by Jake Goldstein-Street, Washington State Standard
October 22, 2026
A plan for a new Scottish links-style golf course at an oceanfront Washington state park has divided a community.
Proponents of the years-in-the-making proposal at Westport Light State Park say the course will be an economic boost for the small town, while opponents fear environmental disruption despite commitments from the developer to be a steward of the park’s habitat.
Over the course of a three-and-a-half-hour hearing in a nearly packed Aberdeen High School auditorium this week, the two sides aired their support and grievances.
On Wednesday, state parks commissioners expressed their skepticism, and for some downright opposition, of the project. They could decide its fate in November.
The prognosis doesn’t look good for the developers to obtain the concession agreement they need to move forward.
Commission Chair Holly Williams said after seven years of conversations on the proposal, she’s reached a conclusion.
“Work on the project should be discontinued,” she said.
The city of Westport is neutral on the project, said Mayor Ed Welter. But Welter said this week that “delays, exhaustion and division have surrounded this.”
The proposal
The potential 18-hole public course would come with a short course, clubhouse, lodge with dozens of rooms, driving range and food options. By the mid-2030s, the project would bring in between $15 million and $18 million in revenue per year, according to the developers, Westport Golf Links, which is led by homebuilder Ryann Day. The company expects 26,000 visits in its first year of operation, a figure that would grow over time and be a boon for local restaurants, hotels and shops.
The course would be owned by Washington State Parks and constructed and run by the company. The revenue would be shared, with some going toward caring for state parks across the state.
“We pay for it, and we address many of the public needs associated with the environment on site,” Day said.
The developers would also establish miles of new and improved trails and leave open the beach, which is popular among surfers. Day argues the links-style course, designed by Oregon’s Bandon Dunes architect David McLay Kidd, would be less disruptive to the habitat and use less water and fertilizer than traditional courses.
Westport Golf Links will also try to bring dredged sand on Westport’s beaches and dunes to protect against coastal erosion without artificial armoring.
To make up for wetland fill for the golf course, the company notes it would restore or create 69 acres of wetlands elsewhere.
“Our goal with the Westport golf team is creating a vision of a healthier park in the future,” project manager Mark Merkelbach said, adding the company will continue to manage invasive species and monitor the habitat.
The Port of Grays Harbor supports the project. Port Commissioner Tom Quigg said it “offers a rare combination of economic, environmental, and recreational benefits.”
“Opportunities of this scale and potential are difficult to secure in a rural coastal community,” Quigg added.
The concept of a golf course here isn’t a new idea for locals. Another plan in the early 2000s fell through.
The problems
The state Department of Ecology labels the park’s interdunal wetlands as Category 1 due to the critical habitat they provide. The shore pine/slough sedge swamp forest there is considered “critically imperiled.”
The agency said Westport Golf Links leadership is underestimating the negative impacts its development would have on the wetlands.
“We’re still seeing a net loss of ecological function from this project,” said Maria Sandercock, a regional section manager with the Department of Ecology.
The department estimates direct impact to over 30 acres of wetlands, and that’s higher than annual totals every year for the last 10 years, Sandercock told state parks commissioners. For reference, the Highway 167 expansion in Pierce County affected 25 acres of wetlands. The addition of a third runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport impacted 19 acres.
Sandercock said she doubts the project is permittable.
A judge last year tossed a lawsuit from local environmental groups seeking to stop the development over the proposed wetland fill.
The Quinault Indian Nation, which has a treaty right to fish in the area, opposes the development as proposed due to risks to nearby fish habitat.
Commissioner Laurie Connelly said that based on the environmental harms, focusing on potential economic benefit from the course development would mean “putting the cart before the horse.”
Given the natural resources concerns, Scott Merriman, the commission’s vice chair, said the project “doesn’t appear to comply with any of our policies,” and he hasn’t seen “any movement by the proponent to figure out how to honor and comply with our policies.”
“I don’t know how to move forward on this proposal as it’s currently configured,” Merriman said. “But I know we can’t spend much more time on it. We don’t have the staff resources. We don’t have the budget to do it.”
Day didn’t immediately provide comment for this story. He told commissioners this week that a lot of work remains to bring his idea to fruition: “Our sleeves are rolled up, and we’re ready to go.”
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