Rose City Golf Course
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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Course Details
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Clubhouse, Banquet FacilitiesReviews
Reviewer Photos
Nice day for waiting....
The course is really in pretty good shape and I know it was Saturday afternoon but over 5 hour round without a marshall around is not good. The restaurant has nice people working there but the sandwich was not special and not a great value. The course has a good mix of easy and difficult holes. It's a nice track but middle of the pack around town.
Always a favorite
We like to play Rose City when we want nice long drives but are not up for challenging terrain. Easy lay-out, well-kept grounds. Quiet for being in the middle of Portland. Some geese hanging out (I hit one) but not as many as other courses in the area.
Solid Value
My favorite Muni in Portland. Course is in great shape especially the greens. Friendly staff and the grill is always solid.
great management
fairway &green management was god
Nice Place To Play
This was my first time playing here. The course was in good shape. Front nine tee boxes were dry I had a hard time getting my tees in the ground. The back nine were fine. The only thing I didn't like about this course was there is no driving range to warm up. This was a first for me. Overall nice course at a great price on golf now. I will go back.
nice course
nice course, we just played 9 holes but would like to go back and play the rest, the front 9 had a nice mix of holes with just enough elevation change to make it interesting. The greens seemed to have recovered a lot from some of the earlier reviews I read.
Fun course
Rose City is a fun course to play. Offers long and short holes with many trees and a few ponds. Greens were in very poor shape with patches of dirt and hardpan. Fairways very nice.
Could be so much more
This is (or could be) a grand old course. Unfortunately, the condition of the greens was deplorable. I understand it has been a dry year, but I've played many other courses with better greens. Fairway conditions were only average. In short, the course and the clubhouse need a facelift.
Not worth it
I have played here hundreds of times and I hate to say it but rose city needs a new agronomy staff. The proshop staff was friendly and helpful. The course however was the worst I have ever seen it and by far the worst I've played this year, the only part of it that had seen a mower in the last week was some of the fairways. The greens are all but dead, many patches of sand only, very bumpy, not mowed in a week, hole placements overgrown. Not worth it even for the hot deal on golf now, this sucks, rose city used to be the best muni in portland, now it's the worst I've seen this year
Worst greens in Portland
I have played this course several times and have always loved playing here for the challenge and course condition for a muni course. But the condition this course is in now is horrible to say the least. If I would have known they had a disease on the greens I would have played somewhere else. They should be playing temp greens on all the greens until they are fixed. Its the only way to properly fix them.
I am extremely disappointed and will not be back this year. Back to the OGA for a great rate and little extra travel, but its worth it.
Sand everywhere!
The greens were sanded on Monday so the putting was pretty bad. Sanding needs to be done but I would have appreciated a heads up in case I wanted to play somewhere else!
Rose City
I was charged more than I was quoted by Golf Now. There was also a tournament in front of me and couldn't finish 18 by sun down because of the slow play.
Course was burnt out.
A shame it's been so hot. Typically the course is in beautiful condition earlier in the summer but the course was dry, mix of brown and green grass, and rock hard in some places, and you could tell the staff has been saving water for the greens instead. Pace of play was slow. A lot of amateur golfers crammed into back to back foursomes. Staff were okay, guy in the pro shop seemed irritated by how busy it was, but despite that I payed only $17 through golf now.
Old school
Great muni. Well maintained. I always play here at least once when in town visiting my sons.
Pleasant facility
Good golfing and plenty of trees, trees, trees. Tho fairways plenty wide and good rolling greens. Timing excellent as pace exceptional in mid afternoon, mid week.
Good experience.
Friendly greeting when we checked in. Course getting dry due to hot weather. Course tight in some areas and greens challenging. Had a wonderful experience playing with a great friend.
Coming back to an old friend
I had not played this course for several years and was really pleasantly surprised at what I found. I did not remember some of the holes and found it challenging. It has the best greens I have putted this year, and We had a really great time. We won't be gone so long this time.
Nice Portland public course
Course is in good condition with challenging holes