing 7,324 yards from the back markers. That yardage, coupled with the normal cooler temperatures in Alaska, make this course a formidable challenge for all golfers. In fact, this course seems to be the only course in Alaska ever ranked in a national ranking produced by a major publication, being ranked in the Top 50 Most Difficult Courses from Golf Digest. As a whole, this course comes together quite well and gives the golfer a nice up and down ride through a round.

Holes to Note

Hole #6: Par 3, 222 yards
This long par 3 plays over an old quarry in a stunning setting. As with many holes in Alaska, it is very difficult to judge distance and feel comfortable hitting a shot. Playing slightly downhill from tee to green gives the player some help given that a running approach is not possible. The modern bunker shapes are easily seen in this image.

Hole #11: Par 5, 640 yards
This hole is the longest hole in Alaska and certainly plays as such. From the tee the hole plays downhill to a rather flat landing area. The player is offered two lines off the tee. Playing close to the bunkers on the right will give the player a clear line on the second shot, but a less desired line to the green. Playing closer to the tree line on the left will force the player to carry a set of fairway bunkers in order to go to the green, or lay up short of them, but from there he will have the best angle into the green. This is one of the rare three shot par 5's that has interest on the second shot and is a fine hole because of that.

 From the tee, the player can see the bunkers lying in wait. He must choose to play towards the bunkers or away, depending on his skills and how aggressive he wishes to be.

 From the right side of the fairway, the green is only slightly in view. The bunkers on the left side can be seen here. The player can either play around them, leaving a poor angle to the green or test his luck going over them, given the preferred line to the green.

 Looking back from the green, the elevation change on this hole can be seen.

This course is very solid. No holes are very weak, but few are strong. One would be led to believe that the designer did the best he could given the site limitations with the creek. 5 out of 10

Fishhook Golf Course- Palmer, AK

This course is certainly from a mold formed in times past. The course is routed simply over the land. the  greens and tees are simply closely mown areas rather than expensively maintained and completely manufactured. This course, while not being anything special or unique to the world of golf, is a lot of fun to play and gives the golfer a look into how golf might have been played and courses designed years ago prior to the widespread use of heavy equipment.

Holes to Note

Hole #1: Par 5, 509 yards
This is a very good opening hole. The tee shot plays uphill and into the wind to a blind fairway. The best play off the tee will be for the player to play up the right hand side of the fairway. That will given him a chance to see the green. However, the green is tucked around a sharp corner and is very small, making for a very difficult target to hit with a fairway wood or long iron. This hole sets the pace for the rest of the round with the blind shots, small greens and difficult angles.

 From the tee, the hole spreads out nicely in front of the player. The center of the fairway lies where the high, unmaintained grass intersects  with the standard rough grass in the center of the image. The best line off the tee is slightly right of that point.

 With this hole playing into the prevailing wind, a 260 yard tee shot is a fair blast. From the left side of the fairway (obviously this writer does not possess the skill to execute the shot as directed) the green is still completely obscured.

Now, from around 125 yards, the green is plainly in view and easily accessed. Bunkers flank the green on both sides and the green is somewhat rectangular, giving a bit of a biarritz green set-up...though without the requisite depression.

Hole #3: Par 3, 150 yards

This green site is nicely shelved into the hillside beyond the green. The bunkers add quality framing features to the hole. The only problem on this hole is the routing. The player walks from two green to three tee, then to the green, but from the third green the player must double back the entire length of the hole, walk directly past the teeing ground and over a hill in order to get to the fourth tee. Given the old time, homely nature of the course though, perhaps it deserves a pass.

Hole #7: Par 4, 504 yards

Upon a non-exhaustive review, this appears to be the longest par 4 hole in Alaska. It plays slightly downhill off the tee, generally downwind and to a firm fairway. On a warm day like when this writer played, the hole can be rather easy. But on a day with temps in the mid-50's and lacking a helping wind, this hole must be a real beast. The hole plays with a slight dogleg left, downhill off the tee and slightly back uphill to the green. The bunker that lies on a line just left of the forward tee markers works as a strategic aim point. Left of the bunker is going to be severely penalized, as would going in the bunker. But playing close would cut some of the significant distance off the hole.

 As with Palmer Golf Course, located just a few miles away, the open nature of the course coupled with the mountains in the distance really skew the player's perspective. Those mountains are roughly five miles distant and the red roof marking the clubhouse is about 1,000 yards from this tee.

This green complex is, without doubt, the best on the course. It is guarded by no bunkers and is open in the front, but features significant run-off areas on the other three sides. Any golfer missing this green will be faced with a difficult recovery. 

Overall, this is a fun little golf course. It doesn't compete with the full eighteen hole courses in the area in terms of quality, but it shouldn't. It manages to carve out a niche in the market and promotes itself as such. This is an old style course with an old style feel. It does not try to be something it is not. It is simply a fun course to play. 2 out of 10.

Palmer Golf Course- Palmer, AK

This course most certainly made the best out of what is a very difficult site. First, the site is as flat as a large piece of land can be, having only forty feet of elevation change from one end of the course to another, a distance of nearly a mile and a half; it seems like less change than that when playing the course. On top of that, the site is wedged between Palmer Airport and the Matanuska River. There is a mandated set-back off of the airport and the river could not be used for scenery as much as possible due to wind blowing sediment from the river bed onto the greens. But even with these difficulties, there sits a solid golf course that is certainly fun to play.

Holes to Note

Hole #2: Par 4, 395 yards
The player is given several choices off this tee. The safe play is to play the tee shot out to the left, away from the fairway bunker visible between the two trees in the center of the image. The other is to play over the bunker, a carry of about 250 yards. The play over the bunker will leave the better line into the green, as might be expected, but there might be a surprise waiting for the player beyond the bunker.

 From the tee, there would appear to be little that the player cannot see. The views of mountains in the distance are quite nice and offered on every hole, regardless of the direction of play.

 From the left side of the fairway, the player is left with a rather straight forward shot of 165 to 175 yards, if he chose to lay back far enough to take the bunker out of play. Visible here, however, is an additional bunker, farther from the tee and not seen from the tee. So, the 250 yard carry the player had to play over the first bunker becomes around 280. Many players have likely found that second bunker on their initial playing of the course.

But for those players long enough to carry the second bunker, a simple shot of around 100 yards awaits.

Hole #5: Par 3, 230 yards

The longest par 3 on the course plays to a green that is slightly elevated, but not elevated enough to prevent a shot from rolling onto the green. The green is quite nicely shaped, having a very irregular shape, something like a clover, and enough contouring to make it interesting, but not unplayable given the length.

 From the tee, any type of pull is obviously not wanted. This shot from the left side of the teeing area, however, makes the hole feel tighter than it really plays. The green provides a generous target and there are wide fringe areas that work to help slight misses. It is unknown if those flat and wide fringe areas used to be green areas and have been lost over the years.

Here you can see some of the shaping of the green. There is another finger of the green that extends out near the bunker on the right side of the image. This is a well shaped green and certainly able to provide challenge to the long incoming shots while still remaining playable. 

Hole #12: Par 4, 380 yards

This dogleg left hole provides a fair challenge to the player off the tee. With most dogleg holes, the play would seemingly be to play down the side of the dogleg in order to cut length off of the hole. However, here, playing down the left side will likely yield only trouble. Shots hugging the left side of the fairway will have to be hit at least 260 yards to avoid being blocked out by the trees on that side. However, any shot traveling over 285 yards runs the risk of winding up behind a large hardwood tree that is through the fairway. So, here, the left side is most certainly not the preferred side. The best play from this tee is a shot in the range of 240-260 yards played to the right-center of the fairway. This will allow for a relatively easy shot into the green.

 The green is not visible from the tee. It lies roughly directly below the point where the ridge line of the peak in the distance disappears behind the trees. Those trees hug tight to the fairway on the left, blocking out shots to the green.

This from the center of the fairway, roughly 120 yards from the green. This gives a fair look at the opening to the green, allowing for either aerial play or ground play. The green is also something of a punchbowl green, one of the few "classic" golf features to be found in Alaska.

Overall, this is a very solid golf course. It is very difficult to review this course in pictures because often times the scale of the photograph does no justice for the hole. On all the holes playing northwards (2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 17) the scale is determined by the backdrop of the mountains that are ten miles distance and 3,500 to 4,000 feet in height. But this course is as good a course as this writer has seen given the nature of the site. 4 out of 10.

Anchorage Golf Course- Anchorage, AK

This course has most of what a person would look for in a very good course. The par 3's range from short iron to hybrid clubs. Par 4's that run from nearly 460 yards (a significant distance given average Alaska temperatures) down to 330 and the par 5's run from easily reached in two shots to a solid three shotter. Given what this writer has seen of courses on the Golfweek Top Municipal course ranking, this course should be on that list, only location is holding it back. The course does seem to be slightly repetitive with the mid-length par 4's, but the holes individually are varied enough to keep them from being boring.

Holes to Note

Hole #2: Par 4, 341 yards
This hole plays straight off the tee and into a sharp dogleg. While the players instincts would tell him to play close down the tree line on the right, no benefit will come from doing that. Indeed the best play is either directly down the center or even favoring the left side of the fairway for a flatter lie.

Into the green, the player is left with a carry only shot to a rather flat green, but one that does slope from back to front. For the player who leaves his shot a little short or a little long of the green, a difficult shot awaits.

From 100 yards out, the depression fronting the green is obvious and the penalty for playing aggressively down the right side can be clearly seen. The green is roughly ten feet above the lowest part of the depression fronting the green.

From the back of the green, in what seems to be an abandoned bunker, the contours in the depression can be seen.

Hole #3: Par 3, 177 yards
This mid length one shot hole features a very interesting green that is shaped rather like a boomerang. In the center of the curve is a deep grass bunker waiting to penalize shots hit to the left of the green. Fortunately for the players who slice the ball (those being the majority of golfers) the penalty for missing right of the green is not nearly as severe.

From up close, the swale is a bold and key feature on the hole.

Hole #6: Par 5, 495 yards
Playing downhill from the tee and seemingly with the prevailing breeze, this is a fine risk-reward par 5. The hole looks tight down to the fairway but once arriving the player realizes that the hole is rather generous. The preferred line off the tee is away from the bunker on the right and down the left side. Playing down the left opens up the hole better for those players choosing to lay-up on the second shot and gives the shorter yardage for those going for the green. The better angle to the green can be had by playing down the right side of the fairway, however; giving the player the ability to run the ball onto the surface in the event that the green is right on the outer reaches of his distance capability.

Of course the scenery in the distance is not terrible either.

From 210 to 250 yards, any player considering going for the green is going to face a tough decision. The green is likely in range for this player but he must consider the water that flanks the green to the left  and the stand of trees that lie not far to the right. The player who played down the right side is not looking at a smaller effective width on the right and also the knowledge that a ball that is hooked more than slightly will end up in the water. But the player who favored the left side has a generous fairway to play to in the range of 75 to 100 yards from the green. Any closer than that and he begins to get a bit greedy. 

The approach to the green is rather open to the player coming in from the right side, inside of 150 yards. The set of bunkers near the water are actually saving bunkers, keeping shots that are slight misses from going into the water. The green is a generous target, especially for short iron approaches, but is large enough that going for the green in two shots can be a sensible play.

Hole #10: Par 4, 419 yards
This hole plays straight off the tee, slight dogleg to the right. There is seemingly nothing going on from the tee that would make the player put much thought into the tee shot.

But after cresting the hill and coming into view of the entire fairway, the entire look changes.

A huge mound guards the center of the fairway. Given the nature of the site and it's location, one would think that this is natural, perhaps a way to cover up some huge boulder that came to rest here many years ago rather than attempting to move it. There is also another boulder sitting right on the rough line down the right side. Any player tempting the right side had better be long enough to carry these features, otherwise he'd better hope for a lucky bounce.

The green on 10 is also one of the best on the course. It funnels into a small neck near the bunker that can be seen in the above image and then into a small back area. The front of the green is quite generous and accepting of most shots. Inside the green lie several interesting features. In the center of the green is a fair sized rise that makes any shots not finding the proper position on the green a very tricky ordeal. Also on the green are two smaller mounds that can effectively segregate a middle pin position as well.

Hole 16: Par 3, 190 yards
This hole is straightforward, as most par 3's are, really just requiring the player to hit a straight shot to a give yardage.

But once on the green, the features that may have seemed small and perhaps insignificant from the tee show themselves to be very bold and any player not taking the proper time to judge his tee shot is going to be in a very difficult situation, with a three-putt, or perhaps even a four-putt, a possibility.

Overall, this is a very solid golf course. They are apparently making an effort to host a USGA championship and based on the courses this writer has played that have also hosted USGA events, outside of the flagship events, this course compares favorably; the logistics of getting people to the event, however, are a drawback. But this course has what anyone would want in a golf course, variety in the holes, variety in clubs hit both into the green and off the tee, great scenery and good turf conditions. 6 out of 10.

P.S. Just because this is Alaska, during the round, one of the natives decided to come out of the forest and mosey about the fairway.

(Apologies for the poor image quality, iPhones take quality pictures at a distance, not so quality when zoomed in)