When David McLay Kidd was first approached to design a second golf course at Gamble Sands Resort in Brewster, WA., the world-renowned architect hesitated.
“I told them (the owning Gebbers family) to look at someone else,’’ McLay Kidd told me. “Golf courses are the draw for the game. I like the idea of using different designers. It’s a lot like having different kinds of food on a menu.’’
The Gebbers, however, wanted McLay Kidd, whose original Gamble Sands course has been one of the country’s top public courses since it opened in 2014. Truth be told, McLay Kidd wanted the Gebbers and Gamble Sands, too.
“This is kind of my backyard,’’ said the Scotland-born McLay Kidd, who lives 300 miles south in Bend, OR. “I’ve lived in the Northwest most of my adult life. I’m good friends with the family. We enjoy each other’s company. So we decided ‘off we go’’ to build another course.’’
That course – Scarecrow – officially opens today (Aug 1, 2025). Stretching more than 6,900 yards on the site of an old corn field, Scarecrow seems destined to be among McLay’s Kidd’s best works, which is saying something considering his works include the original course at Bandon (OR) Dunes, the Castle Course at St. Andrews, Scotland, Machrihanish Dunes in Argyll, Scotland, and the recently-opened GrayBull Club in Maxwell, NE.
“It’s a beautiful piece of land,’’ he said of the 300-acre piece of land that Scarecrow occupies – much of it above the iconic Columbia River gorge.
That tract, interestingly, is where McLay Kidd wanted to build the Gamble Sands course. But the land was obstructed by a power line and other items that go with a working ranch, so he switched to a less rugged, but equally beautiful piece of land on the Gebbers’ ranch.
With the opening of Scarecrow, he’s come full circle.
While Gamble Sands and Scarecrow – each managed by Troon – are “sister’’ courses, they are not twins. Whereas Gamble Sands, with its wide fairways, is player-friendly, Scarecrow, McLay Kidd said, “is a more dramatic golf course that’s got the volume turned up a little more. It’s much more dramatic.’’
In Scarecrow, McLay Kidd created a course that plays along – and above – the Columbia River gorge. Its greens are smaller and sit closer to the edges of the cliffs than at Gamble Sands. Scarecrow’s bunkers are more threatening than Gamble Sands, and its sight lines are tighter. Scarecrow’s finishing holes play through sand dunes, and McLay Kidd still gives players wide fairways.
“Everything is designed to promote the run and kick of the ball,’’ McLay Kidd said. “It’s all about the ground game. How do we get you to use your imagination – and how you figure out how to use your imagination to use the bounce of the ball and the contour of the land.’’
Scarecrow at Gambles Sands (Troon)
