Our second round in Bend was at Aspen Lakes Golf Course. Aspen Lakes is a course that I’ve wanted to play for quite some time because of its photogenic qualities! We found a Saturday morning time for $63 (walking) and booked that.

It was a perfect morning to golf and I’m afraid everyone else had the same idea we did. We paired up with a husband/wife before they asked us to go ahead on our own on the 5th hole. I understand that request and it worked just fine for my golf course photography hobby! My friend and I tailed the group in front and played in about 4.5 hours. Oddly, 4.5 hours is the course’s recommend pace of play, which I think could be quickened by making things more playable.

Aspen Lakes is out in Sisters, approximately 30 minutes northwest of Bend. The course is located at the edge of some farmland and plays through a pine forest. During the round you’ll get great views of the Three Sisters (snow-covered dormant volcanoes) on the front nine and you get a brief look at Mt. Jefferson on the back nine. In my mind, the scenery at Aspen Lakes is the main reason you’ll want to play a round here while in Bend!

Besides the mountain views and many pine trees the presentation of Aspen Lakes gets even better with the course’s crushed volcanic cinder bunkers. All the bunkers here have a red tint to them and contrast against the green grass. No joke, I think Aspen Lakes is one of the prettiest inland courses I’ve played!

Aspen Lakes was designed by Bill Overdorf, who has all of his work in the Pacific Northwest. The course is a community course and there aren’t many homes in play. Overall, things have a tight feel, especially off the tees.

We played the white/blue combo tees which are 73.0/134/6756. The hardest part about Aspen Lakes will probably be getting off the tee. There is adequate space in the fairways but too many tee shots play through a chute of trees that crowd the tee boxes. As a slicer of the golf ball these days it was an uncomfortable driving course for me.

I thought the front nine was cramped but the back nine seemed to have more space and as a result I enjoyed it more. The back nine is solid and includes the best holes at Aspen Lakes, which I thought were the 10th and 11th.

The 10th is a reachable par-5 that just tempts you to go for the green in two with a good drive! There is water in front of the green so you’ll have to fly the ball the entire way. The 11th (a dogleg left par-4) is the postcard hole at Aspen Lakes with more water, beautiful bunkering and mountain views.

For the price we paid the conditions were acceptable and playable, but that is about it. The ground was extremely soft which made it easy to catch shots fat. There were large clover patches in the rough, the fairways had quite a bit of winterkill and those beautiful bunkers were thin and rocky. The greens were the bumpiest of our four Bend courses.

I think Aspen Lakes is a visually stunning course with all of its natural beauty and unique bunkering. Still, there is a big opportunity for the course to be opened up off the tee and the conditions to improve.

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):