home central for more than a decade. “It is so diverse in the way of activities — biking, the Deschutes River, mountain lakes, golf, skiing. Everything you want to do outdoors is at your fingertips.” Golf across this margin where the
wet and majestic Cascades cede way to high-desert range, laced with rivers and wetlands, and dotted with lakes, is similarly diverse. Forget a mono- pallet of forest or cactus or parkland. The several dozen courses of the Central Oregon Golf Trail embrace this natural bounty, often with several iterations within a single facility. Black Butte Ranch, Sunriver Resort,
Pronghorn and Tetherow are like Palmer, Player, Nicklaus and Watson: four giants in a deep field of other champions. Black Butte Ranch is a two-course,
residential-resort community northwesterly of Bend outside the bootstrapped and vibrant western-ranch town of Sisters. Glaze Meadows is a Gene Mason-
designed/John Fought-redesigned tract that joyously meanders about a watery opener before threading pine woodlands prior to a big sky return. Big Meadow is a more exacting romp through corridors of pine that captures a surprising
amount of internal topography — don’t be lulled into a flat sense of security right out the gate — providing perched greens and tees elevated atop lava outcroppings. The late Robert Muir Graves crafted this first course at the ranch, and Graves protégé Damian Pascuzzo brought it current in the early 2000s. “Black Butte is one of the most
scenic and tranquil venues for golf in the Pacific Northwest,” says Pascuzzo. “The two courses provide diversity and give Black Butte exactly what one hopes for in a golf resort — along with the outstanding practice facilities and the family friendly, no-pressure environment.” Sunriver Resort, about 20 minutes
south of Bend, is the Mack Daddy of getaway spots in the region, which, like Black Butte, sports an array of home and lodge accommodations. For golfers, the key number is 63, as in holes, spread across the John Fought- and Robert Trent Jones II-designed Meadows and Woodlands tracts, respectively, the eye- catching Caldera Links nine-hole short course and Crosswater, a treasure by the late Robert Cupp that is not only one of the standout plays in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, but across the nation.
Black Butte Ranch boasts two great courses near the vibrant western-ranch town of Sisters.
www.azgolf.org SPRING 2017 | AZ GOLF Insider | 41
COURTESY BLACK BUTTE RANCH
COURTESY PRONGHORN
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