‘No pain, no gain.’ New owners of Canyon Lakes swing for bigger slice of golf pie
Kennewick’s Canyon Lakes Golf Course is getting a multimillion dollar makeover to transform it into a go-to destination for all things golf.
Craig Eerkes, Chris Eerkes, Scott Mitchell and their spouses bought Canyon Lakes Golf Course in August for a reported $5.5 million. The new owners set out to update aging facilities, expand the parking lot and bring Golf Universe, the retail business they own, to the property.
It will be phased to avoid disrupting golfing season, but should wrap by next spring, Chris Eerkes said. He expects to finalize designs and the budget within the month. LCR Construction is the contractor.
Alas, there will be no gain without pain.
Canyon Lakes is tearing out the picturesque but little-used putting course at its entrance. It’s already been shut down. In coming weeks, it will be leveled to serve as a construction yard while work proceeds on two building projects.
The 4,000-square-foot golf cart barn will make way for a two-story, mixed use building with retail space on top and underground parking for about 120 golf carts below. The golf course currently uses gas-powered carts, but will wire its new building to support electric ones when it converts its fleet in a future phase.
The upper floor will be the new home of Golf Universe, the retail and pro shop, as well as restrooms and a bar and grill. A glass wall will overlook the golf course snaking through the canyon below.
Upscale pub
Once the retail building is able to serve food, work will shift one building over. The structure that houses the Duck Pond Bar and Restaurant will be torn down and replaced with a new restaurant.
Eerkes said the new restaurant will be an upscale pub — casual enough to attract golfers and desirable enough to bring in the public.
There will be more seating and a larger deck overlooking the golf course and sunset views to the west. The current pro shop will merge into Golf Universe and its space will be converted into offices for the Eerkeses’ other business, Sun Pacific Energy.
More parking
Matthew Mandell, Canyon Lake’s longtime general manager, acknowledged the plan comes with short term pain. He promises the payoff will be worth it.
“There is going to be huge pain, but after that.....”
The decision to remove the pretty putting course has drawn comment, mostly bittersweet.
But Mandell said it’s more pretty than practical.
Only 500 people used it in 2024. The tiny bit of revenue it generated fell well short of the actual cost of maintenance and irrigation. It diverted maintenance crews away from the real job of managing and maintaining the golf course, driving range and other amenities.
While the putting course and its mature trees and small pond are going away, the nearby putting green is staying put. So is Canyon Lakes’ driving range.
When construction wraps up and the staging area is no longer needed, the old range will be converted into a 50+ spot parking lot. The sidewalk that winds through the old putting range will be rebuilt next to the road.
Adding parking is nonnegotiable, officials said. The current lot is too small to handle tournaments and other events. Visitors park along neighborhood streets.
By converting the putting course to parking, Canyon Lakes will reduce impacts on neighbors and provide better amenities for both golfers and visitors to the retail business and restaurant.
Golf Universe moving, again
The upcoming move to Canyon Lakes will be the second for Golf Universe in as many years.
The Eerkes-Mitchel team owned and operated Golf Universe on West Clearwater Avenue for about 20 years. In late 2023, they closed that down and moved the pro shop and retail business to a newly-built 30,000-square-foot spot near Kamiakin High School.
In doing so, it gave up its driving range and putting facilities.
Eerkes said the decision to move Golf Universe moved to Edison Street happened before Canyon Lakes surfaced as an option.
When it did, they jumped.
“The opportunity to get into a golf course, they’re few and far between,” he said.
So they plotted the second move to bring the two businesses together. Having Golf Universe at an actual golf course is the best of both worlds, he said. Its new space will have three bays for electronic golf.
Open to the public
The new owners are stepping up the message that the public is welcome at Canyon Lakes.
Canyon Lakes is privately-owned, but it is a public course open to anyone who signs up for a tee time. It is open to both the public and to people who become members by purchasing season passes.
Since January, all tee-times between 9 a.m. and noon on Friday, Saturday and Sunday are available only to the public.
Mandell said the change had its skeptics, but Canyon Lakes recorded its best revenue days in early March, he said.
The course recently raised green fees to $60 for afternoon and twilight hours, $80 on weekdays and $100 on weekends. Fees include carts. Golfers may walk the course, but it won’t save any money. Cart fees are embedded in the price for a reason.
Mandell said managers prefer for golfers to use motorized carts since it keeps play moving smoothly.
Mandell said the goal is to improve the quality of plan rather than quantity. Canyon Lakes hosted about 60,000 rounds in 2024. The goal is to reduce that to 40,000, but charging higher rates for a better experience on a better maintained property.
Canyon Lakes
The 18-hole golf course was built in 1981 as a focal point for development of the greater Canyon Lakes residential community. It was designed by Kennewick golf architect John Steidel. whose resume includes Yakima’s Apple Tree Golf Club and Wildhorse Resort Golf Course near Pendleton, Oregon.
It is routinely named the area’s Best Golf Course in the annual Tri-Cities Best program.
Scott Mitchell, one of the owners, said it will just get better.
“We believe that we will have the premier golf facility with retail and training, along with a top notch bar/restaurant that will appeal to golfers and non-golfers,” he told the Tri-City Herald.
Prior to its sale in 2024, Canyon Lakes was owned and managed by Mike Lundgren and Terry Graff.
Go to canyonlakesgolfcourse.com
This story was originally published April 2, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "‘No pain, no gain.’ New owners of Canyon Lakes swing for bigger slice of golf pie."