Heron Lakes Golf Club - Great Blue Course

my only gripe would be the leave's, the fairway's were clear,
but the falling leave's made it hard to find my ball at time's.
you cant control mother nature. all in all it was a great day.

I love the challenge that the course brings but the greens were the worst I have ever seen on any course I have played. It was pure luck if you got one to drop after it would go threw dead and bumpy spots. I love the course but I won't be coming back until its fixed

Some of the greens are challenging. You might have to lay up on some holes instead of charging the greens.

The course is in good shape, especially the greens. The staff is very helpful and friendly. Beverage cart was available when needed and food was good at the snack bar. Heron Lakes does a good job.

I hadn't played the Heron Lakes courses since last summer, but I just played both the Blue & Green in back to back days and was shocked at how bad the courses have gotten. They used to be in such great shape but now, it's hard to pay more than $20 and spend 5hrs out there. On top of that, the counter staff is hardly inviting, so what's left?

Green Back
The fairways & aprons are really chewed up. We had to take a lot of unmarked GUR relief. Pace was really slow on the front, but the marshall did a great job in finding the culprit, and the back was smooth sailing. The greens were in good shape, so that was the best thing Green Back had going.

Great Blue
The greens were in terrible shape. About half the greens were in need of major rework because of all the bare spots. We had to give relief on the greens several times because there wasn't any grass to putt on to the hole. Opposite to Green Back, the fairways on Great Blue were in much better shape than the greens.

Great Blue is one of my favorite Portland courses. It has a wonderfully challenging "links style" layout. It rewards the player that makes their shot and punishes, sometimes severely, one that is out of position. Be prepared to lose a few balls if you are not making your fairways. It has a number of fairly long holes where you will need two solid metal shots to get your GIR. Putting surfaces are typically some of the best (smooth and fast) in the PDX area.

Sadly, however, on the day we played, they had poorly top-dressed the putting surfaces such that wet sand stuck to your ball and putting was miserably slow and unpredictable. Another negative (and this is a perenial problem) is that Great Blue lies adjacent to Portland International Raceway and on some hole (like 8 and 17) the noise can be painfully loud and distracting when racing is happening. Such was the case on the day we played and hence the poor rating. There is also a rail line adjacent to the course that can be a distraction but this is less likely.

Still, I higly recommend this course to the intermediate or advanced golfer looking for a good test of their game with the following caveats:
- Call and check on green conditions.
- Go when no one is racing at PIR if possible.
- Be prepared for some audible distractions.
- Bring your "A" game - you will be tested.

Consolations:
- Clubhouse has a passable bar.
- Grill makes a really excellant burger.
- Free WiFi for those of you tethered to a job.

this course drains water well. it is a great course no matter the conditions.

I usually expect more from Heron Lakes with regards to how other players respect the game of golf, but my last two rounds have me pondering if I should move on to other courses in the area.

Municipal courses offer their array of characters on any given round, because I don't think there is much you can do to keep non-golfers off the course, but was dismayed when I found a threesome on the turn tee box that hadn't been in front of us all day. They were visibly intoxicated, smoking cigars and cigarettes, and beyond rude. Wearing five year old Seahawks tee shirts with holes in them gave their attitudes away, and they wanted nothing more to deny my group the right to play through. We followed this drunken motely crew before we could skip past them on #15 and move to #17. A call to the pro shop did no good.

In the least, I would expect them to let us through; then again they pulled can after can of PBR from their bags.

Here is my feedback: enforce the dress code, beverages from off site aren't allowed, and listen to those who respect the game.

Both the Heron Lakes courses have got to be some of the best "city" courses throughout the country! They are a great value for the type of course. The only issue I found was the lack of people fixing their divots....but that's what you get with a Muni I guess? The divot issue was pretty bad in that the greens were almost un-puttable because of current divots and scars from old ones not fixed.

I know Heron Lakes Great Blue is a nice golf course, but I'm not sure what happened there. It looks as though they put down too much fertilizer and then didn't water enough or something. I understand it's summer and all, but to have burned out dry patches on the greens? I was paired up with a couple of gentlemen who told me it was the worst they had ever seen there. Hopefully by the end of September the course will be in better shape, notably the greens. Heron Lakes is a nice golf course in a pretty easy to get to location so I will be back to play it again.

Nice course, easy to walk. Greens are plenty big, but need more attention from players fixing their ballmarks, plenty of bumps on the greens make for lost strokes. Plenty of room on the fairways, which were in good condition overall. Sand in bunkers quite heavy and wet. I'm guessing there was heavy rain in the past week.
Pace felt a lot slower than it was, but this course could easily be played in 3.5 hours without rushing, if players would just pick up the pace between shots. Freight train line is alongside course, and there was an extremely long , slow train rumbling and squealing by almost the entire back nine, could be distracting to some players.

Great Blue: This course is more challenging then Greenback, we had a great round with excellent rate of play and pristine tee boxes and fairways. However, the greens we in sub par form... Almost every green was very bumpy but playable without too much issue, except for #17 which looked to be very damaged and in unacceptable condition. Overall be course was fantastic and offered a real challenge to the average golfer, highly recommend.

If the greens were in better shape it would be an easy 5 stars

Staff was very friendly, and the starter had us off right on time. The cart lady was also very friendly, but she was the only one working both courses so we only saw her on holes 8 and 18... I spent a lot of the day looking for water fountains. the bunkers weren't in great shape and were hard panned. Most of the greens were bumpy and not well taken care of. Some of the fairways had some dead patches or muddy spots. It can be a good course if it were better taken care of. The pace of play was a little on the slow side, but that should be expected for a Saturday.

We were somewhat dissapointed with this being our first round here and the great things we had heard. The fairways and thw coursw in general were fantastic, fairways ran well and were a stiff challenge with how tight landing areas were. The greens however were the worst I've ever seen. I beleive the 17th was prettt much all dirt with some patches or really bad looking grass. Was super bumpy and you had no shot at getting a ball to go where you wanted it. There were 5 or 6 more greens that weren't as bad but had the similar patches of dirt and were extremely bumpy almost as if they are diseased. This course has the potential to be the best
In Portland if they can bring the greens back. The other 12 to 13 holes without this issue were fantastic.

This is a nice course that is in great shape. The staff was somewhat friendly and we went off right on time which was good also

It is a great links style course. I am a hacker, but if you hit smart shots you can score. Lots of bunkers and waste areas make it very challenging.

I got a great deal through golf now. The course was in great shape an the green were rolling good. I highly recommend this golf course.

Putting greens had many burned out spots. it affected many putts.

the green is too bad too much hole much dead green.

The Greenback course at Heron Lakes offers wide fairways and big greens with enough sand and water to be challenging.
Course conditions were excellent and we played in just over four hours with two people walking and two riding. It is difficult to find a better value in the Portland area and I would recommend either the Green Back course or the Great Blue at Heron Lakes.