The Home Course

The Home Course is exactly what it sounds like: the shared home of Washington Golf and the Pacific Northwest Golf Association, one of the only courses anywhere owned by two golf associations. Mike Asmundson opened it in 2007 on former DuPont and Weyerhaeuser land near Puget Sound, and it landed straight onto Golfweek's list of the best public courses in the state.

It plays like a links transplant—firm fescue, naturalized sandy bunkers, and enough wind off the Sound to make the 7,420-yard Dynamite tees a genuine fight (76.5/132). Seven tee sets, from Dynamite down to the family-sized Little Home Course, keep it playable for any group, and the two nines wear their history: the DuPont Nine out, the Weyerhaeuser Nine back.

The 4th · Par 3

All about the sand

The DuPont Nine's short hole runs anywhere from 122 to 217 yards depending on the tee, but the yardage matters less than the miss. A broad, fescue-edged sand hazard guards the green—the naturalized bunkering that gives The Home Course its links character—so coming up short or bailing out doesn't buy you much. The wind off the Sound only sharpens the ask.