David McLay Kidd’s new design impresses reviewers and guests
Scarecrow, the new David McLay Kidd-designed golf course at Gamble Sands Resort in Brewster, Washington, has been named “Best New Public Course of 2025” by Golf Digest and “Best New Resort Course” by Sports Illustrated. Scarecrow opened for public play on August 1 and, after being open for just 80 days in 2025, has wowed reviewers and guests with its stunning, fun-to-play layout overlooking the Columbia River Valley. The new Golf Digest award comes 11 years after the world’s leading golf media brand named the property’s original Gamble Sands course “Best New Public Course of 2014.”
The Golf Digest rankings of best new public, private, renovation and transformation projects will appear in the magazine’s February print issue and are currently on GolfDigest.com. The rankings are based on hundreds of evaluations submitted by their traveling course ranking panelists and are a reflection of the architectural merits of each course. Panelists evaluate candidate courses based on the following criteria: inclusion options, challenge, design variation, conditioning, aesthetics, character and enjoyment.
Sports Illustrated’s “Best New Resort Course” award was published on www.Si.com on December 31, with journalist Joe Passov stating: “…it’s the eye-candy moments that really resonate, especially at holes 9, 10 and 11, which offer sweeping views of the Columbia River and of the apple and cherry orchards of the Gebbers family, the same people who developed Gamble Sands. As evidenced by the reception at Scarecrow, we can see a huge harvest of great new golf holes in 2025.”
Scarecrow also recently debuted at No. 73 in Golfweek’s “Best 2026 Best Resort Golf Courses in the US” rankings, with travel editor Jason Lusk predicting, “Expect the brand new Scarecrow to rise in the rankings in the coming years.” The Gamble Sands Course is ranked 20th on Golfweek’s prestigious new Top Resort Course rankings.
“I’ve always shied away from sequels in the past, but Scarecrow had a ‘script’ so strong that I believed it could truly rival the OG. It seems Gamble Sands fans agree,” said McLay Kidd. “I knew when I first visited Gamble Sands that the best land was under what is now Scarecrow, but for some reason we couldn’t build there first. Ten years later it was possible and we knew it was an incredible site with at least as much potential as the original course. We wanted to create something different yet the same, a conundrum we’ve agonized over for a long time. What should we transfer from the first course to the second and what should we leave behind. The tight fescue and prominent ground game form core to the resort’s identity, but the strategy could be unique to Scarecrow, which included tighter scoring lines and more testing of recovery play.
Built on 300 acres of rumpled and rolling terrain where corn fields once stood, Scarecrow watches over the adjacent apple and cherry orchards of the Gebbers’ family farm. The corn is gone, but the Scarecrow still stands, serving as a defender of the new goal of the fertile ground. At Scarecrow, McLay Kidd and design collaborator Nick Schaan transformed a serpentine saddle of undulating land and a ridge overlooking the river into what golfers find a worthy yet contrasting counterpart to their award-winning Gamble Sands Course.
Scarecrow plays to a par of 71, extends to 6,900 yards and features traditional fine fescue, providing firm and fast surfaces. One of the most visually appealing courses in North America, Scarecrow begins with a rollicking downhill par 4 with a blind tee shot to a huge fairway and ends with a drivable par 4 with a green perched on the edge of a cliff. Throughout the round of speed slots, boomerangs, angles and slopes allow for creativity and add to the fun, while a mix of reachable par 5s, five different par 3s and challenging par 4s combine to create an unforgettable golfing experience.
With 50 holes of golf, including two 18-hole McLay Kidd-designed championship courses and a fun 14-hole McLay Kidd-designed short course (Quicksands), a 100,000-square-foot Cascades Putting Course, 77 luxury rooms at The Inn at Gamble Sands, as well as multiple food and beverage options, Gamble Sands is a premier Top 100 golf resort destination. The property’s original Gamble Sands course is currently ranked #14 on GOLF Magazine’s “Top 100 Courses You Can Play” rankings and is firmly entrenched as a Top 100 course in the United States.
For more information about Gamble Sands, visit www.gamblesands.com or call 509-436-8323.
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