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Around (Oregon's) Bend, Part 2
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No. 17 at Tetherow, Bend, Oregon
After two sublime days at Pronghorn (see previous post), we moved downtown to Bend's comfy Phoenix Inn, part of a Pacific Northwest mini-chain of hotels. The girls wasted little time diving into the indoor pool while mom and dad mulled dinner. A block away was downtown Bend's rejuvenated central district, a main drag of brick and clapboard buildings where milltown workers once spent their wages, but now a hotbed of brewpubs, upscale shops and eateries of every stripe.
I zeroed in on a familiar name, McMenamins — yet another homegrown chain of beer-and-grub emporia started by two brothers years ago near Seattle. It grew into a collection of brewery-restaurant-entertainment-lodging outposts; in Bend, McMenamins includes a classic old inn and an adjoining movie theater. The restaurant itself occupies the Old St. Francis schoolhouse, with the brew tanks downstairs and chow house upstairs. The burgers are do die for, but don't ignore the other sandwiches, seafood entrees and salads. And, of course, the beer — my favorite, Terminator Stout, is a rich and dark Guinness-style ale that sends nutty, almost sweet notes dancing across the tongue.
A good night's sleep at the Phoenix set me up for my second and final round of golf during this quick but filling Oregon swing, at Central Oregon's newest attention-grabbing track: Tetherow. Only five minutes southwest of downtown Bend, this semi-private club has generated reams of fascinated and sometimes frustrated commentary from architecture-minded golf writers since opening in July 2008. Designed by David McLay Kidd, the Scottish wunderkind first made famous by his minimalist seaside effort at Bandon Dunes, Tetherow careens over dramatic, rocky, almost treeless terrain left bare by a forest fire years ago. The subsequent re-growth of native flora, coupled with soil receptive to links-type grasses and simply amazing long-range views of the Cascades to the west and Oregon Outback to the east, gave the original developers the perfect canvas for Kidd's muse, and he didn't disappoint. Nor did he back off on challenging golfers from every tee box. On more than one occasion you'll ask yourself where the hell you're supposed to aim. There are split fairways, wicked shag-bearded cross bunkers, half-skull hillocks coiffed with tufts of tall fescue, drop-offs into volcanic oblivion, menacing water features — and that's all before you manage to fight your way to Kidd's wonderfully puzzling green complexes, which he tends to nudge against hillsides or pour between rock outcroppings. It's an exhilarating ride that peaks in several places. No. 6 is a split-level 4-par negotiated from an elevated tee around water, to a hilltop green that's among Kidd's most harrowing creations, and that's saying something. No. 16 is still a bruiser of a hit-and-hope two-shotter that wraps around a mountainside to a precariously perched putting surface, while No. 17 (pictured), rivals No. 8 at Pronghorn Fazio for sheer inventiveness and bombed-out brilliance. The green sits in a sandy hollow with gnarled trees and shrubs above, sitting mute like some speechless and ancient gallery. Make par here and you'll expect them to offer a little cheer. Then there's the finale, which is, quite simply, one helluva 5-par — way down a hill, then way up, with all kinds of whoop-de-dos along the way.
One of my playing partners summed up our thrilling Tetherow circuit succinctly: "I've been filleted by McLay." So was I, and I loved every harrowing, fulfilling minute of it.
Bear in mind that Tetherow has actually been softened since it opened, with several bunkers and hillocks eliminated and another set of tees added. The result is an even better resort course than what FG contributor Ken Van Vechten describes here in his excellent review. And now that the club's rambling two-story clubhouse is complete — you can see most of the course from its picture windows — and a new ownership team has taken over with plans for an onsite resort still in place, this new-but-ancient feeling wonder deserves Bandonesque raves.
Next up: More Central Oregon must-plays.
For more information:
Phoenix Inn & Suites: www.phoenixinn.com | 888.291.4764
McMenamins Old St. Francis: www.mcmenamins.com | 877.661.4228
Tetherow Golf Club: www.tetherow.com | 866.234.4848
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