Nice Public Courses near PDX Airport?

[shaneyank]

I am flying into Portland for a weekend this May, staying the the Boise/North Portland neighborhood.

 

Can anyone recommend a must play course within a 30 minute drive (Uber)? Perhaps to the North or East?

 

I have zero knowledge of the area. Travel outside 30 mins is unfortunately not an option on this short trip.

[edryer3]

Heron Lakes Blue is by the Expo Center will probably be the closest to you. And it’s a nice course. They also have heron lakes green which is ok. But you could knock out 36 holes if you have time. Most the other well known courses are over 30min away or pretty close to. Like Langdon Farms, Pumpkin Ridge, The Reserve.

 

If you belong to a club or have connections you could try and get on Columbia Edgewater

[spud3]

Play at Heron Lakes. They're munis, so suffer in maintenance, but both are RTJ II designs and worth a couple rounds. Green is "easier," Blue is "challenging." Playing both makes for a nice day of golf, as long as we haven't had a lot of rain leading up to your day. Neither course drains well.

[ryu123]

Agree with Ed & Spud that Heron Lakes is your best option, although in mid-March both courses had a coating of goose crap on the fairways. Don’t know that any Portland public course near PDX is a ‘must play’.

 

(Have played Columbia Edgewater & prefer the Great Blue course at HL).

[kaschreiber]

Will defer to those on the thread that are still in the area- when I lived down there I found Camas Meadows and Tri Mountain (both in WA) to be my preference over Heron, but Heron was still a fun track.

[spud3]

I was assuming you were talking about public courses. If you are a member at home and have reciprocals, then Columbia Edgewater and Riverside are real close in NE PDX. Both will be in much better condition than HL, but not better designs.

 

And goose sh*t is just part of the deal on PDX courses this time of year...

[shaneyank]

Thanks for all the feedback. The good news is that my local public courses are also home to filthy geese, so I can deal with that.

 

Lastly, yes, public courses is my angle because I do not have any membership with reciprocals.

 

I reckon I'll check out HL Blue. It does look like a nice design and I'll be quite happy to be out playing. The location is absolutely perfect so there is a lot to be said for that!

[bird206]

By any means I'm no expert in Portland golf courses but I have spent some time playing some of the courses listed in this forum. I remember playing Broadmoor which is located right next to PDX airport in the winter time and it was soggy. I'm not sure how it plays in May but it may be a consideration. I liked Blue Heron better than Broadmoor but if you're looking for a course that is super close to the airport that may be an option.

[Pulledabill]

Heron Lakes fits the bill. Ive played Broadmor and Colwood but its been years.

[spud3]

Colwood has been reduced to a 9-hole par 3 course. Fun if you only have an hour or two.