#48 Gamble Sands
This is a 2014 David McLay Kidd (Bandon Dunes) design. I like it a lot. It has a linksy feel to it, but not nearly as much contour on the fairways as Chambers Bay. The fairways are very wide, although there are forced carries and challenge carries, and the greens are enormous. The longest is 70 yards. One of my playing partners had a number of 100-foot putts, and the short fairways allowed for putting from even further than that. Situated on top of a hill overlooking the Columbia River, and the snow-covered Cascades in the distance, the views are spectacular, but it is very exposed to the wind. It was windy all day, but the wind speed increased through the round as the storm approached. This was the 17th green: The course has an outward 9 and inward 9, with the 10th tee at the furthest point from the clubhouse, and the prediction was for the rain to start in earnest 2 hours after our tee time. The wind from the southeast ...