Tetherow GC- hole 1
Tetherow GC is located in the outer fringes of the bustling town of Bend in Central Oregon, USA.
David McLay Kidd made his name in the golf industry as the architect of the inaugural course at Bandon Dunes just down the road, and was a natural choice to build Tetherow GC, which he completed in 2008.
The land has a wonderful roll to it, not unlike the linksland it aims to emulate.
Kidd has built an inland links here, and with fescue his choice of grass throughout, the course plays firm and fast.
Whilst nicely bunkered it is the fairways slopes, and green contours that dominate play.
Experienced links golfers will enjoy using the mounds and ramps to bounce their ball into greens rather than fire at the pin.
These slopes can be used to advance your ball and make par 5's and short par 4's reachable.
It can be quite thrilling when you get the angles right and your ball bounds onto the green...
The bigger challenge however are the green contours, which on a number of holes are amongst the most extreme I have seen anywhere.
Good players can hit a green and 4 putt! It's a pity because there are a number of very cool holes, and this type of thinking man's links course with a bit of tweaking could well be the future of the game.
Notable holes include:
- the opening par 4 first hole (see picture top of page)
- the dramatic par 4 sixth hole with elevated tee shot, split fairway and lake defending the left side of the hole
- the driveable short par 4 tenth hole
Tetherow GC- hole 6
Tetherow GC- hole 10
- the impressive par 5 thirteenth hole with long valley carry off the tee and green projecting into the water
Tetherow GC- hole 13 green
- the super cool par 3 seventeenth hole in it's little quarry site
Tetherow GC- hole 17
Tetherow is not an easy course and some will write it off as just too unforgiving..
However, I suspect multiple plays will change a player's perspective.
Returning golfers armed with knowledge of preferred lines of play and green positions would I suspect increasingly warm to the challenges presented.
Tetherow is a puzzle for thinking golfers, and with time and patience it could be very rewarding
I liked it, and would love to play again
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