Winter Rules: Langdon Farms Golf Club

Welcome to the first installment of "Winter Rules", your guide to Northwest winter golf. While we are just about done adding course pages for the 2009 golf season, we will be updating our blog to reflect course conditions throughout the winter months. The first installment of "Winter Rules" will be Langdon Farms Golf Club in Aurora, Oregon.

Langdon Farms is generally considered an upper tier golf course in the Portland area, and even at this stage of the year, it does not dissapoint. The course is not showing any sign of the blistering summer months preceding, such as burn out or dead areas. The tall grass that is a staple of Langdon Farms has been cut down already, which takes away a bit of the challenge from the course. However, if your ball lands in the remnants of the grass, its still no easy task to get out clean. Due to the damp weather, a few ruts were left behind by a golf cart or a mower on the side hills, but they were few and far between. Drainage was not an issue. When we played, they had recently punched the greens, but they seem to be healing nicely, and should show no signs of aeration in the next few weeks.

Playing Langdon Farms Golf Club in October can be a treat, as the course holds up extremely well throughout the summer months. With winter rates in play, you can get on the course for less than half of their peak rates, and still enjoy a top notch round of golf. Be sure to check their website for "Last Chance Deals". You can find better rates on their home website than discount tee time website in many cases. You can see our review of Langdon Farms HERE.

Watch Portland native and OSU Golf Team member Vincent Johnson on Big Break: Disney Golf

Congratulations to Portland's Vincent Johnson. The Oregon State Beavers Mens Golf team player will be featured on "Big Break: Disney Golf" this season. Filmed at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL, Vincent will be competing for the top prize, an exemption at the PGA Tour's PGA Tour’s Children’s Miracle Network Classic. For more info on Vincent check out this bio at the OGA's website: http://bit.ly/bsmBU. Big Break: Disney Golf premiers tonight at 10pm. Good luck Vincent!

Heron Lakes named to 2010 Golf World Readers Choice List

GOLF WORLD ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF 2010 READERS’ CHOICE AWARDS

Heron Lakes Golf Club Ranked No. 38 Public Facility

PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 6, 2009 – The second annual Golf World Reader’s Choice Awards have been announced, which recognized the 50 best private, public and resort golf facilities in the country. Heron Lakes Golf Club in Portland, Ore., was ranked as No. 38 among public facilities and was one of two Oregon golf courses to be named to the public facility list. The rankings are based solely on the input of Golf World readers in an online ballot format.

Golf World readers were asked to evaluate the nation’s golf facilities in three distinct categories—private, public and resort—based on 13 different performance criteria, including quality of the course, course conditions, reputation/prestige and service. More than 46,000 individual facility ratings were received.

“We are thrilled that the readers at Golf World have recognized Heron Lakes Golf Club as being among the best public courses in the nation,” said Stewart Koch, Heron Lakes Golf Club General Manager. “This honor is a true testament to the loyal customers we have in the region and we are very proud.”

To determine the overall rankings, the ratings that were received by each facility in each of the 13 performance categories were totaled and then balanced to fit on a 100 point scale. The awards are listed in the September 28 issue of the magazine. The full list, including special online-only sections, can be viewed at http://www.golfworld.com/.

Heron Lakes Golf Club, owned by Portland Parks and Recreation and managed by Northbrook, Ill.-based KemperSports since 2008, is a 36-hole Robert Trent Jones Jr. facility located within the City of Portland. Heron Lakes’ two courses, the Greenback and the Great Blue, have been considered among Portland’s best since the facility first opened in 1972. Heron Lakes also features an all-grass driving range, practice bunker, and putting green.
Other KemperSports properties that were listed among the best public courses include Independence Golf Club (No. 3), Sand Creek Station (No. 8), Hiddenbrooke (No. 9), Falcon Ridge (No. 17), Desert Willow Golf Resort (No. 25), Chambers Bay (No. 29) and Bolingbrook Golf Club (No. 28).

For more information, contact Heron Lakes Golf Club at (503) 289-1818 or at http://www.heronlakesgolf.com/.