Pumpkin Ridge Ghost Creek Course (North Plains, OR)

       Top 100 Public Golf Course

        Golf Digest 2017/2018

  #80 Pumpkin Ridge Ghost Creek

My highly anticipated Oregon trip started off at the USGA's favorite Pacific Northwest facility, Pumpkin Ridge. It has two golf courses, one public and one private. Ghost Creek is the public one. Both courses have held numerous prestigious tournaments including the US Amateur, won by Tiger Woods in 1996, the US Women's Open in 1997 & 2003, the Nike Tour Championship in 1993-94, and the 2006 US Junior Amateur. 

             (#15 552/531 yard par 5) 

Ghost Creek opened in 1992 and was quickly named the best new public course by Golf Digest. Bob Cupp's classic no frills style used the land beautifully, and produced a course that rewarded good ball-striking and execution. It immediately caught the USGA's eye, and the rest is history. 

(Pumpkin Ridge is pure Pacific Northwest! The towering pine trees are an impressive sight!) 

The day I arrived, the Web.com was playing the Portland Open on the Witch Hollow course, and I was ecstatic when the pro told me they were still taking tee times at Ghost Creek. Unbeknownst to me, the property is so large that each course has it's own clubhouse, and the only time they intertwine is when you're driving on the entrance road. 

 

(Ghost Creek guards the entire right side of the short 366/341 yard sixth)

One reason why I enjoyed Pumpkin Ridge so much is because it felt like some one plucked it out of the Midwest and set it down in Oregon. The course has beautiful driving lines, the walk between holes is easy, and greens are slightly tilted with one or two simple features in them. The putting is so pure.. just get it started on the proper line! 

(The 184/158 yard third is two tiered. The golfer can use the slope to bring it back to a front pin position.) 

Bob Cupp routed the course very well at Ghost Creek. He made green sizes appropriate for the expected shot, left openings in the front for players to run it on, and mixed difficult holes with birdie opportunities. 

(The approach to the par five fourth. Note how there's a level spot near the putting surface to run the ball on. This feature is available on every hole!) 

(431/409 par four seventh is one of the memorable holes. The foreshorten bunkers throw off your depth perception while Ghost Creek guards the right.) 

(Push the pin back into the rear corner and the 444/404 yard twelfth becomes even more demanding.) 

(The uphill 381/356 yard thirteenth demands a well placed drive to get a good angle into the green.) 

Can Pumpkin Ridge get a US Open? I guess that's the real discussion. It already hosted an Amateur, usually a prelude, but that was on the Witch Hollow course and was twenty years ago! The guys behind the counter think it will one day, and they believe Ghost Creek will be course. It has the luxury of expanding and 600 yards can be added with additional tee boxes. It'll be interesting to see if that ever happens. 

(The seventeenth is an excellent risk/reward short par four. The player in the picture is playing his second shot after an aggressive drive. It's a classic two or seven hole with high drama.) 

Ghost Creek was a great start to my week in Oregon, is hands down the best public course in Portland. For players flying into PDX to go to Bandon, I highly recommend starting the trip here. I give it a 7 (excellent)(worth driving 3-4 hours).

(The 180/170 yard par three eleventh) 

FoxCreek Golf and Racquet Club (Lorain, OH)

When I was writing about Findlay CC, I was perusing the courses Tom Bendelow designed in Ohio. One stood out because I always wondered who the architect was. Lorain CC 9 holes. It got me thinking because FoxCreek, formerly known as LCCC (Lorain County Country Club) is eighteen holes, so if Bendelow did do nine holes, which ones are his. (The course changed it's name to FoxCreek about ten years ago. I don't know the reasoning behind it.)

(The long par four third plays to an uphill green.) 

Pulling up Google Maps, I studied the property and the routing, and I think I know which holes are the original nine. The round probably started on ten, (10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 1, & 9) and finished with back to back par fives. Coincidentally, these are also the best holes on the course, with nine, eleven, and seventeen being my favorites. 

(The uphill par five ninth is just short enough to tempt the player to go for it in two shots.)

The original nine holes play along the creek, out to the marina, and around the wetlands. It hits every interesting aspect of the property. The greens start at fairway level and rise towards the back. They're very similar to Findlay CC. 

(The short par three fifteenth plays next to the marina. It's tricky when the wind is blowing.) 

(The seventeenth hole is only 343 yards, but one must position the tee shot perfectly before hitting a short iron uphill to a green with a severe falloff short right.)

(The eighteenth is a good par three at 175 yards. The front is covered by sand so it's all carry to green. It's not exactly an ideal ending hole, but it was originally intended to be seven IMO. Regardless, how many times does one have an opportunity to finish with a duece?) 

The other nine holes are nicely placed although three par threes are needed to to connect them. (2,5,8) 

(The 183 yard fifth plays over the creek.) 

All in all, FoxCreek is a fine course. It has a couple drawbacks that keeps it off most Cleveland golfers radar. The conditions are not always the best, and it doesn't have a true clubhouse. The shopping plaza it's connected to makes this one of the most awkward places to get a green fee. When it was LCCC, the course was one of the best in the county. It'd be nice to see it get back to that standard. I give it a 4 (above average)(worth 40-45 min drive).