Portland, Oregon - Where to play ? Public and Private

[Michael Dugger]

Eastmoreland should be played instead of the Reserve or Langdon Farms IMO.  The nicest thing about the Reserve is the club house and I've never found anything at Langdon to get exicted about.  They also don't drain much better then Eastmoreland and they'll charge 3 times as much...

DUDE?

Hardly....

[Joe Bentham]

sorry Michael but not everyone is impressed with big cart barns, nice grass (although the Reserve dosen't have much of that) and inflated greens fees...

[Pete_Pittock]

Joe,
   If you have issues with The Reserve Vineyards please contact me. I am a member and serving on the green committee. Maybe we can resolve something. At our forum Thursday night they said public play was now $30, which is way cheaper than my cost per round. Is that too steep for you? We are nearing the completion of moving  to poa greens from bent grass.

 Edit. Joe, never mind. I just re-read the Bandon thread and I can't see us agreeing. Eastmoreland is a whopping $6 cheaper. 

   

[Michael Dugger]

sorry Michael but not everyone is impressed with big cart barns, nice grass (although the Reserve dosen't have much of that) and inflated greens fees...

Nice work, Joe, now not only have you insulted Bandon Crossings but you've disparaged The Reserve as well!  What is your contribution to this forum again?

Something tells me a course like The Reserve has a lot more pipe underneath it than Eastmoreland.  Combine that pipe with an actual "drainage plan" consisting of catch basins, and logic tells me The Reserve is a very well draining course.

A great deal of Eastmoreland is flat, Joe.  It drains like do do, bro, fo real.

How do I know?  Because I hit balls on their range three times last week!!!  It's a soupy mess right now and will probably be that way right up until early June.

 

[Joe Bentham]

My contribution is my opinion what is yours?  I call them as I see them.  If you think the Reserve is great, fine.   Not every golf course is great IMO some aren't even good, and Bandon Crossings and both Reserve courses fit that bill for me.  The Reserve is your typical daily fee (and boy do the members get shafted) built in the late 90's.  I won't rehash my issues with the Crossings here.   Eastmoreland has some history and a nice design pedigree, it isn't the best public golf in Portland nor does it claim to be, but for my money I'd rather bang it around there then ride around the Reserve anyday.  If I've insulted anyone I'm sorry but are we in the business of being nice or discussing GCA in here?

[Craig Sweet]

Pete Pittock....

the Reserve is charging $30 now? Is this a "twilight" rate for March? I was thinking about playing there in a week or two....that seems low, but heck, I might play it twice at that price.

[Norbert P]

...
  Columbia Edgewater (Vernon Macan) . . .    Voted favorite course in America last year by the LPGA players - for hosting the Safeway Classic. 2008 tourney is their Swan song year, though. Next year going to Pumpkin.
 

... What's happening? Are they loosing the parking area at CE? Voted favorite, and then bye bye, wow!

Here's an article that just came out today  in the Oregonian (newspaper).

Classic will move in 2009
Saturday, March 15, 2008

As expected, the Safeway Classic, Portland's LPGA Tour golf tournament, will move to Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains in 2009, tournament organizers announced Friday.

Tournament Golf Foundation, the nonprofit organization that runs the tournament, will stage the tournament on Pumpkin Ridge's Ghost Creek course, the public side of the 36-hole facility, which includes the private Witch Hollow. The tournament and Pumpkin Ridge signed a three-year contract.

TGF was happy with Columbia Edgewater Country Club, its home for the past 18 years and site of the tournament 26 times.

However, as interest in women's golf and the tournament continued to grow, leading to a record attendance of 68,900 last year, TGF wanted to take advantage and find a facility that would allow a bigger pro-am event and more corporate tents to raise more money for its charities. The tournament donated $1.1 million to local charities from last year's tournament.

Pumpkin Ridge has been host to a slew of United States Golf Association events, including the 1996 U.S. Amateur won by Tiger Woods and two U.S. Women's Opens.

"It's really tough to make a change from a place like Columbia Edgewater, where we've been so comfortable for so long," said Rob Neal, executive director of TGF. "But going to a place like Pumpkin Ridge, where they've run plenty of big events, is comforting."

The Safeway Classic, which started in 1972 and is the longest running regular event on the LPGA Tour, will be played one final time at Columbia Edgewater on Aug. 22-24, when Lorena Ochoa will try to defend her title.

-- Mike Tokito

You may have noticed that the tourney will be played on the public Ghost Creek Course.

[Norbert P]

 I took my Bro-in-law, a longtime resident of Alabama and now Texas, to Heron Lakes - Great Blue, and he loved it.  If I were to choose a Best Public in the city of PDX, I'd have to go with Great Blue. It's linksy with a lot of flanking water and a couple of water carry par 3's, but there is great fun to be had there. Only drawback I see is it's the busiest course in town, often looong rounds, and the parking places are meant for micro cars. Oh yea, and it is a GINORMOUSLY popular resting area for Canadian Geese, i.e., poopies!  But in June it won't be nasty.

   The course though, I think ranks closely to Riverdale Dunes in Denver.

[Joe Bentham]

here is a link to the greens fee schedule at the Reserve
 
http://www.reservegolf.com/section.cfm?wSectionID=1418

was wondering if I missed something or the rates have changed and they haven't updated their web site yet.  But the resort rate isn't 30 dollars in March let alone June....

[Pete_Pittock]

  I just checked the Reserve website. You might notice that it says 'rates subject to change, contact the pro shop'.  If you had tried to book a tee time tomorrow, there are many spots at $45, including power cart. Carts are $30 so that means riders are paying $30 green fees. We are getting a new website in April.
  As far as condition and wetness is concerned I played both courses over the weekend. Although it was cart path only, the course is pretty dry, no embedded balls, little mud and walkable without effort. Using 40% less water last year has helped.

[Craig Sweet]

Pete...that seems like a pretty good deal.  The North course is currently open for the public, right?

I'll probably play on Tuesday the 25th....

[Garland Bayley]

Yeah Peter,

They are supposed to alternate between courses every week as far as public/private aren't they? How do you tell from the website which is public

[Pete_Pittock]

Craig,
They are doing fairway aerification on the North on the morning of the 25th,
the South on 24th. Greens punched around April 8th.

Garland,
I really haven't looked at the public side of the website until now. The schedule is South public through the 15th of the month. Ther courses reverse playership on the 16th.

[Jeff Shelman]

I realize this is a rather late request, but would anybody be interested in playing in Portland on later Saturday afternoon or anytime Sunday?

I'm going to escape the snow for the weekend and am flying to PDX on Saturday morning. Don't land until 12:30 p.m., but would be up for anything.