Course Source: Pumpkin Ridge, Foxhills Hotel and Resort

Course Source: Pumpkin Ridge, Foxhills Hotel and Resort









The Sports Xchange July 7, 2013 11:30 PMThe SportsXchange


IN THE PUBLIC EYE: Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club (Ghost Creek), in North Plains, Ore.



The tracks have gone on to play host to numerous amateur and professional tournaments. Tiger Woods won a record third consecutive United States Amateur title in 1996 at Witch Hollow, which also was the venue for the 2003 U.S. Women's Open and an LPGA tournament from 2009-12, among others.



Ghost Creek began a pilot program of allowing carts to go off the paths for the first time in the spring of 2013. For the previous 21 years, the fairways were immaculate in part because they didn't receive wear and tear from thousands of golf carts pounding them throughout the year.



What makes Ghost Creek arguably the best public experience in the greater Portland area is Cupp's design. He did an excellent job of creating a unique experience on nearly every hole. Ghost Creek features a fun mix of long holes with narrow fairways and shorter holes with well-placed bunkers. Cupp weaved creeks into the layout, carved par-5s around tree-lined fairways and left enough getable holes to card a few birdies.



Bottom line, Pumpkin Ridge is a must-play when in the Portland area. Cupp's design is unique, challenging without being brutal, and you'll rarely run into other groups while weaving your way through the property. It's still rated the No. 63 public course in the nation in 2013 by Golf Digest, which said playing host to a major PGA tournament is within the course's grasp.



LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: If you can keep the ball in the fairway, you can post a solid score at Ghost Creek. The fairways are kept in pristine condition and the greens roll extremely true, albeit with a good amount of tilt to many, rewarding those who can leave uphill putts.



Almost every fairway has at least a modest turn, if not a strong dogleg, and those that are straighter typically boast a well-placed bunker or rolling creek that you must be aware of off the tee.



That's followed by easily the most difficult hole on the course, the 515-yard par-5 fourth. The tee shot plays uphill with red stakes to the left and white to the right. Anything off the fairly narrow fairway gets snagged by very dense rough. Depending on the lie, it can be extremely difficult to reach the green in three following an errant drive. And lengthy approach shots are tricky to a three-tiered green protected by fescue and trees to the back and left.



The outward nine concludes with a devilish 443-yard par-4. A safe drive to the middle or left leaves a long approach with a pond running down the left side and up to the front edge of the green. Anything right is snagged by another one of those creeks or lands in rolling mounds leaving a long and awkward approach.



One of the more difficult scoring holes is the 219-yard par-3 14th. It plays at least a club-length downhill, typically with wind to factor into the equation as well. The green is the biggest on the course, but that hardly means an easy putt on a surface that tilts toward the front right.



OTHER COURSES IN THE AREA: A good trek through the greater Portland area would include a stop at the Reserve Vineyards. The Reserve features the North and South courses, which are rotated between the public and members-only access on a half-monthly basis. If you're looking to play 36 holes, call ahead and you might be allowed to try both tracks on the same day. Both courses have five sets of tee boxes, with the North course featuring far more water in play while the South course is littered with tricky bunkers.



WHERE TO STAY: If you're in town to play golf, check out accommodations in Hillsboro that centrally locate you between Pumpkin Ridge and the Reserve Vineyards. Otherwise, Portland is a short drive to either and is closer to Heron Lakes.



--Pumpkin Ridge review by Derek Harper, The Sports Xchange



THE LAST RESORT: Foxhills Hotel and Resort in Ottershaw, Surrey, England.




It's not only that the three courses at Foxhills look and play very much like courses in the United States, it's the membership. Roughly 20 percent of the members are Americans, executives who work for large firms in and around London. Many of them bring their families because they often stay for several years, and there are several top-rate American schools in the area.



The late Bernard Hunt, honored as a Member of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth, was the first head professional at Foxhills when the club opened in 1975, and he served for 25 years. Hunt, who died in June at the age of 83, also played on Senior European PGA Tour.



One of eight pros to be awarded lifetime membership in the British PGA and former captain of the organization, Hunt participated in eight Ryder Cups, including twice as captain.



HEAD PROFESSIONAL: Paul Creamer.



The par-72, 6,883-yard Bernard Hunt championship course is longer but more wide open and forgiving.



The signature hole of the Bernard Hunt course is the 10th hole, a daunting 445-yard par-4 that plays downhill to a valley and then uphill to a green protected by two bunkers in front and overhanging trees on the right.



That follows the best par-5 on the course, the 560-yard ninth, which also can be a heart-tugger. It plays slightly downhill off the tee, with a pond in the fairway waiting to swallow any second shots that are mishit. The opening to the green is narrow because of trees on the left and a bunker on the right.



The tee shot must carry more than 200 yards to reach the narrow sloping fairway, and the approach is partially blind up the hill to a spacious double green that it shares with No. 18 on the Longcross Course.



The Longcross, which winds through scots pine, beech and silver birch trees, finishes with an uphill par-5, which measures 531 yards, with a large tree on the left narrowing the fairway for the second shot. Again, the approach shot is partially blind to the large, double green.



The junior program at Foxhills produced Paul Casey, who won three Pacific 10 Conference Championships at Arizona State and broke records set there by Phil Mickelson before joining the PGA Tour, and Anthony Wall, who plays the European Tour.



Also nearby are some other shrines of British golf, including the Wentworth Club and its famed West Course in Virginia Water; Sunningdale Golf Club in Sunningdale; the Belfry Golf Club in Sutton Coldfield, Europe's most prominent Ryder Cup venue; and Royal Birkdale Golf Club near Southport, which has been host to the Open Championship nine times, the last when Padraig Harrington won in 2008.



WHERE TO STAY: Located 20 minutes from Heathrow Airport, the 400-acre Foxhills estate offers a 40-suite, four-star hotel in the 19th-century manor house and its Foxhills Mews, a development of 12 apartments situated next to the 14th tee on the Bernard Hunt Course.



The five-star Stoke Park Hotel, which in 1999 became a charter member of Leading Small Hotels of the World, offers 20 bedrooms filled with priceless antiques and original paintings and prints on grounds once trod by William Penn and Queen Elizabeth I.



Also close are the Bull Hotel, a 17th-century coach stop in Gerrards Cross; Burnham Beeches Hotel, a magnificent structure of Georgian architecture on 10 landscaped acres in Burnham; Grovefield House Hotel, a charming Edwardian country house in Windsor; the Christopher Hotel, the only hotel in Eton; the Castle Hotel in Windsor, a two-minute walk from the front gate at Windsor Castle; and Sir Christopher Wren Hotel, on the banks of the Thames River in Windsor.