Tetherow GC

Bend, OR  (5 1/2 hours NE of Bandon)

www.tetherow.com/sites/courses/tetherow.asp?id=605&page=32670

  Tetherow's 17th

Tetherow Golf Club: You can now enjoy David McLay Kidd's Oregon stunner without limits
by Joe Passov, Golf.com/Golf Magazine

Two years ago we named Tetherow Golf Club in Bend, Oregon, the "Best New Course You Can Play," but there was one caveat: you had to play it soon, because it was going private. Public-access golfers can thank the slump in real estate sales for keeping the gate open to all.

If you're a fan of cleverly — some might say fiendishly — contoured greens, links-style fairway turf and glorious mountain panoramas, Tetherow is your kind of place. Kidd's ambitious layout is draped across two different ridgelines in view of nine mountain peaks. While the scenery is sublime, the challenges are relentless, primarily in the form of fast-running fairways that demand ground-game prowess and a set of dramatically contoured greens that will vex, amuse and frustrate even the most skilled putters.

Once you battle through the dramatic, 182-yard 17th, which plays to a dry island green, and the risk/reward 588-yard 18th, the bargain replay rate of $60 will lure you right back to the fight.


Tetherow Golf Club

by Brandon Tucker

In the year that David McLay Kidd is debuting his much-awaited Castle Course at St. Andrews, it’s to be expected that another of his fledgling courses, the Tetherow Golf Club, would generate far less buzz. But this sporty layout, covering craggy high-desert terrain, also merits lavish praise. Tall pines frame some of the holes, but much of the acreage was ravaged by wildfire fifteen years ago, leaving open expanses that the Scotsman used to linksy effect. He created firm and wide fescue fairways pitted with penal bunkers and greens that invite run-up approaches. The most remarkable aspect of the course, though, is the plethora of playing options it presents. The par-four sixth, with its twin upper and lower fairways, is a dare-it-or-don’t driving hole. You can play safe to the upper fairway on the right and face a long second shot or try to reach the small, lake-guarded landing area of the lower fairway in hopes of having just a wedge into the green. The course will be part of a private resort community, and plans also call for a hotel to open within the next few years, at which time only residents and overnight guests will be allowed to play Tetherow. Until then, all are welcome.

Best Bar Nearby:  Downtown Bend's Deschutes Brewery (www.deschutesbrewery.com) makes almost everything on site, including sausage, and there are 18 taps. Try the X-tap; it's Deschutes' featured beer.

See Also:  Central / Bend OR Golf Weekend