Eagle Landing's Shamrock Shootout

Eagle Landing is hosting the Shamrock Shootout on Saturday, March 13th. The tournament is $18 per player, and is a 2-man Scramble. We played in their last tournament, and they are a blast! Here are the details straight from from Eagle Landing:

Get ready for Eagle Landing Golf Course's March Tournament!

It's a 2-Person Scramble with a wee bit o' Irish theme.

The entry fee is $18 and covers your golf, lunch and flag prizes. We'll also have cheap beers ($1) and a nice selection of Irish beers ($3) available.

If you're interested in competing in the tournament, call our Pro Shop at 503-698-7888. We'll add you and your partner's names to the list and you can pay on the day of the tournament.

Registration closes on March 9th, and spots are limited, so be sure to sign up as soon as possible!

NWGG Travels: Old Blue Course at Wailea in Maui

Recently, I had the opportunity to play the Old Blue Course at Wailea. The oldest of the three courses at Wailea, there is a unique feel to this course that is different from any course I have ever played. While there are no holes bordering the beach, ocean views on all eighteen holes leave no doubt that you are playing in Hawaii. In particular, the view on the 12th Hole Par 3 is stunning. An elevated Par 3, you have a 270 degree view of the ocean in front of you. Since the city of Wailea was literally built around the Old Blue Course, the layout of the course is unimpeded by its surroundings. The first hole provides an excellent example of the array of plants and wildlife - particularly the birds - that you will encounter on Old Blue. With extreme elevation changes throughout, Wailea Old Blue will test gofers of all skill levels.

Old Blue at Wailea is one of the most wallet friendly courses on the island. Like most courses on Maui, there is a locals only rate, as well as a tourist rate, so if you can get on with a local, you can save a few dollars. Rental clubs are available on site, and again, are very reasonable. I was given a set of Nike CCI irons, and Sasquatch drivers. If you are only playing one round, this is the way to go. While it may cost a bit more to rent clubs at the course, it is generally worth it to rent at the course, versus at a rental shop off site. You may save some money, but the quality of club, or lack thereof at discount rental shops may take away from your experience of the course.

While Old Blue is an outstanding Hawaiian course, the age of the course does show in a few spots. For starters, the course does not have an in ground sprinkler system, so there are times that a hose will be running through the fairway. It never interfered with my play, but there were instances where a ball could have come to a stop due to a hose, costing a few precious yards. Also, the carts were a bit on the older side, however GPS came standard in all carts. If you want to warm up, you need to head to either the Emerald or Gold course. The Old Blue course has no driving range, although there are a couple of boxes available to swing into.

As you walk up to the clubhouse, you walk through an alleyway with the clubhouse on the right, and Mulligan's Bar on the left. As far as 19th Holes go, Mulligan's is top notch. A rare Irish bar in Hawaii, Mulligans provides great food, and of course Irish beer. The pro shop is on the smaller side, but does have the usual items - golf balls, hats, shirts, etc. There are a few putters, but not much in the way of equipment. Visit the Wailea Old Blue website at http://www.waileaoldblue.com for more information.

Portland Golf Show coming soon!

The Portland Golf Show is a little more than two weeks away, and we urge you to take advantage of the opportunity to check it out. For those that have never been, its a great place to interact with some of the best people in the business locally. From Head Professionals to Club Fitters and Brand Reps, there is no larger collection of the golf community in Oregon and SW Washington. the Portland Golf Show runs from Friday, February 12th to Sunday, February 14th. Look for the NW Golf Guys roaming the aisles on Friday morning, and possibly Saturday as well. Stop us in the halls and mention that you saw this blog posting for a special prize from NWGolfGuys.com!

The Portland Golf Show runs February 12th-14th, and costs $10 at the door. You can also buy them online to avoid the lines and save a bit. they are giving away a pair of free rounds for showing up, a 2-for-1 coupon and a subscription to Golf Digest, so the cost of entry pays for itself and then some!

Check out the Portland Golf Show's website HERE.

Tournament at Eagle Landing Golf Course

Eagle Landing Golf Course is hosting its first ever Winter Weather Showdown. Here are the details:

DATE: Saturday, January 30th
CHECK-IN: 10:30 am (tourney starts at 11:00 am)

FORMAT: It's a 2-Person Best Ball and/or Individual Stroke Play Tournament (so you can compete with a partner or by yourself - players who play with a partner compete in both prize pools)

ENTRY FEE: $15 per player (includes golf, lunch, and flag prizes)

DETAILS: We're playing regardless of the weather conditions... rain, snow, freak tornado... doesn't matter. It'll be a shotgun start. We'll have $1 beers available. Anyone is welcome. You pay when you check in, but should register by calling the Eagle Landing Pro Shop at 503-698-7888 or visiting the event page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=251841255859 so we can make sure you're on the list.

You can view our Eagle Landing review HERE. Sounds like fun!

Winter Rules: Chahelem Glenn Golf Course

Welcome to Winter Rules, where we look at how our local courses are holding up during the winter months. This week, we take a look at Chehalem Glenn Golf Course in Newberg, OR. This particular round was played on Christmas Eve, and was fittingly frost delayed. In the Northwest, if it’s actually dry around the holidays, then temperatures are likely freezing, and so was the case during our visit. By 10:15am, golfers were finally given the green light, and sent off the front and back side simultaneously to minimize further delays from the frost. Indeed, the greens were thawed by first putt.

Chehalem Glenn, being a newcomer to Portland area golf, has been well built to withstand plenty of rainfall. With much of the course situated on rolling, hilly terrain, moisture naturally drains toward out-of-bounds areas and hazards. This allows much of the playable areas that are lower-lying to remain relatively dry. The flatter hole layouts tend to be located on the higher elevated portions of the golf course, where saturation is naturally less of a factor. It’s also notable that Chehalem Glenn is surrounded by a wealthy amount of forested area which also plays an important role in maintaining stable earth.

It’s safe to say that (unless it’s a particularly rainy time) you will not plug in Chehalem Glenn’s fairways. In fact, throughout the entire course, we only spotted a couple areas that were soggy enough to plug; most notably, the elbow of Hole 9’s dogleg where 2 adjacent hillsides converge. To be able to pinpoint just one specific area of saturation on a NW course in December puts Chehalem Glenn at the top of our Winter Rules destinations. The greens were slightly moist due to the thawing of the frost and temperatures too cold to evaporate the surface wetness. But overall, they have remained dry enough to stay in good shape and provide a respectably true roll. Visit our in-season review of Chehalem Glenn Golf Course HERE.