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Rose City Golf Course
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About
Rose City Golf Course is the second oldest municipal track in the Portland area. In 1921, A.H. "Jay" Gould played his first round of golf ever at Eastmoreland Golf Course. After returning home, he decided to look for a good place to hit golf balls and came upon The Rose City Speedway. He spoke with C.P. Keyser of the City Park Bureau and obtained permission to burn the tall grass on the infield so that golf balls could be found.
Jay and friend Herbert George used shovels and hoes to carve out a nine-hole course on the speedway infield. Tin cans were used for cups, packing cases for tee-boxes, and iron rods and rags for flags. The Oregonian and Journal Newspapers ran a story on the new golf course and 30 golfers showed up the following Sunday to hit balls around on the burnt grass and dirt. The main hazard was a head-on train collision that occurred earlier in the summer and partially blocked the seventh green.
After a few weeks, the Rose City Golf Association was founded which marked the beginning of the course. Full cooperation from the city and donations from businesses and individuals solidified the construction. George Ott drew up a nine-hole plan and work began in the spring of 1922. Play continued in the spring, but was stopped in the summer due to long grass and no mower. Play started again in the fall, but stopped again due to motorcycle racing. In the winter of 1922-23, the viaduct on the west end of the track washed out and put an end to the races. On Jan. 31, 1923 the first green fee ticket was sold to Jay Gould and in the spring, more than 800 played in one day. The city then took over the course completely.
Today, Rose City Golf Course is an 18-hole, par-72 course with rolling fairways that are lined with a variety of large trees. Water comes into play on holes 10, 11, 14, and 15 and greenside bunkers are well placed.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | 72 | 6552 yards | 71.7 | 123 |
| White | 72 | 6164 yards | 69.8 | 119 |
| White (W) | 73 | 6164 yards | 75.3 | 126 |
| Red (W) | 73 | 5589 yards | 71.8 | 118 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament M: 71.0/120 | 367 | 388 | 502 | 341 | 171 | 425 | 364 | 216 | 384 | 3158 | 475 | 465 | 200 | 367 | 329 | 133 | 473 | 414 | 423 | 3279 | 6437 |
| Blue M: 70.9/119 | 367 | 388 | 502 | 341 | 171 | 425 | 364 | 216 | 353 | 3127 | 475 | 465 | 200 | 367 | 329 | 133 | 473 | 414 | 423 | 3279 | 6406 |
| Blue/White M: 69.4/116 | 343 | 362 | 502 | 323 | 171 | 390 | 333 | 216 | 326 | 2966 | 475 | 465 | 200 | 351 | 320 | 133 | 473 | 378 | 405 | 3200 | 6166 |
| White M: 68.6/116 W: 74.5/120 | 343 | 362 | 476 | 323 | 154 | 390 | 333 | 190 | 326 | 2897 | 450 | 446 | 180 | 351 | 320 | 120 | 462 | 378 | 405 | 3112 | 6009 |
| White/Green M: 67.4/112 | 325 | 325 | 476 | 308 | 154 | 369 | 303 | 190 | 280 | 2730 | 450 | 446 | 180 | 298 | 262 | 120 | 462 | 353 | 395 | 2966 | 5696 |
| Green M: 66.5/108 W: 71.4/114 | 325 | 351 | 447 | 308 | 123 | 369 | 303 | 142 | 280 | 2648 | 424 | 432 | 166 | 298 | 262 | 77 | 416 | 353 | 395 | 2823 | 5471 |
| Red M: 62.7/103 W: 66.4/109 | 241 | 262 | 383 | 240 | 123 | 288 | 262 | 142 | 220 | 2161 | 353 | 365 | 142 | 260 | 262 | 77 | 416 | 275 | 294 | 2444 | 4605 |
| Red/Gold W: 66.0/108 | 241 | 262 | 383 | 240 | 123 | 288 | 262 | 142 | 205 | 2146 | 340 | 312 | 142 | 260 | 262 | 77 | 340 | 275 | 294 | 2302 | 4448 |
| Gold M: 62.1/100 W: 65.0/105 | 241 | 262 | 383 | 240 | 123 | 288 | 262 | 142 | 205 | 2146 | 340 | 312 | 142 | 253 | 230 | 77 | 340 | 220 | 294 | 2208 | 4354 |
| Handicap | 7 | 3 | 15 | 13 | 17 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 6 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 18 | 16 | 4 | 2 | |||
| Par | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 37 | 72 |
| Handicap (W) | 11 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 15 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
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Reviews
Reviewer Photos
nice fairway
It is a really nice course with good layout. Fairway is good but green is too soft.
Great morning on the course!
Rose City is truly a gem of a muni course. The course is in excellent shape; the greens were amazing for this time of year. And given the limitations for the COVID precautions, the round was a very enjoyable. Always one of my favorite Portland City courses, it rates right up there with the best of them for playability, value and enjoyment.
jpq
Safe to play
Recent changes to minimize contact had allowed us golfers to enjoy the game, fresh air and a bit of exercise in this stressful times. I appreciate and can recommend the course, it’s dry ball rolls and greens are good.
Best condition I've seen this course.
This is the first time we've played RC this year and couldn't believe what great shape it's in. We were finally able to play the ball down. My only issue was the speed of the greens. They were in good shape, just slow. I don't play this course a lot, but don't believe I've ever seen it in this good of condition. I was impressed to say the least, but did miss the 19th hole and can't wait to get past this virus issue.
Weekend round
Staff did a great job maintaining social distancing guidelines. Course was in great shape. Pace was good for a Sunday afternoon. One of my favorite public courses.
Tough course, slow greens
This is my local course since it is so close to home. It is challenging in many ways but I wish the greens were better/faster.
Drier course than othery
For this time of year the course is playable and the rate is reasonable so I recommend it.
Golf in January
With a break in the weather I took a chance and went out to Rose city and had a great time. Sure the course was wet but the greens were in great shape and the fairways were mowed and pretty solid. Even though it was a holiday it was not crowded and I had a great first day out for the new year.
Big old trees..
This course is one of my favorite courses in portland.
The fairways are wide open and has plenty of room to mess up. We played in The middle of December and it was pretty soggy but the ball didnt plug too much. Overall great course but avoid playing during heavy rain falls. The sausage dogs are great with beer after the 9 holes.
Thanksgiving week, November!!
Greens were excellent! I was very surprised how well the courses condition was considering the time of year, was supposed to rain today, even snow possible this week, and it’s was a great out there! Well done with the Greens, very very nice.
Okay layout, friendly staff.
We played behind the men's club and the pace of play was somewhat slow. Overall, we enjoyed the course, even though the greens were in need of attention. We especially enjoyed the 19th hole.
Classic course
This is a great course and I love playing here. Friendly and helpful staff. Beautiful course and green, fairways in good shape.
Sooo Slooow and thin fairways poorly taken care of by golfers
Pace of play is so slow, every time I’ve gone out during the week at 10, 11, 12 doesn’t matter the old men (and women) play soooo slow! It should never take more than 2 1/2 hours to play the front nine on this course during the week .
I mean I get it that this is a city course and everybody walks and all the old people play there because it’s cheap but… anything over two hours and 10 minutes is ridiculous for a foursome, The course is barely over 6000 yards it should not take them that long
Conditions are below average there is a lot of thin muddy spots all over the fairway where grass is just not growing The only thing this place has going for it the greens are in good to very good shape and put fairly true for Poa Annua greens
I guess the Takeaway is golfer beware you’re going to be playing very slow for 5-6 hours if your playing 18 behind slow groups that have no interest in proper etiquette like fixing divots, filling their [hack marks] and keeping up with a decent pace...
oh and don’t expect or even ask to play through they take it personally and either ignore you or argue with you for even asking!
City courses like this would do well to have the starter and ranger making sure people know how important filling their divots and repairing ball marks is for longevity and playability of the course especially it’s health through the winter.
