Golf Course-Turned-Park

Among a number of far-fetched fantasies that my fourth-born daughter and I like to discuss is this: what if we bought up all the golf courses in the world and reverted them back to their natural condition?

Obviously, we are not golfers. Seems such a pity to us that large swaths of land are subjected to tedious shaping, sculpting, and surfacing that destroy their natural beauty as much as any strip mall or housing development. And then only a tiny elite of paying customers are allowed to enjoy them. 

But if these spaces were parks? The terrain could revert back to its natural state, trees and shrubs would sprout up as nature allows, and all humans would be welcome in these natural settings.

The more we talked about this idea, the more we liked it.

And the more we realized how unlikely it was that our dream would ever come true. 

But we were delightfully and decidedly wrong. 

Our neighboring city of Bothell, Washington, recently bought up a local golf course and turned it into - you guessed it - a park.

And today, my daughter and I - along with Gracie, of course - popped over to see exactly how our dream came true.

^ We parked at the old clubhouse and headed down the gravel path to the first of two footbridges that lead up and over the Sammamish River. This is a protected watershed for salmon so no swimming is allowed for dogs or humans. But we were happy to stay dry and continue on with our adventure. 

^  We explored first along the more rugged terrain on the south side of the river. Though most visitors stuck to the paths, we chose to ramble out and across the old fairways with deep, shaggy grass. The bones of the old golf course - the tee areas, the broad fairways and the manicured greens are slowly fading away. 

^ The gravel path gradually twists and turns up a series of hills but following Gracie's example, we just plowed straight up. Though it was mid-afternoon, dew still lay heavy on the long grasses and our shoes  - as well as Gracie's coat - were soaked in minutes. 

^ Simple stone benches sit here and there and we found one up near the top of our climb. 

^ Gracie lay in the shadow of the bench and recharged her batteries. 

^ Back over the second footbridge to the north side of the park. 

^ Here the land was level and even, the grasses soft and green. We sat down just beyond the shade of this tree, and daydreamed about what a perfect place this is for kids to play. Gracie dozed in the shade as we talked, and we all agreed that this golf course-turned-park is indeed a dream come true.