D M Kidd's Tetherow in Bend, OR....Now with images!!!!

[Garland Bayley]

Until they build the hotel, there will be room for outside play. As Michael says, just phone up.

[Michael Dugger]

They'd be happy to take your money!

[Scott_Burroughs]

They'd be happy to take your money!

I'm sure they would.  They need money to water the place and green it up a bit!    This is a resort, after all! 

[John Kirk]

Peter,

Do they let carts onto the golf course?  The fescue is pretty dry in places, and a cart may leave tracks if driven over the course at the wrong time.

Funny how my perspective has changed.  That is a nice color for a golf course.

John

[Richard Boult]

Just added to Photo Tours at http://delicious.com/golfclubatlas/Oregon

[Pete_Pittock]

Hole 6 424/379/327/283
Nine separate tee boxes on this eastbound par four with water all the way up the left side. Looking at a split fairway you may choose the inview right option, bu that runs out at the 130 mark. The left split is blind  benind the hill and the fairway doesn't start until 160 yds from green center. Your line should be towards the midpoint between the two sections of carpath coming down the hill.The green doesn't favor either entry angle.

Protected by some mounding in the front the back half is the high tier and two bowls separated by a narrow ridge and false front comprise the front half.
 
In planning this green it is possible the architect sat in some wet, loose dirt for inspiration.

Sorry I didn't get pictures of the fairway but I was hitting 5 from the 210 mark. This hole had me wondering about playing from the tan tees but it is a hole where I need to leave driver in the bag because a lay-up still leaves a mid iron approach.

[Matt_Ward]

Peter:

Just a quick question - can the course really sustain itself when the winds do pick up. The contours, from the photos I have seen thus far, look to be intense in many spots. Are there enough defensible pin locations that are not extreme should such conditions arise?

[Pete_Pittock]

Hole 7  226/189/163/105

After s long walk (or ride) back up the hill and across the bridge you come to what I think is the strongest three par. Heading east and slightly downhill with the left and left front sides guarded by a large bunker. There is a large ridge separating left and right sides and they can pin it on that donkey. The right side has a lower front bowl and higher back section. Par is a very, very good score, especially if the pinsetter had a bad night.

The view from the back shows the strong ridge defense
If you shy away from the bunkering you will probably miss on the right side and this is your view of the green. Good luck


With a longer look at the picture the bunker bay in line with the center of the green and its mound is the most salient feature in determining how to play the hole when you are not strijing the ball well. Another look, and you biggest mistake is hitting the antipode (ie short right with hole back left)

[Pete_Pittock]

Matt,
   I think the course will be okay in the wind. First, the fescue greens will probably resist the ball being wind-driven. Usually central Oregon has fairly calm mornings and then a downslope (west) wind in the afternoon. 3, 7, 12,
13 and 15 seem to be the holes which would be most difficult in the wind.
I'd hate to see a right side hole on #3, and #7 becomes difficult to hold.
   Twelve is a visual problem, you can't see the right side and an old borrow pit dominates the left on what would be a crosswind hole. Thirteen is just evil, bad luck and fifteen would tend to push a long ball towards a water hazard.
   Most of the greens and sub greens are big enough, but be prepared for three putts. As I said these are the most complex greens in Oregon. For the most part they can be access by both the aerial and ground games.
Unlike Chambers Bay there are not a lot of side slopes and bumpers where you can deflect the ball closer to the hole. And did i mention three putting.

All,
For the next eighteen months or so, until the hotel opens,  you can contact the club directly and gain access. Golf pedigree does not matter. Director of Golf is Martin Chuck at 541-388-2582 or mchuck@tetherow.com

[Pete_Pittock]

Hole 8
395/389/364/268
A straightaway hole heading south you hit from an elevated tee across a valley to an elevated green 32 yards deep that has a lower front 1/3 a small shelf on the back left and the largest section center and back right.

The tree is 120 from the green. Most grassy moguls can be ignored but the large one on the right is about 150 on the right. Bunker 80-110 out



This little gunsight is 75 out but beware, the false front will eat up a long pitch.

[Pete_Pittock]

Hole 9
532/492/471/387
Sorry, no pictures.
Straightaway, there is a gauntlet of bunkers and slopes which end about 275 yards from the green. Uphill from there there is a central hazard bunker
at the 70-90 range. The elevated green sits below the rock wall and is the smallest on the front side, only 25 yards deep. My pin was in a small node set at front left. One bunker immediately in front, this is a good chance to birdie before the turn. Best place for a picture is atop the rock as you head towards the 10th tee.

[Dan Herrmann]

Now you've done it - Laura just asked about airfare to PDX.

[Pete_Pittock]

Dan,
Oops.
 

Roberts Field, Redmond Municipal Airport 
 


Roberts Field-Redmond Municipal Airport (RDM) is owned and operated by the City of Redmond for the tri-county area.  It is the fourth largest commercial service airport in Oregon serving all of Central Oregon.  Commerical service is provided by Horizon Air (part of the Alaska Air Group); United Express and Delta Connection (provided by SkyWest Airlines); and Allegiant Air.  These carriers offer approximately 46 arriving and departing flights daily to and from Eugene, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Seattle.   
 
With 100 degrees plus for the next three days I should get this finished soon, despite golf and the Olympics

[Sean_A]

Pete

Thanks for posting these pix.  The course looks very interesting.  How do those tufts of rough work?  From the pix I am not keen on them.  Are these like what folks at the St Andrews course were complaining about?

Ciao

[Pete_Pittock]

Sean,
In the middle picture in hole #8 it looks like a lion waiting to pounce. I think that should answer your question.
Seriously, no one in my group got into one. They seem a more severe hazard than a bunker. There may be rocks in them. I have not seen the Castle Course, so cannot comment

[Matt_Ward]

Pete:

Have to put you on the spot ...

Given your knowledge of Oregon - where does Tetherow shake out even if its very early in its opening. Is it a good rival for any of the Bandon courses? Is it the best in the Bend area?

Many thanks ...

p.s. the internal fairway contours look just grand -- I'm assuming there was some shaping to create the effect or am I completely off base.

[Pete_Pittock]

Matt,
I would have to tie it with Pronghorn-Fazio. Better than Crosswater @ Sunriver or Pronghorn-Nicklaus.

Aside: I had a newbie forecaddie and I mentioned the Pronghorn courses by Fazio and Jack. He said "Nicholson?"

Still behind Pacific Dunes, doesn't have its soul. Tied with Bandon Trails, ahead of Bandon Dunes.

[Pete_Pittock]

Hole 10  316/289/273/253
After that birdie opportunity David MacLay Kidd serves up a driveable par 4.It is downhill and plays to the north.

The central hazard complex lays 60-100 yards short of the green. A large bunker fronts the left, significant false front on the right. The right side is slightly lower than the left. Not quite 30 yards deep I saw two balls scoot across. A little knob back middle will create problems for those who are long and on the wrong side. A picture of the front of the green

[Pete_Pittock]

Hole 11  466/434/400/365
Slightly dogleg right, heads east and generally level 

This was the most claustrophobic drive after a series of wide open holes (#6 being the exception). Scrub on the right, trees and hills to the left. The turnpoint is at 160 from the green
It was here that my camera lost battery and I had to scramble for my backup kodak. A large mound obscures the front left, miss left and you are well below the hole. Another scrub covered mound masks the right side of the green. Seriously severe contours at the center right of green.
Card says this is the 10 hdcp hole, only because most will bogey. Play 10-11 as a par 8. Center of the green is the high point of the mound left of the forecaddy.

[Pete_Pittock]

Hole 12  425/405/362/297
Back to the north this hole has a large gravel borrow pit bordering the left. Don't go in. It crosses the fairway diagonally starting at 125 from the green.
Trees at 200 yards out on the right obscure the widest fairway on the course, but there are three ball eating mounds out there.The fairly benign green diagonals back and right with the front and left guarded by a large tree. Raised bunker defends the right side



The first picture just shows the left hlf of the fairway, and Kidd was probably pitying us with this flattish green

[Pete_Pittock]

Hole 13 MacEvil 588/541/465/397
When we got done playing this hole from the tan (465) tees we went back and played it from 541. Much better. I probably spent more time trying to figure out what line and what club than at any time in my career. From the tan tees the answer was 160 yards.
The hole doglegs right about 280 from the green and a mcnasty tree on the right completely blocks the vision from the tee. At the throat of the dogleg Kidd has started cutting through the bedrock on a shallow decline towards the green. The left rim is guarded by bunkering, the right by scrub.
Send your forecaddie ahead and you still might lose a ball. The first picture is taken shortly after the turnpoint.

The next picture shows that there is a lake wrapping around the left side and fronting about 1/3 of the green. The fairway narrow about 120 out with some mounding and waste bunker winding down the right side

Hope the hole is cut right so you don't have to deal with narrow shelves and the back falling away.

NOTE: No pictures of hole # 14  190/157/157/149 as I was busy looking in the desert for an escapee.

[Bill_McBride]

       
The only food is the grill shack on the patio. They have Belhavens.
       

Paging Mike Benham! 

[Matt_Ward]

Pete:

If Tetherow had an ocean just off the property instead of the hardwoods would it's overall place in your estimation be even higher.

My belief is that the Bandon trio benefits enormously from this element.

From the listing you provided me it appears the Nicklaus layout at Pronghorn is a tad lower than the others. Any reason why the TF rates higher in your mind?

Thanks ...

p.s. Given what you have said Tetherow would likely rate somewhere between 2-4 best among the Oregon courses you have played. Do you see it rating even higher with added maturity?

[Pete_Pittock]

Hole 15  437/390/358/299

  From an elevated tee club selection is important because the hole really tightens up at the 150 mark with a left lake, right gunch and center grass mogul and bunkers. For you tipsters, carry is 225.
 The elevated green is nearly a clone of the 6th hole, and a large bunker needs to be traversed

[Pete_Pittock]

Hole 16 476/452/424/380

This is a dogleg right with a elevation drop at the corner if you avoid a bunker, and a punchbowl effect which encourages a running shot to the green. The bunker complex lives between 190 and 165 with a bit of room to skirt it on the left.
Mounding at the 50-75 range hides the last downslope to the green which can be seen at the right side of this picture of the last 50 yards

Not a good picture of the green, which is two connected ovoids. False front, two small sections left, large ovoid right about 35-40 yards deep.
Big dropoff behind. This is the hardest approach on the course and a preview of the green, hole and approach is beneficial.