Portland area course conditions

[spud3]

Played Stone Creek today.  Greens are still healing from aeration.  Pretty bumpy and sloooooow!  Tee boxes are also kind of shaggy.  Bunkers are so-so - suffering from not enough sand and not enough players that even make an attempt at swiping away their footprints.

 

C'mon, people, how hard is it to swish a couple times to flatten out where you dug in?

 

Still like most of that course, with the exception of holes 13 and 15.  Really dislike those...

[PorkChopExpress]

Agree 13 and 15 need to be changed. 

[spud3]

Played Langdon today, and was reminded why I play there almost exclusively in the winter.  We just had a couple days of dumping, non-stop rain mid-week and the fairways were in really good shape.  Only a couple places with bits of standing water.  Some sloppy areas in the rough, but that's to be expected.  Greens were reasonably smooth, though a little patchy looking.

 

Kudos to the grounds crew, as we played at Heron last week and it was awful.  No more muni's until late spring.

 

Minor kvetch about the tee locations:  I get that the most used tee boxes are being rested, but some of the choices for what are normally the mid-tees were brutal for us non-sluggers.  The course is already playing long, what with lower temps and less rollout.  Couples with some back pins and several of the par 4's were easily par 5's.  /rant

[mallrat]

13 hours ago, spud3 said:

Played Langdon today, and was reminded why I play there almost exclusively in the winter.  We just had a couple days of dumping, non-stop rain mid-week and the fairways were in really good shape.  Only a couple places with bits of standing water.  Some sloppy areas in the rough, but that's to be expected.  Greens were reasonably smooth, though a little patchy looking.

 

Kudos to the grounds crew, as we played at Heron last week and it was awful.  No more muni's until late spring.

 

Minor kvetch about the tee locations:  I get that the most used tee boxes are being rested, but some of the choices for what are normally the mid-tees were brutal for us non-sluggers.  The course is already playing long, what with lower temps and less rollout.  Couples with some back pins and several of the par 4's were easily par 5's.  /rant

Our bad, that’s part of the issue with having non golfers set the tees, they don’t get which tees to move forward and which to move back. That said, I can’t believe the beatings the tee boxes have taken, even the obvious driver holes that have absolute craters out of the center, do that many people take a divot with driver?  
 

It’s crazy the difference in varietals on the greens and how they react to the weather. Those patches have been really noticeable the past couple years but they are just different strains of the same grass, eventually they will transition to the same thing but just looks wonky. The insane amount of ball marks don’t help. 
 

 

[spud3]

1 hour ago, mallrat said:

Our bad, that’s part of the issue with having non golfers set the tees, they don’t get which tees to move forward and which to move back. That said, I can’t believe the beatings the tee boxes have taken, even the obvious driver holes that have absolute craters out of the center, do that many people take a divot with driver?  
 

It’s crazy the difference in varietals on the greens and how they react to the weather. Those patches have been really noticeable the past couple years but they are just different strains of the same grass, eventually they will transition to the same thing but just looks wonky. The insane amount of ball marks don’t help. 
 

 

I think the most noticeable blotchy looking green was on #3, and maybe it's because you walk to it from above, so you get a real overview.  Rolled ok, but the contrast in the colors was striking.

 

And +1 on the divots in the tee boxes.  #11 comes to mind (also where we saw the most standing water, on the fairway just past where the cart path crosses). 

 

Peeve alert: We were also playing behind a group that contained at least one unskilled player.  This guy took three massive swipes to get out of the bunker on 17, then hopped out and didn't even swish his feet around.  I think I fixed half a dozen of their ball marks on the greens.

[mallrat]

The treatment of the course has been the biggest down side of all the new players. I appreciate them taking up the game but people need to teach them the proper etiquette. Sadly this has become more of a regular occurrence also, this was last weekend on the same green. 

 

 

[Kernel]

Played Langdon today day and it was in really good shape considering the time of year and how much play it's getting. Fairways were solid and greens rolled true. 

 

Langdon is such a good course in the winter. Even Stone Creek, which stays drier than most, can't compare. At Stone, while the fairways usually stay relatively firm, the rough can be just a quagmire. Langdon is playable (with a few exceptions) even off the fairway. 

 

And the tee locations were fair today. Other than having to use the forward box on #1, no complaints. 

Edited January 22, 2021 by Kernel

[spud3]

Played 36 at Heron Lakes today, morning round on the Blue course and afternoon on the Green (starting to ramp up the training for the Bandon Solstice).

 

Conditions were pretty good on both, fairways were rock hard and rolling, as we've had very little rain in the past couple weeks.  Greens were punched a couple weeks ago and are still healing - a few on the Blue were downright sad, and the ones on the Green course were pretty shaggy, slow and bumpy.  Bunkers looked like they had recently been refilled with sand and were decently playable, though still no rakes, so they were kind of messy as to the lies.

 

The range was awful, as usual.

[wingedfeetxc]

Played 9 at Rose City on Tuesday. Probably the nicest shape I've ever seen that course in. Greens are a bit slow – especially going uphill – but overall the course is in great condition. Has anyone played the new 18th green yet?

[spud3]

Played at Langdon this morning.  Course is in spectacular shape.  Reseeded tee boxes are back in use, fairways are running nicely and greens are quick and velvety.  

 

It's prime time, folks...

[mallrat]

13 hours ago, spud3 said:

Played at Langdon this morning.  Course is in spectacular shape.  Reseeded tee boxes are back in use, fairways are running nicely and greens are quick and velvety.  

 

It's prime time, folks...

Good to hear. 
 

Honestly late last week was as good as I’ve ever seen it. Would have said the same for this week but we solid tined the greens and did a heavy top dress on Weds. You can’t tell though which is nice. Good to have the grass growing and ball marks on greens aren’t really an issue any more

[WishIPlayedMore]

Indeed. Played with Spud on Saturday and second how good the course played. Impressed with the green on 3. It always seems to be in the worst shape but looked really good Saturday. I don't think I've played worse at Langdon than I did on Saturday but I couldn't blame the conditions:)

[CDM]

So dont live in Portland BUT what the ******* with the coming heat this weekend?  We will be going down to Bandon Saturday afternoon once we land but I see it is listing 104-107 range for the weekend in Portland? CRAZY..!

[pdxhak]

I played Langdon over the weekend. Weather was perfect and the course condition overall was really good. The range was a little beat up but that is expected with all the play the course is getting. Front 9 I had 7 pars and 2 doubles (🙄). Not sure what happened on the back 9 because my iron game fell apart.

 

I'm playing Quail Valley today so hopefully the afternoon winds do not get too crazy.

[NWhacker]

I played Elk Ridge today.  Actually I play it a few times per week.  They plugged and sanded all 18 on Tuesday.  Their plugs are small and not too bothersome, but the sand was pretty heavy.  Some greens still hand some sand patches today, but nothing too bothersome.  

 

The course is in fine shape otherwise.  It always is.  It was fun playing it in the east wind today.

 

If you go there give them a hard time about shutting down the cafe, bar and drink cart.

[jpdx]

9 hours ago, NWhacker said:

 

 

If you go there give them a hard time about shutting down the cafe, bar and drink cart.

is that a permanent deal? Or just until summer? Last time i was there - few months ago - there was no cart to be seen.

[HackDaddy360]

On 9/25/2021 at 8:41 AM, jpdx said:

is that a permanent deal? Or just until summer? Last time i was there - few months ago - there was no cart to be seen.

 
 

Pretty sure cart is shut down entirely.  Still love playing up there.  It’s a fun track.  
 

Camas Meadows is already a mud bog. 

[pdxhak]

What are the best draining courses in the Portland area? I know Langdon Farms drains well. IIRC Stonecreek does too. If you know of others please add them. Thanks!

[spud3]

Those two are the entire list for public courses…

[jvincent]

Any intel on the conditions at Ghost Creek right now?

[KBong]

On 1/17/2021 at 3:54 PM, mallrat said:

The treatment of the course has been the biggest down side of all the new players. I appreciate them taking up the game but people need to teach them the proper etiquette. Sadly this has become more of a regular occurrence also, this was last weekend on the same green. 

 

 

Wow...what a dbag CLOWN.

I assume these are 4 deep divots on the greens....those don't look like fairways.

 

Some CLOWN 2 weeks ago on 2 separate days wore baseball cleats...you could see the footprints on the greens.

[mallrat]

1 hour ago, KBong said:

Wow...what a dbag CLOWN.

I assume these are 4 deep divots on the greens....those don't look like fairways.

 

Some CLOWN 2 weeks ago on 2 separate days wore baseball cleats...you could see the footprints on the greens.

Yeah, some of the stuff is just maddening. Wish I took a pic of today’s disaster. Someone tried to pry a cup out sideways. 

[KBong]

29 minutes ago, mallrat said:

Yeah, some of the stuff is just maddening. Wish I took a pic of today’s disaster. Someone tried to pry a cup out sideways. 

CLOWNS

[doc52]

On 10/31/2021 at 5:59 AM, jvincent said:

Any intel on the conditions at Ghost Creek right now?

 

Played Ghost two weeks ago, the fairway and greens were aeriated and sanded.  

[jvincent]

35 minutes ago, doc52 said:

 

Played Ghost two weeks ago, the fairway and greens were aeriated and sanded.  

Thanks for the head's up.

[T2GRNN2]

Off to Bandon later this month, and we have mostly finalized our travel plans.  Driving from an airport hotel at Sea-Tac to Coos Bay the day before we play our first rounds at Bandon.  We have plans to head off I-5 in south Portland on 99W, and then on to Lincoln City and down the coast, hoping for dinner in Yachats.  We had originally planned for a full round of golf on the way, but we have nixed that idea in exchange for a leisurely drive on the coast.    

 

Would there be a reasonable grass driving range that we could hit up, not far off that route, preferably near the south side of Portland?  Three of our group have not swung a club since October 17 and we would like to knock off some of the rust before teeing off at 8:30 the next morning.  

[doc52]

22 minutes ago, T2GRNN2 said:

Off to Bandon later this month, and we have mostly finalized our travel plans.  Driving from an airport hotel at Sea-Tac to Coos Bay the day before we play our first rounds at Bandon.  We have plans to head off I-5 in south Portland on 99W, and then on to Lincoln City and down the coast, hoping for dinner in Yachats.  We had originally planned for a full round of golf on the way, but we have nixed that idea in exchange for a leisurely drive on the coast.    

 

Would there be a reasonable grass driving range that we could hit up, not far off that route, preferably near the south side of Portland?  Three of our group have not swung a club since October 17 and we would like to knock off some of the rust before teeing off at 8:30 the next morning.  

 

Langdon Farms would be a good option which is right off the hwy, but not sure if they are allowing folks to hit off grass right now.

 

Tualatin Island Greens is a dedicated driving range and might let you hit off grass.

 

 

 

[T2GRNN2]

6 minutes ago, doc52 said:

 

Langdon Farms would be a good option which is right off the hwy, but not sure if they are allowing folks to hit off grass right now.

 

Tualatin Island Greens is a dedicated driving range and might let you hit off grass.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the suggestions.  Apologies for not knowing any better, are most ranges in the area hitting off mats for the winter?

[doc52]

47 minutes ago, T2GRNN2 said:

 

Thanks for the suggestions.  Apologies for not knowing any better, are most ranges in the area hitting off mats for the winter?

 

A lot of the ranges here have you hit off mats when there has been significant rainfall during the week.

[spud3]

You could stop at Florence Golf Links (formerly Sandpines), though that's not anywhere near Portland.  It's a decent grass range on fescue, which is much closer to the turf at Bandon.

 

Langdon is using mats, as are just about every public range around here.  Grass season for the ranges usually ends late September(-ish), depending on the rain cycle.

Given the radically different turf between PDX and Bandon, a grass range here won't really help much to prepare for the turf at Bandon.  You're probably better off waiting until you get to the resort.  But if you're just looking for a place so some guys can knock the rust off their swings, I would think hitting off mats should do fine, and Langdon is just off I-5 south of Portland/Wilsonville.  Nice grill there, too

 

If you make it to Yachats (pronounced YAH-hots, FYI), highly recommend Luna Sea as a dinner spot.