Wildhorse Casino Resort provides 'laid-back' golf in Eastern Oregon

Also, Chinook Winds Casino Resort purchases coastal course in Lincoln City

By DAN SHRYOCK
Oregon.com

A recent trip to Eastern Oregon gave me a chance to check out Wildhorse Golf Course at the casino resort of the same name. I'm glad I did.

Wildhorse Golf Course, located adjacent to the casino facility a few miles east of Pendleton, is a perfect diversion for the vacationer with a set of clubs in the trunk of the car.

Hopefully, you're as fortunate as I was and you'll be paired with some local players who know the course and are more than happy to tell you about each hole as you go along. That's part of the comfortable appeal here. It's serious golf with a casual feel.

Golf pro Laine Wortman likes to call it "laid-back golf."

"When you get into rural Oregon, jeans and T-shirts are more common. It's a more laid-back approach but there's still a desire to be good golfers," he says. "Our local people help make you feel welcome."

Then there's the course's beauty.

"You get some great views of the horizons here. I like the expanse and views we get," Laine says. "As the trees grow, it's going to become an even more beautiful course."

He has a point. From No. 6, you get a great view of the Blue Mountain foothills. Over on No. 15, the mounding and bunkering lift your eyes to the hills. Then there's plenty of water throughout the course, inviting water fowl and migrating birds.

Laine also likes the way the course plays, explaining that the golfer can expect a course with very few tricks.

"We have good greens and great tee-to-green conditions," he says. "It's a course that's very receptive of good shots and not quite as penal on bad shots."

In all, 65 bunkers lining the course can become a distraction depending on which of the four tee boxes you choose to play. "For the big hitter, they become aiming points," Laine says. "They frame holes so your eyes move toward the greens.

"This course keeps the driver in your hand. You can rip it on every hole," he says. "Unless you play it, you don't know how good this course is. The word of mouth is always good. Once you're here, you want to come back."

Lodging, dining, the casino and the impressive Tamástslikt Cultural Institute are all adjacent to the golf course. The institute, the interpretive center for the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla Tribes, details tribal histories and cultures. It works to preserve and protect native traditions of the region.

 

Water features protect many of the Wildhorse greens.

 
Chinook Winds Casino Resort Adds Golf Course to Coastal Offerings

On the other side of Oregon, Chinook Winds Casino resort recently added Lakeside Golf Course to its operation.

Chinook Winds, owned by the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, purchased the golf course and helath club - now known as Chinook Winds Golf Resort - in mid April in its effort to provide guests the complete destination resort experience, officials say. Chinook Winds already is well known for its headline entertainment, convention facilities, gambling, dining and oceanfront lodging.

Plans calls for increasing the course length to 6,640 yards (par 71), moving it from an executive level course to a resort course level.

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