Heron Lakes Golf Club - Great Blue Course

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.

Sad to say the course is in TERRIBLE condition! Do not play it!

Enjoyed an early A.M. round with tocho261 on a Golfnow prepaid deal for $19. We walked the blues (6491/71.9/137) in 4H, teeing off a little after 6 and finishing a little after 10. Challenging layout that is currently in good condition. Lots of red/yellow hazards that are lakes or marshland that you need to avoid, plus an above average amount of traps as well. There are zero homes that you can see from anywhere on this course, occasionally you will have railroad or racetrack noise, but this track and it's sister Greenbelt course (shorter & easier in my opinion) are pretty isolated considering they are less than 10 miles from downtown Portland along the Columbia River. The greens putted really nice, firm and medium fast. Definitely well above average for a city course and some of the nicest greens I have recently played on. Both the fairways and rough were nicely maintained, you generally had lush lies. There are several areas on different holes that are brown that they were soaking, trying to get green again, but overall, both were very good. The tees were decent, above average for a public course that gets alot of play. The only thing below average was the sand traps. They could use some new, additional sand and had not been raked/maintained in at least a couple of days. Only a few holes have water and there was no drink/food cart, luckily it was a cool, overcast morning. But this course is worth playing, especially for under $20.

Greens had Burnt sections that looked as if they were over watered and then not watered for days causing whole portions of the green to die. Course was poorly watered throughout with Dead spots on Tee Boxes, Fairwways and Greens all throughout the course. Worst condition I ahve ever seen the Great Blue Course. Course Management needs to be addressed.

I have played this course many times over the years, good links style course and in the summer it plays like a links course with hard and fast fairways, lots of risk/reward opportunities. But disappointed with the greens, very bumpy

The course sets up for a left to right player. I only broke out my driver on three holes. Fairway bunkers made for selective thinking. Greens were well manicured, but the fringe had heavy ridges on several holes. Blind holes toughened the course, but with experience the course would be easy to negotiate. Clubhouse individuals were not friendly.

Slow but kind of expected on a summer Saturday. Drink cart didnt come around on entire front 9, and when she did show up on the back her card machine was broken. She said shed be back but never came. Not good when play is slow and you aren't hitting very many good shots.

Had too wait almost every hole. thats not acceptable for a Thursday afternoon. Please suggest to marshall to tell people to pick up if they are slow.

Good price for course, but 45% of the round price for a cart!!

Very pretty course. Challenging, but not over the top. To be able to play a public course in four hours is awesome. Very friendly staff. Will definitely play again.

This course is beautiful and well maintained I would have given it a 4.5, but staff not real friendly and they do not increase the pace of play. The play was at a very anemic pace! But will return to play it again!

Played at 3:15 on Friday afternoon - so I got the twilight rate. Pace of play was great. Greens were in great shape. Sand traps had two different kinds of sand and could use some more sand. Staff was friendly. Needs a new clubhouse.

My overall experience was good. I was amazed at the lack customer service at check. No "good morning" no "welcome to our golf course" NO anything - just whats your tee time -- It was like we where bothering the gentlemen behind the counter giving them our $50.00 to play there. Kinda funny that this seems to be the Normal at most golf courses unfortunately. Maybe they should really check themselves and make it a friendlier experience. People come to play golf for a good time. It starts with the people behind the desk

The course was in good shape. Great course for all levels.

First course I've played in Portland. It was recommended by family and friends in the area. They played as well and enjoyed the course.

This was the second time in four days that I had played this course. The fairways and the greens were a little slower on Friday than Tuesday, but because of the dew on the ground, it was to be expected. Had a great time and played well again. If you need a confidence boosting round, that is a great course for such an occasion.

Heron Lakes is my go to course - booking on-line with Golf Now was super convenient and I got a great rate for an afternoon round with the boss. We played at the end of the heat wave and the course was in excellent shape for a muni, though the driving range was a little abused and cut short to iron practice only due to a first tee practice happening at the other end of the driving range.

The t-boxes, fairways and greens were all in excellent condition. The bunkers felt a little watered down, surprising since we've been having a heatwave here.

Pace of play was brisk, even following a group that was obviously putting for money and had no reason to be playing from the blues - we still finished in just under 4hrs.

The Great Blue is my usual choice at Heron Lakes, but the Greenback provides for an entertaining round with plenty of challenge and a great finishing hole (who doesn't love a Mt. Hood view).

I love this course! It has some very challenging holes on it especially from the blue tees. It can get pretty crowded so plan on a slightly longer round (usually around 4 1/2 hrs, maybe a little more depending on the day) The greens are almost always running beautifully especially in the summer, there is always a cart girl driving around multiple times while you play and the driving range offers grass hitting areas instead of mats. All in all if you get an early bird tee time or a twilight round (after 3 pm) it is a GREAT PRICE for the condition of the course.

This links type course is always a challenge for me; it was exactly what I was looking for too! Great Blue was in a great shape! Everything was nicely mowed, the greens were firm & smooth and the cups freshly cut. I'm looking forward to playing this course again.

Loved this course!! Excellent shape with enough challenge!