Played 5/22 on a beautiful Spring (finally) day. The fairways had not been mowed in at least a week. The rough was cut recently though grass trimmings were not bagged. Rough was still very thick so... Continue »

Played 5/22 on a beautiful Spring (finally) day. The fairways had not been mowed in at least a week. The rough was cut recently though grass trimmings were not bagged. Rough was still very thick so it made it very difficult to find balls in the rough. Many bunkers had weeds growing in them. Greens were ok. This is a muni course that is showing neglect and mismanagement. Sure, the course is still a bit soft but so are all courses in the area. It's unclear if this is out of incompetence or $/personnel issues. I can say it's far below the level of Portland muni courses. Plus, making tee times requires prepayment of greens fees at booking whether it's by phone or via their web site. It appears that GolfNow handles all their bookings and you have to pay a booking view on the web site. No other course in the area (to my knowledge) require prepayment of greens fees.

I have such great memories of this course from the first few years it was open. It's a challenging, hilly layout. Some of the toughness has been softened a bit over the years, but the conditions have really fallen off dramatically. I've played out here less and less over the years, but after seeing the state of the course this weekend, I will not make an effort to play here at all.

I played out here this morning. Of the courses I was considering, this one looked interesting to me and I couldn't pass up a killer $15 GN hot deal at 8:06! It didn't included a cart, but I enjoyed wa... Continue »

I played out here this morning. Of the courses I was considering, this one looked interesting to me and I couldn't pass up a killer $15 GN hot deal at 8:06! It didn't included a cart, but I enjoyed walking because it kept me warm on a cold, foggy morning. It did take everything in me to resist trying out a Golf Board rental here, which is $25. Didn't seem like the right time to give it a go. I joined up with another single as the second ones out behind another twosome in carts. Pace was nice at just under 3.5 hours.

The course was in great shape. Tee boxes, fairways and rough are all lush and green with consistent coverage throughout. Fairways seem to drain well, so there weren't many soggy/mushy spots. The greens were soft and rolling smooth at medium speeds. They punched about a month ago and are pretty much healed. The back nine greens showed more remnants of the punch than the front, but it didn't affect anything. The bunkers were mixed. There was a maintenance guy going around and fluffing them up with the tractor, but he didn't seem to be doing them all. One I found was just firm and muddy. The other was damp, but good.

This course is a hidden gem in my opinion, especially for the value I got today. Even though I couldn't fully enjoy the scenery with the dense fog, I could tell how pretty it was. Hilly and tree-lined, but mostly forgiving off the tee and around greens. There are some tough forced carries to contend with. Nick's older review detailed some of the changes they've made to a handful of holes in order to soften the layout a bit. The guy I played with is a regular here and didn't seem to care for some changes. Another guy I played with later seemed in favor of some of them, so I guess it depends who you talk to. It seems locals either don't want to go out of the way to play here or they just don't like the design because it is too challenging. I guess those are the people who are keeping Portland weird because I really liked this course and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it based on my experience!

Played Chehalem Glenn as a mid-week single in hot weather a couple weeks ago. Sent out on 10 that day, the course was wide open and I could play at any pace desired. 10-18 plays largely in beautiful... Continue »

Played Chehalem Glenn as a mid-week single in hot weather a couple weeks ago. Sent out on 10 that day, the course was wide open and I could play at any pace desired. 10-18 plays largely in beautiful forested parkland areas with not much man made intrusion. Lots of elevation change on the first few holes on this back nine. The rough can be, uh rough, but since I had never played the course before I was pretty conservative off the tee and scored very well. Fairways, greens, bunkers all good to above average. Holes 1-9 eventually meanders through pretty dense (and nice) housing, though nothing really comes into play. Very well maintained course, reasonable pricing, not too exciting, but very playable, even for someone with zero local knowledge. The clubhouse is basic, but had friendly people and all the necessities. I'd play there again.

Walked the blues (6260/71.1/137) in 4 hours, teeing off @ 1:50 on a Golfnow prepaid Hot Deal for $20. They have changed 4 holes since I last played here which has shortened the course app. 300 yards... Continue »

Walked the blues (6260/71.1/137) in 4 hours, teeing off @ 1:50 on a Golfnow prepaid Hot Deal for $20. They have changed 4 holes since I last played here which has shortened the course app. 300 yards & lowered the slope from 140 to 137 on the blues. #9 went from a very difficult dogleg left par 4 to a much shorter straight away par 4. Good for pace of play perhaps, but it went from an excellent, challenging golf hole to a crappy, short, uphill par 4. #12 they converted from a par 5 to a par 4. The tee boxes are now basically in the middle of the old fairway where a good drive was before. It is now a medium length par 4. Probably much easier for the average golfer to clear the forced carry with a driver 1st shot than a 3 wood 2nd shot, assuming they hit a good drive on the old layout. #13 went from a long, narrow par three to a much shorter par 3. Huge difference in the 3 iron I hit last summer and the SW I hit today. #17 went from a long, tough narrow par 4 to a reachable par 5. They jacked the tees back 50-60 yards and made new tees beside #18 green. Definitely easier as a shorter par 5 than a longer par 4. Overall, it's an easier course with these changes. However, if you stray into the native stuff, there are generous amounts of yellow, red and white stakes waiting to add strokes to your score quickly. Assuming you avoid all those, then 80 to 100' tall trees and knee deep in places British Open style rough await... You have to keep it in the short grass and be able to shape your shots on numerous holes to play well here, in addition to navigating the big, undulating greens. The first few holes are fairly straight forward and relatively wide open. It lulls you to sleep for what is ahead... the back nine is tighter and has more trouble and is roughly 2 strokes tougher than the front in my opinion. The big, undulating greens were fairly smooth and putted medium speed. The fairways and first cut of rough were both well maintained, you generally had good lies. Both were generally lush with a few bare spots here and there. Several short par 4's and the par 5 fairways had a decent amount of divot damage in the 100 yard area, more than I would normally expect. The tees were good even though a few had some divot damage that could use fixing. The sand traps were excellent, well maintained with yellowish to brownish, fluffy sand. The only negatives were that it was over 90 degrees when we teed off & there was a 2 club wind most of the day that was HOT. The cart gal came around twice, she could have been used more because only the four par 3's had water. This is a very challenging course to walk, constantly up/down hills plus several of next tees are a hike from the last green. The overall condition was good, better than I expected after a hot, dry summer. The customer service in the pro shop was excellent, they got me right out paired up with a 2some before my scheduled starting time.

I have reviewed this course before, but thought an update was in order. I started playing Chehalem Glenn about 4 years ago when I moved to the Portland area. The greens and course conditioning were ... Continue »

I have reviewed this course before, but thought an update was in order. I started playing Chehalem Glenn about 4 years ago when I moved to the Portland area. The greens and course conditioning were some of the best in the region at the time. Ever since then (and ever since the course superintendant left) the course conditions have gradually deteriorated. I've played Chehalem Glenn 3 times over the last month and the conditions have really gone south. The greens have been slow, soft, bumpy and spotty from unrepaired ball marks and burned out areas. The fairways have been over watered while other areas of the course are dry and burned out.

Now, I don't expect to see "country club" conditioning at a muni course, especially when we've gotten little to no rain over the last 2 months. But the conditions have become mediocre at best. Certainly not worthy of going out your way to play. I guess there's a reason why it's one of the few area courses that had tee times available this past weekend. The greens are especially disappointing. They were in better condition in the dead of winter than they have been over the last month.

Basically, I used to look forward to playing Chehalem Glenn every chance I got. Now, I'll be looking elsewhere at least until the winter. Chehalem Glenn has been one of the best courses to play in the winter. Hopefully, that will continue to be the case.

Walked the blues (6572/72.4/140) in 4 1/2 hours, teeing off @ 4:36 on their twilight rate of $22 to walk. This is a challenging course to walk, constantly up/down hills plus a couple of holes are a hi... Continue »

Walked the blues (6572/72.4/140) in 4 1/2 hours, teeing off @ 4:36 on their twilight rate of $22 to walk. This is a challenging course to walk, constantly up/down hills plus a couple of holes are a hike from the last green.

It's also a challenging course to play, as you would suspect with a 140 slope. The first few holes are fairly straight forward and relatively wide open. It lulls you to sleep for what is ahead... the back nine is tighter and has more trouble and is roughly 2 strokes tougher than the front in my opinion.

The big, undulating greens were fairly smooth but were medium slow. They could definitely have used some more speed.

The fairways and first cut of rough were both well maintained, you generally had good lies. Both were generally lush with a few bare spots here and there. Several short par 4's and the par 5 fairways had a decent amount of divot damage in the 100 yard area, more than I would normally expect.

If you stray into the native stuff, there are a generous amount of yellow, red and white stakes waiting to add strokes to your score quickly. Assuming you avoid all those, then 80 to 100' tall trees and knee deep in places British Open style rough await... You have to keep it in the short grass and be able to shape your shots on numerous holes to play well here, in addition to navigating the big, undulating greens.

The tees were good, a few had some divot damage that could use fixing. The sand traps were excellent, well maintained with yellowish to brownish, fluffy sand.

The only negatives were that it was over 90 degrees when we teed off, and there was no drink service on the course and only the four par 3's had water.

The other negative was the guy in the pro shop on the loudspeaker. He evidently thinks he is the next Johnny Miller. He was telling one group to go ahead and hit on #1, saying they couldn't reach the group in the fairway... who were at about the 130 yard mark, and those guys were playing the whites, and it's only 329 from the whites? If my math is correct, any drive over 200 yards would be into that group? Then he told another group that did wait until the previous group was inside 100 yards before they teed off that they were a hole behind on the tee, and needed to pick up the pace?

The overall condition was good, but not as good as when I played here last summer. This is definitely one of the toughest courses I have played out of the couple of dozen I have played so far around Portland since moving up here.

Really challenging course, as it's 140 slope from the Blues would indicate. The front nine is more wide open, the back nine is tighter and has trouble lurking seemingly everywhere. Big, undulating gre... Continue »

Really challenging course, as it's 140 slope from the Blues would indicate. The front nine is more wide open, the back nine is tighter and has trouble lurking seemingly everywhere. Big, undulating greens that were firm and rolled well, medium fast. The fairways, tees and rough was all lush, with a few burned looking areas here and there. The traps were well maintained with mostly fluffy sand.

There are numerous forced carries from the black/blue tees, and there is also a generous amount of red staked and OB areas, particularly on the back nine. The back has a couple of lakes that come into play on numerous holes. If you are playing the black/blue tees, better have your A game, otherwise the back nine in particular could eat you alive. Hole after hole was tight, with carries and one or both sides of the fairways staked red or white.

Dealing with the Pro shop was a ++, talked with both the Marshall and the Cart gal who were visible on the course and friendly.

Very challenging, well maintained course, I'll definitely be back.

Chehalem Glenn Golf Course Review
Portland Oregon Golf Course Reviews

Chehalem Glenn is one of the toughest public courses in the area. Lots of forced carries and big undulating greens. You have to take advantage of the first 8 holes where things are flatter and more ... Continue »

Chehalem Glenn is one of the toughest public courses in the area. Lots of forced carries and big undulating greens. You have to take advantage of the first 8 holes where things are flatter and more open than the rest of the course. Holes 9 thru 14 are the teeth of the course. Lots of those forced carries, elevation changes, tight fairways, and difficult greens.

The course is normally in very good shape. The greens used to be 'off-the-charts' outstanding, but they have dropped off in quality over the last year or so. The greens are still generally good, but more in line with other similar priced/maintained courses in the area. The practice facility is ourstanding (grass range, huge putting/chipping green) and the staff is very pleasant.

I enjoy playing here in terms of the test of golf. You have to drive the ball well to shoot a good score first and foremost. Because the course is so hard, pace of play can be slow. Most players either aren't skilled enough to enjoy the course or don't play from the best set of tees. I've never seen anyone play from the Black tees. I play from the Blues (3 hdcp, drive it 260) and it's all the course I can handle. Most folks should play the Whites or even further up to really enjoy themselves. The course is within a housing development (only noticeable on holes 5 - 8) and is run by the city of Newberg, so you get a fair number of novice golfers.

The course is a tough walk. The elevation changes from 9 thru 14 can really put some hurt on ya, so be prepared. Plenty of people walk, but just beware that it's more of a hike in the park rather than a walk. This is one of the best courses to play in the winter time. The drainage is great as all that elevation helps move water away from the playing surfaces and the entire course was redone (used to be just 9 holes) about 5 years ago, so there's modern drainage.

Overall, the course is very good value and is a stern test. It's definitely on my short list of regular places to play in the area.

For the most part, this course is in very good condition. Tees & fairways were lush and sand was predictable. There were, however, a few bumpy spots on some greens. Holes 10, 11 & 12 are very diffi... Continue »

For the most part, this course is in very good condition. Tees & fairways were lush and sand was predictable. There were, however, a few bumpy spots on some greens. Holes 10, 11 & 12 are very difficult as they ask you to cross a wide chasm (100+ yards) 3 times to blind 2nd and/or 3rd shots. Those holes aside, this is a fair and well maintained track. $44 for 18 holes, cart and a hot dog was a good value.