Bend Oregon 2024

[Elliebarley1978]

I'm heading through bend in mid April hoping I can stop and play a few. Wondering on conditions and what courses I should look at. Thanks

[mallrat]

Mid-April you can get anything from 40’s to 80’s. 
 

what are you looking for in a course or courses? Juniper is a gem of a muni and on the low end price wise. Pronghorn is a treat and Tetherow is good to play once in your life, people either love it or hate it. Haven’t played Brasada as you have to stay on property but heard it’s the best of the area. Bend CC, haven’t heard much about the course but heard the greens are outstanding. For a real treat and Oregon experience make the hour and a half drive down to Tokatee, you won’t regret it. 

[Elliebarley1978]

Thanks for the reply. I'm thinking Tetherow /pronghorn. Couldn't get on crosswater. May play juniper as a second 18 one day.  
 

wondering if anyone has any reports on conditions as I know their season is just getting started.

[puttnforthe8]

1 hour ago, Elliebarley1978 said:

Thanks for the reply. I'm thinking Tetherow /pronghorn. Couldn't get on crosswater. May play juniper as a second 18 one day.  
 

wondering if anyone has any reports on conditions as I know their season is just getting started.

This can't be a serious question?

 

There is still snow on the ground many places.  Courses are absolute slogs.

[Elliebarley1978]

59 minutes ago, puttnforthe8 said:

This can't be a serious question?

 

There is still snow on the ground many places.  Courses are absolute slogs.

Oh no , it is. Haha I'm going through the area . Should I just keep heading south?

[Ty-Webb]

There isn't any snow on the ground except for Widgi. You'll be fine to play Juniper but beyond that your options are limited this time of year. Nicklaus course at Pronghorn and Tethrow will be open and as long as the weather holds should be fine.. usually no issues with either course holding much moisture from snow melt. 

 

Edit: Call juniper and make sure they aren't on temp greens. I believe they are back to normal ops but I would make sure. During the winter months 5 holes were on temp greens and not 100% when they move those holes back to the regular greens. 

Edited March 21, 2024 by Ty-Webb

[puttnforthe8]

28 minutes ago, Ty-Webb said:

There isn't any snow on the ground except for Widgi. You'll be fine to play Juniper but beyond that your options are limited this time of year. Nicklaus course at Pronghorn and Tethrow will be open and as long as the weather holds should be fine.. usually no issues with either course holding much moisture from snow melt. 

 

Edit: Call juniper and make sure they aren't on temp greens. I believe they are back to normal ops but I would make sure. During the winter months 5 holes were on temp greens and not 100% when they move those holes back to the regular greens. 

Cheers for the update - the webcam I was looking at showed snow at Tetherow and I didn't pay attention and assumed it was current.

 

Edited March 21, 2024 by puttnforthe8

[Ty-Webb]

@puttnforthe8 Yeah the webcam is down I guess. I went to the website and it shows the same image and won't produce a live image. 

[Jeff58]

The last course to open is (and almost always is) Widgy Creek, and they’re opening next Sunday. If you intend to play Tetherow, early is better, while it still retains moisture.

Jeff’s mini-guide. Only public.

 

North

 

Tokatee 9. The furthest north, and difficult to justify the drive from Bend itself, given other options. Best done from Black Butte or Sisters.

 

Black Butte 7. Two courses, though they are conceptually similar.

 

Aspen Lakes 6. Aspen Lakes conditions degraded to the point of being unplayable. However, the course has been brought back very nicely and is now quite enjoyable. Relatively inexpensive with superb views.

 

Center

 

Eagle Crest 7. Often overlooked and occasionally maligned, mostly for the resort course (boring), and lodging professionalism (poor during COVID). The Ridge course is very good and the Challenge course is an excellent warmup for the area.

 

Juniper 7. Tetherow-lite. Many blind shots in the high desert environment. Best played with someone who knows the course.

 

Pronghorn 9. Two courses, one of which (Nicklaus) is public. Still, justifiably great.

 

Tetherow 10. See my separate post.

 

Widgy Creek 7. Easy to get on, relatively inexpensive, and across the street from Tetherow. Makes an excellent warmup course in a different environment from Tetherow. Widgy is wooded and narrowish. A very good course in any regard.

 

South

 

Sun River 10. If you can’t get on Crosswater play Woodlands.

 

Quail Run 8. While no longer overlooked, it’s still a drive from Bend.

Edited March 23, 2024 by Jeff58

[mallrat]

FWIW, Pronghorn only closes when there is snow on the ground. The rest is up to the conditions you want to play in. Both courses are Bent grass so once they go dormant you can almost light them on fire (an exaggeration but you can spray round up on it) and it won’t harm the turf. They just don’t really maintain it from Nov-Feb. 

[Elliebarley1978]

What courses will be in the best shape currently? Any updates?

I know tethrow is punching early April. 

[Seamus_MacDuff]

Pronghorn most likely to be in the best shape.  

[Elliebarley1978]

12 hours ago, Seamus_MacDuff said:

Pronghorn most likely to be in the best shape.  

They will have punched 8 days before. Unfortunately for us but thanks for your conditions input. That's what I'm looking for.

[Seamus_MacDuff]

Do you have access to private courses, or are you just looking at public access?  If a member at a private club, you can likely access private clubs through your club pro, especially in April when they aren’t as busy. If that’s the case, look at Brasada, Broken Top, Bend G&CC and Pronghorn (Fazio).  For public/resort, I’d be looking at Tetherow, Pronghorn (Nicklaus), and Juniper.  Crosswater and the Sunriver courses are at higher elevation and so conditions often aren’t as good early in the season. I doubt Crosswater and Sunriver (Woodlands) are even open yet. 

 

This is the season when courses are aerating greens, so you may not be able to avoid it no matter where you go. 
 

All things being equal, here’s my order of preference of those I listed:

 

Pronghorn (Fazio)

Pronghorn (Nicklaus)

Brasada

Tetherow

Broken Top

Bend G&CC

Juniper

[byoshio82]

On 3/20/2024 at 9:58 PM, Elliebarley1978 said:

I'm heading through bend in mid April hoping I can stop and play a few. Wondering on conditions and what courses I should look at. Thanks

Pronghorn (if you can get on the private side it’s amazing) the public course is awesome too, Brasada Ranch (they’ve gone back and forth between public and private), Tetherow (get a caddy), Crosswater, Lost Tracks, Crooked River about half an hour from Bend (super short but fun), Woodlands & Meadows @ Sunriver would all be good courses to check out. Depends on how much you want to spend. Bend is one of my favorite places to play golf. 
 

Also Juniper in Redmond is a good one that’s usually in good shape and cheaper and not usually super busy. 

[Wardonation]

1 hour ago, byoshio82 said:

Pronghorn (if you can get on the private side it’s amazing) the public course is awesome too, Brasada Ranch (they’ve gone back and forth between public and private), Tetherow (get a caddy), Crosswater, Lost Tracks, Crooked River about half an hour from Bend (super short but fun), Woodlands & Meadows @ Sunriver would all be good courses to check out. Depends on how much you want to spend. Bend is one of my favorite places to play golf. 
 

Also Juniper in Redmond is a good one that’s usually in good shape and cheaper and not usually super busy. 

Go Play Black Butte for sure both tracks are good. Juniper is busy and poor conditions. DM me if you want to know more I lived there for 30 years, we just moved.

[Seamus_MacDuff]

Black Butte isn’t open for the season yet. 

[byoshio82]

2 hours ago, Wardonation said:

Go Play Black Butte for sure both tracks are good. Juniper is busy and poor conditions. DM me if you want to know more I lived there for 30 years, we just moved.

I lived in OR for most my life and spent a good chunk of that in Bend and Central Oregon. Personally not a fan of Black Butte myself. Always slow as sh*t. I prefer more open high desert style courses if I’m playing in Bend personally. 

[Elliebarley1978]

22 hours ago, byoshio82 said:

Pronghorn (if you can get on the private side it’s amazing) the public course is awesome too, Brasada Ranch (they’ve gone back and forth between public and private), Tetherow (get a caddy), Crosswater, Lost Tracks, Crooked River about half an hour from Bend (super short but fun), Woodlands & Meadows @ Sunriver would all be good courses to check out. Depends on how much you want to spend. Bend is one of my favorite places to play golf. 
 

Also Juniper in Redmond is a good one that’s usually in good shape and cheaper and not usually super busy. 

Is this currently speaking in terms of conditions or overalll throughout the year?

[byoshio82]

5 hours ago, Elliebarley1978 said:

Is this currently speaking in terms of conditions or overalll throughout the year?

Overall. Not sure what things look like right now. 

[Elliebarley1978]

Alright thanks regardless

[Elliebarley1978]

Any up to date conditions report in the area?

[Jeff58]

23 hours ago, Elliebarley1978 said:

Any up to date conditions report in the area?

Quail Run just opened. I think that they were the last. Weather is variable, which is normal. Overall, excellent spring conditions. Doesn’t get much better for the beginning of April.

[AlohaGuy]

I am spending June through September in Bend and searching for courses and/or groups that I can play with. I spend winters in Arizona and golf Phoenix and Tucson 3 times a week. I have never visited Bend but looking forward to exploring and playing some golf. All suggestions are appreciated. 

[mallrat]

19 hours ago, AlohaGuy said:

I am spending June through September in Bend and searching for courses and/or groups that I can play with. I spend winters in Arizona and golf Phoenix and Tucson 3 times a week. I have never visited Bend but looking forward to exploring and playing some golf. All suggestions are appreciated. 

Juniper seems to have a good group and I really enjoy the course. I also enjoy Quail Run and believe both courses have some good memberships. Not sure about Widgi. 

[mallrat]

So staying at my buddies house in Sunriver and what Sunriver is doing seems to be throwing a HUGE wrench in Central Oregon golf. We would play 4 rounds with 1 being in Sunriver, well not anymore. $175 a round plus $50 for the day membership plus $25 for a cart. Are you kidding me. Played yesterday morning at Quail and they said they were booked through 4:10. They were saying that never happens. Over 300 rounds on the books for the day and it have similar weekends booked for the next couple weekends. Juniper was the same on Friday. We got back to the house (on Meadows) and only saw 4 groups from 12 - 3 when we headed back out. Going to be interesting to see how it plays out.

[AlohaGuy]

9 hours ago, mallrat said:

Juniper seems to have a good group and I really enjoy the course. I also enjoy Quail Run and believe both courses have some good memberships. Not sure about Widgi. 

 

[AlohaGuy]

Thanks for the information. I will definitely give them a try. I am looking forward to playing your courses. 

[spud3]

13 hours ago, mallrat said:

So staying at my buddies house in Sunriver and what Sunriver is doing seems to be throwing a HUGE wrench in Central Oregon golf. We would play 4 rounds with 1 being in Sunriver, well not anymore. $175 a round plus $50 for the day membership plus $25 for a cart. Are you kidding me. Played yesterday morning at Quail and they said they were booked through 4:10. They were saying that never happens. Over 300 rounds on the books for the day and it have similar weekends booked for the next couple weekends. Juniper was the same on Friday. We got back to the house (on Meadows) and only saw 4 groups from 12 - 3 when we headed back out. Going to be interesting to see how it plays out.

No way would I pay that much to play Meadows.  Can't understand why they would shoot themselves in the foot like that.  Going to drive the resort golfers to Black Butte and Eagle Crest.

[spud3]

As was discussed in another thread, I think this is geared toward getting folks to stay at the resort, as the stay & play packages still have some decent pricing, depending on what time of year.  But only if you are staying in the lodge.  Individual home owners are stuck paying the daily membership fee + (way overpriced) green fees, as are those staying somewhere else and just wanting to play golf.