Playing Tetherow - by a former member

[Jeff58]

 Tetherow tends to produce two types of response from the first-time player: either it was a unique challenge, or it pretty much sucked. As a former member who has played with a good number of first-timers, here is my approach to having a more positive round.

 

The course - 

 

Other than the tremendous influx of new houses in the last two years, the course is essentially open, and gives the impression of being links-style. It’s an optical illusion. Tetherow is target golf in an open setting. Fairways often have cross-bunkers and or cross-hazards. They are normally angled left to right, they are fast, and there are minimal retention features such as berms or conventional rough. All too often, merely hitting the ball towards the hole does not produce the desired results. However, there are always solutions.

The beauty and uniqueness of Tetherow is the challenge to understand and visualize how David Kidd designed the hole to be played, and then accomplish the required tasks. It is the lack of this understanding, or the refusal or inability to conform to it, that is often the root cause of poor experiences. 

 

What to do- 

 

Select an appropriate tee box. The daily tragedy is the four-buddy first time foursome teeing off 1 from the tips. Their only hope is that the shop has stock of their favored balls at the turn. Bomb and gouge isn’t a productive approach. You can definitely bomb, but you often won’t be able to find your ball to gouge it. You need to understand the landing zones and have adequate control to stop there. As often as not, the only way to do that is with something other than driver. I generally play driver only twice on the first nine. Your goal for approach shots is to be within 7 iron range. Anything longer and the odds of holding the green are often quite poor.

 

Once upon a time, Tetherow required fore caddies for non-members. Although that’s no longer the case, ask to play with a member or someone with experience. Often, the optimal target zone will not be visually obvious. Several holes, 2 and 6 for example, have blind shots where following the general fairway path can result in an OB.

 

The greens -

 

Are generally very large, fast, and highly contoured over a portion of the surface. They will have one or more collection areas. The flag should be located above a collection area. Aim for the collection area, not the flag. If you can’t identify the collection area, aim below the flag. 

 

The experience-

 

Afternoons can be very windy. Mornings are almost always calm.

 

You are playing at almost 4000 feet. Your ball will go further but not stop as quickly. Consider playing another course, such as Widgy Creek, first to calibrate yourself.

 

The ground is generally hard and the grass short. High bounce anything can be problematic.

 

The Tetherow website has a flyover display of every hole. It’s very useful.

 

One’s first round is much more of a learning experience. Unfortunately, many visiting players only play one round. If you can play twice, first from an intermediate tee set, the odds of a pleasantly memorable experience will increase significantly.

[ThermalDan]

I absolutely love Tetherow.  After returning from Scotland where we played SA Castle, among all the rest, I enjoyed Tetherow even more.  Every shot is a puzzle to solve.  If your happiness is derived from shooting your best score, then Tetherow isn’t for you.  If you like variety and seeing “what happens if I try to get it close by hitting it there” then Tetherow is for you.

 

 

[Chilidog]

Sounds like the same feelings people have about Tobacco Road. 

[mallrat]

I feel like Tetherow is unlike any course out there. Off the tee, it is one of my favorite courses. Around the greens, it should be blown up. I have never played a course that so consistently penalizes good shots. 

[RJt100]

I am planning on playing Tetherow with a group of 8 for a bachelor party first week of October.  Handicaps range from scratch to +20

 

After reading over and over so many interesting and generally negative comments about the course, I am rethinking playing here.

 

We would love to play as many top 100 courses as possible and we generally prefer an elevated golf experience, especially when traveling cross country.  Which is why Tetherow was picked.

 

Can anyone with a similar mindset comment??  Should we just avoid Tetherow?  

 

We also have tee times at Pronghorn.  I am open to other suggestions.

 

Thanks!

[puttnforthe8]

On 8/31/2023 at 1:15 PM, RJt100 said:

I am planning on playing Tetherow with a group of 8 for a bachelor party first week of October.  Handicaps range from scratch to +20

 

After reading over and over so many interesting and generally negative comments about the course, I am rethinking playing here.

 

We would love to play as many top 100 courses as possible and we generally prefer an elevated golf experience, especially when traveling cross country.  Which is why Tetherow was picked.

 

Can anyone with a similar mindset comment??  Should we just avoid Tetherow?  

 

We also have tee times at Pronghorn.  I am open to other suggestions.

 

Thanks!

 

Well - your higher caps are going to suffer!!  I would say, play it, but do something like a 2 man scramble to ease some of the pain.  

 

The Sunriver courses are fun and nice to play.  Plus it is only a short jaunt to some of the courses in Redmond, other.

 

 

 

Edited October 10, 2023 by puttnforthe8

[Seamus_MacDuff]

Play it and make up your own mind.  I actually like Tetherow quite a bit.  It's not an easy course, but I think some of the previous comments here tend to overstate the difficulty.  Just have your higher handicap players play from shorter tees than they'd normally play.

[Jeff58]

@RJt100 You should all start at Widgy Creek as a warm up. It’s almost literally across the street, an excellent course, and doesn’t cost much. 
 

At Tetherow, use the practice facilities. They will show you the ground/turf conditions as well as the green speeds. IMO no one should play without that bit of conditioning.

 

20 handicaps can definitely play Tetherow. As above, play from a tee box that allows each player to tee off with a club they can hit reliably.

 

Tetherow is hard. It’s supposed to be hard. Go in with your eyes open and enjoy the challenge. 

Edited August 31, 2023 by Jeff58

[kaschreiber]

I'd still play it. Did my stag in Bend and we had a similar range in handicaps. Played Eagles Crest (I'd avoid if you're looking for an elevated experience), Pronghorn, and Tetherow. We played 36 at Tetherow - quota in the morning so high hcs could pickup after double (if they wanted) and not "embarass" themselves making a 10. I put it in quotes as I don't think anyone would really care, but I think they would get self-conscious. After drinks during the morning round and lunch, did a 2 man scramble and was great. I generally don't like scrambles and want to know what I shot, but was fun experience after playing our own balls in the AM

[RJt100]

Thanks everyone.

 

Helpful feedback

 

Im still on the fence about it.  If we could easily access one of the other high end courses, I would probably pivot.  But it seems all the nicer courses are either private or require you to stay on the property to play

[kaschreiber]

If you (or anyone in your group) is a member at a private club anywhere, you can get on Pronghorn Faz with no issue, assuming they don't have an event. Our pro got our group of 12 on last fall with a phone call. 

[pgetzen]

I played Tetherow twice this year (having never played it before) and have also played Tobacco Road (comment above).  I actually really liked it tee to green.  It’s a beautiful and challenging course.  I really didn’t enjoy the green complexes (perhaps because I wasn’t familiar with them).  But small misses could result in pretty bad results. To me, that’s the biggest difference between a course like Tobacco Road and Tetherow (kind of love it/hate it courses).  The greens at Tobacco Road are not easy, but they are friendlier than Tetherow’s greens.

[RJt100]

Just got back from my trip to Bend

 

We played Tetherow and Pronghorn Nicklaus

 

My group of 6 all preferred Tetherow.  It was a blast!  Handicap ranged from scratch to a +20 and everyone still had a great time.  Practice chipping area was awesome and course was in great shape.  Yes the green complexes were crazy but that was part of the fun.  I only had one 4 putt all day

 

The motorcycle cart things are a must do.  It made the experience so fun and unique

 

Pronghorn was pure.  Lovely course but everyone thought it was more challenging than Tetherow.  The visuals off the tee cause some issues, even for our scratch players.  Even though the greens were pure, no one seemed to be able to get a feel for them.  But I would also not miss this one

 

If you find yourself on the fence about playing Tetherow, don't let the fear mongering influence you.  Its a must play

[puttnforthe8]

21 minutes ago, RJt100 said:

Just got back from my trip to Bend

 

We played Tetherow and Pronghorn Nicklaus

 

My group of 6 all preferred Tetherow.  It was a blast!  Handicap ranged from scratch to a +20 and everyone still had a great time.  Practice chipping area was awesome and course was in great shape.  Yes the green complexes were crazy but that was part of the fun.  I only had one 4 putt all day

 

The motorcycle cart things are a must do.  It made the experience so fun and unique

 

Pronghorn was pure.  Lovely course but everyone thought it was more challenging than Tetherow.  The visuals off the tee cause some issues, even for our scratch players.  Even though the greens were pure, no one seemed to be able to get a feel for them.  But I would also not miss this one

 

If you find yourself on the fence about playing Tetherow, don't let the fear mongering influence you.  Its a must play

 

Awesome - hope you guys put down a few good microbrews too! 🙂

 

Interesting the take on the 2 courses.  We have 24 that go out there for events and the rota is Teth, both Prong, and Crosswater.   Most prefer the "visuals" of Pronghorn over Teth and even CW. 

 

I wonder if it is all in the head 🤔- since we all come from AZ and so used to desert golf, everyone sees PH and it fits their eyes while the other 2 are not so familiar?   Probably all in the head!  

 

 

[RJt100]

2 hours ago, puttnforthe8 said:

 

Awesome - hope you guys put down a few good microbrews too! 🙂

 

Interesting the take on the 2 courses.  We have 24 that go out there for events and the rota is Teth, both Prong, and Crosswater.   Most prefer the "visuals" of Pronghorn over Teth and even CW. 

 

I wonder if it is all in the head 🤔- since we all come from AZ and so used to desert golf, everyone sees PH and it fits their eyes while the other 2 are not so familiar?   Probably all in the head!  

 

 

Several brews were had.  Haha.  Bend is a good spot for that 

 

How did your group manage to get onto the Fazio Pronghorn and Crosswater?

 

There was just something about Pronghorn Nicklaus that was giving us more trouble that we were ready for.  Man is that place pure though.   Some course knowledge would have gone a long way off the tee 

[puttnforthe8]

1 hour ago, RJt100 said:

Several brews were had.  Haha.  Bend is a good spot for that 

 

How did your group manage to get onto the Fazio Pronghorn and Crosswater?

 

There was just something about Pronghorn Nicklaus that was giving us more trouble that we were ready for.  Man is that place pure though.   Some course knowledge would have gone a long way off the tee 

We arranged to play the private PH course...it's not that hard actually.  You just have to do it in the afternoon and have to take a forecadddie.  We stayed at Crosswater...so we play all the courses there (Sunriver) too.

Edited October 10, 2023 by puttnforthe8

[kaschreiber]

54 minutes ago, puttnforthe8 said:

We arranged to play the private PH course...it's not that hard actually.  You just have to do it in the afternoon and have to take a forecadddie.  We stayed at Crosswater...so we play all the courses there (Sunriver) too.

For our trip last fall had our pro at our club call and get our group of 12 on as well with no issue. If anyone in your group is a member somewhere it's easy

[mallrat]

9 hours ago, RJt100 said:

Several brews were had.  Haha.  Bend is a good spot for that 

 

How did your group manage to get onto the Fazio Pronghorn and Crosswater?

 

There was just something about Pronghorn Nicklaus that was giving us more trouble that we were ready for.  Man is that place pure though.   Some course knowledge would have gone a long way off the tee 

You used to have to take a caddie, same with Tetherow. Basically a forecaddie (I did it in the afternoons). I also worked at Pringhorn. I think overall Nicklaus is a much truer test of golf. The problem is aiming off the tee. A couple examples are #3 (the long par3) you want to hit a 175-185 club over the middle to left edge of the giant bunker, you can’t tell from the tee you have 50 yards of tightly mown downhill. #6 your second shot is most likely to off the green, you actually want to come up 15-20 yards short on a front or middle pin. #8 you want to aim over the last bunker on the far left off the tee, anything over the middle bunker most likely goes in the creek. #11 you want to go over the left side of the waste area in the middle of the fairway, over the center and the tree will most likely eat it up, right side is a horrible approach angle. #12, you only need 160 off the tee and it’s an easy wedge from there. #13 aim at the bunker in the middle of the fairway. 16, he wants you to hit a 200 yard tee shot, fairway is over 100 yards wide ther but about 30 yards wide at 250. 18 you have to hug the left side with your tee shot, everything feeds way right and over the tree in the center is an easy lost ball. 
 

Hope this helps someone

[RJt100]

10 hours ago, mallrat said:

You used to have to take a caddie, same with Tetherow. Basically a forecaddie (I did it in the afternoons). I also worked at Pringhorn. I think overall Nicklaus is a much truer test of golf. The problem is aiming off the tee. A couple examples are #3 (the long par3) you want to hit a 175-185 club over the middle to left edge of the giant bunker, you can’t tell from the tee you have 50 yards of tightly mown downhill. #6 your second shot is most likely to off the green, you actually want to come up 15-20 yards short on a front or middle pin. #8 you want to aim over the last bunker on the far left off the tee, anything over the middle bunker most likely goes in the creek. #11 you want to go over the left side of the waste area in the middle of the fairway, over the center and the tree will most likely eat it up, right side is a horrible approach angle. #12, you only need 160 off the tee and it’s an easy wedge from there. #13 aim at the bunker in the middle of the fairway. 16, he wants you to hit a 200 yard tee shot, fairway is over 100 yards wide ther but about 30 yards wide at 250. 18 you have to hug the left side with your tee shot, everything feeds way right and over the tree in the center is an easy lost ball. 
 

Hope this helps someone

This is money right here.  Sure hope someone else sees this  This happened several times, especially with driver off the tee (18 comes to mind.  Peeled a cut off the center of the dead tree and ball was in the desert).  

 

Honestly we would have loved to have had a fore caddie at either course but didnt see any mention of it.  Nor did anyone in pro shop say anything about a caddie.  I didnt ask in person, so thats on me.

[mallrat]

1 hour ago, RJt100 said:

This is money right here.  Sure hope someone else sees this  This happened several times, especially with driver off the tee (18 comes to mind.  Peeled a cut off the center of the dead tree and ball was in the desert).  

 

Honestly we would have loved to have had a fore caddie at either course but didnt see any mention of it.  Nor did anyone in pro shop say anything about a caddie.  I didnt ask in person, so thats on me.

So 5 years ago (I believe), Tetherow was getting new carts and they decided to get GPS carts so that basically put the caddie company out of business. The best was Tetherow, when a single would sign up they would send you out as a marker. $40 plus whatever tip. Pronghorn we got $15 per player plus whatever tip you earned. It was $25 pr player to the course. 

[RJt100]

33 minutes ago, mallrat said:

So 5 years ago (I believe), Tetherow was getting new carts and they decided to get GPS carts so that basically put the caddie company out of business. The best was Tetherow, when a single would sign up they would send you out as a marker. $40 plus whatever tip. Pronghorn we got $15 per player plus whatever tip you earned. It was $25 pr player to the course. 

Are each courses still actively using caddies?

 

I didn't see anything about it on the website nor around clubhouse.  Again I didn't ask in person, but I was also distracted by everything else that comes with checking out a new (to me) top 100 course

 

We also used the motorcycle things at Tetherow which I highly recommend.  Sure made for a more memorable experience.  Although I wish they would include a basket on the back for storing things.

[benkodi]

Just got back for an anniversary trip to Bend. Absolutely loved the entire town. We did manage one round at Tetherow and I can say it’s certainly top 3 most difficult I’ve ever played. A true ball buster. 

 

I plan to bring my group of 40 guys to Bend in July of ‘25 and play both Pronghorn courses and Tetherow all weekend.