RV Park Golf Courses

[Pete_Pittock]

   Not talking about the situation where a primary function is the golf course and they add a few RV hookups. No, this is the RV camp, resort or whatever which tacks on a 'golf course" as entertainment while the RVers stop in for a few days. I've seen them along interstates, but never
bothered to stop and play.
   Recently I decided to play every hole in Oregon and this opened the door.

   Lewis & Clark GC is attached to a RV resort near Astoria, OR.  Reasonable condition on a flat meadow interspersed with natural water hazards, and enough trees to cause occasional concern. The SW corner has a small hill. It would be a blast to play cross country style except for the, in Oregon, seven artificial greens maybe 15-20 yds diameter. They are starting to get moss covered. Conditioning was decent, I just didn't catch it near a mowing day.

   There is another one near Klamath Falls in south central Oregon. Condition-wise this is the worst conditioned course I have played in 60 years. Maybe 80% grass, enough gopher holes so you always had to look down, small greens which had long ago seen the good days.
The ball bounced like the designer was Larry Pachinko before his classis course in the Price is Right studio. After the tee shot on #1 the only strategy was to finish the round.

   But Guernsey, WY near the Nebraska border on U.S. 26 has Trail Ruts, which I stopped by to play on the way back from some Nebraska sand hill golf. Anine-holer, I knew about it because, as the name implies, the Oregon Trail ran across the land and ruts (a wagon or two wide depression) runs along and across several holes. It is a municipal course, but is run by a RV encampment. Straightforward golf course until you get to the last three. 7 & 8 are par 3s with about 10-15' elevation change, both greens in groves of trees. The 9th was drive-able but the camouflage was so good I finally hit a drive and went forward to find the hole. As you looked backwards from the green there were a couple of tall trees about 75 yards back, limbs nearly intertwined, 50 feet apart and a bunker between the two.
  I'll find an old thread of mine and post some pictures. It is worth a stop with the nearby Guernsey Ruts, Newspaper Rock and a replica Ft. Laramie.

  Anybody else have a close encounter with this phenomenon?

NOTE: I probably should not have included Trail Ruts because it is a municipal course, but the RV park and the golf course share the same
office. The golf course was not purpose built by the owners of the RV park to provide activity for their clientele and passers-by.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

No close encounter but AZ has a few:

http://www.cocopahrv.com/

http://robertsresorts.com/resorts/gold-canyon/

http://www.rvonthego.com/arizona/viewpoint-rv-golf-resort/

I'm sure there are more.

[C. Sturges]

Pete,
I have two for you. The first is in Oregon, The Umpqua Golf Resort, Oak Hills Course in Sutherlin.  Just off I-5 north of Roseburg.  I fun hilly course.  The second course is Wasatch State Park golf courses.  From the RV park you have 36 holes of golf and a world class trout river next door.  Of the two sites, I would go out of my to stay at Wasatch State Park with all the other new courses in the area.  Less than a half hour from Park City.
chris

[Pete_Pittock]

Pete,
I have two for you. The first is in Oregon, The Umpqua Golf Resort, Oak Hills Course in Sutherlin.  Just off I-5 north of Roseburg.  I fun hilly course.  The second course is Wasatch State Park golf courses.  From the RV park you have 36 holes of golf and a world class trout river next door.  Of the two sites, I would go out of my to stay at Wasatch State Park with all the other new courses in the area.  Less than a half hour from Park City.
chris

Umpqua Golf Resort used to be known as Sutherlin Knolls and originated as a 9 hole course. It produced Carole Jo Skala, a 4 time winner on the LPGA in the 1970s and a USGA champion.

[Bill_McBride]

So Mr. Pittock, how many courses are there in Oregon and how many of those have you played?   

[Pete_Pittock]

So Mr. Pittock, how many courses are there in Oregon and how many of those have you played?   

I may be off by one or two but I've played 137 and have 73 to go, of which about twenty are 18 hole courses. About twenty new ones this year, four have been 18s. One more long (6 + days) trip and I'll start a separate thread.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Actually in the design process for a mixed use project that includes a substantial RV community area.  Looking at their numbers, this kind of thing actually makes a lot of financial sense in the "snowbird" areas.  A lot!  Texas gets the double dip - snow birds and well drillers/frackers with RV's as temporary homes, moved from well to well.

[David Schofield]

The Links of North Dakota (Williston, ND) is co-located with "Red Mike Resort".  I suspect that they are overrun with "frackers" right now.

[Ben Malach]

I am very familiar with these types of development as my parents love to camp and play golf. When I was younger we would always go and play at Spur Valley. Which has a delightful 9 hole golf course that is fun, short and charming. The way it uses the hills and ponds on the property to create interest on a low budget is impressive. But the fact that it competes in the Columbia Valley which is home to a lot of larger and more acclaimed golf courses is testament to how good a little golf course it is. The other course which has a camp ground that I really enjoyed was Sonora Dunes in  Osoyoos, BC. Again a great 9 hole golf course this desert golf course is set on a amazing piece of land set of the side of a mountain over looking an amazing lake. One last one I will mention is Mable Lake which I have yet to see. I have heard some very positive reviews of the golf there but am more looking forward to the great fishing near by. One last thing I will mention is that all of these golf courses charge less that $35 per 9. Which is a great value as I would be more than happy to play any of them over some other more expensive courses in their respective areas. I highlight only the best of my experiences with these type of developments because I feel that even at their worst they have more character and interest than a lot of the bigger developments that get more attention here and in the media. I also think that these low budget golf destinations provide an interesting avenue of development that has yet to be tapped as the cost of building a camp ground and a couple cottages is way less than investing in a hotel or other form of mass accommodation. Also camp sites are cheaper to build on flat uninteresting land leaving the better land for the golf course.