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Around (Oregon's) Bend, Part 3
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Views of Mt. Bachelor abound at Sunriver's three courses.
After Memorial Day Central Oregon's golf buffet gets richer, tastier, more complete. While some courses stay open year-round, some of the high-enders (the aforementioned Tetherow, for instance), bed down for the winter and come out of hibernation in April, giving their resident wizards — some call then superintendents or greenskeepers — a good six to seven weeks to fully wake up the fairways and greens for the high season of June through October. It's the same in other high desert regions we'll cover here, such as Reno-Tahoe, where the climate is very similar. But because Bend is much further north, the vagaries of spring weather are a touch more severe.
Not now, though. Summer's on, the roads are open, Bend's lovely downtown core and shopper's-heaven Mill District are humming, and best of all, golfers can get in 45 holes a day if they're up to it, thanks to ample sunlight. So, for the third and final part of our trip around the Bend, here are the must-plays for, say, a five-day visit, along with Tetherow and, if you're lucky, Pronghorn:
Crosswater — The jewel of Sunriver Resort's three-course crown, this is perhaps architect Bob Cupp's best-known and best-loved work, a U.S. Open-caliber course that hosts the Champions Tour's Jeld-Wen Tradition each August. It's also part of the rotation (along with Sunriver's Meadows and Woodlands courses) for the the very popular Pacific Amateur every September. Open only to resort guests and members, Crosswater beguiles from the first tee shot, performing a delicate dance with the Deschutes River, do-see-doing with mounds of tall grass, the occasional lone pine, lakes and wetlands and bunkers big and plentiful enough to set up camp in — one one hole, it even tips its hat to an old settler's graveyard. A lot of golf balls die here, too, but with hawks circling overhead and Mt. Bachelor glowing to the west, they die happy. Good thing golfers live to tell the tale. This place is as nature-steeped as golf courses get. It's special, and when you couple it with the other two excellent courses and a Sunriver stay — a self-contained resort with shopping, restaurants and all manner of outdoor recreation — it's tempting to just stay on property. But don't.
Lost Tracks — Only 10 minutes from Sunriver but as different from Crosswater as a golf course can possibly be. Current PGA of America president Brian Whitcomb, an Oregon native, has carved a quirky and wildly fun circuit through a pine forest just east of Highway 97. There are blind tee shots where driver isn't always the answer, tricky tiptoes over water hazards, big and curvaceous greens and, for the coup de grace, an island par 3 reached via an old railroad dining car converted to a bridge. Some years ago players started decorating the car with bagtags; hundreds of them hang from the rafters, above still-intact tables and place settings. Great, incongruous stuff. And unforgettable.
Aspen Lakes — Located on gently rolling, piney terrain near the upscale Old West-themed town of Sisters about a 15-minute drive northwest of Bend, Aspen Lakes is the perfect course for a late-afternoon round in the slanting summertime light. Walk it and savor the setting. While its main calling card is the red-tinted bunkering — they're filled with crushed volcanic rock instead of sand and have a learning curve to them — what really gets your attention is the way designer William Overdorf frames the Cascades on so many tees, trying to distract you from what turns out to be a very challenging task at hand. There's plenty of water to negotiate, the greens are big and rangy, shot angles are always important. No. 11, a 450-yard par 4, is easily one of of the best holes in the area, with a rousing second shot over water and all kinds of bunker and tree trouble to negotiate. Again, play it once and never forget it.
Other resort courses worth a visit: Eagle Crest near Redmond, with 27 holes of well-wrought high desert golf, again from Jeld-Wen; Black Butte Ranch, one of the area's original golf-based real estate/resort developments, with 36 holes of forested, relatively flat solitude (try the Big Meadow course, recently renovated by one of today's great West Coast architects, Damian Pascuzzo); and Widgi Creek, where Pascuzzo mentor Robert Muir Graves puts a big premium on accuracy with a tight, terrific routing through dense forest between the Deschutes River and Mt. Bachelor.
For more on Central Oregon golf including information on stay and play packages and the region's many recreation options, click here.
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