Northwest Passage: Unforgettable golf in Washington, Oregon

Each May, tens of thousands of wild king salmon swim out of the Bering Sea and up Alaska's rugged Copper River to spawn and lay their eggs. Because the 300-mile journey is one of the longest and most demanding migrations any salmon make, these kings must store extra fat and oils in their bodies in order to survive. This high fat and oil content is why Copper River kings are prized by many as the world's best eating fish.

Thus, mid-spring, hundreds of fishermen from all corners of the globe descend upon the Copper River Delta for the annual salmon rush to catch the prized fish before they head upstream. Once caught, the salmon are immediately dressed, put on ice and flown to markets such as Seattle, where top restaurants compete to be the first with the tasty red fish on their menus.

My brother David and I timed our trip perfectly, checking into the stately Fairmont Olympic Hotel in downtown Seattle in mid-June, in time to enjoy some of the precious salmon, but also late enough in the year to play six days of golf in Washington and Oregon without being on ice ourselves.

Along with a couple of pals, our plan was to drive from Seattle down to Bend, Ore., and end our pilgrimage at Bandon Dunes, on Oregon's southern coast. What we discovered was a Northwest Passage that's as good as it gets in the world of golf.

But first, the salmon. A quick perusal of the menu at the Fairmont Olympic's Georgian Room produced a clear choice: smoked wild Copper River king salmon, perched atop a pillow of lobster whipped potatoes, with a side of grilled asparagus and morel mushrooms that was as much a treat as the king salmon. Executive Chef Gavin Stephenson presides over the menu at the Georgian Room -- ranked among the top 50 hotel restaurants in the U.S. -- and when he appeared later in the meal, I asked about the salmon.

"It really doesn't matter what you serve with it," Stephenson said, although with the dark earthiness of the morel mushrooms still lingering on my taste buds, I couldn't think of a better pairing of foods. "The king salmon from the Copper River Delta are the prime fish—100-percent wild, not farm-raised or from a hatchery ... man has not messed with their gene pool at all. There are many preparations, but I prefer to do as little as possible with them, just let the natural flavors come out."

When our pals Jeff and Jason showed up, we retired to the Olympic's Terrace Lounge to raise a few toasts and plan our upcoming rounds of golf.

The next morning we set out bright and early for Tacoma, 45 minutes south of Seattle, where we would tee it up at Chambers Bay. (Although I say "Tacoma," I played my golf that day with Mayor Gerald Gehring of University Place -- Tacoma's neighbor -- who made me promise to tell you that Chambers Bay is not really in Tacoma, but in his fair city.) Course designer Robert Trent Jones Jr. -- "Bobby" to his friends -- was on hand that sunny June day to celebrate the grand opening of this masterful new municipal layout.

Before we teed off, Bobby explained to the gathered group that, "If someone says to me after today's round, 'It's a nice course,' we will have failed. A golf course should elicit a strong reaction. I want this course to reach into the golfer's soul."

View of No. 8 at Tom Fazio's Pronghorn

Built on a reclaimed quarry site, flush against the Puget Sound, Chambers Bay reached into our souls all right, and elicited such a positive response that soon many golfers might indeed know exactly where University Place is on the map, much as they now know the town of Bandon, Ore. Chambers Bay, with its wild, links-like setting, constant elevation changes and ever-satisfying mix of hole designs, immediately jumped up in our minds next to San Diego's Torrey Pines as one of the West Coast's premier municipal layouts.

After golf we headed south to Oregon. Our June visit to Bend coincided with the grand opening of a superior new Tom Fazio design at Pronghorn -- one of the area's most exclusive communities -- and the debut of the community's spectacular new clubhouse. Fazio was on hand and in great spirits, and why not? His design at Pronghorn is one of his very best.

Pronghorn spared no expense for this grand party weekend. Joe Montana and Mia Hamm -- both Pronghorn homeowners -- flew in, and Kenny G gave a Saturday evening sunset concert.

Fazio's Pronghorn layout is right on key, too, blending picture postcard views of the surrounding snow-capped mountains with demanding playability. Wide landing areas off the tees are framed by expansive waste bunkers and gnarled juniper trees; benign-looking putting surfaces are actually devilishly tough green complexes that often run away on the edges.