KINGSTON — It’s been a long journey for White Horse Golf Club.

The course opened June 15, 2007, one week before Chambers Bay in University Place, which hosted the U.S. Open three years ago. It struggled to get off the ground initially, and then the economic crash of 2008 hit the housing market hard. By 2010, it had gone into foreclosure.

But 11 years after it opened, White Horse has come a long way, and that culminated in procuring its first major event. The club played host to the inaugural Suquamish Clearwater Legends Cup June 9-10, a stop on the LPGA Legends Tour, and the reviews of the course were positive.

“It’s a great venue, a great course,” said Lisa Grimes, who finished second in the tournament at 3-under.

The tournament went smoothly, though Mother Nature decided to intervene a bit. The first day began with some light drizzle that eventually gave way to cloudless sunshine, but heavy rain moved into the area by about 4 p.m., suspending play. The players were impressed at how quickly the course bounced back once the rain stopped.

On day two, tournament officials began play an hour earlier than originally planned, which turned out to be a good call as light rain began to fall during the trophy presentation. Conditions were otherwise pleasant as a light breeze and mild June temperatures kept players and fans alike comfortable.

Bruce Christy, the club’s golf director, has been a part of White Horse since day one. He remembers a time when the course was marked with tons of bunkers, steep slopes, waist-deep fescue around the tee boxes and fairways, and greens where balls would bounce as if they were hitting asphalt. For the average golfer, and perhaps most golfers, it was not a pleasant experience.

“It was too tough for the average golfer,” Christy said.” Your 1- and 2-handicap golfers are not going to keep a place open.”

The course was designed by Cynthia Dye McGarey, who is both a well-known course designer in her own right, and also comes from a family full of golf course architects. But the original owner of the course had certain ideas in mind that would give White Horse some notoriety.

[F]or him, it was about ‘let’s get the highest course rating and slope rating and get people’s attention.’ And it does. They go that way,” Christy said, pointing towards the parking lot.

The Suquamish Tribe rescued White Horse in 2010 and turned the course into an excellent destination for golfers all over the Pacific Northwest. The tribe brought in an architect to make it more playable, but at the same time ensure it still provided a challenge for top players. A number of bunkers and trees were removed and grass was cut further back from the fairways and around the tee boxes.

Over time, White Horse gained a reptuation in Kitsap County as a fine place to play golf, and the course is still plenty tough, just not unbearably so.

Trish Johnson, the winner of the tournament, remarked that the course was difficult, but also “cleverly designed.”

“When the pins are at the front, it’s at its hardest,” Johnson said. “You might have short shots in, but you have nowhere to miss it whatsoever. It’s such a narrow entrance.”

Her advice for taking on White Horse was rather simple: don’t miss your shots. Hit the fairways and greens, or otherwise you will have a tough time out there.

“You just have to be playing well,” Johnson said. “There’s no two ways about it.”

— Mark Krulish is a reporter for Kitsap News Group. He can be reached at mkrulish@soundpublishing.com.