Tetherow Golf Club

[Brian_Ewen]

Nice series of videos posted on YouTube today of Tetherow.

With Hole descriptions and tips from course designer David McLay Kidd.

http://www.youtube.com/user/tetherowgolfclub?feature=watch

Enjoy

[William_G]

As far has DMK has come, and he'll tell you, from Bandon Dunes, and now Gamble Sands and Mammoth Dunes, Tetherow remains as a one off, residential, narrow, hit the shot or die golf course.
No matter how much folks love the arid lava climate and terrain, the golf is just not fun at Tetherow.
DMK can promote this place as much as he cares to, as he lives there, yet it's just no bueno.
thanks

[William_G]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MzC7Aop77U


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-Lw6IMIIqg


a place where you must golf your ball

[William_G]

https://forums.golfwrx.com/topic/1451582-david-mclay-kidd-learned-his-lesson/


new wife new life, yet some POS attitudes remain sadly


Love Gamble, Bandon, and Mammoth


Merry Everything

[Tom Bacsanyi]

Never played there, but how much of Tetherow's difficulty lies in the native areas? What was DMK supposed to do with it? Burn it all? Bulldoze it and turf it (and IRRIGATE it?)


Seems like any shot into the native is a lost ball, but it's hard to blame the designer for what exists outside the maintained turf naturally isn't it?

[Tom_Doak]

Never played there, but how much of Tetherow's difficulty lies in the native areas? What was DMK supposed to do with it? Burn it all? Bulldoze it and turf it (and IRRIGATE it?)


Seems like any shot into the native is a lost ball, but it's hard to blame the designer for what exists outside the maintained turf naturally isn't it?

Silly question.  We always have to think about the playability of the native areas, and if they're lost ball country, we need to make the irrigated area wider so you don't tangle with it often.


Funny enough, when David played Tara Iti a couple of years ago he told me he lost two balls going through the greens into the native.  Of course, we had planted every last bit of it to stabilize the dunes; so I just needed to call the greenkeeper and tell him it was time to start hacking things back.  The spinifex is very aggressive!  Maybe that's part of Tetherow's problem, too, I don't know.

[JohnVDB]

I haven’t been to Tetherow, but Bandon Dunes was like that when it first opened.  Missing the fairway or green on 5 was frequently a lost ball for example.  The last time I was there they’d cleaned up a lot of those areas of the grass.

[Tom_Doak]

I haven’t been to Tetherow, but Bandon Dunes was like that when it first opened.  Missing the fairway or green on 5 was frequently a lost ball for example.  The last time I was there they’d cleaned up a lot of those areas of the grass.

Most new courses seed the native areas much too heavily, because they are at the edge of the irrigation, and they worry that nothing will come up.  And it often bites golfers in the butt!  We seeded the roughs at Pacific Dunes at something like 1/8th or 1/10th the recommended rate, and had to keep golfers out of it during preview play while it matured a bit, but it worked great.

[Garland Bayley]

Never played there, but how much of Tetherow's difficulty lies in the native areas? What was DMK supposed to do with it? Burn it all? Bulldoze it and turf it (and IRRIGATE it?)


Seems like any shot into the native is a lost ball, but it's hard to blame the designer for what exists outside the maintained turf naturally isn't it?

We can blame him for BS. When it opened, I believe it was the scorecard that quoted him to the effect that he is not a good golfer, and the course doesn't cause him difficulties so golfers should find it to be without undue difficulties.

[Pete_Pittock]

I played at Tetherow late in 2019. It has been softened quite a bit. Gone are the little lava intrusions with native grass that were in the middle of many fairways. The green complexes on 5 and 8 are much more receptive and 17 doesn't look or play the same, although it was still their signature hole. Fewer empty lots. There are enough oddish holes which allow a member to have a massive advantage over a guest.  If your mind was made up in the first few years of its existence, time for a reboot.

[Garland Bayley]

Just checked Google Earth. The course still has the stinking, ugly, useless ponds. Even ECC is softening it's over use of ponds is it not?

[William_G]

Just checked Google Earth. The course still has the stinking, ugly, useless ponds. Even ECC is softening it's over use of ponds is it not?

for a course that is sited on 1000 year old river bottom, hard to say ponds are over used with a natural estuary running through ECC

[William_G]

Seems like any shot into the native is a lost ball, but it's hard to blame the designer for what exists outside the maintained turf naturally isn't it?

yet the way DMK talks about it at length and repeatedly, too funny LOL "the players need to be smarter or need a lesson"" he's not saying that it was a difficult site to build or design a fun golf course

[Ronald Montesano]

Which ECC, Esoteric Country Club or Enigmatic Country Club? So hard to tell, when you're only mildly fluent in acronym.

[William_G]

LOL

[Garland Bayley]

Just checked Google Earth. The course still has the stinking, ugly, useless ponds. Even ECC is softening it's over use of ponds is it not?

for a course that is sited on 1000 year old river bottom, hard to say ponds are over used with a natural estuary running through ECC

Did Jackson-Kahn get approval to revert to the creek as a hazard instead of the ponds?

[William_G]

Tim and David have a an unapproved plan but not regarding ponds like Tetherow

[Sean_A]

Tetherow seems a strange one for DMK. He says the course was built to be difficult and that in later years his philosophy shifted toward more space and fun golf. But recently he is saying Tetherow isn't that tough and the fairways are ample. Something doesn't jive.

Happy Hockey

[Niall C]

Is there a difference between tough and difficult ? Tough could be penal and difficult could be strategic ? Just a thought.


Niall

[Tom_Doak]

Is there a difference between tough and difficult ? Tough could be penal and difficult could be strategic ? Just a thought.

Niall, were you Bill Clinton's lawyer?   


Most of golf course p.r. is a long line of b.s. because nobody ever gets to ask a follow-up question.

[Sean_A]

Is there a difference between tough and difficult ? Tough could be penal and difficult could be strategic ? Just a thought.


Niall

Chill Bill, I paraphrased.

Happy Hockey

[Rob Rigg]

If you haven't played it then I'd agree with Will G, not worth your time. It's not a very fun round. There are some decent holes out there but overall it's just a grind.

DMK has talked about it on several podcasts and readily admits it's an extremely challenging course that was built during a time in his life when he was not in the best of moods!

I thought it was better when it opened and there was more "noise" out there. But they have to keep toning it down as members and guests are constantly complaining.

The other big downside now versus 5+ years ago is the number of homes that have gone up. It's a real residential course now with a mix of million and mucho million dollar homes that don't help the vibe.

With that site and the potential views, it really is a shame from a golf standpoint that they didn't create a "core" course with the housing on the outside.
Juniper is still my favorite in the area and it'll run you $30 to $50 if I remember correctly.

If you want to drive a cart around then Brasada Ranch has some amazing views and it's a pretty forgiving course.

[Jordan Beasley]

I made my first trip to Tetherow a few weeks ago, and thought I'd share a few pictures and thoughts with the group.


My anticipation was very high going in, because it is obviously a polarizing course. On one hand a fixture in the top-100 public lists, and on the other hand derided by many smart golf people, usually for being "too hard" but also for things like the lack of walkability or the presence of artificial water hazards, in the middle of a desert.


Could it be argued that this course was one of the key tipping points in the "golf courses should more fun (read: easier)" movement?


I'll offer some alternating pieces of praise and criticism:


-Looks matter, and Tetherow presents a jaw-droppingly gorgeous landscape of shapes, textures, and colors. The mint green of the fescue harmonizes perfectly with the varied browns and greens of the Oregon high desert. The feeling of happiness to be walking in that environment never left me, from first to last shot.


-I can validate that the walkability score is very low. Several of the green-to-tee walks are laborious.  And on many holes the pushcart golfer has to follow the cart paths from tee-to-fairway, because the native areas are so thick that you can only walk through the paths if shouldering your bag.


-I wish all the noise around difficulty didn't distract so much from all the really good golf holes.  I thought all four of the par-5's (#2, #9, #13, #18) were class; each requiring a thrilling and strategic tee shot to set up the rest of the hole. #17 was one of the most fun short irons I've hit in a long time. #10 is straight out of central casting for a strategic short four.  And the first competes with #1 at Mid Pines for the most attractive and friendly opening handshakes I've ever played.


-The course is billed as a links, but at least on the day I played it did not play like a true links. Yes it had more bounce and roll than your average American course, but between the heavy irrigation and the layer of tall grass between fairway and native on most holes, I'd say it only made it about halfway to the real deal.  Think Spanish Bay.  Or TPC Stonebrae, another good DMK "links" in Northern California.


Here are a few photos to give you a sense of current conditions:


How wonderful is this marmot that I spotted near the practice range, camouflaged perfectly to looks like one of the boulders it calls home.


Tetherow by Jordan Beasley, on Flickr

Hole #1:

Tetherow by Jordan Beasley, on Flickr

Hole #11:

Tetherow by Jordan Beasley, on Flickr

Hole #12:


Tetherow by Jordan Beasley, on Flickr

Hole #14:


Tetherow by Jordan Beasley, on Flickr

Hole #15:

Tetherow by Jordan Beasley, on Flickr

Hole #17:

Tetherow by Jordan Beasley, on Flickr

Hole #18:

Tetherow by Jordan Beasley, on Flickr

[Tommy Williamsen]

Does it play as tight as it looks?

[Jordan Beasley]

Tommy - despite its difficulty, tight is not the word I would use.  Most all the holes provided a wide fairway landing area (though the generosity sometimes shrunk as you got closer to the hole). However, the majority of holes required some degree of forced carry off the tee, over inhospitable native growth.  I would question how much enjoyment would be had by someone with a handicap of 20 or higher.