The Great Northwest Golf Adventure – Part 4 (The Final 5)

After three days at Bandon Dunes Resort, we were concerned that the rest of the courses would be a let down but exploring new courses in new areas of the country certainly kept our interest.  In addition to Bend and Bandon, we played two other Oregon courses, Ghost Creek at Pumpkin Ridge (#81 on Current Rankings) and Running Y Ranch (#66 Last Ranked 2007). Ghost Creek has hosted several big tournaments in the past including two U.S. Women’s Opens and the 1996 U.S. Amateur that was won by Tiger Woods.  This course provided us with plenty of challenges including several holes where a small and very hard to see stream came in to play. (Thus the name Ghost Creek)  The course is a Bob Cupp design that was built in 1992 and it was in very good condition.  The greens were very smooth and fast and each hole provided  a unique challenge.  The fairways were some of the narrowest that we played and many were lined with large pine trees.  I always thought that this course was in Portland, but it actually sat several miles to the west of Portland in a agricultural area that is very quiet and serene.  Ghost Creek is a challenge but fun to play and was certainly worth the effort to experience.  I can see how some would put this in their Top 100 although I am not sure that I would rate it quite that high.  Perhaps if I played it a little more and become more aware of the placement of the hazards I would agree.

Our final course in Oregon was located in the south central part of the state at Klamath Falls.  Running Y Ranch Resort is an Arnold Palmer design that flowed seamlessly along the marsh for the first five holes before moving up the hillside.  There are some homes located on the hills above the course but do not take away from the course visuals as they fit nicely into the wooded areas.  The condition of the course was outstanding on the front nine but they were having some serious turf issues on the back nine greens.  That took away from an otherwise very enjoyable round on a course that we really liked.  Another issue that we had this day had nothing to do with the course but the wildfires that were plaguing the entire state of Oregon.  During most of our rounds in this otherwise beautiful state, we could not see the mountains clearly because of the smoke haze, but at Running Y Ranch, the smoke settled into the valley during our round and by the time we reached the final five holes, it was quite heavy and affected our breathing.  This is a very nice resort that caters to folks coming to see Crater Lake and to families that like various outdoor activities and it provides a golf course that is fun and interesting to play.  It is no longer a Top 100 course but is worthy of your consideration.  It is just difficult to stack up to its competitors in a state that has so many outstanding designs such as the four courses at Bandon Dunes Resort and several in the Bend area.  As we have played many of the courses in the current or past Top 100 lists, we have found that a course does not have to be in the current Top 100 rankings to be enjoyable and fun to play.  Running Y Ranch is in that category.  With the back nine greens healthy, this is a worthy test that I would not hesitate to play again.

As we left Oregon behind, it was a difficult drive to our next destination at Lake Tahoe.  I probably should have taken a different route but I decided to stay on the interstate for most of the trip and we ran into a great deal of traffic going into and around Sacramento.  After that, it was another curving mountainous road into the Tahoe area.  We normally had four or less hours on the road to our next course but this turned into an eight hour drive.  Once we arrived at the Inn at Lake Tahoe, we found that it was worth the effort.  Besides, we knew that we were staying at this hotel for two nights and would not have to drive the following day.  This hotel just opened two months prior and was extremely nice and not near the price I thought it might be.  The next morning was another beautiful day (That makes 18 days in a row. How lucky is that?) , and we were ready to hit the links again.  How can you not be excited about playing on the shore of Lake Tahoe?  There were two things other than playing Edgewood Tahoe (#93 on Current Rankings) and the setting that made this day special.  First, it was our 49th anniversary.  Second, when we went to check in at the pro shop, the pro handed me a logo ball and said “Happy Anniversary”.  When I asked him how he knew that, he said that our son Jason had called and had paid for the golf rounds that day as a surprise anniversary present.  How cool is that?  I guess it pays to give the kids a copy of our itinerary.  That is the kind of thing that makes a parent quite proud.  The golf course itself was in wonderful condition and the holes have a lot of variety to keep your round interesting.  Most of the holes are inland and wind up and down through the many huge Ponderosa Pines on the property.  You are then brought to a jaw dropping view on the closing holes that sit on Lake Tahoe with the snow capped mountains on the other side of the lake.  The course was designed by George Fazio and has been remodeled by his nephew, Tom Fazio.  There are homes that sit on the perimeter of the course on the hillside above the holes which fit perfectly into this area but there are a couple of holes later in the round that run parallel to an area that is not well kept and that detracts from everything else that is beautiful in this setting.  I loved playing Edgewood Tahoe and would put it in the same category as Ghost Creek in that my ranking would be somewhere between 80 and 130.  Maybe that is why it has been both in and out of the Golf Digest Top 100 Public courses over the years.

The following day we made the one hour scenic (which in this area means mountainous, meandering two lane road) to the Jack Nicklaus designed Old Greenwood (#77 Last Ranked 2011).  Old Greenwood is set outside of Truckee, California north of Lake Tahoe.  It was built as a centerpiece for a real estate development and has a lot of members and property owners that play it on a regular basis.  This course was in immaculate condition in all phases much like the earlier Nicklaus course we played in Bend called Pronghorn.  The homes and condominiums that line many of the holes are lovely and blend with the environment but still take away a little from the course setting in my eyes.  I prefer golf courses with no residences near the holes but I am a realist and therefore know that many great courses are built in this type of development.  The best examples that I am familiar with are Muirfield Village in Columbus, Ohio and Harbour Town in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Old Greenwood is very interesting and a fun play but quite challenging.  I usually play about 6,000 to 6,200 yards but on this course the tees were set at 6,457 yards.  I could have moved up on a few holes, but then I would have been playing the same set of tees as Marilyn.  The forward tees that she was playing were 5,419 yards.  As you can see, this was a long tough design for us to play which meant we had many longer clubs to the greens.  This was a problem since several of the greens had forced carries over numerous and sometimes very deep bunkers.  With those type of hazards protecting the greens, we both needed to be hitting shorter irons to the greens.  Knowing this going into the round, we were prepared and still enjoyed this very good layout.  I would put it on the same category as Edgewood Tahoe and Ghost Creek which are both on the current Top 100.  This shows how narrow the margin is when  trying to rank courses, especially those that might fall between 75 and 150.  That is why it is not my intention to rank them but to play and enjoy them.

After playing Old Greenwood, it was time to start the long trek back to Ohio.  To break up that long drive, we stopped in Mayetta, Kansas to do what else?  Play golf of course.  Kansas has never had a public course ranked in Golf Digest’s Top 100, so I went to the Golfweek rankings of top courses and chose Firekeeper which has their number one public ranking for the state of Kansas.  This is a Jeff Braur/Notah Begay design that starts out in the open with very tall (four to five feet) native grass beyond the rough and then works it way back into the wooded area of the course.  They moved very little dirt to construct this course so one of the main features is many elevated greens.  The course was very interesting, playable and in great condition except we were unlucky and caught it a few days after the punching and top dressing of the greens.  They were a little bumpy and slower than normal.  The rough was as tough as any we played on this trip as it was thick and long.  The fairways gave you generous landing zones so you had a good chance to avoid that difficult rough.  We were a little mentally fatigued when we arrived at Firekeeper but still enjoyed the round and also the break in our drive.  This was course 22 in the past 22 days and after a nine hour drive the next day we were home again.  Although this was the longest trip that we have embarked on, it was full of great times, outstanding courses, and views of this wonderful country that we had not seen before.  It was worth the effort.  My next post will be a summary of the highlights and other random observations about  the Great Northwest Golf Adventure.