Country Clubs in Portland Metro Area

Looking at several Country Clubs in the Portland Metro Area and trying to get some advice on when/how/ and if to join. Everything seems pretty expensive and not sure if it is worth it. There are a lot of deals out there at other courses where I could play a lot of golf and save a lot of money by not joining a Country Club. 

I have talked to a few people over the last few months and gotten a lot of advice. A couple different people told me that Country Clubs all over, especially the Portland Metro Area, are really hurting financially and desperate for members. They are saying there is a lot of room to negotiate a membership and I would be an idiot to pay a full initiation fee and/or full member rate. Wonder if this could be even more true with the Coronavirus?

So far, I have looked online and contacted The Reserve, Lake Oswego CC, Willamette Valley CC, Portland Golf Club, andTualatin Valley CC. I have not played any of these places except The Reserve. I was really interested in Willamette Valley CC Players Club Membership and have heard great things about the course and practice facilities. Also, it does not seem to be too far away from my house. Any suggestion on other places to look and/or questions I should ask when inquiring about membership would be great. Also, if there are any suggestions on how to get a good deal and negotiate a better deal would also be appreciated.

Thanks.

First and foremost when joining a club in the Portland area you will need to be realistic about your travel time. What part of town do you live in? If you are on the West side you can rule out any of the North Portland clubs along with WVCC.

Next I would look at money, Portland and Waverly are not for anyone looking for a deal, they are the most expensive & exclusive in the city. Columbia Edgewater is the best of the courses on the North side but I have no idea the cost. Pumpkin is pretty nice but not Waverly or PGC and you will have to deal with the Korn Ferry Tour for a week or 2 and it’s a drive. Oswego Lake is getting better and if you are in Vancouver Royal Oaks is a good deal.

Public golf isn’t the greatest in this area but there are plenty of options. For example you can get an “all you can hit” card from Tualatin Island Greens for $700 a year, Langdon has their Farm Card but not sure what all is in that.

I’m a believer in private clubs but there are options.

I’d agree about figuring out what is convenient to use, whether it be close to your house or work. A great deal on a membership that you end up not using isn’t a good deal. I’d also suggest figuring out what you want from a club. For me, we live in close in NE, and I wanted a club that was stable, primarily about golf, and comfortable for my family to also use. That narrowed it down to Columbia Edgewater which we absolutely love. I’d suggest contacting each club, taking a tour, play a round with a member, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. We all have opinions on each course and club, but every club is different. Trick is to find the right one for you.

Moving to Portland later this year and looking to join a club asap, so thanks for these guiding thoughts.

We'll likely be living in either the Southwest (Ainsworth or Bridlemile school areas) or the Sellwood-Eastmoreland area. Curious if anyone has a ballpark for initiation/dues for Waverley or PGC since those are the closest to the areas we're looking, as well as a preference between the two? I'm comfortable going a lot higher, especially if it means cutting out commute time. CECC sounds like a great place but might be a tough commute from where we'll be. Looking for a place with a really good course that's playable every day, as well as a nice practice facility and that's also easy to get a tee time, or ideally drop in and be able to go off relatively quickly (weekends aside). Would also be nice to be family friendly so can take my wife and one year old to the pool during the summer.

Thanks in advance.

JG

Where are u moving from?

First I believe Portland and Waverly are both on waiting lists and are invite only.

Now, for somewhat in town you might look at Oswego Lake CC. Probably one of the easiest to get a tee time at. Stay away from Persimmon.

Be careful about living in Portland specifically Multnomah County. It is VERY liberal in terms of homelessness being a HUGE problem and the taxes are absolutely ridiculous. Even if you are working in Downtown there are options especially if you live near the light rail. The two areas you listed are absolute complete opposites in terms of the community, who lives there and the type of housing. What is your family situation and what type of community are you looking for? I would base my living situation on that and then adjust your club options

Thanks for the quick response.

We are moving from San Francisco (I know, sorry...), so we are very much used to homelessness and high tax issues, but Portland is attractive to us because it's still relatively much more affordable compared to the Bay Area, I'm keeping my job/salary, and my wife is from Tacoma, which is just a quick 2 hour drive north. We have a 1.5 year old daughter and likely will have another one on the way in the not too distant future, hence the focus on schools. We're considering Lake Oswego for the schools, but since our daughter won't be in kindergarten for another couple years we'd like to stay in the city for at least a couple years before making that move. We just want to be in a family-oriented community that has decent transportation to downtown (ideally 30 minutes or less on public trans), as well as decent access to restaurants/bars/shops,etc.

I'm ok with a waiting list and a higher price point as long as it's the right club. I also won't turn 40 for another 4.5 years so if there are any young adult membership options those would be nice, but it's not a deal killer. Would like to get my daughter into the game as well, so includes some sort of youth golf program.

Based on your age I would lean more towards Portland than Waverly if that is where your heart is set. From my knowledge PGC has a slightly younger membership.

Are you planning on renting or buying right away? When we moved to Bend last year (since moved back because the wife’s job was eliminated) the area we thought we wanted to live turned out to be the wrong fit for us so renting a year might be a good idea.

LO is nice and the schools are great but there are some really good neighborhoods too. We live in Sherwood and while not super convenient for golf, there is not a better area to raise kids and the schools are really good. There is a new community in Hillsboro that butts up against the Reserve Golf Club that is really nice and north of 26 are some amazing neighborhoods and great schools all for a lot less than LO.

Sounds like you are pretty set on a country club. If you want to slum it for a year there is the Portland city card. $675 for 6/1 2020 - 5/31/2021 and you get heavily discounted rates at eastmoreland, heron lakes, rose city, and red tail. Heron Lakes and rose city have active mens clubs with competitive games 2-3 times a week. All of these courses are not fancy, have ups and downs in condition, and can be slow at peak times. Bit I think they are solid challenging courses. You can spend $1200 and play a lot of golf over the year.

Hi All,

GF and I are thinking about moving to Portland in the next year or so and curious what kind of dues/initiations there are at the various clubs. Sounds like CECC, PGC, Waverly are top choices? Seems like the northeast section of Portland is where most of the younger people live if not in downtown, but i could be wrong. We're coming from NYC where it takes me an hour to get to any course, so any commute under 25 minute would be amazing. Any info anyone could provide on ballpark fees at these places would be awesome. Thanks in advance!

Very few actually live downtown, especially now with the homeless issue as bad as it is (I love this city but it’s horrible). Quite a few live in The Pearl district but that’s pretty spendy. It’s a great neighborhood if you want the downtownish experience. The east side of town is often younger but completely hit or miss on neighborhoods. Great neighborhood bars but no HOAs so the potential to end up next to the Red House (Google Red House Portland) and read up on it). West side is more suburbs and families but much cleaner. Now the city is still generally VERY safe. 
 

Waverly and Portland are a pretty hefty initiation fee for Oregon. CECC is in a weird part of town but if you want the east side that is where I would look. There are some other fun clubs or you could live in Vancouver (WA) and join Royal Oaks. 
 

Hope that helps

I’ve heard riverside has a good young member rate, interested in what CECC young membership runs ya

On 2/27/2021 at 1:28 PM, KRD said:

 

I’ve heard riverside has a good young member rate, interested in what CECC young membership runs ya

I believe their intermediate member rate or whatever it is (not sure if under 35 or 40) was something under $20k and they were able to roll half of it into their monthlies. That was info I'm loosely remembering from a guy out there who joined a few years back, so that may not be the case anymore!