[Tommy Williamsen]

If asked about golf destinations, Alaska does not come to mind. It is like going to North Dakota for a downhill skiing vacation. After all, why would anyone trade a glacier for a chip shot or Denali for a chance to putt on a bumpy green? There are 22 courses in Alaska, but only eight have 18 holes. All of the courses have public access. My wife and I were in Texas for a late August wedding and played golf there. I suggested that we make a side trip to Alaska on our way home to Virginia. She asked, “When was the last time you looked at a map?” We did go for ten days. We still had our clubs, so we thought, let’s play between cruises, plane rides, train rides, sightseeing, and hiking. All of the courses are fun, and the staff are welcoming. If you aim to play in all fifty states, you must play in Alaska. I only have three to go.

We landed in Anchorage about noon. We were going to drive to Seward. Anchorage GC is on the way, so we stopped and played there. Anchorage GC is a municipal course routed over some bumpy lumpy ground, with nary an even lie. It was great fun, and we enjoyed our round. The staff was great, and we could not have had a better time. Anchorage hosted the 2022 USGA Women’s Senior Amateur and did some major bunker renovation prior to the championship.

[Tommy Williamsen]

The drive from Seward to Denali takes you past Moose Run GC, a 36-hole military facility that allows civilian play. The user-friendly walkable Hill Course gets the most play, and then there is a Robin Nelson designed beast called the Creek. It plays at 7300 yards from the tips but has shorter tees for 76-year-old mortals like me. I played it from about 6200 yards and just enjoyed the heck out of it. The fairways were in excellent condition, albeit a bit wet from a rainy summer. It has some very inventive holes. This was my wife’s favorite course.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Driving back to Anchorage, we played Settlers Bay in Wasilla, about forty miles north of Anchorage. It is a public residential course. The view from the first tee is enough to want to play it. The course is very playable but not as strong as the other two. It did have the best-conditioned greens.

[DFarron]

They have a local US Open qualifier there, they get around 15 players for it.


I hope to play in it some year, seems like it would be really fun!

[Tommy Williamsen]

They have a local US Open qualifier there, they get around 15 players for it.


I hope to play in it some year, seems like it would be really fun!

I guess it is at the course in Palmer. We were not able to get there, but played with a member who said from the back tees it is as much as anyone could handle.

[Steve Lang]

   Tommy,


Did they tell you how late in evening you could play??  We were there once in July and they said at course in Anchorage, tee times no later than 1030 pm because of the bears...


Did you take in any king crab at Simon & Seaforts? 


best

[Tommy Williamsen]

  Tommy,


Did they tell you how late in evening you could play??  We were there once in July and they said at course in Anchorage, tee times no later than 1030 pm because of the bears...


Did you take in any king crab at Simon & Seaforts? 


best

Sunset was about 8:45, but we played in the middle of the afternoon on our drive to some destination. They talked mostly about Moose damage. I guess they like to run around on the greens. No, we did not get to S&S but had some great salmon and scallops. We did have some crab cakes, but after having lived in Annapolis for 33 years, it was a mistake. We should have had the king crab. We had reindeer it but felt like eating Rudolf.

[Richard Hetzel]

I regret not playing in Alaska when I visited a relative for three weeks one summer.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Have any of you played in Alaska? I can't be the only one.

[Doug Bolls]

Don't I wish - it's the only state I haven't played in.  Maybe sometime.

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