Enjoy the views from Arnold Palmer's Prospector golf course at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Washington
CLE ELUM, Wash. -- The vista from the elevated 10th tee of the Prospector Course at Suncadia Resort extends for miles into the Wenatchee Washington National Forest. The daring par 4 spirals downward, skirting bunkers before crashing into a demanding green site.
Architect Arnold Palmer sometimes gets a bad rap for designing cookie cutter courses. The 7,112-yard Prospector, opened in 2005, is anything but. Tricky greens deter low scores. Two ponds induce havoc on four holes. The dynamite 340-yard fifth hole tempts some visitors into trying to carry the full length of a wetland. The par-3 sixth hole hugs its opposite side. Another pond fronts the 412-yard, par-4 ninth hole and 540-yard, par-5 18th hole in the shadow of the Inn at Suncadia, a log cabin structure that also houses the Prospector's pro shop and the Canary Grill.
"There aren't a lot of triple bogeys out here," said Brady Hatfield, the resort's director of golf operations. "You can usually get the ball around the green in two or three shots. It's getting in the hole that's hard.