Oregon’s “Golf Coast” offers variety, history, and world-class tracks for players of all ages and skill levels.
By Bruce W. Smith
August 2023
More than 130 years ago, a hardy group of homesick, kilt-wearing, golf-loving Scotsmen living along Oregon’s north coast buried tin cans in the dunes and sandy seaside meadow and proceeded to hit balls into them. The sandy three-hole golf course set in the oceanside meadow reminded them of the tracks of their beloved St. Andrews and Montrose golf courses.
Gearhart Golf Links, with its Scottish roots, is the oldest Oregon coast course.
Today, Gearhart Golf Links, located about 15 miles south of Astoria, sports an 18-hole track reminiscent of those world-famous links, and it’s one of the oldest continuously operating golf courses west of the Mississippi.
Three years ago and some 240 miles south of Gearhart, a small group of golfers teed off at Sheep Ranch, another 18-hole links-style track that has nine greens literally sitting on the edge of 100-foot cliffs that overlook the Pacific Ocean. While Gearhart is one of the oldest golf courses on Oregon’s spectacular coast, Sheep Ranch is the youngest, and it also happens to be one of six courses that now make up the world-famous Bandon Dunes Golf Resort complex.
From the oldest to the newest, Oregon’s “Golf Coast” has more than two dozen tracks sprinkled along both sides of a 363-mile-long stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway. The courses vary as much in their age, size, design, location, and personalities as this beautiful section of the Pacific Northwest coast offers in its towns, beaches, and stunning ocean vistas. Most courses are either links-style or Heathland tracks, or a combination of both as the coastal terrain and course designers’ imaginations allow.
If you are an RVer with a passion for golf, planning a trip that incorporates playing rounds along the Oregon coast is guaranteed to bring smiles, fond lifelong memories, and maybe a few birdies or an eagle along the way.
Bandon Dunes is a sister course to Sheep Ranch.
MUST-PLAY OREGON COAST COURSES
Of the more than two dozen golf courses located along the Oregon coast, there are some real standouts that are “must play” tracks. Of course, the top of the list for most avid golfers is the Pacific Dunes course at the Bandon Dunes Golf Complex, located 10 minutes north of Bandon and just a half-hour south of Coos Bay.
The golf course complex has plenty of RV parking, excellent restaurants, lodging, and first-class amenities. Pacific Dunes is ranked number 2 on the Top 100 Public Courses list. It’s a spectacularly invigorating, true links-style track that tests your skills with every swing of the club and delivers spectacular vistas of the ocean surf rolling up on the miles-long secluded beach fronting the property.
Bandon Crossings’ layout reflects the highly regarded Heathland golf courses of Great Britain.
Immediately north is its sister course, Sheep Ranch. This course is also perched on the edge of the oceanside cliffs overlooking Whiskey Run Beach some 100 feet below. Like Pacific Dunes, it’s another Top 100 links layout and a great test of skills at all levels, because the wind, unique contours, oceanside holes, and wide variety of hole lengths will challenge all your shot-making abilities.
About 6 miles to the south off Highway 101 is a relatively new course, Bandon Crossings, which opened in 2007. It’s a truly hidden gem on Oregon’s coast. Shot-shaping and accuracy are your friends on this 18-hole track. Owner Rex Smith says, “We found a kinship with the great tradition of the highly regarded Heathland golf courses of Great Britain. They have light, sandy, acidic soil typically with heather, gorse, and bracken, near the ocean (but not on the ocean), a little hillier than many pure links courses.” Limited RV parking is available.
Coos Golf Club celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
If you want to keep out of the fog and wind, head north and play a round at the Coos Golf Club. This country club course, located at Highway 101 milepost 243.5, winds its way through one of the small valleys that feed into the Coos Bay basin. Formerly known as Coos Country Club, this now-public course has been providing excellent golf for locals and visitors since 1923. The track twists and turns, rises and falls through the tall stands of Douglas fir and through beautiful meadows, with creeks and ponds to keep every golfer on their toes. On-site RV parking is limited, but this course is part of the Harvest Hosts camping network.
CENTRAL OREGON COAST GOLF
Farther up the coast, in the seaside town of Florence, is another very nice course called Florence Golf Links. This Rees Jones-designed track was honored as the “Best New Public Course in America” in 1993 and hasn’t lost that appeal today. The 18-hole, par-72 course is located less than a mile from the ocean and has a delightful variety of elevation changes, hole locations, small lakes, wide-open fairways, and small greens. When it’s windy, the traditional links-style back nine will definitely test your shot-making skills. It’s fun, beautiful, and accommodates players of all levels. Plenty of RV parking is available at the clubhouse and in nearby state and county parks.
Florence Golf Links is a 6,931-yard, par-72 track utilizing Oregon’s natural landscape.
Want to play a quick round on your trip along the Oregon coast? Stop at the Agate Beach Golf Course. This little nine-hole course, located just a couple hundred yards from the Pacific Ocean and adjacent to Highway 101 on the southern outskirts of Newport, has been around for 90-plus years. It’s fun, forgiving, unbelievably affordable, and laid out among the towering hemlocks and Douglas firs.
The par-71 Salishan Golf Links at Gleneden Beach provides a spectacular ocean backdrop and a unique challenge for duffers of all skill levels. PGA Tour pro Peter Jacobsen and his design firm, Jacobsen-Hardy Golf Design, gave these fabled links a big face-lift nearly 20 years ago and enhanced the course’s playability and captivating ocean views. “Traditionally, Salishan was known to golfers as a challenging, fast-playing course. We were emphatic about keeping those aspects in place while also raising the level of playability on the course and taking advantage of the natural beauty of the course’s surroundings,” Jacobsen said. Salishan Resort has great amenities and plenty of RV parking.
Salishan Golf Links’ 18-hole links-style course winds through the natural landscape with water views on several holes.
Farther north, you’ll find some relaxing golf at the Chinook Winds Golf Resort, a lush, tree-lined, casino-owned 18-hole track at Lincoln City. This course is 4,547 yards from the blue tees, but the way it winds around the mountainside, through stands of old-growth timber, and around the wetlands still tests one’s shot-making abilities. Bunkers and water hazards protect the greens. RV parking is plentiful at the casino.
NORTHERN OREGON COAST GOLF
A 100 scenic coastal miles farther up Highway 101 leads you to several more fun golf courses, including the aforementioned Gearhart Golf Links in Gearhart, just north of Seaside. This public course opened in 1888 and has stayed true to its Scottish roots with a links layout that boasts undulating fairways and small, fast greens. Afternoon wind, morning fog, and a few blind approach shots make you feel like you’re playing in Scotland. Stay on-site at the Gearhart Hotel over the clubhouse and have refreshments or a meal at the Sand Trap Pub. There is no RV parking on the premises, but Bud’s RV Park is located close by.
Near the northern terminus of Highway 101, 10 miles south of the Columbia River, lies another Pacific Northwest gem — the Astoria Golf and Country Club in Warrenton. Founded in 1923, the member-owned club is described as “the St. Andrews of the Pacific,” and “a course you could play for the rest of your life and never tire of the unique design.” A combination of both links- and parkland-style golf, this course is a beauty to play with its small, quick greens and delightful country club ambience. Contact the club about reciprocal membership and the strict dress code.
OREGON COAST GOLF COURSES 2023
Agate Beach Golf Course (9) — Newport
The Mook At Alderbrook — Tillamook
Astoria Golf & Country Club — Warrenton
Bandon Crossings Golf Course — Bandon
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort: Bandon Dunes, Sheep Ranch, Pacific Dunes, Bandon Trails, Old Macdonald, Bandon Preserve (13-hole Par 3) — Bandon
Cedar Bend Golf Course — Gold Beach
Chinook Winds Golf Resort — Lincoln City
Coos Golf Club — Coos Bay
Crestview Golf Club (9) — Waldport
Florence Golf Links — Florence
Gearhart Golf Links — Gearhart
Highlands Golf Club — Gearhart
Lewis & Clark Public Golf Course (9) — Astoria
Manzanita Links — Manzanita
Ocean Dunes Golf Links — Florence
Reedsport Golf Course — Reedsport
Salishan Golf Links — Gleneden Beach
Salmon Run Golf Course — Brookings
Seaside Golf Course (9) — Seaside
Sunset Bay Golf Course (12) — Coos Bay
Vernonia Golf Club — Vernonia
Note: Unless otherwise indicated, courses have 18 holes
MIND THE WIND
Those who visit the Oregon coast will find two factors to keep in mind when booking tee times: fog and wind. Fog can be an almost certainty in the summer as the warm inland air merges with the cold sea breeze. The fog typically lifts and clears by mid to late morning when the prevailing northwesterly winds off the ocean start ramping up around 11:00 a.m. The wind adds a challenge to playing any of the coastal courses, especially those unprotected links courses with holes along the cliffs or within a short distance of the beaches. Book tee times as early in the morning as possible, or plan your RV golf trip in May, June, September, or October when fog and wind are less prevalent.
PLANNING YOUR OREGON COAST RV PLAYCATION
Oregon’s 360-mile coastline is dotted with parks and campgrounds. In fact, there are 18 state parks located along the Oregon section of the Pacific Coast Highway. RV campsites in state parks fill up quickly during the summer months. While some parks offer overnight camping without a reservation, it’s highly advisable as you plan your Oregon coast golf playcation to reserve a camping spot months in advance by going to oregonstateparks.reserveamerica.com.