Went to Portland area for golf trip and played on 7/13 and 7/14.

I want to personally thank Nickesquire for some detailed insight and reviews on all the courses in the Portland area. Using his re... Continue »

Went to Portland area for golf trip and played on 7/13 and 7/14.

I want to personally thank Nickesquire for some detailed insight and reviews on all the courses in the Portland area. Using his reviews as a guide plus a personalized run down of the 4 courses we chose was valuable! This was course #4.

This was our last course on our 2 day (36 holes a day) golf binge in Oregon/Portland.
The course is semi-private so it had that feel to it as soon as you drive up. Happy Hour is one of the best deals around, so take advantage before or after the round. Just don't stuff your face like we did and get food coma on hole #1. Greens were in great shape running @ 10. Fairways and rough and the 200 traps were well maintained. The layout of the this course was tricky with many red stakes all over the holes in the back 9. Our group had a tough time playing this course and scoring. Customer service was fantastic!

I got to play in a scramble tourney on 8/12 and, as scramble tourneys tend to be, it was a slower round than normal (5 1/2 hours) but great fun. The course is in great condition, as always, and the s... Continue »

I got to play in a scramble tourney on 8/12 and, as scramble tourneys tend to be, it was a slower round than normal (5 1/2 hours) but great fun. The course is in great condition, as always, and the staff is very friendly. The free beer cart didn't hurt the situation and our group went bogey free for the entire round.

Beautiful, challenging and pristine all describe this venue and I recommend it any time you have the opportunity to play here.

3rd time playing here, and I am beginning to get a handle on some of the sight lines. Your normal inclination is to aim away from bunkers. However, on a course with close to 150 sand traps, that is of... Continue »

3rd time playing here, and I am beginning to get a handle on some of the sight lines. Your normal inclination is to aim away from bunkers. However, on a course with close to 150 sand traps, that is often not feasible here. Through trial and error, I have found that on numerous holes that certain fairway bunkers are THE prime aim spot for me because I can actually go over some of the ones that look so ominous from the blue tee box. If you try and avoid some of the fairway bunkers, the design funnels your aim/shot toward even bigger trouble. The fairway bunkers on the right edge of the fairway on holes #1, #10, #12 & #13 are examples of where a longer hitter can just go over them and open up the amount of fairway landing area appreciably in my opinion. Played the blues (6809/73.0/139) & got in 27 holes in 5.5 hours on an excellent prepaid Golf Now deal that included a cart for $42.99, teeing off @ 327pm. As the rating and slope indicate, there are probably 7-9 holes on the South Course that you can post a big number on in a heartbeat as soon as you get crooked or hit one fat... The fairways and rough are immaculately maintained, although I noticed more fairway divot issues than on previous rounds here. Although that could also have been because I was actually IN alot more fairways than previous visits here as well... The big, undulating greens rolled well and were firm & medium fast. I also noticed and fixed many more ball marks than on previous visits here. There must have been alot of play today, because the traps were also not as well maintained, seemed like every trap I was in had one or more sets of unraked footprints. The tees are generally good to very good, a few par 3's had a decent amount of divots that needed repairing. Customer service is always a ++ here, and they have a very visible, well stocked beverage cart that will usually hit you at least 2-3 times per round. Played my best round of the three trips here, but I thought the course, while still excellent, wasn't in quite as good of shape as previous visits. However, it's easily one of the best public courses in the Greater Portland area.

There are two separate 18 hole courses here that rotate back and forth from "members only" to public. The entire atmosphere feels very much like the private country club that half of the course real... Continue »

There are two separate 18 hole courses here that rotate back and forth from "members only" to public. The entire atmosphere feels very much like the private country club that half of the course really is.

I played in a scramble tourney that started at 1:30 PM and most of the round was dry and comfortable but the last 3 holes was a downpour. Until then, the course was in excellent condition. The tees, fairways, traps, rough and greens are very well maintained. Lots of trees, water and traps to keep you honest.

Overall a very tough but fair track that I always feel challenged by and look forward to playing again and again.

Played the blues, 6809/73.0/139, teed of @ 3:45. Got a $45 with a cart midweek, twilight internet special offered by the club. Enjoyed a nice 18 holes with Joe, a club employee, then 9 by myself & fin... Continue »

Played the blues, 6809/73.0/139, teed of @ 3:45. Got a $45 with a cart midweek, twilight internet special offered by the club. Enjoyed a nice 18 holes with Joe, a club employee, then 9 by myself & finished @ 8:45. 5H to play 27 holes, so the pace of play was excellent. Great layout that has hosted Senior PGA events in the past, the back is tighter and the tougher of the two nines. The greens have healed nicely from their recent aeration. Medium fast and a little bumpy late in the day, but still rolled excellent. The fairways and the rough were very nicely maintained, as were the tees. The fairway bunkers on #1 & #3 were being redone and were played as ground under repair. That was the only negative on the whole course. The clubhouse, pro shop and the customer service from all the employees I dealt with was excellent. A much less pricey alternative to Pumpkin Ridge if you desire to play a top notch golf course in the greater Portland area. I look forward to coming back and playing the South course again, in addition to the North course I have yet to play.

The previous reviews of sngernz & livegolf were both very well written and captured the essence of this course well, it prepared me for what I was in for. Played the blues (6805, 73.0/139) in 25-30 mp... Continue »

The previous reviews of sngernz & livegolf were both very well written and captured the essence of this course well, it prepared me for what I was in for. Played the blues (6805, 73.0/139) in 25-30 mph winds, which was way too much golf course for me on this particular day (Maybe any day).

The layout is pretty. Most fairways have 5-6 fairway bunkers that look intimidating, but most of the fairways are not as tight as they appear from the tee. Most of the greens have 3-5 traps, and these are not ordinary traps, they are much deeper than the average golfer plays and many times, you may have to go OVER ANOTHER green side trap to go @ the hole depending on where the pin is. Today, I was in 6 green side traps, and a couple of times had 6'+ bunker faces to go over to a tight pin.

There are more than enough lateral and yellow hazards to keep you honest, and many of the holes encourage you to turn the ball to get it in the proper position.

The greens were firm and fast, a bad combination in high winds. The fairways were lush to very lush. The rough was mowed down and was lush, I could play most irons from 5 up out OK. The tees were very well maintained, and the massive traps were in excellent condition.

I would estimate that on a normal day and normal golf course, I would have broken 85 the way I played today. Here, in these winds, I had a 98. I look forward to coming back and playing in less windy conditions and seeing if the high 80's are attainable for me.

Beautiful clubhouse, the cart gal was present several times, the tee times were right on time, everything about this place was ++.

The Reserve Vinyards Golf Club Review
Portland Oregon Golf Course Reviews

I played the North Course years ago, but I had never played the South Course before so this was on my list to play while in Portland this week (played here on 08/29/12). The Reserve Vineyards and Golf... Continue »

I played the North Course years ago, but I had never played the South Course before so this was on my list to play while in Portland this week (played here on 08/29/12). The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club has to be one of the top public 36 hole facilities in the Northwest because of the conditioning and layouts and the courses are always highly ranked courses in Oregon. Over the last couple years I have enjoyed playing John Fought designs and I was anxious to play the South Course that he designed here where there is some history, Tom Watson shot a 62 here in 2003 during the final round the Jeld-Wen Tradition. The front 9 has a parkland feel to it while the back is more secluded in the trees and numerous creeks come into play. I cannot say that there is a standout hole until getting to the back 9 and then there are a few to pick from. I played from the Blue tees (73.0/139/6809) and the stretch from #6 to #8 (582 par 5, 222 par 3, and 467 par 4) was as much distance as I could handle. The nice thing is that even with all that length there were still five short par 4's with a wedge into the green. Hole #10, #11, and #17 all could be signature holes in my opinion, but my favorite was #11 which was a 194 yard uphill par 3 that was framed by bunkers short of the green, a creek right of the green, and Northwest trees behind the green. Typical of most John Fought designs the course was forgiving off the tee and even with 5 or 6 fairway bunkers on each hole I did not have any trouble driving the golf ball in play. The difficulty came from deep greenside bunkers, uneven lies in the fairway, false fronts on the greens, and very firm and fast greens with many slopes. The greens were a pleasure to putt on and rolled true. The difficult approaches seem consistent with other Fought courses that I have played, but it seems that the South Course was a little more difficult on the approaches than his other designs. Other features that I liked included shared fairways and shared greens, something that if used occasionally I think can be a good idea, and that the course would have been an easy walk. I did not care for the false fronts as I found myself trying to hit the perfect shot to get it close which brought trouble into play and I did not think the course was very easy to play for the first time. Overall, it is worth a play (just do not expect to score unless hitting the irons very well) and the pace of play mid-week was great at 3.5 hours. I paid $65 to ride during the week, which is not cheap, but considering that Pumpkin is quite a bit more expensive the Reserve is a good value for a premium course in Portland.

The Reserve Vinyards Golf Club Review
Portland Oregon Golf Course Reviews

Played the South course on 6/11/12 on day two of the Road Trip (thanks, Ed) on a gorgeous Portland day, paired with a local guy who could really bomb it. Read edlee99's review to get a feel for the c... Continue »

Played the South course on 6/11/12 on day two of the Road Trip (thanks, Ed) on a gorgeous Portland day, paired with a local guy who could really bomb it. Read edlee99's review to get a feel for the course, which is spot on. Conditions were country club perfect, greens rolling quick and true. Layout challenging, fun, and fair ... Would play here again in a heartbeat. Senior rates available. Funny thing: driving range has grass areas for 'members' and mats for 'non-members' and separate putting greens, as well. I guess membership has it's advantages ... Don't get me wrong, the people there were very friendly and if you are in the area, it's a must play.

The Reserve Vinyards Golf Club Review
Portland Oregon Golf Course Reviews

As has been mentioned, the entire facility is top notch. From the clubhouse, to the range, to the staff, to the restaurant and the courses. It's a semi-private facility with 2 courses (North & South... Continue »

As has been mentioned, the entire facility is top notch. From the clubhouse, to the range, to the staff, to the restaurant and the courses. It's a semi-private facility with 2 courses (North & South). The 1st half of the month (1st - 15th), the South is open to the public and the North is only for members. 2nd half of the month is switched. The South course has 120+ bunkers with a few double greens and a fair number of trees. Many of the bunkers have steep faces, so it's important to keep your ball out of there. Having a yardage book is very helpful the 1st few times around to know where the bunkers come into play off the tee and for layups, but the course is pretty straightforward. Much less quirky than the North course. The greens are fairly large and pretty easy to read, not too tricky. There is a fair amount of undulation, but the slopes are well defined.

Overall, it's a big golf course. Pleny of room to hit driver on most holes. The tight holes do have bail out areas, so it's not an overly penal course other than all the bunkers. The South is my favorite of the 2 courses and conditions (especially in the Summer and Fall) are some of the best in the area. It's very comparable to Pumpkin Ridge at about half the price. That being said, the Reserve is priced as a "premium" golf course in comparison to the rest of the Portland/Vancouver area. You definitely get what you pay for. For most of us, it's not a place we can afford to play every week, but we'll surely look forward to playing there a few times a year.

In the winter, conditions are typically slightly above average for the area. There are better courses to play in the winter and I usually don't consider playing the Reserve until things dry out in the Spring or early Summer.