Central Oregon Looks to Return to Glory Days - Part 1

By: Jeff Shelley

With the city of Bend as its hub, Central Oregon features many intriguing attributes that for decades have drawn new residents and visitors: clean air, awe-inspiring mountain vistas, sunny days and dozens of four-season activities.

According to a 2013 Visitor Economic Impact Study conducted by the Central Oregon Visitors Association, tourism is the single largest industry in Central Oregon, employing more than 8,400 residents. The region - defined by Deschutes, Crook, Jefferson and Wasco counties - welcomes over 3.6 million overnight visitors a year, with related spending in 2012 at $708 million.

All these attractions have fired the imaginations of overeager developers, making Central Oregon one of the most susceptible boom-and-bust places in the West. About the only other spot that can rival it is the greater Truckee, Calif., area, which has also seen its share of here-today-gone-tomorrow, golf-related projects.

Along with the boom periods in Bend over the years - I started coming to the town in the mid-1980s when the population was around 40,000; there are 80,000 now - Central Oregon has been victimized by economic downturns. Anticipating a spate of new arrivals and retirees from west-of-the-Cascades Portland and Seattle, California and elsewhere from around the world, real estate companies in the early 2000s rushed to build housing projects for the hordes of hoped-for inhabitants.

But the timing was bad as tourism-fueled Bend was particularly hard hit by the national recession. Overzealous developers built too many new first- and second-home neighborhoods despite there being no buyers before construction began, and the market couldn't sustain the bloated inventory. As hundreds of ready-to-occupy homes sat unsold, some buyers signed ill-advised mortgages only to see their jobs disappear in the wake of the reeling economy, their residences reverting back to the lenders.

Illustrating this period is the experiences of a friend of mine, who lives in Bend's sister city of Redmond. The retired Air Force general was looking for a part-time job that would take him outside and let him learn more about the area. About eight years ago he went to work for banks driving to and inspecting "threatened" properties around greater Bend. Starting out with about 20 distressed homes a week, in only a couple of years his list had grown to nearly 200.

Golf Always a Draw in Central Oregon

Golf courses are the preferred amenity for loftier-thinking, big-acreage developers, and this alluring part of the Pacific Northwest is a prime proponent of that trend, which has been evidenced in other parts of the U.S. And why not: The sun-splashed area boasts plenty of irrigation water, vast expanses of open land, excellent growing conditions, and an affluent populace with ample leisure time, at least during the prosperous economic stretches.

There's also a subtle difference between Bend and Redmond, located a mere 17 miles apart, that allows the game to be played year-round. Situated at an elevation of 3,623 feet, Bend has a relatively short, perhaps six- to seven-month, golf season. But Redmond and the nearby Old West-themed town of Sisters - 19 miles from Redmond - are both 500 feet closer to sea level, warmer climes that allow golfers to occasionally play local layouts, among the 30-plus courses in the area, 12 months a year.

Economic Reality Hits

Over the past decade many golf projects - most too dreamy-eyed in scope - arrived on the drawing boards; some were built and others were not. Among those that didn't come to fruition - or have yet to break ground and likely never will - include (total acreage in parentheses): Crystal View (633) and Yarrow (900) in Madras; Remington Ranch (2,079) near Powell Butte; Crossing Trails Resort (580) and Hidden Canyon (4,240) in Prineville; Thornburgh Resort (1,800) near Redmond, and an ambitious 5,000-acre development near Sisters once backed by Fidelity National Financial.

In addition, a popular nine-hole layout in south Bend, Orion Greens, closed in 2005 and was paved over for redevelopment, and 18-hole Mountain High was cut in half and renamed Old Back Nine at Mountain High.

During my latest visit there were rumors that Thornburgh, which originally promised 18-hole courses designed by Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and Coore-Crenshaw - along with nearly 2,000 homes and associated amenities, may still have life. The project was put on indefinite hold in 2009 because of the economy, the changing, more conservative landscape of banks lending money for big golf and residential developments (which has been felt throughout the U.S. for nearly the past decade), and Central Oregon's tottering housing market.

On the Upswing Again

But hope springs eternal . . . and in Bend, which has seen its share of upswings before, that means potential success for the projects that were built and survived the area's economic doldrums.

I wanted to get an update for myself, so in late-August 2014 made about my 20th trip to Central Oregon from Seattle - about a six-hour drive.

I visited and played three upscale courses I'd been to previously: Tetherow, a David McLay Kidd design within 700 acres on the edge of Bend and involving housing and a new overnight lodging component; Pronghorn, a 640-acre high-end private resort with a Bend address (it's about 10 miles outside of town) that boasts two 18s designed by Jack Nicklaus and Tom Fazio; and Brasada Ranch near Powell Butte, an 1,800-acre residential and equestrian enclave with a private course co-created by Oregon native Peter Jacobsen and his architect-partner Jim Hardy. All offer magnificent views of the area's many mountain ranges.

Each facility has endured ownership changes and management upheavals since opening in the mid-2000s. Over the next couple of installments, I'll take closer looks at this threesome.

During the city's heady boom days of the 1990s I half-joked that the welcome sign posted at the entrance of Bend put its population numbers on a chalkboard to be easily erased since they were assuredly going to change, likely upward.

That observation still applies. And based on the active scene in remarkably modern downtown Bend - on a Wednesday night I observed hundreds of young people making their way to some of Bend's 26 brew pubs (one brewery for every 4,500 people the city's website boasts) - it looks like this wonderful place will be a magnet for decades to come.

Only a fortuneteller knows whether Central Oregon's current phase will be sustained. For now, there are reasons to hope.

Next Up: Tetherow

For more information about Central Oregon, go to www.visitcentraloregon.com.

Jeff Shelley is the editorial director of Cybergolf.

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