Willows Run Golf Course
10442 Willows Road NE, Redmond, WA 98052

Years ago Willows Run Golf Course was built as an 18-hole track. Set on a flat piece of land, in a wetlands setting, Willows was a good links-style course with good greens and plenty of interesting mounding. Then, some years after its inception, the course added another 27 holes - another full 18 hole track and an executive nine. There was some expansion to the North on a fresh piece of land, but, for the most part, the two 18-hole courses were fingered together. Now Willows Run is home to Eagle’s Talon, Coyote Creek and Heron Links.

Eagle’s Talon is the longest and most interesting of the three tracks. Coyote Creek is a bit shorter but still a decent play. And Heron Links is a par-3 course that has good solid greens and can be a lot of fun for the beginning golfer or good place to hone your short game.

There are a couple aspects of this newer setup that I feel has detracted from the original course. First, the three golf courses feel like they have been squeezed onto a piece of property not quite large enough to accommodate the three courses. When playing Eagle’s Talon or Coyote Creek, it is quite easy to walk off one green and have no idea where the next tee box resides. The natural flow of the golf courses has disappeared and, if you are not careful (and don’t look at the tee-box markers - which either depict an eagle or a coyote), your foursome will end up on a completely different course. Which brings me to my second sticking point of the newer setup; Regardless of which course you play there will come a time during your round (most likely on the back-nine) where you will think to yourself "I think that I have played this hole before." That is not to say that there are not distinctive holes at Willows Run but many of the holes feel the same.

The pluses at Willows run are the turf is in good shape and the green complexes have always been fair. In the winter months, Willows Run covers its greens with canvases so as to make the courses playable when other courses in the area are closed due to frost. All three courses have spectacular vistas of Mount Rainier. And some of the mounding from the original 18 can still be found on the back nine on Eagle’s Talon.

For a solid playing experience, just a short drive from downtown Seattle, Willows Run is a good way to spend an afternoon.