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The best golf value in the Northwest<br />
» 18 hole full service championship golf course<br />
» Multiple round cards available at discounted rates<br />
» Golf tournament, group bookings and corporate outings<br />
» Enjoy breakfast or lunch at the full service Coyote Grill<br />
» Cut from second generation old growth forest the course offers a golf experience unlike any other<br />
» Lake Padden Golf School offers individual and group lessons, video analysis and club fitting<br />
» Located just south of Bellingham<br />
www.lakepaddengolf.com<br />
4882 Samish Way, Bellingham, WA 98229 • Phone: 360-738-7400<br />
video analysis, and the latest technology,”<br />
Fish said.<br />
To keep the clubhouse and<br />
course active during Fall and<br />
Winter, Lake Padden offers a<br />
“Winter Golf Tour” developed and<br />
run by Josh Fish, Mel’s son, a PGA<br />
of America-certified club pro who<br />
studied in the pro golf management<br />
program at Campbell College<br />
while playing on a baseball scholarship<br />
there.<br />
As many as 100 show up, but<br />
normally between 40-70. “That<br />
keeps them coming out all winter,<br />
something to play for,” Mel Fish<br />
said. “They win merchandise. It<br />
helps revenue, and keeps them<br />
from putting the clubs away all<br />
winter.” Another fun date on Lake<br />
Padden’s schedule is the Polar Bear<br />
Open on New Year’ Day. About<br />
100 enter, regardless of weather.<br />
As a public course Lake<br />
Padden’s round costs below the<br />
average, and for a couple of other<br />
reasons. Mel Fish explained, “A<br />
condition of our contract with the<br />
city is that we remain the most<br />
affordable, inexpensive course<br />
to play. It’s not written in the<br />
contract, but we agreed to it in<br />
principle, because I’d been playing<br />
here for 20 years and didn’t<br />
want all the players I knew to see<br />
me as suddenly owning it and trying<br />
to get rich off of them. It just<br />
motivates us to work harder in<br />
merchandising, the driving range,<br />
lessons, the school, and all.”<br />
Scott McBeath is the course<br />
superintendent. “He’s a two-handicap<br />
player so he knows the game.<br />
He’s been like gold, as he turned<br />
this place around just six months<br />
in,” Fish said.<br />
“It’s always been a diamond in<br />
the rough, a very special layout,<br />
and we’re always polishing that<br />
diamond to make it better.”<br />
Reach more than 50,000 leaders<br />
in print and digital<br />
Call Coni Pugh at 360-746-0412, or<br />
email coni@whatcombusinessalliance.com<br />
MAGAZINE<br />
The Publication of The Whatcom <strong>Business</strong> Alliance<br />
WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 65
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