TIP TOP
How Sunriver and Central Oregon keep raising the bar as a leisure leader
By Bob Sherwin • CG Staff Writer
When visitors make their way to the wilderness-friendly golf entertainment center at Sunriver Resort near Bend, Ore., invariably they ask the same question the folks who run the facility ask themselves: “What’s new?”
“We’re investing in our golf courses every year,’’ said Josh Willis, Sunriver Resorts VP of Operations. “If we’re not doing something to our golf courses, then we’re going to fall behind.”
That’s what people want to hear. That’s why people have come to Central Oregon for decades. The resort’s golf courses are critical to Sunriver, and the resort has been instrumental in establishing the Greater Bend area as a time-honored tourist destination playground.
This place was once no destination for anyone, more of an obligation. It was originally a World War II training facility for combat engineers — Camp Abbott. From 1942 to 1944, thousands of soldiers rotated through the boot camps and bivouacs. The only evidence of its existence today is the officer’s quarters, which transitioned from a cattle barn to the renovated and bucolically elegant “Great Hall” on the Sunriver campus.
The first course built in the area was Meadows in 1969, a time when forest critters got their first look at men with clubs. The John Fought-designed course (Washington National, Trophy Lake) adjacent to the Sunriver Lodge put a spotlight on the area. The 7,012-yard layout, with seven holes bordering the Sun River, won numerous awards and hosted the 2006 NCAA Division I Championship. It has been named a top-10 destination for family golf, as determined by Golf Digest.
Sunriver’s 6,913-yard Woodlands Course, designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr., opened in 1981, followed by the 7,683-yard, Bob Cupp-designed Crosswater Course in 1995. Cupp and local architect Jim Ramey also designed the nine-hole, par-3 Caldera Links, opening in 2007.
When Crosswater opened, it was hailed as the best new course in America and remains on the nation’s list of the top 100 courses. It also inspired Portland businessman John Gray and the Sunriver Limited Partnership to expand amenities and activities involving the natural surroundings — fishing, boating, kayaking, hiking, biking, horseback riding, archery, swimming and general frolicking. Thousands of home sites for second homes and retirees also were sold.
“When they built Crosswater, their goal was, ‘we are a drive-market, generational resort. We want to put Sunriver on the map nationally,’” Willis said. “Crosswater was part of that strategy.”
Crosswater has a long list of tournaments it has hosted, including the PGA Professional National Championship four times, the JELD-WEN Tradition four times and a national TV event, the 1999 Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf tournament that featured Fred Couples and John Daly.
“All of these things were about awareness, bringing in people to Sunriver that would never have known about Sunriver if it were not for that golf course,” Willis added. “It reshaped the customer landscape … that’s the exposure that ensures this amazing place remains sustainable into the future.”
As for the resort’s agenda — to maintain and grow or fall behind — all the courses have had tee, green and bunker renovations and irrigation projects over the years. So much so that the resort’s original golf course, the Meadows course, has taken over some of the prestige and tournament focus from Crosswater.
In 2024, Meadows hosted three significant events, the Women’s PGA Club Championship, the Women’s PGA Cup, and the Senior PGA Professional National Championship at the Meadows and Woodlands. Over the next 10 years, Meadows will host four USGA events, including the prestigious 2031 Mid-Am Championship.
Golf moves the masses around the courses and through the accommodations, yet the resort folks understand that vacationers do not always arrive with drivers and putters. They hold an eclectic array of fishing rods, tennis rackets, camp stoves and swim goggles.
In the summer of 2021, the resort opened its indoor (and outdoor) pool complex that featured a spa treatment center and the Cinder Cone water slide. That $40 million investment came in the teeth of the Covid pandemic, underscoring the resort’s commitment to maintaining its investments.
The Forest House at Caldera Springs, near the nine-hole, par-3 course, is another answer to “what’s new?” It underwent its first full year of operations a year ago. It features a huge pool, water slide, lazy river, fitness center and Piney’s poolside bar and café.
Piney’s is one of 12 restaurants on the expansive Sunriver property, considered a self-contained, rustically refined community with stay-and-play packages for all pastoral passions.
“It’s been a continuing effort in innovation and investment in amenities that ensures the generational customer continues to want to come to Sunriver,” Willis added.
However, there is plenty of life and links outside Sunriver’s green borders, an abundance of quality golf courses within a 15-mile radius of Bend. Perhaps the most renowned is Tetherow, just seven minutes from the popular Old Mill District in downtown Bend.
Tetherow, which opened in 2008, was designed by noted architect David McLay Kidd, who also designed Bandon Dunes. It has a reputation for being tough but fair. Big boy pants required. The course, part of the Tetherow Resort, is 7,298 yards long, and is ranked 57th in Golf Digest’s best 100 courses in the nation.
Another great designer, Tom Fazio, is responsible for Pronghorn, which has been ranked as high as 39th among the top 100 best courses in the nation. Fazio has developed such outstanding tracts as Adare Manor in Ireland, Shadow Creek near Las Vegas and Pinehurst No. 6 and No. 8. Pronghorn is not near anything. After entering the gate, it takes another four miles on a secluded road just to reach the clubhouse. There’s no saving your slice at that point.
Pronghorn also has an adjacent Jack Nicklaus-designed course, Pronghorn at Juniper Preserve. It was originally the second-best private course in the country but has since been opened to public play.
Brasada Canyons in Powell Butte is another celebrated course. It’s part of the Brasada Ranch Resort and features some of the best wilderness views in the state. It was designed by Oregonians Jim Hardy and Peter Jacobsen, and, like Tetherow, it is long — 7,295 yards. But the air is thin, and the firm surface can seemingly carry the ball all the way to the green.
If you’ve taken more swings than anticipated during your Bend journey, you can find ample sustenance in such family-friendly places to eat around Bend that include Deschutes Brewery Bend Public House, The Craft Kitchen and Brewery and the Crux Fermentation Project.
