"There is going to be huge pain, but after that....." That was how Matthew Mandell, longtime general manager of Canyon Lakes Golf Course, described the coming construction to the Tri-City Herald in April 2025. Eighteen months later the course's October newsletter opens with "Construction is done."
If you live near Canyon Lakes Drive and haven't been back since the fences went up, you'll find a different place at 3700 W. Canyon Lakes Drive. Golfers still get the familiar layout down in the canyon. The new buildings around it are aimed at the people who live nearby. The owners said so plainly, and what they built matches.
The Owners Said Out Loud Who They Were Building For
Craig Eerkes, Chris Eerkes and Scott Mitchell took over the course on Aug. 1, 2024, buying it from the Lundgren/Graff ownership through their company, Columbia Golf Company LLC. The Herald reported the price as $5.5 million. The new owners also own Golf Universe, the golf retail store, and they set out to update aging facilities, expand parking and move that store onto the course.
In April 2025, Chris Eerkes described the plan for the restaurant to the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business. The idea was that non-golfers, many of them from the hundreds of houses around the course, could come to Canyon Lakes for lunch or dinner. He told the Herald he wanted an upscale pub "casual enough to attract golfers and desirable enough to bring in the public," with more seating and a bigger deck facing the sunset to the west.
Every part of the project points in that direction, starting with what came out first.
The Pretty Putting Course Had Only About 500 Users
For years, the first thing you saw at the South Olson Street entrance was an 18-hole putting course with waterfowl on its ponds. It closed in spring 2025 and was cleared to make room for construction.
Mandell gave the Herald the numbers behind the decision. Only 500 people used the putting course in 2024. Its revenue fell well short of what it cost to maintain and irrigate, and it pulled crews away from the course, the driving range and the other amenities.
The space went to parking, which was a bigger problem for neighbors than for golfers. Mitchell told the Journal of Business that tournament parking filled up so fast that latecomers parked along Canyon Lakes Drive or next to a nearby park, which backed up traffic. He said removing the putting course would add about 50 spaces.
So the attraction that looked like a neighborhood amenity barely drew anyone, while the street parking it helped cause affected everyone who drives Canyon Lakes Drive. Swapping one for the other was the first move toward the neighbors.
Birdie Run Took Over From the Duck Pond
For decades, eating at Canyon Lakes meant the Duck Pond Bar and Restaurant, which shared the main building with the pro shop. Now it means Birdie Run Bar & Kitchen, which opened to golfers and the general public on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. Its patio looks out over the 18th hole.
The owner has a local backstory. Robert Jacobs, who runs it with his brother Daniel and two other partners, told the Tri-City Herald that he grew up spending time at the course because the Lundgren family were childhood friends. Jacobs also owns Amendment XXI Bar & Grill in Richland, and Birdie Run serves its own version of that restaurant's wings. The beer comes from Bombing Range Brewing in Richland. Owner Dashia Hopp told the Herald the account takes the brewery into a new part of town in its 10th year.
Here's what a neighbor needs to know, based on the Herald's reporting from opening and from September:
- Hours: Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., Sunday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Brunch: Friday through Sunday, 8 to 11 a.m. The menu includes biscuits and gravy, pancakes with eggs and a choice of meat, and banana-bread French toast for $15.99.
- Dinner: Shooter's Stroganoff with braised beef and caramelized onions for $24.99, wings for $18.99 and a New York strip for $49.99. Kids' meals are $12.99 and under.
- Happy hour: seven days a week.
- Tuesday trivia: 6:15 to 8:30 p.m., listed weekly on Find the Fun Tri-Cities through Dec. 29.
Late weekend hours and a weekly trivia night give Birdie Run a reason to fill up long after the last group finishes the 18th. A new commercial kitchen lets Birdie Run cater events for 300 to 400 people, and the owners told the Herald they're hoping to book fantasy football draft parties, retirement parties and similar events. The course's October newsletter invites groups and company parties to ask about hosting.
Golf Universe Turned the Old Cart Barn Into a Store
The other new building stands where the 4,000-square-foot cart barn used to be. According to the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business, the first phase was finished in the last week of December 2025. The roughly 10,000-square-foot building is now Golf Universe's full-service store and the golf check-in desk. It has Trackman fitting simulators, a putter-fitting simulator and club repair, with underground storage for more than 100 carts below. Golf Universe moved there from its location on Edison.
For anyone nearby, the useful detail is the hours. The October newsletter lists the shop as open 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. every day and points to winter outerwear, rangefinders and Christmas shopping. A daily store that opens before most commutes is something the old pro shop never offered the neighborhood.
The Herald's 2025 coverage also said the old pro shop space would become offices for Sun Pacific Energy, the Eerkes family's other business. A golf course that doubles as a company campus has a reason to stay busy year-round.
Frost Season Changes How the Course Plays
The golf side is heading into its slow months. As of late October, the course homepage warns that it's frost season and golfers should expect frost delays. The 2026 rates page lists twilight rates after noon on weekdays from October through February and on weekends from November through February.
What's left of the 2026 season, according to the October newsletter and course calendar:
- The McCurley Mercedes-Benz Closing Scramble
- The Coca Cola Ball Buster and Wimp Open
- Recurring Military Monday and Two-Man Tuesday play on the October calendar
The maintenance crew is asking golfers to keep carts on the paths as much as possible as the grass slows down, and never to park within 15 feet of a green. Tee times start later and end earlier now. The newsletter points out that members can book 10 days ahead.
Once the course goes quiet for the winter, the new buildings are what keep Canyon Lakes busy. Birdie Run, the store and the banquet space don't rely on dry fairways.
Southridge Is Adding More to the Same Evening
Canyon Lakes isn't the only new spot on this side of town. Pearl Desserts opened Sept. 1 at 3719 Plaza Way just off Highway 395, next to The Original Pancake House and the Hampton by Hilton. It's a sister shop to Pearl Tea at Columbia Center, which owner Hoju Moon opened in 2021. The Tri-City Herald reports it serves Korean bingsu, including a mango version for $14.75, and is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.
Farther out, The Kiln Taproom of Yakima has announced a family-friendly second location at 2605 S. Williams Place, near the roundabout at Union Street and 27th Avenue. It will serve hand-made pizzas and regional beers. Co-owner Shayna Koch told the Herald her best estimate for finishing is summer or early fall 2027, and the lot is still grass.
That gives Southridge a brunch-to-trivia restaurant at the golf course, a dessert shop by the highway and a taproom on the way. Canyon Lakes is the one sitting among the homes. Its owners took out a pretty amenity about 500 people used in a year and replaced it with parking, a store that opens at 6:30 every morning, and a kitchen that can feed 400.
If you live near Canyon Lakes and you're curious how changes like these show up when you sell, or what buyers ask about homes this close to the 18th green, Gavin Vargas follows Southridge closely and can show you what's actually trading around the course. Work With Gavin.
