Brasada Ranch, Pronghorn, or Tetherow in Central Oregon

[njlam]

I will be in central Oregon later this month and have a day (3/29) when I am free to play some golf.

 

Does anyone know if Brasada Ranch, Pronghorn, or Tetherow are open for public play at this time of year?

 

If so, which one should I play if I can only play one?

 

Any info on cost, walk vs ride, etc. would be appreciated.

[oregongolf]

Brasada almost certainly is open, I'm pretty sure Tetherow and Pronghorn both open the first of April.

They should all be open for public play (Prong Fazio is obviously private, but isn't incredibly difficult to get on).

Tetherow is probably the best deal if they're running their mulligan special. Despite some of the criticism, I love the course and I think the softening and changes are great. I think it's a course that gets better the more you play it, so if you can ONLY play one round, I might just play Pronghorn instead. But again, their mulligan special pretty much encourages you to play twice.

I would play Pronghorn and Tetherow interchangeably, and Brasada after them. You really can't go wrong with any of them though.

[ryu123]

haven't played Brasada, but I liked Pronghorn Fazio and especially the Nicklaus course.

Was really underwhelmed by Tetherow, both in terms of the layout and the requirement to take a playing caddie (in Sep 2011). He had his power cart; I had mine.

The Tetherow caddie was a nice fellow, but he was spraying the ball and we spent more time looking for his shots than on my play. Although I tipped him at the end of the round, it should have been the other way around.

Tetherow is built on the side of a hill, and some of the holes felt cramped and imposed on the landscape. That was totally unlike the architect's Bandon Dunes course.

[njlam]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Not surprisingly, all three have availability on the day I will be in central Oregon.

Tetherow ($90 plus required forecaddie), Pronghorn ($75) and Brasada ($65) are all affordable.

Question: Walking the course is the most important preference to me, followed by the unrelated preference of not being too hilly, which of these courses would be best?

My inclination is Pronghorn, but what do I know?

[njlam]

I just learned that Brasada is cart only....so the choice is now Pronghorn or Tetherow...

[kencanuck]

Brasada is cart only so that may take it out of the running. I played both Pronghorn and Brasada last summer and I enjoyed Brasada more but I would play either one again in a heartbeat (especially now with MORE snow on the ground!). There were a couple of holes on Pronghorn I just wasn't crazy about.

[eb808]

From a pure golf standpoint, I'd prefer Tetherow, but since walking the course is a priority, Pronghorn is the better choice. Tetherow is a beast of a walk.

Check out www.thewalkinggolfer.com for in depth reviews.

[oregongolf]

As echoed above, I would play Pronghorn. By summertime, they have some of the best greens in the whole state. If you can play Fazio, I would do that... Nicklaus is really good too.

I think I was told Tetherow is something like an 8 mile walk. It's a great track, but like I said above, it really is to be enjoyed in back to back rounds... you learn a ton about the course the second time.

[fore_life]

Also, if you drink beer, have a hop venom from boneyard. I love beer, I love golf, and henceforth, I love Bend.

[njlam]

Ultimately, I hope to play all of them, however on this trip it is now most likely to be Tetherow, largely because its location is closest to Bend, and its layout being unique.

Amongst my friends here in Oregon, Brasada got the most votes, however as I will be playing as a single, I like the idea of walking, so Brasada (and its location) is out.

Because walking was a priority, Pronghorn seemed like a natural fit, however, on the website, the Nicklaus course looks well kept, but ordinary. The Pro at my club said he could get me on Fazio, but when I found out how far Pronghorn was from Bend, I decided to try that on another trip.

My only concern now is that Tetherow will be a "beast" of a walk...what does that mean? Is it like walking at the Oregon Golf Club?

[oregongolf]

[quote name='njlam' timestamp='1395362637' post='8914527']
Ultimately, I hope to play all of them, however on this trip it is now most likely to be Tetherow, largely because its location is closest to Bend, and its layout being unique.

Amongst my friends here in Oregon, Brasada got the most votes, however as I will be playing as a single, I like the idea of walking, so Brasada (and its location) is out.

Because walking was a priority, Pronghorn seemed like a natural fit, however, on the website, the Nicklaus course looks well kept, but ordinary. The Pro at my club said he could get me on Fazio, but when I found out how far Pronghorn was from Bend, I decided to try that on another trip.

My only concern now is that Tetherow will be a "beast" of a walk...what does that mean? Is it like walking at the Oregon Golf Club?
[/quote]

No, it's nothing like walking OGC... I found the terrain to be pretty accommodating, but there are a few walks between holes that aren't exactly green next to tee.

Have fun though man, it's one of favorite courses in all of Oregon, save anything in Bandon. Caleb Anderson is a good dude, he'll definitely take care of you. Most of the forecaddies are good too... Ryan is fun.

[knock it close]

[quote name='oregongolf' timestamp='1395366638' post='8915021']
[quote name='njlam' timestamp='1395362637' post='8914527']
Ultimately, I hope to play all of them, however on this trip it is now most likely to be Tetherow, largely because its location is closest to Bend, and its layout being unique.

Amongst my friends here in Oregon, Brasada got the most votes, however as I will be playing as a single, I like the idea of walking, so Brasada (and its location) is out.

Because walking was a priority, Pronghorn seemed like a natural fit, however, on the website, the Nicklaus course looks well kept, but ordinary. The Pro at my club said he could get me on Fazio, but when I found out how far Pronghorn was from Bend, I decided to try that on another trip.

My only concern now is that Tetherow will be a "beast" of a walk...what does that mean? Is it like walking at the Oregon Golf Club?
[/quote]

No, it's nothing like walking OGC... I found the terrain to be pretty accommodating, but there are a few walks between holes that aren't exactly green next to tee.

Have fun though man, it's one of favorite courses in all of Oregon, save anything in Bandon. Caleb Anderson is a good dude, he'll definitely take care of you. Most of the forecaddies are good too... Ryan is fun.
[/quote] I haven't played tetherow but did run around the area in January with my girl friend whose family just moved to bend. Obviously everything was pretty brown at that time but the course looked really sweet and the terrain didn't look that outrageous at all to walk although I cannot comment on the distance between holes. Another plus to playing there is the altitude (1,100 m).

[eb808]

It'll be a seven to eight mile walk over hilly topography. As mentioned above, it's not the course itself that make it a tough walk, but rather some of the long carries between holes. However, if a forecaddie is mandatory at this time of year, as is the case in the summer, then I would simply let them know you intend to walk but let them shuttle you between holes when necessary. I've always found their staff to be incredibly accommodating and I'm sure they'd be happy to oblige.

[njlam]

I played Tetherow on Saturday. The course was a good shape and the weather generally good (however the wind was blowing at 20+mph). The strong winds did not prevent me from enjoying the layout, as the course is pretty wide open, it just added another dimension to the day. As some had commented, walking the course was challenging, but definitely doable. I was pretty tired at the end.

Overall, my experience was good; I liked the layout and look forward to playing it again. However, it may be hard to love the course without playing it more than once (also as some had commented). While I had a forecaddie playing with me, nothing could properly prepare me for the greens.

I thought I hit the ball extremely well all day, however the greens on almost every hole are so undulating (unnecessarily so), that I left most of my stokes on the putting surfaces.

In my opinion, the extreme nature of the current green complexes is what prevents this course from being great. It is hard to believe the architect for this course it the same as Bandon Dunes (whose greens are elegantly simple).

While I definitely thought Tetherow was worth playing, some observations:

It is clear that this property as a troubled financial past. There are unfinished homes/condos everywhere along the course which is distracting. Many of the finished homes are of very disparate styles, which gave the property a disjointed look which took away from the beauty of the overall course.

Additionally, there was a lot of engineering (2 man-made lakes, massive excavations, large concrete/stone underpasses thru rock hillsides, etc.) to make this course the unique track that it is; this must have really been an expensive course to develop. Hopefully the bankruptcy leaves the financial burden of these expenses behind them.

I thought the pro shop offerings were rather weak and limited. Mostly Nike stuff...

I will probably try to play Pronghorn and Brasada before coming back to Tetherow...

[njlam]

I played the Fazio at Pronghorn yesterday and loved it. It is a very handsome course; well-mannered and well-kept.

While the fairways were a little spongy, the course was in great shape and the layout was intelligent, mostly traditional, and attractive.

We walked the course and it was a little long green-to-tee, however it was a great course to walk.

On a nice, but overcast May Saturday, we were the only players on the course, possible for the whole day. While this is not something to complain about, I worry about the financial future of this property.

The grounds were immaculate, the pro shop well-stocked with high-end gear and apparel, and all the personnel were attentive...all for three guys playing 18 holes. The infrastructure seemed very expensive given the amount of play the Fazio is getting. Perhaps the Nicklaus was busier....

Jason our forecaddie was terrific.

If I were to compare the Fazio at Pronghorn to Tetherow, I would say the following:

The Fazio is a more enjoyable golf experience; the course is in better shape, the greens fast and fair, and the layout is well thought out. Tetherow has unnecessarily unfair greens and the layout seems to try too hard to be unique.

The proshop at Pronghorn was what you would expect from a high end golf course. Tetherow's proshop seemed like a muni.

The property at Pronghorn seems less transcient; there were fewer unfinished homes and more consistency of home design than at Tetherow. Tetherow seemed like it was already bankrupt, Pronghorn seemed really nice, however with so little traffic, I worry how they are able to keep such expensive infrastructure productive.

One thing I did not like about Pronghorn is that it is so far from Bend (30-40 mins), whereas Tetherow is only 4 miles outside of town.

Next visit to Bend, I will try Brasada Ranch.....If I loved the Fazio at Pronghorn, does it make any sense to play the Nicklaus?