Widgi Creek Golf Club Review

Texas Outside Rating: 8.9

Golf - Public Course · 18 Holes · Par 72
Bend, OR
Website · Book A Tee Time

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Widgi Creek Golf Club Review

Review & Rating of Widgi Creek Golf Club in Bend Oregon

Widgi Creek Golf Club is one of the most popular golf courses in Bend and it's been named a "Best Places to Play" by Golf Digest and the Source (the local entertainment newspaper of Bend) named it the "Best Golf Course in Central Oregon" for the last 14 years in a row.  Some of the reasons we think that Widgi Creek Golf Club has been recognized as one of the best include:

  • it's a fairly straightforward and traditional layout that won't beat you up and offers a relaxing round with an opportunity to score
  • there are 5 sets of tee boxes plus 4 combos on the score card which allows you to pick a yardage that fits your game
  • the course from the tee boxs to the greens is well maintained and manicured
  • the rates are reasonable
  • the greens are excellent and challenging

Widgi Creek's fairways range from wide and forgiving to tight as they meander through Ponderosa Pines, some ponds, mounds, and native grass and brush and up and down some slightly rolling terrain.  The front nine is your opportunity to score - most of the holes are straight ahead and similar, there are only 18 bunkers and two water holes to worry about, and one of the par 3's is very short.  A couple of the holes that we liked on the front nine include:

  • #6 is is short at 334 yards but it's got a slightly elevated tee shot to a wide landing zone but if you spray it you'll catch one of the three ponds or the big long bunker on the left side and the approach shot is challenging to a three tiered green thanks to a pond on the right and a tree on the left that pinch the fairway
  • #7 is a true three shot 550 yard par 5 with an elevated tee shot to a landing zone pinched by a lake on the right and the approach shot needs to miss a lake fronting the green

The back nine was more fun and challenging from our perspective:

  •  well guarded (water and one to five bunkers) heavily contoured tiered greens
  • a beautiful 216 yard par three that requires a carry over a pond to a tiered and undulating green with a front and back bunker
  • a sharp dog leg left that offers gamblers a chance to fly the trees to cut the corner and a second shot that needs to cross a gully to get to an odd shaped green
  • a couple more dog legs, water on of 5 holes, mounded and tight tree lined fairways, and 30 bunkers to avoid
  • several holes that require some shot making and put a premium on your approach shots
  • and a fantastic and beautiful finishing hole - a 600 yard dog leg left with two ponds on the right front of the tee box waiting for your drive and a tough approach to a green with two left side bunkers and a clear blue pond with two water fountains and an island with tree on the right side

Widgi Creek is home to some of the most immaculate and most challenging greens complexes in the region - the rolling contoured putting services will grab hold of your putter and not let go and they they are guarded by one to five bunkers, water, mounds, and swales.  They range in size (27 to 48 deep - 7 are 39 to 48) and shape and all are contoured and undulating and some have one to three tiers.  The good news is they are smooth, fast, hold the ball, and run true. Most aren't raised so a bump-and-run strategy works well. The greens define Widgi Creek and put a premium on putting and the approach shot. 

The fairways and rough were also in very good shape.  The gently rolling fairways are all lined by towering Ponderosas and range from ample to tight.  Miss the playable rough and you're ricocheting off the trees and probably lost in the native areas.  Some nice homes are set back off some of the fairways.

The bunkers at Widgi Creek range in size from small pot bunkers to some huge multi-fingered monsters.  The lips are reasonable but some bunkers are very steep and deep.  The sand is soft and good.

Widgi Creek Golf Club is one of the courses on the Central Oregon Golf Trail, which is loaded with some excellent courses and it’s one of the best golf trails we have played.  You can read our reviews of some of the other courses we played on the Central Oregon Golf Trail during our visit to Bend on Texas Outside’s Central Oregon Golf Trail Reviews Page.  And if you’re planning to visit Bend, be sure to check out the Visit Central Oregon Website with is loaded with information on golf and lots of other fun things to see and do in Central Oregon.

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Black 6,905 72.7 193
Blue 6,461 67.3 123
White 5,875 63.7 119
Gold 6,674 70.5 134
Red 5,070 61.9 114

Course Information

Course Architect:
Robert Muir Graves
Greens Type:
Bent
Greens Condition
9.0
Greens Difficulty
9.2
Fairway Condition
9.0
Bunker Condition
9.0
GPS:
No
Walkable:
Yes
Scorecard
Course Map
Beware of water on 9 holes and the 48 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
8.9 out of 10
Beauty:
9.1
Difficulty:
8.8
Variety:
8.0
Fun to Play:
9.8
Value:
9.0
Condition:
9.0
Front Nine Rating:
8.8
Back Nine Rating:
9.2
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FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $47.00 to $97.00

Service is ok, the proshop is well stocked, and the bar severs craft beer, wine, and hard liquor plus a range of food. There is an expansive practice facility that includes two practice putting greens, a bunker area and natural grass driving range.

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Here's How Texas Outside Determines the Scorecard Rating

The Texas Outside rating scale ranges from 1 to 10 – a perfect 10 course would be something like this:  links along a cliff overlooking the Pacific ocean and bordered by tall trees; lush fairways on rolling hills with lots of natural hazards; water (which is crystal clear) on most of the holes; immaculate greens (but they are undulating and tough); lots of variety and character (each hole is completely different and includes blind shots, elevation changes, doglegs, and significant challenges); perfectly manicured traps with the whitest and prettiest sand you’ve ever seen; a nice club house with great food and a 19th hole; a GPS; plenty of beverage carts or your own cooler and ice; and it only costs $40 bucks! What this means is that you probably won’t find any 10s in Texas – try Cabo San Lucas, Pebble Beach, or some of the Hawaii courses! 
Texas Outside rates courses on the following:

  • Beauty – tall trees, rolling hills, beautiful houses, waterfalls, and similar stuff would score high; a 1 would be flat, bushes or cactus instead of trees, and some grass but mostly weeds
  • Difficulty – a straight, 300 yard par 4 with no traps or hazards, no out of bounds or water would probably get a 1; if it is a 460 yard par 4 over two ravines, with water along one side, natural hazards on the other, strategically placed traps or that dreaded tree right in the middle of the fairway, we are talking a 10. 
  • Variety – what would you give a course where all the holes looked and played exactly the same (“I thought we just played that hole!”); were side-by-side, which is good for finding or dodging other people’s balls, but not much fun; and you can see the flag from every tee box?  That’s right, it gets a 1.
  • Fun Scale – a 10 is where you walk off the course and say “now that was fun” and you can’t wait to get back, or you immediately turn around and play another 18 holes
  • Value – a 5 is $50 to $60, a 10 is $20 to $30, and 1 is $200 or so – of course all of this is dependent upon how you liked the course.  For example, if a run down, boring municipal course, with six players on each hole was only $10; it would still get a value rating of 1.
  • Condition – this one’s pretty easy – what condition are the fairways. A 10 commands very lush perfectly manicured fairways, compared to a 1, which has fire ants, weeds, and more dirt than grass!
  • Condition of Greens and Difficulty – very hard to read greens with lots of undulation and tough pin placement, rate very high on the difficulty scale.  Condition is self-explanatory.  

All of the above determines the overall score for the golf course.  In other words, we like courses that are pretty, fun, very challenging with a lot of variety, and fairways and greens in excellent condition – all for $40.  We also tend to play the courses that are affordable for the masses, which means in the $30 to $80 range. We rate hard and we haven’t found a 10 in Texas yet – don’t worry we haven’t given up and we’re still looking.