Oregon Golf Course Reviews
Gearhart Golf Links ReviewGearhart, OR
72.7 rating; 139 slope |
Gearhart Golf Links Scorecard from the longest tees as of the date of last review
More Great Golf Course Reviews:
Chambers Bay Golf | Bandon Dunes | Old MacDonald | Bandon Trails
Chambers Bay Golf | Bandon Dunes | Old MacDonald | Bandon Trails
Gearhart Golf Links Overview: Their website hails this as America's oldest continually operated golf course west of the Mississippi. It has undergone some renovations over the years, but the most recent was a supposed return to the more original feel, like so many other golf courses of late. Thus, you have a "linksy" feel to a golf course otherwise fully surrounded by the mature trees of the Pacific Northwest. There are no ocean views even though the club is only a couple of miles from the Pacific. It is a quaint golf course with a small town feel. The front nine is significantly shorter and easier than the back nine but both have crafty design and quite a few holes that are unique and memorable, making it an enjoyable blend of challenge and scoring opportunity. The most memorable best golf holes are described below:
Gearhart Golf Links Hole 1: The opener has a slightly elevated tee box and foreshadows a lot of what Gearhart's par fours are (330-380 yards, narrow fairways, couple of deep bunkers to avoid, small, fast green). To be clear, there are ten (out of twelve) such par fours on this course meeting most or all of that criteria. Depending on the wind, drivers are usually not needed as accuracy is more important than length.
Gearhart Golf Links Hole 1: The opener has a slightly elevated tee box and foreshadows a lot of what Gearhart's par fours are (330-380 yards, narrow fairways, couple of deep bunkers to avoid, small, fast green). To be clear, there are ten (out of twelve) such par fours on this course meeting most or all of that criteria. Depending on the wind, drivers are usually not needed as accuracy is more important than length.
Gearhart Golf Links Hole 3: This par three requires a solid tee shot to avoid a couple of bunkers as well as some humps and hollows around the putting surface.
Gearhart Golf Links Hole 4: The pros try to drive "short" par fours all the time, but here is one where the average golfer can give it a try. At only 262 from the tips, it's reachable for a relatively large percentage of golfers, but of course, there is a price for missing the green with bunkers and hills and deep rough. Still...as the now famous podcast group who introduced this course to me would say...No Laying Up!
Gearhart Golf Links Hole 5: Arguably, one of the more difficult approach shots in golf is found on this dogleg left par four; the tee shot CANNOT go left as there is hazard at worse, and a blocked shot by large trees at best. Of course, going right in the rough will leave a longer shot to a green that likely can't be held out of the rough, unless it's a wedge. So, hitting fairway is key and then the player needs to accurately slide their shot between the lake left and the pesky bunker sitting just right of green (long is also pretty much impossible for up and down as well).
Gearhart Golf Links Hole 6: Playing back uphill, the player can be aggressive off the tee, and should, as the green is small and angled around two well-placed bunkers. Thus, a shorter club in will help especially if from the left side of the fairway, or even left rough. Missing right on either shot is not ideal.
Gearhart Golf Links Hole 7: Again, not a long par four, this one plays downhill a bit but the player should leave a yardage and angle they are comfortable with as the tiny green has a little pond short-right that will certainly gobble up shots that direction. Mature trees left of the fairway make that angle tough too, so precision is required.
Gearhart Golf Links Hole 10: The start of the inward nine has a couple of cross bunkers that have to be avoided off the tee and the hole is just a genuinely thoughtfully designed and graceful looking par four.
Gearhart Golf Links Hole 11 (right): This long (and I mean real long) par three would fit well on any of the Open Rota courses as it is well guarded by deep bunkers short and right and mounding nearly everywhere else, essentially requiring a perfectly struck shot to find the green.
Gearhart Golf Links Hole 13 (below): This medium length and fairly straight par five is sandwiched between sand and long grasses to the right and OB down the entire length of the hole. The hole also narrows incredibly up by the green so any golfer brave enough to go for it in two has to be the definition of precise to avoid real trouble.
Gearhart Golf Links Hole 13 (below): This medium length and fairly straight par five is sandwiched between sand and long grasses to the right and OB down the entire length of the hole. The hole also narrows incredibly up by the green so any golfer brave enough to go for it in two has to be the definition of precise to avoid real trouble.
Gearhart Golf Links Hole 14: This par four is truly unique as the fairway is essentially like a half-pipe one would find in the X-Games. Going left is a pure disaster as there are thick trees, deep rough and OB. From the fairway, the shot to the green will likely be partially blind unless a bomb is hit from the tee. The green is small and it has a backstop to help shots come back; missing short and right is not a good idea due to well-placed bunkers.
Gearhart Golf Links Hole 15: This dainty par three uses heavy undulations and a trio of bunkers to provide the trouble; that being said, with a wedge or very short iron in hand, it's a good opportunity for par or better.
Gearhart Golf Links Hole 18: The final hole of the day is very long and very hard. It is so much so that you can put $5 in a pig-pot at the start of the round, and anybody who birdies it from their normal tees (witness required) gets the whole pot. When I asked the pro if it gets won every day, he said only about 1/2 the time (the author here burned the edge from 15 feet to sadly make just a par).
