4
Wine Valley Golf Club • Walla Walla
I’ll never forget the first time I played Wine Valley. It was an experience the likes of which I had only had once before — at Chambers Bay, in fact — and have only had twice since — at Bandon Dunes Resort, and Gamble Sands.
It’s the feeling of standing on the first tee and looking out across a golf landscape that simply overwhelms your senses — it’s like a drug, and I’m a hopeless addict.
We spent eight hours that day unlocking Wine Valley’s secrets over an unforgettable 36 holes (see “One Day In The Valley,“ August 2012) — the different ways to play each hole, how to use the terrain to guide our balls to the pin, and the way the course changes throughout the day along with variations in light, temperature and wind.
Only one course in the top-10 appeared on fewer total ballots than Wine Valley — and it still finished fourth, because those who did rank it almost unanimously put it in their top-three. If you’ve played it, you love it. So, go play it.