On Saturday afternoon my friend and I ventured back to Lewis River Golf Course. We played here in 2012 and I recall enjoying the course. One of my hopes this trip was to re-visit some courses in the Portland area that I’d played in the past.

We had a 4pm time on what turned out to be a breezy, but perfect, summer afternoon – think 80 degrees and endless sunshine. Lewis River Golf Course is about a half hour from Portland, located on the (you guessed it) Lewis River. The river doesn’t come into play, but you do get nice views of it on the 17th and 18th holes.

The course started out as nine holes and with the front nine being the original nine. The front is shorter with a more classic look and has some old-school charm, including small back-to-front sloping greens. The front plays only 2,973 yards from the blue tees and has just one of the course’s four par-5’s.

The back nine is more modern with longer holes, playing 3,499 yards with a beastly 647 yard par-5! The back nine has larger, more interesting green complexes. I found the greens on the back nine quite fun to putt as you can end up with a couple roller coaster putts.

Both times we’ve played here we’ve played the blue tees which are 71.0/127/6472. The scorecard would indicate that Lewis River would be an easier course, but I haven’t found that to be the case. In fact, I’ve found the course to be quite difficult because I don’t hit a straight tee shot.

What makes Lewis River so dang tough are all the narrow golf holes. You don’t need driver until you get to the back nine, but no matter what club you hit off the tee you better find the fairway. The fairways are narrow and I paced off a couple of them at only 20 yards wide. I feel it is one of those places that needs to be opened up some with the growth of the trees over the years.

The 17th is the course’s signature hole and it alone probably necessitates a play at Lewis River for the Portland golfer. The 17th is a gorgeous par-3 that backs up to the river. The river is behind the tee box and you play over a hazard. The hole is beautifully landscaped and the colors were popping in the evening sunlight. The green is deep with a tricky back tier.

The conditions were decent for $33, but nothing to write home about. I recalled the maintenance here being much better in 2012, but this time things were only “okay”. There were spots of summer stress, inconsistent lies and plenty of weeds in the turf. The greens were the best part of the maintenance and rolled well with a sneaky amount of speed.

I have mixed feelings about Lewis River. On one hand it is a good value, a nice walk and the setting is beautiful. However, the course just doesn’t fit my eye (or my game). With a little work it could be a borderline hidden gem, but for now I’ll call it a budget option.

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