Portland area course conditions

[mallrat]

Yeah Langdon is mats only. Generally it’s Oct. 1 or early October. With the rain we’ve had I can’t imagine any course being grass right now. Considering how well we drain, our course is seriously water logged right now. 

[mallrat]

Hey, random question. Anyone interested in working on a course? 2 to 3 days a week, looking for weekend help, mostly through summer. 4 hr shifts, in summer they are 5:30 - 9:30. Looking to teach 1 or 2 guys to mow greens and 1 more to help with set up. Free golf and if there is room for a 4some, your buddies play for $25 a round I think and you do get paid. 

[pdxhak]

Attempted to play a quick 9 at Meriwether and it is very wet and soft. A few holes my shoes were sinking below the grass. Anyone know how Langdon and Stone Creek are playing right now?

Edited January 24, 2022 by pdxhak

[wingedfeetxc]

I played Stone Creek on Saturday. Fairways were fine -- dry-ish in some spots, wet but playable in others. Greens were pretty bumpy. Tee boxes were often muddy. Balls would plugs in the rough and around the greens. Bunker sand was very saturated. The course was playable. It was about what you'd expect from a well-draining course in the middle of a wet January. 

[Seamus_MacDuff]

Played Langdon Farms on Saturday.  Fairways were reasonably dry underfoot, as is normal.  Greens had been lightly top dressed but were playing surprisingly quick.  

[kaschreiber]

2 hours ago, Seamus_MacDuff said:

Played Langdon Farms on Saturday.  Fairways were reasonably dry underfoot, as is normal.  Greens had been lightly top dressed but were playing surprisingly quick.  

Playing Langdon for the first time next weekend, despite living in Portland for 4 years in a previous life- how is it to walk? 

[Seamus_MacDuff]

9 minutes ago, kaschreiber said:

Playing Langdon for the first time next weekend, despite living in Portland for 4 years in a previous life- how is it to walk? 

Extraordinarily easy to walk.  Very little elevation change. There are a few longer green-to-tee walks (7 to 8, 9 to 10, 15 to 16), but one of the most walking-friendly courses around.

 

[spud3]

+1 on Seamus' comments above.  Played at Langdon on Saturday and the course was in very good shape. Couple squishy spots in the rough, especially on the sidehills, but the fairways are running nicely.  Another week of no rain should help the rough dry out a bit more.  The top dressing did slow the greens down a bit, but also take some of the breaks out of 'em, both which can be very helpful on a few of the greens if you're on the wrong tier.

 

Totally walkable, too.

[mallrat]

Sorry you guys had to deal with the sand. We top dressed Thursday but no rain is keeping the sand around. Also sorry for the mess on 10 but that’s the price for fairways that stay somewhat rough. We are actually at the point of redoing fairways that have been done. 
 

Fairways aren’t bad but rough is still kinda soggy. Actually saw some balls bounce and roll in the fairways today. My boss has been there 13 years and says the course is as wet as he’s seen it. 

[Seamus_MacDuff]

1 hour ago, mallrat said:

Sorry you guys had to deal with the sand. We top dressed Thursday but no rain is keeping the sand around. Also sorry for the mess on 10 but that’s the price for fairways that stay somewhat rough. We are actually at the point of redoing fairways that have been done. 
 

Fairways aren’t bad but rough is still kinda soggy. Actually saw some balls bounce and roll in the fairways today. My boss has been there 13 years and says the course is as wet as he’s seen it. 

Do you guys install Greenshield, or do it in-house?  Regardless, Langdon is easily the driest public course in the region throughout the winter months and the drainage and sanding over the years has really paid off.

[mallrat]

 

3 minutes ago, Seamus_MacDuff said:

Do you guys install Greenshield, or do it in-house?  Regardless, Langdon is easily the driest public course in the region throughout the winter months and the drainage and sanding over the years has really paid off.

We do it all in house. We have a hand operated Ditch Witch and a similar product that goes on a tractor. I forget the name. Those 26 lines took us a little over 3 full days, that’s almost the whole crew and bosses (about 8 guys a day). Trench the lines, clean up the edges, hand clean the trenches, scoop the sand on the side of the trenches, lay a thin layer of gravel, lay the drainage pipe (4” corrugated), connect the drain lines to the main drain line, more gravel, then sand. I think we cut between 14” & 16” deep. 
 

And thank you. Now off to more course improvement projects (flattening/rebuilding some tee boxes).

[mallrat]

7 hours ago, Seamus_MacDuff said:

Played Langdon Farms on Saturday.  Fairways were reasonably dry underfoot, as is normal.  Greens had been lightly top dressed but were playing surprisingly quick.  

Any crappy pin locations? I try to put 3 or 4 pretty tough ones a day. 6 should have been tough, 9 wasn’t easy and 15 was not friendly. Oh and I hate when 3 is behind the bunker but have to do it sometimes 

[spud3]

None that were bad, but a few that were challenging.  6 comes to mind - don't see a center pin on the left too often.  I like the pin back on 3, but I play a cut (generally), so it suits my eye.  I never like the back location on 15 - there's about a 6 foot square on the left center/back that is a semi-good angle to putt from; the rest of the green is basically a 3 (or 4) putt waiting to happen, and over cooking that approach leaves one of the hardest shots on the course.  Also don't like back pins on 9 when the wind is coming from the north.  Turns it into a par 5 for us non-big-hitters.  All in good fun, though.

 

Many thanks to you and the crew for all the work on drainage.  The temporary minor inconveniences like on 10 are well worth the results.  Still loving the rebuilt bunkers, and thumbs up for the tee box work.  It's time...

[Seamus_MacDuff]

11 hours ago, mallrat said:

Any crappy pin locations? I try to put 3 or 4 pretty tough ones a day. 6 should have been tough, 9 wasn’t easy and 15 was not friendly. Oh and I hate when 3 is behind the bunker but have to do it sometimes 

Nah, all were good.  Do wish you guys would occasionally put a pin on that back shelf of 8, over the Biarritz-like swale.

[spud3]

41 minutes ago, Seamus_MacDuff said:

Nah, all were good.  Do wish you guys would occasionally put a pin on that back shelf of 8, over the Biarritz-like swale.

+1

I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen the pin back there.  It makes for a great hole.  Same for the back section of 7 - really opens up the strategy options.

[mallrat]

4 hours ago, spud3 said:

+1

I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen the pin back there.  It makes for a great hole.  Same for the back section of 7 - really opens up the strategy options.

 

 Hole 8 or 12?

 

part of that is timing honestly. We do back pins on both (I tend to more than others). The issue there is square footage. We can only put so many pins there before there are too many plugs. Especially right now with the grass not really growing. 

[Seamus_MacDuff]

2 hours ago, mallrat said:

 

 Hole 8 or 12?

 

part of that is timing honestly. We do back pins on both (I tend to more than others). The issue there is square footage. We can only put so many pins there before there are too many plugs. Especially right now with the grass not really growing. 

My bad, I meant #12, not #8.

[spud3]

Been a while since this thread was active; not surprising, given the amount of rain we've gotten this spring.  The reports would have been rather monotonous:  "the course was WET!"

 

I did a little golf stay-cation over the holiday weekend.  Played a round each day at a different local course.  Here's the latest:

 

Friday: Stone Creek - Been a couple years since I played SC.  Got a steady drizzle most of the round.  Courses was in ok shape.  Greens were a bit shaggy and bunkers needed work.  Drainage was pretty good, but not as good as I remember.  Fairways were decent and still had some roll to them.

 

Saturday: Elk Ridge - Also been a couple years since playing out there, but I was reminded what a great little course this is.  So reminds me of Old Mac, but with smaller greens.  Course was in very good shape.  Greens were fast and rollicking, rough was chewy and fairways ran really well.

 

Sunday: Heron Lakes Greenback - Surprisingly dry and running fairways.  Much better than I had expected.  Greens were tired looking, but rolled ok.  Bunkers were pretty awful.  How hard is it to send out a couple guys with rakes in the morning and spend 2 minutes in each bunker fluffing them up a bit?

 

Monday: Langdon - Ah, this is why I am willing to pay an extra $25.  Greens were almost up to Summer Speed, fairways were running really fast and the bunkers were very playable.

 

Great weekend!

[pdxhak]

Last week I played Heron Lakes Great Blue and couple weeks ago played the Greenback. Fairways were in decent condition but like many of the local courses, the bunkers were in poor condition. Standing water or just not maintained due to all the rain. Hopefully with the weather getting better the courses will as well.

[mallrat]

4 hours ago, spud3 said:

Been a while since this thread was active; not surprising, given the amount of rain we've gotten this spring.  The reports would have been rather monotonous:  "the course was WET!"

 

I did a little golf stay-cation over the holiday weekend.  Played a round each day at a different local course.  Here's the latest:

 

Friday: Stone Creek - Been a couple years since I played SC.  Got a steady drizzle most of the round.  Courses was in ok shape.  Greens were a bit shaggy and bunkers needed work.  Drainage was pretty good, but not as good as I remember.  Fairways were decent and still had some roll to them.

 

Saturday: Elk Ridge - Also been a couple years since playing out there, but I was reminded what a great little course this is.  So reminds me of Old Mac, but with smaller greens.  Course was in very good shape.  Greens were fast and rollicking, rough was chewy and fairways ran really well.

 

Sunday: Heron Lakes Greenback - Surprisingly dry and running fairways.  Much better than I had expected.  Greens were tired looking, but rolled ok.  Bunkers were pretty awful.  How hard is it to send out a couple guys with rakes in the morning and spend 2 minutes in each bunker fluffing them up a bit?

 

Monday: Langdon - Ah, this is why I am willing to pay an extra $25.  Greens were almost up to Summer Speed, fairways were running really fast and the bunkers were very playable.

 

Great weekend!

I was on the spray rig today, if you saw or see me, flag me down. 

[pdxhak]

I heard Meriwether has been sold and Quail Valley may have been as well. Can anyone confirm?

[doc52]

 

10 hours ago, pdxhak said:

I heard Meriwether has been sold and Quail Valley may have been as well. Can anyone confirm?

Meriwether has been listed for sale for awhile now. They were asking $8.2M. 
 

I heard they were planning on building +/-166 homes on Quail, but keeping the course intact. 

[pdxhak]

On 6/28/2022 at 11:37 PM, doc52 said:

 

Meriwether has been listed for sale for awhile now. They were asking $8.2M. 
 

I heard they were planning on building +/-166 homes on Quail, but keeping the course intact. 

 

Thanks for info. I spoke with Meriwether after posting here and they said they are just rumors and they were not aware of the course actually being sold. They also mention July 1st Srixon is having a demo day. Not sure if that means anything or not.

[Kernel]

Played OGA yesterday and . . . it's not in great shape. The greens were good, tee boxes ok, but the fairways were spotty and anything off the fairway was iffy to terrible. Maybe the recent heat wave was to blame. I haven't played since prior to the recent stretch of crazy hot days. Have played mostly Langdon and Reserve the past few months and they are light years ahead in terms of conditioning. I realize those two are probably the best conditioned of the publics, so maybe I'm grading too harshly. But having played OGA in years past, I don't recall it looking and playing this poorly in the summer before. 

 

 

[jpdx]

6 hours ago, Kernel said:

Played OGA yesterday and . . . it's not in great shape. The greens were good, tee boxes ok, but the fairways were spotty and anything off the fairway was iffy to terrible. Maybe the recent heat wave was to blame. I haven't played since prior to the recent stretch of crazy hot days. Have played mostly Langdon and Reserve the past few months and they are light years ahead in terms of conditioning. I realize those two are probably the best conditioned of the publics, so maybe I'm grading too harshly. But having played OGA in years past, I don't recall it looking and playing this poorly in the summer before. 

 

 

Iffy to terrible how? Burned out? Too thick/uncut?

[Kernel]

13 minutes ago, jpdx said:

Iffy to terrible how? Burned out? Too thick/uncut?

Burned out, thin coverage, hardpan, etc. 

 

[pdxhak]

I spent the day on the coast and played 18 at Gearhart Golf Links and 9 at Highland Golf Club. Weather was awesome and a little breezy. Both courses were in great shape. Unfortunately I played horrible at Gearhart but still had a great time. Really looking forward to going back and plan to do so before the end of Fall. Swing came around for Highland but it is an easy course and finshed at +2.

 

 

 

 

[pdxhak]

Gearhart

 

 

[pdxhak]

Highland

 

 

[jpdx]

Played East Moreland over the weekend. For the amount of rain we’ve had, you would think the course was dried out and fast.

 

Not so fast my friend!

 

Whether it was over watered in preparation for the heat we were supposed to get or just the general lack of drainage there, it played more like late fall with rain. Greens were soft-ish, soft enough to have spike everywhere (i’m not the lightest guy, but also not the heaviest) from me and other group(s) in front.  many spots in the fairways were soft enough that my playing partners had a few balls stay in the pitch mark upon landing.