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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 fun course
This is my second time and the course is great value and a fun place to play
Great course
The course was in decent shape for having been aerated a couple of weeks ago. It always drains well so isn't sloppy at all. The layout is good, and the course (including bunkers) are maintained we. The guys are great too.
Value round
This course is only worth it if you get a good deal through golf now. i.e. $16 and under.
The rough was about 8 inches in places. The freshly mowed grass was strewn about the course. The greens had been recently plugged or something, but they rolled at about a 4.
I've golfed there a couple dozen times in the last year and the staff has yet to be friendly.
potholed greens
I have played Rose City 100's of times and I have never seen this course in a worse condition. Greens are diseased and have patches of dirt everywhere. They will bounce back at some point, hopefully not too far into the summer. I love this course and I hope they figure out how to properly care for it.
Nice day, nice course, good price
Anybody that gives Rose City a bad review, does not play golf or it was snowing. Thank you Rose City, I'll be back. Bill Hoffmann
Late November Golf
Rose City is a fun course, and the staff has always been good the few times I've played there. It's a good course to play when I want to drive over the river into Portland, just minutes from Vancouver, Washington. It was late November and very cold, wet, and even was snowing. The course held up ok, some sloppy spots are expected this time of year in the Great PNW. Even with those conditions there were lots of people playing, true NW golfers! Rose City is a great value for the deal I found on golfnow
Great Value and Fun
Played with three other singles. Course was in good shape considering the time of year. Played in less than 4.5 hours. Great course for walking.
Lots of fun
Despite the weather (rainy and windy) had a great time. Met up with another gent who plays here often and had a great experience.
Good golf but poor customer service
Rose City should not offer deals on GolfNow if they are not going to honor them. If they have holiday rates (Veterans Day) they should not post the times or post the times with the correct rates. Even though they did not honor the GolfNow rate I signed up for we played anyway. Very windy but the course was in good shape for a blustery fall day.
Rose City on a wet day
Considering the rainy conditions and the bottom land on which the course sits, Rose City GC still plays fairly true, with fewer hazards than you might imagine. The green fees, particularly for seniors, are very reasonable. A senior card gives you a discounted rate at Rose City, Heron Lakes and Eastmoreland, but requires getting a picture ID card on Monday and Wednesdays in the early afternoon.
it is a good course to golf
This was the first time for quite awhile for me, but i really enjoy this course. It is pretty open on all courses to play.
Good hard ground
First time playing here and was pleasantly surprised at the layout and overall condition. Plus only lost one ball
Nice little course
Nice little track for Portlanders. It breaks up the monotony of playing Heron Lakes over and over again. I'll play it again, but be aware there are few sections that do not drain all that well and because of that I might try to avoid periods when rain has been falling heavily.
Rose City
Played the blues (6552/71.5/121) on a prepaid Golf Now Hot Deal for $18 to walk. Excellent value on a Sunday afternoon, even if it was a 4H, 40M round.
I am told Portland has not has any significant rain in 2 months. It shows, both courses I played this weekend were dry to very dry. This is not a tight course, it's an older Portland city course with many mature trees in NE Portland. While they only had a couple of doglegs, there wasn't a straight hole on the course, every par 4/5 bent at least some one way or the other. There weren't any holes that made you go "WOW", but there wasn't a bad hole out of the 18 either... several long par 3's and reachable par 5's, plus a good combination of shorter, medium and longer par 4's... and nary a flat hole either, it was constantly up/down hills. Not an easy track, but one where you could score if playing well.
The greens were medium speed, undulating and generally putted OK. However, many greens had brown patches that reminded me of Sunday @ a U.S. Open due to the lack of water. I have a harder time here than most courses figuring out the break. Several greens had severe breaks where if you were on the wrong side of the hole, 3 putts was likely.
The fairways and rough were dry but played decent.
The traps all seemed to have nice, fluffy sand, very good.
The tees were also dry but decent, especially considering the amount of play.
Customer Service from the pro shop to the starter were both excellent, and the cart gal made her way around several times on a 90 degree day.
slow
Typical slow play for a Friday 3 foursomes ahead of us lots of shots from them waiting to clear green when there was over 200 + yards, safety was concern but most times barely over 100 yard shots, and some drinking
Don't know why I waited 30 years to play this course again
I used to play 9 holes every week after work in the early eighties. And to tell you the truth, I did not think much of the course. Last week, at the last moment, I secured a tee time and was surprised at the excellent condition of the course. This was the first time I have seen the course in thirty years. Hats off to the City of Portland. I will be back again and again.
greens in poor condition
Need to do a better job keeping up greens and outer side of fairways yo yo be water, too dry
pace of play is horrendous
My first round of golf here took over 5 hours but I cut them some slack since it was one of the first nice days of the year and it was packed. My second round here took over 5 hours again but this time the source was obvious. A 3 three some in carts that was 7 holes in front of me was 2 holes behind on the 8th green. And there was no marshal in sight. Sadly these clowns played the back nine too. It was bad enough that a group that teed off 1.5 hours after we did caught us on the 17th hole.
