Playing A Round: Blue Boy West Golf Course–Monroe, WA

When the weather was finally nice enough to get out, and I actually had the time to do so, I took advantage of a killer deal this morning and hit Blue Boy West Golf Course in my home town this morning. The par 33 tract is just under 2200 yards in length, which means an extra par 3 and no par 5’s at all on the tight layout. There is water on 6 of the 9 holes, though it really only comes into play if you play a risky shot off the tees. The course itself plays very short, but if you leave your driver in the bag, the smaller greens can certainly challenge your ball striking on approaches over 130 yards. As far as my opinion of Blue Boy goes, I want to say that it’s a tale of two courses. The first part of the story is that this is a value course that cost me under $20 with the Golf18 Network deal that I found. The second part is that it has been so incredibly wet this winter that I really didn’t expect much going in anyways. That said, Blue Boy West is a $25, 18 hole (twice around the nine hole layout), par 66 shorty course that has plenty of challenge to it, but not any dangerously long holes. It reminded me of our local par 3 growing up more than anything else, but that’s not really a bad thing.



Staring out, I hit the par 4, first, measuring 321 from the blue tees. I hit a beautiful 5 iron to the right center of the fairway around the dog leg that started about 10 yards before my ball turned. It was just like I drew it up. The 9 iron to the green left me putting across some nasty conditions which I was definitely not ready for. The three putt left me with my only bogey for the day. The 160 yard, par 3 second hole was interesting to say the least. I hit a solid 8 iron to the back edge of the green, avoiding the “stump” and rocks that were growing in the middle of the green. It almost gave the hole a “putt putt” course feel. A quick 2 putt par and I was off to the third. This 147 yard hole was playing rather short and downhill today, so I popped a solid gap wedge to the green. It found the flagstick, but spun back about 10 feet for an easy two putt. These greens weren’t going to give up much outside of 10 feet due to the condition of them, but at least they were rolling smoothly – regardless of how slow they were.



On the par 4, fourth, the birdie train began. A stellar 5 iron cut the corner and drew to the front edge of the green 201 yards from the tee. A huge putt, 72 feet according to my Golf Pad GPS readings, came within a foot of dropping, which left me a tap in birdie. The good play continued on the 5th, a 303 yard par 4, with a gorgeous 6 iron down the left side of the fairway. A well placed sand wedge left me about 4 feet for my second birdie and took me to one under par after 5 holes. The 300 yard, par 4 sixth also played pretty easily, though I was shocked when I hit a 3 wood off the tee and found the ball 207 yards into the fairway (it’s about 5 yards further than my 5 iron for a point of reference). I finished up the hole with a half lob wedge to the front edge of the green and a two putt par.



The 301 yard par 4 seventh came up next. I played a 9 iron too far left of the hole, but luckily, the hole was playing very short once again. The 150, yard tee shot left me 115 to the flag, or a perfect sand wedge. I stuck the shot about 10 feet from the hole and missed the putt by a few inches for another tap in par. The par 4 eighth was also playing a bit short. I hit a 5 iron that clipped the ‘safety trees’ on the left before falling back into the fairway. The 166 yard tee shot left me 120 to the green. Unfortunately, my 125 yard gap wedge came up about 5 yards short of my target and it rolled back down the hill about 40 feet. A brilliant pitching wedge chip to 2 feet netted me a one putt par. I headed to the 9th hole still one under. The flag appeared to be on the front of the green, and it looked like a solid gap wedge once again. I hit the shot and held my breath because it was one of ‘those shots’ that you just know is going to be close. As the shot hit the green, it checked and stopped about 4 feet from the hole. A tap in birdie finished up my nine hole round before the weather got too wet.



Overall, Blue Boy West offers a pretty challenging layout – if you leave the big sticks in the trunk. Bring a 200 yard tee club and your wedges for a very fun round. Playing the blue tees, your par 3 lengths are 160, 147, 134, so nothing over a 6 or 7 iron for most people. The par 4’s all measure between 300 and 320, except for the short 4th hole that comes in at 224. The white tees shorten up those lengths by about 20 yards a hole or one to two clubs for most players. If the condition of the greens is able to come back this summer, Blue Boy will not only be a great practice course, but it will also be quite the value for sneaking out for an afternoon round or even a busy weekend escape.