Played 18 with cart for $47 on a Tuesday at 8:30am in 4 1/2 hours. Course is in decent shape and so well watered that carts were required to use 90 degree access to your ball. Some tees had quite a ... Continue »

Played 18 with cart for $47 on a Tuesday at 8:30am in 4 1/2 hours. Course is in decent shape and so well watered that carts were required to use 90 degree access to your ball. Some tees had quite a few divots marks but still very playable and often shots ended up in fairway divots that demonstrate not many players are repairing them.

This is still a very challenging and fun course and I enjoy it every time I play.

Walked the blues (6491/71.9/137) in 4.5H on Veteran's Day afternoon on a prepaid Golf Now Hot Deal for $15. Played as a 3some & waited nearly every shot on the 3some in front of us in very windy condi... Continue »

Walked the blues (6491/71.9/137) in 4.5H on Veteran's Day afternoon on a prepaid Golf Now Hot Deal for $15. Played as a 3some & waited nearly every shot on the 3some in front of us in very windy conditions, 30-50 mph gusts kept most of the golfers away. The greens putted really nice, firm and medium fast. Definitely well above average for a city course. There are many pin positions on these greens where you better be on the correct level or side of the pin, or a 3 putt is likely. The fairways were nicely maintained with generally lush lies. However, due to the wet conditions, the ball would plug easily. The rough was lush and the ball would settle down. It was tough to advance more than a middle iron on most shots if you missed the fairway. I hit numerous 5 and 6 iron 2nd shots just setting up a wedge/chip on my 3rd shot. The combination of wet conditions and very high winds made reaching many holes in regulation impossible if you missed the fairway. The tees were decent, above average for a public course that gets a lot of play. The only thing below average was the sand traps, they were downright poor. They could use some new, additional sand and they had not been raked/maintained in at least a couple of days. Challenging layout with zero homes that you can see from anywhere on this course. Occasionally you will have railroad or racetrack noise, but this track and it's sister Greenbelt course (not as demanding in my opinion) are pretty isolated considering they are less than 10 miles from downtown Portland along the Columbia River. This layout has lots of red/yellow hazards (combination of wooded areas, lakes & marshland) that you have to avoid on nearly every hole, plus an above average amount of sand traps. Only a few holes have water stations and there was no drink/food cart. This course is definitely worth playing, especially for under $20.

Got out with nickesquire on tuesday morning. Everything he wrote I second. I think it will play alot faster when the course dries out.

Got out with nickesquire on tuesday morning. Everything he wrote I second. I think it will play alot faster when the course dries out.

Enjoyed an early A.M. round with tocho261 on a Golfnow prepaid deal for $19. We walked the blues (6491/71.9/137) in 4H, teeing off a little after 6 and finishing a little after 10. Challenging layout... Continue »

Enjoyed an early A.M. round with tocho261 on a Golfnow prepaid deal for $19. We walked the blues (6491/71.9/137) in 4H, teeing off a little after 6 and finishing a little after 10. Challenging layout that is currently in good condition. Lots of red/yellow hazards that are lakes or marshland that you need to avoid, plus an above average amount of traps as well. There are zero homes that you can see from anywhere on this course, occasionally you will have railroad or racetrack noise, but this track and it's sister Greenbelt course (shorter & easier in my opinion) are pretty isolated considering they are less than 10 miles from downtown Portland along the Columbia River. The greens putted really nice, firm and medium fast. Definitely well above average for a city course and some of the nicest greens I have recently played on. Both the fairways and rough were nicely maintained, you generally had lush lies. There are several areas on different holes that are brown that they were soaking, trying to get green again, but overall, both were very good. The tees were decent, above average for a public course that gets alot of play. The only thing below average was the sand traps. They could use some new, additional sand and had not been raked/maintained in at least a couple of days. Only a few holes have water and there was no drink/food cart, luckily it was a cool, overcast morning. But this course is worth playing, especially for under $20.

For a public course that gets a ton of play and with the recent drought conditions, the course is still very playable despite a few thin spots on fairways and rough. A few fairways areas were overwat... Continue »

For a public course that gets a ton of play and with the recent drought conditions, the course is still very playable despite a few thin spots on fairways and rough. A few fairways areas were overwatered and balls plugged as a result but it was rare. The rough after the first cut is long and wiry.

The greens were the best part of the course though 1 or 2 had bare spots on the edges. They were mostly smooth although I repaired more than several ball marks on just about every green. The greens are quite large and undulating and the breaks ranged from very subtle to quite severe.

There is a large grass driving range, chipping and putting areas and even a second 18 hole course on site. There is a large bar/eating area but with limited food options. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable.

In my view, this is definitely a top ten value in the Portland area.

Heron Lakes Golf Club Review
Portland Oregon Golf Course Reviews

This course is ran by the city of Portland & gets alot of play. Lots of water and tall grass that are just waiting to add strokes to your scorecard in droves if you are not straight and accurate from ... Continue »

This course is ran by the city of Portland & gets alot of play. Lots of water and tall grass that are just waiting to add strokes to your scorecard in droves if you are not straight and accurate from tee to green on many holes. The greens are big and undulating with subtle to moderate break on most putts.

The greens were definitely not as good as they were several weeks ago when I first played here, the whole area could use some rain... still firm/medium fast but many were bumpy today. Several tees, fairways and rough areas had burned spots from the recent heat wave, but it looked like they were watering aggressively and trying to keep them to a minimum. This leads to some areas of the fairway where the your tee shot will back up or plug, and other areas where the ball will run 50-75 yards and you usually cannot tell from the tee which to expect.

Overall, the fairways & rough were decent, but most holes had a few areas that were obviously not in as good a condition as areas close by. The tees are more than adequate but nothing to brag about. The traps were generally in good condition and had been recently raked.

One of the better public courses in the Portland area, it will definitely stay in my rotation.

Heron Lakes Golf Club Review
Portland Oregon Golf Course Reviews

First time on the Robert Trent Jones, Jr. design. City of Portland course. Enjoyed a nice mid-day round with LongTee 400. I think if we were keeping score, the official tally was golf course 2, Ed and... Continue »

First time on the Robert Trent Jones, Jr. design. City of Portland course. Enjoyed a nice mid-day round with LongTee 400. I think if we were keeping score, the official tally was golf course 2, Ed and Nick 0 on this day! Let's just say they accurately named this course the Great Blue, because water is abundant on the majority of the holes. 139 slope from the blacks, 137 from the blues, 131 from the whites.

There are challenging sight lines and forced carries, usually over water on many holes. While there are a decent amount of mature trees, this is a links style course. The tree lines are cut back well away from the course boundaries, it was calm yesterday, but I was advised by one of the locals that the lack of tree barrier around the outside of the course often produces very gusty conditions... just what you want when deciding what iron to play over a lake! While most holes are not overly tight, EVERY hole has deep rough that is an almost sure lost ball grown up knee to waist deep if you get too far off the beaten path.

Due to several recent days of close to 100 degree temperatures, there were several burned spots on a few greens, tee boxes and fairways. However, from my perspoective, the spots did not interfer with playability. The greens were big and undulating with lots of severe to subtle breaks. Longest putt I made AD was probably 4', I couldn't convince myself to play the short ones that far outside the hole and was underplaying the break consistently. The greens rolled very well, smooth and medium fast. Several greens had pins that you absolutely could not be on the wrong side of the hole, 9 & 12 come to mind. The fairways were generally lush, but had alot of divot marks. The tees were level and generally lush, except that many had moderate to severe unfixed divot damage. The rough was generally lush except for the burned spots. Sand traps were well maintained with thick, heavy sand.

The course was busy but very efficient in keeping the tee times rolling on time. Both the Marshall and Cart gal were visible and doing their jobs well. Very challenging layout that I found thoroughly enjoyable. I will definitely come back here and try the sister course, the Greenback (supposedly not as difficult) as well.

Heron Lakes Golf Club Review
Portland Oregon Golf Course Reviews

Reasonably well maintained public course that gets a lot of play and it shows. Plenty of divots on tee boxes and fairways. Greens have a fair amount of ball marks. It was over watered and had some ... Continue »

Reasonably well maintained public course that gets a lot of play and it shows. Plenty of divots on tee boxes and fairways. Greens have a fair amount of ball marks. It was over watered and had some spongy areas that inhibited roll out.

Despite the conditions, the course is well designed and extremely challenging with some tight and some wide open holes, most of which are defended by either trees, water, sand or undulating greens.

There is a good grass driving range and chipping and putting areas. In my view, this is one of the top 5 public courses in the Portland area and I always look forward to playing here.

Heron Lakes Golf Club Review
Portland Oregon Golf Course Reviews

Was looking forward to playing this course today. Got out at 656 finished around 10. Pace of play was good. I was disappointed in the condition of the fairways, a lot of divots on the course. Greens w... Continue »

Was looking forward to playing this course today. Got out at 656 finished around 10. Pace of play was good. I was disappointed in the condition of the fairways, a lot of divots on the course. Greens were fast as course dried up. People need to fill in their divots they make I was in about 10 divots off the tee. Will wait to play here again.

Heron Lakes Golf Club Review
Portland Oregon Golf Course Reviews