I played Brasada Ranch this weekend which is a fairly new Jacobsen/Hardy layout in Powell Butte, OR. The course is part of the Jeld Wen community of the same name which consists of large homes on lots, smaller cabins and rental cabins. Some other members have commented on it so I will not go into hole by hole detail.
I took some pictures to support the post but they were not so good - apologies. I need a real camera.
Needless to say, this is one of the most amazing settings that I have ever seen for a golf course - especially one located inland.
While playing the course I could not help thinking about whether the architects created something that was harmonious with the setting?
Should a GCA have some obligation to produce a great layout in a great setting? Or at least not get in the way of the setting by certain choices in course creation such as bunkering?
This could have been a nice resort course that blended with the environment, but it is not.
Positives of the setting:
1) Panoramic views of the Cascades from almost every hole
2) located in High Desert - course is routed through Canyons and Ridges
Positives of Course:
1) The architects did take advantage of providing the golfer with spectacular views from almost every tee
2) Meticulously maintained
3) Very limited use of water (only in play on #18)
4) #7 (without the first set of bunkers), #8 and #9 are a solid run of holes
Potential drawbacks of Course:
1) It is a resort course so the layout could have been more challenging
2) Cart golf - probably a 12 mile loop which is impossible to walk (per #1 above)
3) Formulaic - almost always an elevated tee shot to fairway or green on par 3s (great for views, redundant for playing more than once in a while)
4) Very poor use of bunkering on some holes (with novel below for reference)
- I think someone called out the white sand before - something darker would have blended much better with the setting
- On #2 there are 5 bunkers that stare you in the face off the 2 back tees but do not seem to serve a purpose.
- On #3 - one right and left would have probably sufficed but instead there are three left which creates an eyesore effect and only serves to distract from the mountains in the backdrop
- The green on #3 also has a "mickey mouse" bunker which surely could have been done better
- #5 has two bunkers right of the green, I would argue that the second serves no purpose
- #7 has the "bunkers in front of the tee" epidemic occurring on the left side
- #10 has three bunkers right in the layup zone that probably would have looked better if set up as a "waste area". The three bunkers right of the green are two too many
- #12 - Par 3 with 5 bunkers - one back right and four mid to front left
- #13 has two bloody huge bunkers on the right and then two more by the green - why so big? You can usually find your ball in the desert just off the course so why not let it play like that?
- #14 - Big Mickey Mouse bunker left off the tee, only 215 yards from the tips and 170 from the blacks
- #15 - They might as well have lined the entire hole, right and left, with bunkers - This is a some what drivable par 4 that looks like a mine field
#17 - Long par 3 with 2 bunkers left - one so far forward you wonder why they bothered
#18 - Eyesore bunker left off the tee in range from the tee - but why so big with the high desert there as well?
I wonder if the architects produced exactly what the owners wanted - a nice resort layout in an amazing setting that is fairly enjoyable to play with lots of in your face bunkers to catch errant shots, but little character beyond that provided by the macro environment.