Black Butte Ranch
Oregon is replete with stunning, golf-centric destinations and five-star courses but there are a few that stand apart for their après-golf amenities and their locations.
One of the places that fall into that category is the sublime Black Butte Ranch, located in the central part of the state about 30 minutes northwest of Bend, a thrilling three-hour drive from Portland and set hard against the Cascade Mountain range to the west.
The centerpiece of the opulent resort is its two 18-hole golf courses – Glaze Meadow and Big Meadow – designed by U.S. Amateur champion John Fought and Robert Muir Graves, respectively. There’s also a sporty 12-hole putting course that was also designed by Fought which can be configured to 18 shorter holes.
Black Butte Ranch was born in 1970 with a handshake deal in a Portland Airport bar, securing its original 577 acres of pristine land in Central Oregon and at the foot of the Cascades for the developers to accomplish a unique vision.
More than half a century later, the resort thrives by being true to that original vision as a destination for families and friends to come together and enjoy wide-open spaces, natural beauty with easy access to the outdoors.
“This is what we are – we are a family place,” said Jeff Fought, Black Butte Ranch’s longtime PGA director of golf and the brother of John. “And we did it right from the beginning. This place brings families together. And that is what we have strived to do.”
Set at the gateway to Central Oregon, closer to Eugene and Portland than any other destination in the region, the resort offers a convenient and memorable getaway.
Three courses equal three times the fun
Glaze Meadow, renovated in 2012 by Fought, is likely the most ballyhooed course at Black Butte Ranch. Designed in 1980 by the resort’s legendary pro Gene “Bunny” Mason, the nearly $4 million renovation transformed the course into a 7,007-yard homage to classical design that is both fun and challenging.
The course features slightly elevated greens, scores of deep bunkers (some of them grass-faced), five sets of tees on every hole, rolling, well-groomed Bluegrass-rye fairways, plenty of elevation changes and a forested setting that is accentuated with color. Glaze Meadow offers Cascade Peak views that include the Three Sisters and Mount Washington.
The front nine has plenty of water coming into the play, most evident on the stunning than third and fourth holes where your camera will get a workout. Fought’s approach to golf course architecture is more illustrated on the back nine where gentle contours and non-flashy, but well-placed, bunkers put the focus on executing solid golf shots without distraction.
The corridors throughout Glaze Meadow expanded in Fought’s renovation both enhance playability and create a variety of new challenges. The putting surfaces vary in sizes, dictated by the distance and approach to each, with longer holes offering slightly larger greens than shorter holes and most including openings at the front to allow for run-up shots.
Meanwhile, Big Meadow is the more straightforward of the two tracks at Black Butte Ranch, opening in 1972 with an initial design that emphasized playability and fun. The course, the first at the resort, was special for Graves, who was hugely influential in Pacific Northwest golf design.
Graves revisited the routing in 2003 and then it was revised and modernized by Damian Pascuzzo in 2008 into the course that garnered kudos in 2013 as one of the “Best Courses You Can Play” in Oregon by Golfweek magazine.
Big Meadow enjoys some naturally rolling terrain and a ton of trees. Here, too, there are views of the Cascades over the treetops, with the most impressive of the bunch coming at the signature 14th hole where the elevated tee offers an exciting downhill shot with Three Fingered Jack, a jagged volcanic peak, rising above the Central Oregon landscape.
Big Meadow stretches to almost 7,000 yards from the back tees from where the course offers a formidable challenge. The back nine features more elevation changes than the front and thus additional variety. Success here is attained by avoiding the punitive bunkering that creates the need for precise shots off the tee to attack the demanding hole locations.
Big Meadow’s design offers expansive fairways and elevated greens complexes that are bordered by strategically placed Cape- and Bay-style bunkers. With 16 holes reaching into the forest and just two fairways aligned parallel, the isolation of the great outdoors is as present as the abundant wildlife that inhabits the course.
The tenacity of the Big Meadow’s design has not gone unnoticed, as it has been selected to host numerous Pacific Northwest professional and amateur championships.
The golf experience at Black Butte Ranch includes the Little Meadow putting course, on which each hole can be shortened or lengthened to allow golfers to try their hand at 18 shorter holes or nine longer holes. The common attributes of each hole, no matter the length, are thoughtfully designed contours, a variety of short fairway-like terrains, and rock formations for a touch of variety and fun.
Plenty of things to do off the course
Black Butte Ranch adheres to its original mission by constantly improving its amenities. This season, the resort will open a new, stunning main lodge.
The resort’s lodge has always been the destination’s centerpiece, built with Black Butte’s pyramid-shaped mountain overhead and Phalarope Lake reflecting the Cascades. Keeping the iconic location in mind, architects, designers and builders worked to surpass the magnificence of the original lodge by creating a new building that is a culmination of design and function.
The new lodge capitalizes on floor-to-ceiling views, with more than 5,000-square feet of glass throughout. On the deck, when the weather is nice, there will be tables and chairs and a fire pit with food service.
One magnificent new feature in the building will wow guests on both levels of the lodge is a fireplace with intricate rockwork that’s 52 feet tall.
Lodging at Black Butte Ranch is offered as well in hundreds of vacation condominiums and homes and there are enough award-winning dining options here to stay for a week, or more.
Throughout Black Butte Ranch’s 1,800 acres visitors find a wealth of activities to occupy their time off the golf course. There are five pools at the resort, as well as tennis and pickleball courts, fly-fishing in the private lake, horseback riding, a relaxing spa, 18 miles of paved biking and hiking trails, kayaking and stand up paddleboarding.
Black Butte Ranch offers an unhurried, relaxed lifestyle and vacation destination and creates an ideal environment where visitors can set their own pace, explore a world of recreation and revel in an authentic Oregon experience.