Gamble Sands is a story of family, “scratching gravel,” cherries, apples, cattle, a whole lotta golf and hospitality. And now it’s your story.
The Gamble and the Gebbers families have been “scratching gravel” in Central Washington since the late-1800s. It’s not work, it’s a way of life. They have been building a lasting legacy, farming some of the greatest apples and cherries in the world, herding cattle, cultivating a community and now they’re playing golf.
In Part 1 of this digital series on “Growing Gamble,” Cass Gebbers gets down off his horse just long enough to catch us up on the family history, which is six generations deep, and soon to be seven.
In Part 2 of this series on “Growing Gamble,” we get a history lesson on the Gamble and Gebbers families, which is fast approaching the seventh generation. As Cass Gebbers explains, it’s all about “scratching the gravel” of the people who made this lifestyle possible. And that work ethic has produced more than just some of the best fruit in the world, it’s now cultivating one of the fastest growing golf destinations in the country.
Once the decision was made to build golf, the Gebbers hired Perry Dye and were developing a challenging parcel of their land. And then along came the recession, Orrin Vincent, a Heifer pasture and David McLay Kidd.
In Part 3 of this series on Growing Gamble, you get the story of the critical pivot that has resulted in Gamble’s success.
It’s 2008, the recession is a harsh reality, golf is down, courses are closing and David McLay Kidd is taking time to reflect on the first half of his career. The Gebbers family, who are accomplished fruit farmers in Central Washington, were dabbling in golf development with the likes of Perry Dye, the son of Pete and Alice Dye. They were working on a tough piece of their land and Perry Dye isn’t Pete Dye. Which is when they turned to Orrin Vincent of OB Sports Golf Management, who called Kidd and asked him to look at a massive slab of sand-based land that the Gebbers used as a “heifer pasture,” which overlooks the Columbia River.
Gamble Sands, the course and resort, and Kidd, the golf course architect, have been on a hot streak ever since.
In Part 4 of this series on “Growing Gamble,” it’s all about business and professional pivots that paid off, then and now. This is the story of building what we commonly refer to now as Gamble Sands, No. 31 on Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s 100 Greatest Public Course.
After the Gebbers family debuted Gamble Sands in Central Washington in 2014, they proved to themselves and the golf world that, yet again, a remote location, an endless supply of sand and David McLay Kidd are an equation that adds up to success. Which is why they decided to double down on both golf and Kidd.
But how would a second course on a neighboring slab of land be different?
Kidd handed the reins of the design to Nick Schaan, his long-time associate and partner, who had no affiliation with the first course. Kidd made countless trips and remained the executive editor, but what ultimately became “Scarecrow,” which opens Aug. 1, is in fact significantly different than Gamble Sands.
In part 5 of this ongoing series on how the Gebbers family are growing Gamble Sands, you get behind the curtain of the decision to double down and a look at before, during and after they built out the first six holes of Scarecrow.
To grow grass, it doesn’t take an agronomist to know that you need water. But before that, the architect needs water to shape the land where the seeds will go.
In Part 6 of the docuseries on “Growing Gamble,” in addition to getting the backstory and evolution of holes 6 thru 13 of Scarecrow, which opened for play on August 1, you get to know Josh Truan, the superintendent at this Central Washington destination since 2012. Prior to facilitating the grow-in of Scarecrow, Truan was also involved in the agronomy of Gamble Sands, the original 18 holes by David McLay Kidd, Quicksands, the par-3 course, and Cascades, the putting course.
Overlooking the Columbia River, watch as both Kidd and Truan, a Washington native who says he landed his dream job, are both under pressure to get the irrigation system in place to grow all things Gamble Sands.
In Part 7 of this docuseries on “Growing Gamble,” we get to know Nick Schaan, David McLay Kidd’s lead associate on the design of Scarecrow. A resident of Washington, for Schaan to get this assignment and opportunity was a serendipitous intersection of his personal and professional life.
You will also get a tour of the complete course routing with Schaan as the narrator, a breakdown and comparison of Scarecrow’s 18th hole to the 16th at Bandon Dunes, and you’ll get a look at a hole-by-hole comparison of Scarecrow to the original Gamble Sands course.
In reflecting back on the production of this docuseries on Growing Gamble Sands, we had more story to share. And specifically, Cass Gebbers’ story, which is rooted in the past but focused on the future. As it says in the feature, we didn’t just hear him talk about “scratching the gravel” of his ancestors, we watched him do it. And in our time with him, whether that be on horseback or in a sunset sit-down overlooking the vast land that they own and farm, we learned a lot about how and why this family has been so successful. They’ve earned it. And they’ve done it together.
This last episode of this series is not just a tip of the cap to Cass Gebbers, it’s a tribute to the family’s core values, parenting, community and the future.
“We never figured out how to leave here so we might as well figure out how to live here,” says Gebbers. “And that’s was this is all about.”
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