Tetherow

Better known perhaps for his first Oregon project at Bandon Dunes in 1999, architect David McLay Kidd returned to the Beaver State a decade later to lay out the golf course at Tetherow Golf Club.

Named after Solomon Tetherow, one of the mid-1800s pioneers who led wagon trains through the region, the course emulates the old timer’s trailblazing exploits with a modern design that some suspect might actually be ahead of its time.

Constructed with wall-to-wall fescue, the course plays firm and fast and it offers golfers a visually stimulating experience that some may find difficulty adjusting to. Add the fact that many of the greens are heavily contoured and you have a layout that certainly deserves the description of “challenging”.

The par four 6th is a feature hole, played from a tee set high above a split fairway. Those opting for the route to the left must flirt with the water hazard which runs along that side but they’ll have the reward of a shorter approach shot. Tee shots played to the safer side to the right avoid the water risk but the angle and length of approach makes for a more difficult shot to the green.