I though Mike Erdmann would have started a thread about our get together by now. He took a picture of Peter Pittock's license plate that he was going to start a thread with. Since I haven't seen that thread, I will make a brief report.
Relative newbies Jim Adkisson and I joined Mike and Peter to play the north course at the Reserve Vineyards while John Kirk walked along for 9 holes. Slag Bandoon was nowhere to be seen. I forgot to ask last Saturday, but my biggest puzzle about Portland GCAers is who is Slag Bandoon? When I first saw the name, I assumed that someone was playing with their profile and posting semi-anonymously. Since this thread mentions he is working at CE in Portland, I have discarded that assumption.
I had some experince with Fought and Cupp by walking the south course during the Tradition, walking Pumpkin Ridge during the Women's open, and by playing Langdon Farms. Either being a spectator outside the ropes does not give you a view of, or a motivation to notice the details of the course; or the other courses simply don't have near as many details, especially in the green complexes as does the north course.
For this somewhat novice, the course was an eye-opener. For example, false fronts are something that I have only seen on TV or read about. Neither of those experiences made me imagine what the false fronts would really be like. On one par 3, I think it was 14, Mike hit his shot right at the flag, had it hit directly into the false front and it crawled forward to the crest, not quite making it and rolled all the way back down off the front some distance. Jim missed short and right and was below the false front with a putt that seemed it would take a 460cc putter head to get the ball to the hole. Fortunately his putter head is about 400cc and he got the ball 400/460 of the way to the hole.
Hole 13 is unlike any hole I have seen before. If you do not drive the ball far down the fairway to the right away from the green on this sharp left dogleg, then the green is totally blind behind an embankment with only the top of the flag visible from as close as 50 yards, perhaps less. My best description of the pattern of the design of this hole is a button hook pattern, because the grass is cut to fairway height behind the green after hooking in from the dogleg to the right of the green.
Although this introverted engineer was very nervous at the beginning with negative influences on my game, the fellow GCAers put me at ease and my game warmed up to their warmth and I had a great time.