Scenic No. 4 as seen from the elevated tee at Salmon Run. Photos Courtesy Salmon Run Travel News & Notes ... a weekly feature focusing on travel news and events throughout Oregon. About Salmon Run 99040 South Bank Chetco River Road Brookings, OR 97415 CLICK HERE For tee times, greens fees, ratings, slopes and more information See the Travel News & Notes Archive It's common to see deer and other wildlife during a round of golf at Salmon Run.

April 8, 2005

Salmon Run: Golf experience set to nature in Brookings

This public course offers stunning holes and a breath of fresh air

By DAN SHRYOCK
Oregon.com

The cart path to Salmon Run's 15th hole crosses Jack Creek, an active spawning bed for salmon and steelhead. On a good day, you can momentarily forget about fighting your slice and watch these creatures battle strong currents as they swim upstream to spawn.

On this day, wild turkey roam the fringe on the 10th green and ducks paddle and splash in the creek. Deer forage for food along a fairway and a toppled tree remains as evidence of beaver in the area.

These wild residents are part of the plan at Salmon Run, three miles east of Brookings on the South Coast. The course, tucked into the hills off the south bank of the Chetco River, "is not just a golf course," says Salmon Run general manager Ed Murdock. "You're getting into nature.

"The designers wanted to make this course blend with the environment around it," he says. "They wanted to make the course sensitive to the (salmon-bearing) creek and still make it a challenge so a low-handicapper can enjoy it."

Salmon Run is growing in popularity with golf vacationers looking for new challenges on the South Coast. The course is less than four miles from Brookings and Highway 101, but the winding South Bank Chetco River Road heading back to the facility you time to relax and escape civilization.

"It's an experience that's different from a run-of-the-mill golf course," Ed says. "It's a high quality course that's away from everything else. From a golfer's perspective, the course is not as long but it's really narrow and that's a real challenge."

Most holes are nestled against the hills of the Chetco River basin and, as a result, fairways are tight and for the most part unforgiving.

Then there's No. 4, a picture postcard 147-yard Par 3 that starts from an elevated tee and drops to the green and bunker surrounded by water. On many courses, this hole's beauty and challenge would stand alone. At Salmon Run, it's one in a series of postcard opportunities.

When not playing golf, there's plenty to do in Brookings and along the South Coast.

"This is a great place for the family to come," Ed says. "Brookings has a lot to offer the family. We have a lot of people driving up to play us on their way to somewhere else."

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