Evan Schiller
Evan Schiller
Evan Schiller
Evan Schiller
Evan Schiller
Sahalee Country Club: South/North/East
Sammamish, WA • Private
Sahalee Country Club: South/North/East
21200 NE Sahalee Country Club Dr.
Sammamish, WA 98074
United States
Overview
Many 100 Greatest courses began as open fields, then had decades of green committees plant trees to frame fairways; many of those same clubs are now clear-cutting such trees to open up vistas and invite more sunlight and air to greens. Sahalee is not such a club. Its course was carved from a Pacific Northwest forest of cedar, spruce, fir and pine, and its dominant theme has always been narrow fairways framed by towering trees that reach to the heavens. To strip Sahalee of its trees would be to shave Samson of his locks, so when Rees Jones and Steve Weisser began a 2022 renovation of the famed North/South nines where the 1998 PGA Championship and 2016 and 2024 KPMG Women’s PGA Championships were held (Jones had previously remodeled the course in 1996), they were calculated in their approach to thinning the forest growth. Gradually, they pared back the treeline to better expose the site’s topography. They were able to expand fairways to enhance shot options and took out individual trees that had come to interfere with strategic angles into greens. What players may notice most are the new bunkers, each rebuilt, reshaped and repositioned to better engage with landing areas and putting surface hole locations. Sahalee seems at once refreshed while being absolutely the same carved-from-the-woods course it’s always been.
About
Awards
Ranking history:
Second 100 Greatest: Ranked 2015-'16, 2019 to current.
Previous ranking: 172nd.
2025-'26 ranking: 196th.
100 Greatest: Ranked 1977-2014, 2017-'18.
Highest ranking: 48th, 1989-'90.
Best in State: Ranked since 1985.
Previous ranking: 3rd.
2025-'26 ranking: 4th.
Panelists
Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists
100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES
Shot Options
Character
Challenge
Layout Variety
Fun
Aesthetics
Conditioning
Reviews
Review
“Great historic gem in the northwest US about 30 minutes outside Seattle. Home of the '98 PGA Championship, the course is lined with tall evergreen trees making tee shots and fairways tight. Have to hit it straight or you're in for a long day. Not overly long at just over 7000 yards from the tips, but challenging greens on this immaculately conditioned course. Play here if you can!!"
Read More2024
Review
“This epitomizes Northwest tree-lined golf at its best. The towering evergreens line every hole making keeping the ball in the fairway imperative, which is not easy considering how tight it is off nearly every tee. Greens have enough slope to make approach shot strategy a crucial part of the game."
Read More2022
Review
“Through the course of your round, you will be required to hit a variety of shots off the tee, however on each individual hole you usually must hit a specific shot to be in position to approach the green unencumbered by trees. Your primary choice is not usually shot shape, rather it is instead if you should hit driver or something less (with the same shot shape). There are only a couple of holes that don't have bunkers right and left of the green. The exceptions are when there is water guarding the green, and in those cases there will be a bunker tightly protecting the non-water side (2S, 1N, 8N). One of the most unique championship layouts due to the tight, tree-lined fairways."
Read More2022
Review
“I was expecting the tall western red cedars to present an extremely penal situation, but they actually presented an experience more like bumper bowling (my host called them pillow). With that said, they mess with your mind as you're constantly faced with an intimating shot through a chute of trees. A hillier site than I was expecting. We played through rain the entire day, and the course drained ok until the end. Certainly didn't play firm and fast though. The fact all three nines on the property have the same ratings and essentially the same distance seemed strangely forced/artificial. The South nine is more friendly to a left-to-right shot, with the North favoring a right-to-left. Bunkers are very well positioned and make for a difficult, though somewhat repetitive test--I wouldn't call it terribly fun. More variety would have been nice"
Read More2022
Review
“Tight tree lined course. Very fast and conditioned greens. Challenging greens well Protected by trees and bunkers. Only real conditioning knock was the rough outside fringe around some greens needed attention."
Read More2022
Review
“Sahalee is a unique course set within massive Douglas Fir trees. The course is tight with trouble on each hole. The course is very difficult and plays longer than the yardage suggests and each hole looks similar to the other (Layout Design is lacking). Conditions were so-so when I played the course. Fairway lies were especially thin and inconsistent rough (firm, then lush, then hard pan, etc.). Greens were good, but green surrounds were in spotty condition with either total dried out grass or lush lies. The PNW just experienced some unseasonal hot weather that probably played into this, but other area course have not shown such variability in conditions."
Read More2022
Review
“The North course doesn't have any weak holes. All very defined and carved through the great Northwest. The design variety was stellar for what you would expect to be similar looks off each tee—didn't feel that way."
Read More2021
Review
“Sahalee is a well-conditioned course that provides a stern test to the golfer. You are required to either work your shots left and right, or keep the ball ultra-straight."
Read More2021
Review
“One of the most wooded and lush-green courses I’ve ever played. Aesthetics are very special and walking the course is extremely memorable. Greens are generally small but circulation around the greens allows good air flow."
Read More2021
Review
“"Sa Hall Way", as it can be referred to by the members is as unique a course one could play, with its Douglas Firs lining the fairways. Sahalee is truly a special place and one that will continue to get better, as they've removed some of their trees, while limbing up the base of the trees to provide for more playability and better sight lines. A course stepped in tradition and history, and I wouldn't be surprised if the hold a World Golf event or another major in the next 20 years, as the club has exceptional leadership."
Read More2021
