The Jack Nicklaus Signature Course at Pronghorn
The sun was low on the horizon, casting a warm light across the fairway. This is the bewitching hour, before twilight, when anything is possible.
We mortals were playing nine holes after work one recent evening, just two of us. Our round was coming to a close with one hole left to finish. It was then that my husband – a self-confessed hacker – happened to hit the best shot in golf history.
75 yards from the green, Mike hit his approach shot straight into the water, where it skipped across the surface, landed on the green, and went screaming 12 feet past the pin and onto the fringe, where it rolled to a stop. Except not. With a mind of its own, the ball rolled straight back down the green, gained momentum, curved to the right, and stopped inches from the hole. Just another magic moment in Bend, Oregon. With 300 days of sunshine each year, a banana belt running though the land in the shoulder seasons, and 26 golf courses to choose from, Central Oregon draws golfers like bees to honey.
They come to experience the red sands of Aspen Lakes Golf Club, the snow-capped mountains rising above Sunriver’s four courses, and the ghost trees surrounding Pronghorn. Or they may choose the Scottish links of Tetherow, the dramatic pitches of River’s Edge, or lush, forested slopes of Widgi Creek. These courses represent a mere a sampling in the breadth and variety of Bend area golf courses. Each course also offers a 19th hole, where the conquests of the day can be celebrated and mere mortals can raise a challis to the magic in the kingdom of the sun.
CENTRAL OREGON GOLF COURSES
For a complete list of Central Oregon golf courses and links to their websites, click here.
UPCOMING GOLF EVENTS
August 16 – 22
Jeld-Wen Tradition
Crosswater Club at Sunriver Resort
A four-day, 72-hole major championship, preceded by the JELD-WEN Tradition Pro-Am Championship and NIKE GOLF Junior Day.
August 30 – September 4
Northwest Dodge Dealers Pacific Amateur Golf Classic
A field limited to 775 players participates in the three-day, net, stroke-play tournament, culminating in playoff competition at Sunriver Resort’s Crosswater. The Tournament is played on the finest courses throughout Central Oregon, which has been ranked #23 in the Top 50 Golf Destinations in the World by Golf Digest.