Looking for deals? They're out there
Playing the area courses with twilight rates can bring down costs for golfers
Published: May 09. 2009 4:00AM PST
By Zack Hall
The Bulletin
Golfing in Central Oregon can be a pricey undertaking.
While the area boasts a diverse set of high-quality golf courses, golfers can spend as much as $175 for a round at a daily-fee course. Rates such as those can be prohibitive for many golfers, especially in a weak economy.
But this year, many courses around the region are making an honest effort to cut locals a break.
Some examples of the reduced pricing include twilight rates that are lower and that kick in earlier in the day, greens fees packaged with meals, cards that offer discounted golf rates all year, and lower annual club membership rates.
It is an all-out effort by many of the courses to attract more Central Oregonians to their tracks.
“There are a lot of die-hard golfers out there,” says Grant Cyrus, general manager at Aspen Lakes Golf Course in Sisters, which by deadline for this story had not announced details of its planned specials. “But I think people are especially conscious of VALUE with their dollar (this year).”
Locals account for an increasing number of rounds played, though out-of-towners still account for most of the rounds played in the region.
According to a Central Oregon Visitors Association survey released in March, Central Oregon residents accounted for 45 percent of the 455,626 rounds played in the region in 2008. That is up from 40 percent of rounds played in 2007 and 37 percent in 2006.
Courses such as Crooked River Ranch, which is among the busiest public courses in the region, Meadow Lakes Golf Course in Prineville, and The Greens at Redmond have long been favorites for locals because they are relatively inexpensive.
Mountain High in south Bend, which is reopening this season as The Old Nine at Mountain High after the facility was shut down in 2002, also offers an inexpensive ($20 for nine holes) alternative to higher-priced clubs.
But other clubs are also becoming more local friendly.
Attracting more locals is the primary reason why Widgi Creek Golf Club in Bend decided this year to change the starting time for its midweek ($39) and weekend ($49) twilight rates from 3:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. says Dan Ostrin, the course’s director of golf.
In addition, Widgi has created a “Widgi Pass,” which for a one-time $79 fee gives golfers 20 percent off of greens fees and handicapping services all year, among other perks.
The deal is similar to that offered by River’s Edge Golf Course in Bend, whose “River’s Edge Club” membership is available for a one-time annual fee of $59 (without a handicapping service).
“In Bend, we saw a need for a little bit more affordable locals golf course,” says Ostrin, adding that Widgi Creek’s offerings are a permanent addition to its rate structure. “We’ve always viewed the local business as important. It’s not even so much economy related. It’s just the direction the club is going. This was kind of something that we had on the back burner, and it just coincided with the turn of the economy. But it just works out to where we think golf is going in general.”
Black Butte Ranch near Sisters, home to two golf courses, has reduced its twilight rates slightly to $53 (from $59 in 2008) on its Big Meadow course after 3 p.m. and to $45 (from $50) on its Glaze Meadow course.
In addition, for an initial fee of $99, the Black Butte Ranch “Local’s Card” gives golfers 30 percent off greens fees for the year, a program Black Butte started last year.
“You need to have that balance (between local and tourist golfers), especially in Central Oregon, where we have so many local courses now,” says Jeff Fought, Black Butte’s director of golf. “You need the local play and you want them to come out.”
“Value added” also seems to be a buzz phrase at local golf courses. Black Butte is currently offering a round of golf along with lunch or dinner for $59, and it plans to offer similar deals each month this summer.
In the same theme, Crooked River Ranch is offering a “Back Nine and Breakfast Special,” which for $69 gets two people nine-hole rounds on Crooked River’s back nine, a logo ball, and breakfast at the course’s Sandbagger restaurant.
Cyrus at Aspen Lakes sees such an approach as a good idea.
“Ultimately, you have to keep some integrity to your pricing,” Cyrus says. “You have the same amount of bills, usually, but you certainly want to make (the golf experience) appealing and find ways to create value for your customers.”
Other courses are reducing the price of their annual memberships, which offer unlimited golf all season long.
Quail Run Golf Course in La Pine is such a course. While the track has kept its 80-percent-refundable initiation fee the same ($750 for an individual, $1,000 for a couple), it is offering with the initiation fee two dues-free months ($125 a month for singles, $175 for couples) or a year of free cart use.
Quail Run relies on such memberships to help it through the lean winter months, says Bill Martin, the course’s owner.
“We would like to get some more members,” Martin says. “Hopefully we can get a few more by giving them a little bit of boost of a couple months’ free dues or a cart that is free.”
Sunriver Resort, which has reduced its greens fees for Deschutes County residents from $140 during peak times to $79 on its Meadows and Woodlands courses, has also reduced its annual memberships. For instance, an individual golfer age 45 or younger can play the two courses all season for $975. Sunriver also offers, for $195, a locals card good for 50 percent off greens fees, and more customized annual passes for families ($3,125 per family) and for faculty and staff of area schools ($500 for a five-days-a-week pass).
Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Resort & Casino on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation is getting into the act, too. Its annual golf pass has been reduced from $500 last year to $300 this year. But unlike in 2008, the pass does not include the use of a golf cart, says Ryan Davis, head pro at Kah-Nee-Ta.
But the pass does include unlimited golf through Dec. 31.
Says Davis: “We feel this is a great deal for the customers and it will help increase rounds at Kah-Nee-Ta.”
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