Bend Trip Report - early June

[AU94CMK]

After soliciting input from the forum on multiple trip options, I thought I’d give a report on our trip to Bend earlier this month.

 

Trip Itinerary:

• June 9^th: Juniper (a.m.) and Aspen Lakes (p.m.)
  
• June 10^th: Awbrey Glen (a.m.) and Tetherow (p.m.)
  
• June 11^th: Sunriver Crosswater (a.m.) and Woodlands (p.m.)
  
• June 12^th: Sunriver Crosswater and Meadows (p.m.)
  
• June 13^th: Prongriver Nicklaus (a.m.) and Fazio (p.m.)
  
• June 14^th: Sunriver Meadows
  

Course Summary:

• Juniper – Excellent conditions, nice variety to the holes in terms of layout and difficulty
  
• Aspen Lakes – Beautiful location & scenery, disappointing course conditions. A few bare patches on greens.
  
• Awbrey Glen – Immaculate course conditions and service. Lots of interesting holes and elevation changes. We came off the course saying it was in the top 10% of all courses we had played in our 10 years of making these trips.
  
• Tetherow – Fun round of golf, but mainly because our forecaddie helped us to make sure we knew where to aim our shots and putts. I was fighting a stiff back that afternoon, so I didn’t enjoy it as much as the other guys in our group. We came away saying that we’d like to play it again, but wouldn’t want to play it every day.
  
• Crosswater – Immaculate conditions on the tee boxes, greens, and fairways. Top notch service from the staff. Fun and challenging layout. 16, 17, and 18 makes for a killer finish, as in round-killer.
  
• Woodlands – Ok conditions…better than Aspen Lakes. The front 9 wasn’t memorable, but the back 9 was more fun with some elevation changes. It was fine as filler material, but not a destination course (nor did we expect it to be)
  
• Meadows – Phenomenal greens (they were tournament ready for the PGA Professionals Championship). Lots of wind on holes 1 – 4 and 17 – 18. Again, not a destination course, but better than the Woodlands for sure.
  
• Pronghorn Nicklaus & Fazio – Definitely the crown-jewel of the trip. Service was amazing. Conditions were impeccable. We thought we had a good forecaddie at Tetherow, but our forecaddie at Pronghorn was superb…energetic, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable. Nicklaus was a more interesting and tougher layout, but Fazio was more scenic and forgiving. I personally preferred Fazio because it gave me a chance to just relax…bomb it off the tee, and take in the scenery. We payed a lot to play all day at Pronghorn, but I didn't feel like we'd overspent at all.
  

Final Course Rankings: These differed slightly for all of us, but my ranking was as follows:

1. Pronghorn Fazio
   
2. Pronghorn Nicklaus
   
3. Awbrey Glen
   
4. Crosswater
   
5. Juniper
   
6. Tetherow
   
7. Meadows
   
8. Aspen Lakes
   
9. Woodlands
   

Of course, we didn’t get to play Brasada or Broken Top on this trip, so it would have been fun to see where they ended up. Those will be on the must play for next time, and we’ll definitely be back someday.

 

Thanks to everyone who offered input on where to play as I was planning this one!

[mallrat]

If you head back, the caddies work for a company called Caddie Master I believe and work at a couple courses. Our forecaddie said you can recommend him at Pronghorn also, just an FYI.

 

Interesting takes on the courses. Sorry Aspen has gone down hill as they are struggling for money. I'm a big Fazio fan but not so much of the Nicklaus course. Also a big Tetherow fan but agree it would be a tough course to play day in and out, so many quirky holes. Always felt like Juniper was the hidden gem of Central Oregon. Interesting to hear that about Awbrey Glen, it was designed by Bunny Mason and I generally can not stand his courses.

 

Glad you enjoyed the trip, IMO, Bend might be the most underrated golf destination in the US. When you mix in the variety in style and cost of the courses and combine it with the brew pubs and dining options, it's as good as anywhere. Where did you guys eat?

[AU94CMK]

WRT to Aspen, we were disappointed because there was so much promise there. You could tell they'd had a tough time recovering from what I'm sure was a colder than average winter. I'm sure it will bounce back, but it definitely wasn't as good as the others we played.

 

Dinner - now that's always the trick on our trips because after 36 holes, it gets to be pretty late. But we hit Deschutes Brewery, Sunriver Brewery twice, the Blacksmith, and Zydeco. Those last two were very good, by the way, and breweries are never disappointing.

[mallrat]

The Blacksmith might be my favorite restaurant in Bend.

[spud3]

Zydeco is killer.

 

And this was one of the worst winters in the last ten years here in Oregon. Not a surprise that Aspen is still recovering.

 

Agree that Juniper is an un-heralded gem. One of my favorite bang-for-yer-buck courses there.

[johnnylongball]

I'm in the process of planning a trip to Bend for next year. Do you mind if I ask how you got on the Fazio course at Pronghorn? Did you have your pro call or is there another way I should be aware of?

[johnnylongball]

I'm in the process of planning a trip to Bend for next year. Do you mind if I ask how you got on the Fazio course at Pronghorn? Did you have your pro call or is there another way I should be aware of?

Never mind, I just read your response to this question in another thread.