Golf Courses-Willamette Valley

Mallard Creek Golf Course -- Lebanon, Oregon

Mallard Creek Golf and RV Resort is an 18 hole Championship Golf Course that winds through rolling hills, around and across Hamilton Creek, and alongside several lakes as it makes a nearly 7000 yard journey around the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in the Santiam River drainage basin of the Eastern Willamette Valley.

Having opened in 2000, the primary architect for the Mallard Creek Golf Course was Mother Nature herself, as the layout takes full advantage of wetlands, creeks, ponds, and stands of old trees. Mature Douglas fir and Ponderosa pine, that the course incorporates, give this venue the feel of a mature course. The Cascade Mountains dominate the scenery in this pastoral setting.

Errant golf shots end up in wetlands, not backyards, as there are no homes or condominiums to disrupt the view surrounding the course. Within three years of opening, the Pacific Northwest's best players put Mallard Creek to the test when they hosted the 2002 PGA Oregon Oregon as well as the Pac-10 Conference Invitational and continues to provide a championship golf course for many charitable and corporate events of all sizes.

Mallard Creek presents the risk/reward debate to the golfer throughout their round. When to play conservatively and when to take risks should be carefully considered, especially on the par-4's. Scoring opportunities start early on both nines with some holes that allow you to be more aggressive with, but as each nine progresses the course begins to show its teeth and take back a few strokes. The finishing holes consist of a 482-yard par four and a 575-yard par five and the handicap of the final three holes is 6-8-4 respectively. So if the game with your buddy is tightening and your down by one or two on the 16th tee box, this might be a good time to press.

Mallard Creek just received the 2008 Award of Excellence as one of the Top 100 Rated Parks in North America. The RV Resort at Mallard Creek was built with the Golfing/RV enthusiast in mind.

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Tokatee Golf Club - Blue River, OR

If you've played Tokatee Golf Club you'll never forget it. It's a unique experience unlike just about any other golf experience in Oregon. The one complaint is that the course isn't located in their hometown or closer to where they live because they want to go back again and again. That's the intriguing part about Tokatee though, your out in nature and exposed to this amazingly beautiful area that is surrounded by natural beauty. The only wish for Tokatee amongst its faithful followers is just don't change it. The course and playing experience are a special blend that is rarely found in golf course design and playability.

Ted Robinson, the brother of Robin Jaqua (wife of a local attorney), was the architect for Tokatee. Ted had already done Meridian Valley and Sahalee in the Seattle area and during his interview it was found that the two (Nat Giustina and Ted Robinson) had a common philosophy on golf course construction. The course was laid out so that in the future homes could be built around it. At present there is no desire to develop the property. This has provided great spacing between holes and allowed the towering forest to come into play on just about every hole.

At Tokatee it's hard to pick out one or two holes to talk about. There's the par three 17th hole where it seems like your ball stays in the air for an eternity before landing on the green well below the tee box, then there's the par four 2nd hole that never appears very long but it always plays longer than you think so you end up in one of the green side bunkers wondering how you got there. Several holes at Tokatee have some key Douglas Fir's guarding the entrance to the green and each year you wonder (as your ball heads toward the middle of the tree) how they made it through another winter leaning ever so ominously as they do. Tokatee didn't include any cookie cutter holes amongst the eighteen, each hole was thought out and fits perfectly with the last. The norm in the golf industry is to update golf courses, make them harder, add length and give them a slight facelift. Tokatee is the rare exception to this rule.

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Elkhorn Valley Golf Course

 Nestled in a small valley a few miles from the towering old growth forests of the Opal Creek Wilderness area, Elkhorn Valley Golf Course offers 18 challenging holes of golf in one of the Pacific Northwest's most spectacular settings. The award-winning front nine has captivated golfers of all abilities since 1976 and now the final nine holes are complete. The new back nine continues the Elkhorn tradition, taking advantage of all the natural topography and hazards that make this place so special - canyons, meandering streams, and wetlands and grand old stands of fir and other native trees.

Similar to a course like Tokatee, Elkhorn Valley is framed perfectly by its natural surroundings, the towering tree line and forest. Playing this course well is about managing your errant tee shots. The number one handicap hole is a good example, the 10^th is a par four which is 397 yards from the back tees. Just like the first hole, the 10th is a challenging start to the back nine. A carefully placed tee shot is a must because the hole goes slightly to the left and the hovering tree line won’t allow any type of a draw off the tee, but it must be long enough to allow for a middle iron to the green. The green is surrounded by deep ravines and its easy for your ball to find some trouble here.

Another fun one to watch out for is the par three 11th. This is the longest par 3 at Elkhorn. It requires not only an accurate long iron from the blue and white tees but correct distance as well as it's all carry over water and lily pads with large mounds on the back of the green. A beautiful hole that features the mountains in the backdrop, just don’t be short off the tee.

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