Getting To Know: Gold Mountain Golf Club By Brian Weis

Getting To Know: Gold Mountain Golf Club

An Insightful Interview With Daryl Matheny, General Manager

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 Daryl Matheny 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
The Gold Mountain Golf Club's Olympic course is a John Harbottle III design, cut into heavily forested City of Bremerton watershed property that offers stunning views and dramatic elevation changes. Both courses (Cascade and Olympic) have no residential or commercial structures built on or around, offering a true feeling of nature and Pacific Northwest beauty for the golfer.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
The great design of the Olympic course makes it a must play, but the day to day quality of play along with year around playability sets us apart.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
The fairways are very generous off the tee, but the green complexes on the Olympic course are very undulating with large collection areas surrounding them. The best tip for someone experiencing it for the first time would be not to short side yourself with your approach shot, aiming for the middle of the greens and focusing on being hole high is a better approach.

Any recent changes to the golf course? Or any upcoming changes?
We have added some teeing areas over the last few years, but nothing major for the Olympic course. We are currently in the middle of a large renovation of our practice facility.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
We are voted as one of the top 5 courses in the State of Washington annually, but the award I would say we are most proud about is the 2006 Golf Magazine's top 100 courses you can play.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
I would say #16, a par 3 across water to a shallow green, guarded by bunkers.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
Our 18th hole is my favorite, a drivable par 4 with water on the right side that runs up close to the green. I love the risk/reward feel of this hole and all the thoughts that going into your decision whether to go for it or lay up.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
Our Street Taco's and Epic Nacho's are definitely a must have, and the drink everyone needs to have would be the "Ridgetop Red", a red ale from our local brewery, Silver City Brewery.

For the traveling golfer, do you have lodging onsite or partner with any area hotels?
We do not have any accommodations on site, but we do partner with the Hotel Murano on a stay and play package with the Home Course and Chambers Bay Golf Course.

We do have hotels on the Bremerton waterfront or in Silverdale that we typically recommend; Hampton Inn and Suites in Bremerton (360)405-0200 and the Oxford Suites in Silverdale (360)698-9550

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
The course record on the Olympic course from the Gold tee's is 64, and was shot during a Husky Invitational from a player on UAB, Martin Rohwer

Back Tee Stats
Par: 7158
Yardage: 72
Slope: 139
Rating: 74.8

More Information
Gold Mountain Golf Club
Bremerton, WA, 98312
360-415-5432

www.goldmountaingolf.com

Revised: 03/01/2021 - Article Viewed 18,670 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.