WESTPORT, Wash. — The City of Westport is preparing to enter the final environmental review process to develop an 18-hole golf course along the pacific coast. 

The group Westport Golf Links is proposing a new 120-acre links-style course in partnership with Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission (WSPRC) at Westport Light State Park.

Developers say a new public course, clubhouse and hotel would bring an estimated 300 new jobs to the area that has long-faced economic hardship.

“This is a huge opportunity,” said Westport Mayor Ed Welter. “Something has to be done in the Park. There’s a lot of very usable land in that area.”

About a third of the entire land mass of the City of Westport lies within the park boundaries. However, the WSPRC must approve any plans before golf course construction can begin.

“The more restrictive the State becomes, the harder it’s going to be for the City to grow and sustain itself,” said Welter.

The project is 7 years in the making. Westport Golf Links has hosted a number of community meetings to convince the public that the project would be good for the region.

“This is as good as it gets,” said Ryann Day, President and CEO of Westport Golf Links. “Adding the most authentic form of Scottish links golf to Washington’s coast will absolutely put us on the map.”

Day points to other tourist destinations like Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon as an example of how the sport can positively impact the surrounding community.

Two environmental groups are suing Washington state to stop the project. Friends of Grays Harbor and Grays Harbor Audubon Society filed the complaint in 2024, alleging the developers and State Parks Commission are ignoring past agreements that limit wetland development at the site.

“It would ultimately destroy that park,” said Arthur Grunbaum, president of Friends of Grays Harbor.

The WSPRC does acknowledge that the Park includes extensive interdunal wetlands. Those are ponds of water between coastal sand dunes.

The state approved a golf course on this site in 2007. But developers went bankrupt just as bulldozers began moving dirt for construction.

Washington’s Department of Ecology is also urging Westport Golf Links to choose a different site to avoid damaging any wetlands.

“We’re concerned for the addition of the pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, fertilizers. All of this water drains to the ocean and to Half Moon Bay,” said Grunbaum.

Day disputes that claim and points to new research that suggests golf course water runoff is not toxic to the surrounding environment.

Developers also say the course would be a model for coastal resiliency and land protection.

“The amount of wetlands that we’re going to create is going to be three times the amount of wetlands that currently exist,” Day said. “These will be wetlands that the public can visit, have trails and experience the wildlife and habitat.”

A 45-day public comment period in response to the required Environmental Impact Study is the next step in the process. It’s seen as a giant hurdle toward transforming the Park into the golf course.