The chance to help build a new course was too much to resist for the industry veterans behind the development of the soon-to-debut Salish Cliffs Golf Club.
For some people, leaving behind jobs they love to get in on the ground floor of a new golf course property, especially in today’s volatile market, might be considered quite a gamble. For Head Golf Course Superintendent Bob Pearsall and Head Golf Professional David Kass, PGA, however, it soon became clear that joining the staff at the new Salish Cliffs Golf Club at Little Creek Casino Resort in Shelton, Wash., was in the cards.
When Pearsall, a native of nearby Olympia, Wash., got the call about the opening for the golf course superintendent’s position at Salish Cliffs, he admits that his first inclination was to ignore it. “I had been working for the same company for 13 1/2 years, and I thought I would finish my career there,” he recalls. “I didn’t call Salish Cliffs back for two days. I knew I wouldn’t be able to turn it down.”
Superintendent Profile: Bob PearsallYears at Salish Cliffs Golf Club: 1 |
Once he saw the property, Pearsall, who at the time was working at The Golf Club at Hawks Prairie in Lacey, Wash., realized that his gut feeling about the place had been correct.
“It was an easy decision to come here,” says Pearsall, who joined the staff almost a year ago. “As soon as I toured the golf course under construction, I could tell it was a first-class facility.”
Ditto for Kass, a Pennsylvania native who was working as Director of Golf Operations at North Palm Beach (Fla.) Country Club until he joined the Salish Cliffs team this winter. He knew Salish Cliffs architect Gene Bates, who showed him pictures of the property, and Pearsall gave him a tour of the course.
“I wanted to be involved in the startup,” he reveals. “Putting your hands on all of the different details—you don’t get that opportunity often.”
A Labor of Love
Salish Cliffs is one of many amenities of the Squaxin Island Tribe’s Little Creek Casino Resort. The property also features almost 190 luxury hotel rooms. An Indian-style gaming casino includes more than 1,000 slots and table games such as poker, blackjack, craps, roulette and Texas Hold ’Em.
Live entertainment, along with space for business and other events for up to 2,000 guests, is available at the on-site Skookum Creek Event Center.
The resort is breaking ground on a new spa; plans also call for an RV park, and construction is underway on a log-and-cedar clubhouse with a wraparound porch that will overlook the ninth and 18th holes.
An opening date for the golf course has not yet been set. However, once the 7,300-yard, par-72 layout is ready for business, Little Creek will be the only tribal property in the state with an on-site course.
The construction of the golf course is complete, and all areas have been seeded. However, weather conditions such as rain have been a constant challenge, and unseasonably cool temperatures postponed seeding from March until May.
“We’re waiting for the heat so it can mature,” Pearsall noted in mid-June. “And on a young golf course, it takes a while for the soil to compact.”
Pearsall and Kass have relished the opportunity to get a new golf course up and running, but patience has been a key component of the process as well.
“No two people are more anxious to get it open than we are, but we don’t want to open the course until we feel it is truly ready,” Kass reveals. “We’ve never been to a golf course that opened too late.”
The more amenities the resort offers, the more people it will attract. And the championship-quality golf course undoubtedly will be a top drawing card.
Golf ScorecardClub Name: Salish Cliffs Golf Club |
“We will have the ability to bring people here just for the golf, but there is something for everyone,” notes Pearsall.
The 18-hole golf course features more than 600 feet of elevation changes and 360-degree views of the Kamilche Valley and its rock facings. The directional changes will give golfers frequent uphill and downhill tests, as will the challenging bunker placements and shapes.
Atypical to the area, the course’s character is preferred bentgrass that stretches tee to green, bordered by pure ryegrass in the rough for a distinctive, contrasting look. Privacy abounds, with 16 of the 18 holes encircled in lush forestry.
Holes No. 9 and 18 share an expansive, 15,000 sq.-ft. double green, with a sparkling lake and wetland preserve separating the holes. The new clubhouse, with architecture that complements the rest of the resort, will overlook those holes.
“None of the holes play next to any other hole, and you can’t wait to see what the next hole brings,” notes Pearsall. “It’s a highly tuned golf course that is manicured to perfection with a lot of great detail.”
That attention to detail has also earned Salish Creek a rare “Salmon Safe Certification” from Stewardship Partners, a Seattle-based non-profit organization, for the attention that has been paid to ecological stewardship and demonstration of high standards in protecting the surrounding wetlands and natural environment while constructing the course.
Kass expects the course to draw golfers who are looking for top-notch conditions to the property.
“Some golfers try to find the best deal and the lowest rate,” he adds. “We have to make the golf course the best it can be, and it will be one of the best in the state.”
A Dynamic Duo
Pearsall and Kass have offices in the maintenance building and have built a close working relationship.
“We work together on every detail,” Pearson says. “I’ve never really worked so close to a pro. We talk all day, all weekend and into the evening.”
They also work closely with CEO Mitch Corbine and the property’s IT and marketing directors. However, their main responsibility is to present the architect’s vision of the golf course, and this task has given them ample opportunity to put their stamp on the property.
Pearson and Kass have had input into a wide range of decisions that includes greens locations and speeds, how to grow grass in specific areas, how tall to let some of the grasses such as fescue grow, and even details such as how signage will work and the best approach for efficient cart flow around the clubhouse.
“We look at it from both sides—how Bob will prepare the golf course for the golfers, and I’ll look at how they’re going to play the golf course,” says Kass. “We look at it from two different angles to achieve the same goal.”
Ray Peters, Executive Director of the Squaxin Island Tribe and project manager for Salish Cliffs, has high regard for the two men. Pearsall’s proven track record and vast knowledge of the region’s weather and growing conditions made him a natural choice for the superintendent’s position, Peters says.
“Salish Cliffs Golf Club and Little Creek Casino Resort sought an acclaimed professional who will help lead us to elite status in the Pacific Northwest,” he explains.
He also believes Kass’ experience will benefit the property. “His energy and expertise working at top-notch facilities will help us deliver the high standard of service that guests of Little Creek Casino Resort expect,” Peters adds.
In turn, the property’s new superintendent and golf pro both appreciate the commitment of the tribe and the resort to building a championship-quality golf course. And working at a golf course that has no history, Pearsall and Kass will be able to create their own. They agree that being a part of the management team from the beginning has its advantages.
“There will always be tweaks and changes, but no one is going to be able to ask either one of us a question without us having an answer,” Kass notes.
Having the opportunity to outfit a new maintenance operation with equipment and manpower has been “an awesome advantage,” Pearsall adds. He has a staff of 15 people and expects to add eight more workers to his crew. One staff member he’s especially enjoyed sharing the opportunity with is his brother Mike, on board as Assistant Superintendent.
“My brother and I have worked together for 20 years and yes, it was an attraction or more of a bonus for both of us to share in seeing Salish Cliffs Golf Club come to life,” Bob Pearsall says. “Ray Peters was instrumental in keeping us together and believed in our ability to work together, since he had witnessed it at Indian Summer CC and The Golf Club at Hawks Prairie. Mike’s hard work and grow-in expertise was a huge part of Salish Cliffs success.” In turn, Mike brought another essential member of any course and grounds crew (perhaps even more essential for startup properties), a reliable course dog—in this case, his Jack Russell terrier, Clover.
Well-Played
Pearsall and Kass have already sneaked out for a few holes to see how the course plays, but haven’t yet made any changes as a result of those outings. They agree that the quality of the golf course will dictate its profitability.
“I’m a firm believer that you have to spend money to make money,” reports Kass. “I’ve played golf courses where the maintenance staff works out of a doublewide trailer, but that doesn’t affect the condition of the golf course.”
Other aspects of the golf course operations, such as the length of the playing season and golf’s effect on other resort amenities, are still to be determined.
“The length of the golf season will be a decision we make when the course opens,” says Kass. “The business will be like the golf course, where it’s a living, breathing organism.”
He expects practices and procedures to evolve as well. “I’ll write down how a procedure should be done,” he adds. “But if someone has a better way, then they can come tell me. We’ll also have to see where our demand is. We could have a big need for corporate outings, but right now everybody just wants to come out and play.”
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