Getting To Know: Rope Rider Golf Course By Brian Weis

Getting To Know: Rope Rider Golf Course

An Insightful Interview With Brady Hatfield, Director of Resort Golf Operations

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Brady Hatfield who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
Built along the site of the historic Roslyn No. 9, No. 10 and Tipple Hill mines, the public Rope Rider course is named in honor of the miners that maneuvered through the steep shafts. The par-72 JacobsenHardy golf course design tests experienced golfers with more than 7,300 yards from the tips, and also accommodates young golfers with youth tees placed at every hole, as well as offering shorter three- and six-hole loops for quick sessions with the family. Near the course is a five-acre Golf Park that includes a large practice putting green and three chipping greens. Open April 11 - October 5; closed Tuesdays.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
Suncadia Resort offers 54-holes of championship golf on three award-winning courses that range from the more difficult to family-friendly options, ensuring there is a course for golfers of all levels during their stay.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
RopeRider is possibly the fairest test, with least severe bunkering, and expansive landing areas and playing corridors to forgive wayward shots. RopeRider was designed with all golfers in mind, incorporating junior tees and shorter routings to encourage families and golfers of all abilities to enjoy the course. Selecting the appropriate tees (there are six of them) will enhance the experience for all golfers.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
2011 - GolfWeek - Best new course

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
#7-#9 - Any of the three holes that circle "Tipple Hill", or the coal tailing pile left behind from the Old #9 mine, I believe to be the most recently operable coal mine in Roslyn. In fact, the mine shaft sits open and on display at the entrance of the winery for guests to enjoy, and appreciate just what the miners faced going to work every day.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
#3 is my favorite hole, another short par 4. Drivable with the right wind condition and tee selection, the green is very well guarded right and left, but with the ability to roll it on the front of the green. Wayward tee shots will be left with an awkward stance, making an up and down for birdie a challenge.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
The Rope Rider overlooks #1 and #9 with the Tipple Hill as backdrop and your favorite wine from Swiftwater Cellars.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 7122 yards
Slope: 129 slope
Rating: 73.2 rating

More Information
Rope Rider Golf Course
3320 Suncadia Trail
Roslyn, Washington 98922
509.649.6450
www.suncadiaresort.com/golf/vacation-golf-resorts

Revised: 10/14/2014 - Article Viewed 34,661 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.