My incredible road trip continued with a stop in the Pacific Northwest. I was out this way last year and couldn’t pass up another chance to experience summer in one of my favorite regions of the country. A friend of mine was awesome enough to host me for three weeks and we played plenty of golf. I was able to re-visit some old favorite courses of mine in the Portland area and add some new ones as well.

We kicked off my visit with a round on the Great Blue Course at Heron Lakes Golf Club. My friend and I golfed here way back in 2008 when I living in California. The two things I remember from that day is that I enjoyed the course and that I faced the long drive back to California after the round. A lot has changed in thirteen years, but I’m happy to say Heron Lakes still offers the Portland golfer a solid round.

Heron Lakes is a 36-hole facility and the two courses here are the Great Blue – where we played today – and the Greenback. Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed both courses and most golfers (including me) think Great Blue is the more upscale course at Heron Lakes. Greenback isn’t a bad choice, it is just a more average design. I haven’t played Greenback in about ten years so I look forward to another round there one day.

We had a late morning tee time ($52 each) on another hot day in Portland. The temperature got up to about 100 degrees and I was exhausted after walking the course in the heat. We made it though, after a lot of waiting on the back nine. The round took about four and a half hours, so it wasn’t quick.

The heat this year is probably the main story when it comes to the conditions. There have been a couple 110+ degree days which have impacted the golf courses. As you’ll see in the pictures, there were plenty of burned out patches of turf. Overall, I’d say the conditions were so-so. The fairways were a little long with adequate coverage. The greens were nice surfaces and the best part about the maintenance. The greens rolled well, at a medium speed. The sand was heavy and wet.

Great Blue features an interesting setting and a good design. The course is located in a busy industrial area next to the Portland International Raceway. Cars were racing the day we golfed and as you can imagine, it was noisy. Also, train tracks line the edge of the property and a train rolled by while we were on the 12th hole. So, there are a lot of the distractions to deal with while golfing here.

The course is a parkland style layout that should be easy to walk most days. Nagivating the challenging design isn’t as easy though. We played the black tees which are 72.5/142/6612 and Great Blue has plenty of water in play. By my count water or wetlands areas come into play on twelve holes. In a way, Great Blue plays like a Florida course – just with different scenery.

All that water helps create the best holes on Great Blue. I think the par-3’s and par-5’s are excellent. There are some good par-4’s as well. The par-3 4th, at 150 yards, was my favorite hole on the front nine. The tee shot needs to carry a hazard and that hazard curls around the right side of the green. You can miss long or left, but then you’ll be chipping back towards the water. The back nine has the 12th hole, a 526 yard par-5, which is the best driving hole on the course because of water to the right. Then, the par-3 15th is similar to the 4th hole since it goes across more water.

I’m glad I made it back for another round on Great Blue. There might be a temptation to look down on the course since it is a municipal course, but I wouldn’t. The design is as good as anything I’ve seen from RTJ Jr., so as long as you can put up with the noisy surroundings I’d recommend a round here if you are in Portland. However, Great Blue is a clear step below Langdon, Pumpkin and the Reserve when it comes to public choices in the area.

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