GolfPass Icon
Rating Index Rating
Tooltip Information Icon
4.2
458 Reviews (458)
5 Stars
138
4 Stars
220
3 Stars
72
2 Stars
21
1 Stars
7
Conditions
4.0
Value
4.2
Layout
4.7
Friendliness
4.5
Pace
4.2
Amenities
3.8
92.8%
Recommend this course
417 out of 458 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.4
14 Reviews (14)
5 Stars
6
4 Stars
7
3 Stars
1
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Conditions
4.3
Value
4.4
Layout
4.9
Pace
4.2
Amenities
4.1
StaffFriendliness
4.7
92.9%
Recommend this course
13 out of 14 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.4
22 Reviews (22)
5 Stars
9
4 Stars
12
3 Stars
1
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Conditions
4.1
Value
4.3
Layout
4.8
Pace
4.3
Amenities
3.9
StaffFriendliness
4.6
95.5%
Recommend this course
21 out of 22 reviews
Read Reviews
frame.svg
AI summaries based on real golfer reviews
circle-star.svg
Course Highlights
The Great Blue course delivers a cleverly designed layout with water features that reward strategic play, making it a favorite among Portland-area golfers. Well-maintained fairways, true-rolling greens, and efficient pace of play offer strong value at this accessible municipal track.

About

Holes 18
Type Public/Municipal
Style Links
Par 72
Length 6902 yards
Slope 139
Rating 74.0

Heron Lakes Golf Course was opened for public play in 1972. The course was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. and is located off of I-5 next to the Portland International Raceway. It was named after the Blue Herons that inhabit the many lakes and ponds around the course. There are two courses, the Great Blue and the Green Back.

The Great Blue has been rated for years as the most difficult golf course in the Portland Area. It is a links style course with water, tall rough, narrow fairways, and sand everywhere. Most fairways on the Great Blue narrow to small greens that roll and pitch in several directions.

Book a Tee Time at
Great Blue Course - Heron Lakes
Powered by GolfNow.com
Hot Deals at Great Blue Course - Heron Lakes
View more Hot Deals on

Course Details

Year Built 1992
Fairways Winter Rye Grass
Greens Bent Grass
Golf Season Year round

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes
GPS No
Pull-carts Yes
Caddies No
Clubs Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Bunker Yes
Golf School/Academy Yes
Teaching Pro Yes
Pitching/Chipping Area Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Credit Cards Accepted VISA, MasterCard, Discover Welcomed
Metal Spikes Allowed No
Walking Allowed Yes
Dress code Shirts must be worn on the premises at all times.

Food & Beverage

Bar, Snacks

Accolades

  • Golf Advisor: Top Courses in Oregon (2023 #17)
The Best Way To Book Is With GolfPass+ Annual
golf ball.svg
$120 in monthly tee time promo codes
waivedfees
12 rounds of waived fees
redeemtrophy
GolfPass Member Pricing
teetime protection.svg
Tee Time Protection

Reviews

4.2
458 Reviews (458)

What Golfers Are Saying

The 19th Hole is Great For:
Drinks 11
Watching the Game 7
Course Challenges Include:
Water Hazards 24
Bunkers 22
Undulating Greens 13
This course/club is great for:
Advanced Golfers 15
Locals 15
Walkers 13
This Course's Location is:
Convenient to the City 22
Near the Airport 16
Worth the Drive 11

Numbers based on reviews tagged with attribute.

Advanced Filters
Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
2.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Course is chewed up

To be fair, this course is often very busy, so it's understandable that there will be divots everywhere and craters in the greens, but the grounds crew needs to do more. The greens were atrocious. Any putt that goes in is pure luck. Plus, they are tiny and multi-tiered or severely sloped. Pin placements were rarely on level ground.

Conditions Fair
Value Average
Layout Fair
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Beginner
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

High potential course that is lacking a bit of maintenance.

Great course lacking some maintenance but other than that it’s a really good place to golf. Parking is tough but doable. Tea times are every 9 minutes causing compression in the pace of play often. If it’s not slow pace of play it’s really fast and enjoyable but one group can really cause a big back log. 10 minute intervals might help but I am not the owner and I don’t know their bottom line for making money.

Conditions Average
Value Good
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Fair
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 14
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
2.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Walked

Course Conditions have significantly dropped!

This is a Robert Trent Jones Jr designed course. I have played this course numerous times over the past 15 years. It "was" one of the best Muni courses in the country!

Haven't played this course in 2 years and discovered that the course conditions have drastically dropped. The greens used to be between and 11 - 12, and sometimes in July or August a 13! Now a 9. The fairways are now like an average rough, the sand traps are poor and in need of maintenance - see photo. This course a 7-8 (out of 10), now maybe a 4 - just above being a mowed down cow pasture.

Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Fair
Pace Fair
Amenities Fair
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Tough

Great course but its a ball eating course. Lots of bunkers and water. Stay in the fairway are you will lose your ball

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 10
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
2.0
Previously Played

Gooose pooop!

Played today besides the fact they didn’t feel the need to mention the greens had been verticut and sanded.... the Goose poop is ridiculous! This was the first time i’ve Ever had to wash my shoes and push cart after a round. Not to mention wash my towels and pants as soon as I got home.

You literally can’t walk 5 feet without stepping in or dodging (then stepping in) poop!

Oh and on the back nine my tee shot landed about 5 feet from a big ( I mean BiG) steaming pile of dog poop.

Playability wise: fairways were furry and lots of upheaval (think little reverse divots) I had to clean goose poop off my ball on every shot (not exaggerating) greens were crazy slow due to sanding.

The bunkers were my only reprieve from the greasy Goose slip and we’re surprisingly soft and able to handle a standard bunker shot.

I think I’ll leave this course alone till summer!

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 3
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Walked

Pick your poison

Played in a foursome where I was the only one who has never played the course, where as the others played this course multiple times. Each one of them said you can play this course 20 times and you will play it different each time.

Off the tee it provides you with options on how to play the hole. Will you challenge the fairway bunker and risk putting water into play where it wouldn't be if you clubbed down short? Lay it up short for a long approach shot? Not many courses in the area provide you with the multitude of options off the tee; most are take driver/less than driver and pipe it down as far as you can. Not Great Blue. You've got some hard choices ahead of you.

Fairways are in decent condition when you factor in early season conditions, greens were in great shape without yet being aerated, a few tee boxes are a little uneven which is fairly annoying.

A few negatives about the course: I booked online via their website a few days prior to the day of play and they somehow lost my booking. They had to squeeze me in where I should have already had a tee time. Second is something they can't really do anything about and that's duck/goose poop lines much of the holes, so if that's an issue for you probably should wait for the summer months.

Conditions Good
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Fair
Pace Good
Amenities Fair
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Previously Played

Great Blue

Challenging and fun course but there is way too much goose poop that you have to play through.

Conditions Average
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Played On
Reviews 10
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played

Grew up playing this course. If you don’t play it all the time (Men’s club) or Pro or a really good Am who is daily accurate this course can give you fits. And the back 9 is one of the toughest 9s in the state. It’s a love hate relationship with the blue. You play well here you can play well anywhere. The only I need to accomplish is shoot under on the back and then do it consistently. Great course.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 160
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Top 100 Contributor
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Sunny,windy and cold golf.

There was so much goose and duck poop on the fairways it was amazing. On the 17th hole there were thousands of birds and poop like you would not believe. Too early to be out on the course.

Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 160
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Top 100 Contributor
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Climate change in the NW

Beautiful day, sunny and warm on the first Monday in December. This week will be a great time to get some golf in for the end of the year. The Blue course is tough but in great shape.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

The drinks inside and on the course are too expensive. They charge $5.50 per can for something that cost less than 10 dollars for a six pack.

Conditions Good
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Fair
Played On
Reviews 3
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 45
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
1.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

pro shop staff ..... rude. impolite.

greens were worst ever.. poor maintanance

:(

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Average
Friendliness Poor
Pace Fair
Amenities Poor
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 15
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 15-19
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Hot weather
Walked

Great experience and we'll be back

We had a great time playing the Heron Lakes Great Blue course on Sunday. We played at 3pm to get a cheaper round since it is a little pricier for a public track. I would say it is definitely worth it though. The course is in great condition and it's a challenging round. There's a lot of water in play. The other golfers we saw looked to be experienced and I think this helped with pace of play. One negative I would say is that there is not much shade on the course, which we were hoping for since it was really hot.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 4
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Wet weather
Used cart

First time - New to area

Just moved here from Sacramento. Love the layout and the length of the holes. Just be prepared for the weather - everyone has golf umbrellas and covers for their clubs. The facilities are old but I don't mind.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 13
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Course needs maintenance pretty bad

The course is wonderful and a lot of older players fav in Portland area. I played it a few times but this time I felt like the course wasn’t kept up that well. The bunkers need lots of work(weeds and sand added to them.) and some of the course needs work. Greens were ok nothing special nor bad. I just hope they do some work to it, cause it needs it cause his should be a gem in Portland

Conditions Fair
Value Average
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 45
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

I like this course but the green condition .......

not impressive !!

Conditions Average
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Nice course

Pace was slow, but the course and the day were excellent!

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Fair
Amenities Good
Now Reading
  • Home

  • Memberships

  • Library

  • Account