Heron Lakes Great Blue Course (Portland,OR)

Portland has several municipal courses and it's Heron Lakes facility boasts two RTJ II designs, Greenback and Great Blue. Greenback opened in 1972 and was host site for the US Publinx Championship in 1979. Great Blue opened twenty years later in 1992 and hosted the US Publinx Championship in 2000. (DJ Trahan was the winner) 

(The 182 yard eleventh is beautifully bunkered.) 

I originally wanted to play Eastmoreland whose architect Chandler Egan helped design Pebble Beach, but instead choose Heron Lakes because it's location by the Columbia River was more convenient for my hike at Multnomah Falls.

(The 168 yard fourth plays over a slough. What's a slough? It's basically backwater pushed into low areas by the Columbia River.) 

Great Blue is a very difficult golf course. Like his father, Jones Jr has adopted the "easy bogey, hard par" philosophy. If water is present, you can be rest assured a green or fairway will be pressed against it. It definitely adds to the beauty of the course, but for mid to high handicappers, it's a ball eating round of golf. The front nine is mostly playable, but starting on the eighth, water is in play on every hole. 

(The 187 yard par three fifteenth is all carry over water.) 

This is the first time I've ever heard the term slough, and the two gentlemen I played with loved saying it. They were high handicappers, and their strategy was always to play away from the water. For them, bogey was a good score, and they received a lot of pleasure watching me challenge the water in an attempt to get a good birdie putt. 

(The seventeenth hole is a reachable par five for those willing to bite off some yardage from the tee. As one can see in the pic, the slough is a mere yard from the green. Playing to the middle and working it back to the hole is the best option.) 

There's a lot of good holes at Great Blue, and the day I played it, the course was firm and fast. That meant some of the par fives were reachable, and there were plenty of opportunities to hit glory shots. Three of the par threes were all carry over water shots, and both nine and eighteen were long, water guarded par fours. 

(The 413 yard eighteenth demands two precise shots to reach the green in regulation. Definitely a hole not for the timid!)

For a municipal course, Great Blue is probably too hard for most people who play it. Nonetheless, that's the draw. That's what keeps people coming here. It helps tremendously that Greenback is more friendly so there's a yen and yang for those who want to alternate their challenge. I give Great Blue a 5 (good)(worth driving an hour). 

(Multnomah Falls is spectacular! Take the 30 min drive to see it!)