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Rating Index Rating
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4.2
451 Reviews (451)
5 Stars
134
4 Stars
217
3 Stars
72
2 Stars
21
1 Stars
7
Conditions
3.9
Value
4.1
Layout
4.7
Friendliness
4.5
Pace
4.2
Amenities
3.7
91.4%
Recommend this course
410 out of 451 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.1
9 Reviews (9)
5 Stars
2
4 Stars
6
3 Stars
1
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Conditions
3.9
Value
4.1
Layout
4.8
Pace
4.0
Amenities
3.7
StaffFriendliness
4.8
88.9%
Recommend this course
8 out of 9 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.3
24 Reviews (24)
5 Stars
8
4 Stars
14
3 Stars
2
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Conditions
3.9
Value
4.0
Layout
4.7
Pace
4.3
Amenities
3.7
StaffFriendliness
4.5
91.7%
Recommend this course
22 out of 24 reviews
Read Reviews
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AI summaries based on real golfer reviews
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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.

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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)
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Reviews

4.2
451 Reviews (451)

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 8
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Challenging course. Great value.

Have played here many times and it's always fun - even though the course challenges my skills. The day we played had great weather and the course was in fabulous shape. Hard to believe this is a city course.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Average
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 4
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played

Excellent Track.

Risk vs. Reward comes into play numerous times. The greens are small, firm and fast. Exciting to play. One of ther best courses in PDX area to play.

Conditions Average
Value Average
Friendliness Average
Pace Poor
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 6
Handicap 25+
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Bunkers are awful

The sand in the bunkers is like wet cement. Needs attention.

Conditions Poor
Value Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser

Generally good condition. Had not healed from aeration.

Generally good condition. Had not healed from aeration. Pace of play on 5/3/13 was far, far better than normal and made the experience great.

Conditions Poor
Value Average
Friendliness Average
Pace Excellent
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser

Great Value, Great Course

The Course was very well maintained, greens were straight and true. We played the Greenback side which is a shorter track but is challenging. The pace was a little show because it was a beautiful day and there were tons of golfers out playing. My only complaint is the parking situation. The over flow parking is in the grass along the Right edge of the driving range. DANGER CLOSE and "park at your own risk" sign shows how they feel about it. Otherwise go early and get a spot in the parking lot...

Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Poor
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 3
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser

This course is a great play.

Greens are slick, but doable. Fairways are in good shape. The course is challenging, but not overly so. A good value in the Portland area

Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Fair
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 8
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser

course playing great

Great pace, great conditions. Course is playing really well.

Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 3
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser

This course is fun to play

Heron Lakes has a driving range where you can hit from grass all year, rare in this area and a big plus in my book. For early May I would say the course was in very good condition, the fairways had a ton of divots and some soggy areas but the greens were spectacular. I have never played the Great Blue course before and was pleasantly surprised about how challenging it plays. It has some really fun risk / reward holes and the greens are fast and fairly undulated. If you get the ball underneath the hole though you can still score well here.

Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Average
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 10-14
Skill Beginner
Plays A few times a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser

Challenging course, SLOW pace

They packed the course as tight as a sardine can. It took over 5 hours to play 18. However, the course itself is a fun track and the staff is friendly. Not an awful place to catch an after-work round. But I would reserve my weekend play for a better managed club.

This review relates to the Great Blue course.

Conditions Excellent
Value Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Poor
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 3
Handicap 5-9
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser

Really got a great afternoon deal at Golf Now!

This wa my first time palying Heron Lakes which has two 18 hole tracks. Got an awesome deal at Golf Now and couldn't pass it up. Played on Greenback walking 18 holes. This course reminded me a lot of a track I played in Winsor California. Nice setting with many mature trees of a veriety of species. Not much water to contend with on GreenBack, but there is enough to keep your attention. I hear Great Blue is even more challenging, as it was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. Gonna have to go back and try that track next time. Greens are relatively flat and recent airation had taken place so they were a little bumpy. Should be nice to putt on when they come though. Fun Course!

Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Good
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Default User Avatar
Commented on 06/06/2013

You must play the Blue.

Played On
Reviews 2
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser

Good public course - challenging but fair.

One of the better values for public golf in Portland.

Conditions Average
Value Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 4
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser

good course to play. challanging

the course is in an excellent shape. the greens were faster than i thought they will be
tough and challanging course

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 2
Handicap 20-24
Skill Beginner
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser

Sandy greens

As of Sunday the 14 of April the greens where still recovering from the plugging. In time they will be perfect . Look forward to next time.

Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 5
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser

challenging course but wide open.

I like heron lakes because they have two courses and its usually pretty easy to get on. The greens are very nice too.

Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Fair
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 5
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0

Good course

Nice course, but flat, and not alot of difference between first hole and last. Fair greens and traps, enjoyable enough

Conditions Average
Value Average
Friendliness Average
Pace Fair
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser

Two great 18's to choose from

We playthis course all the time and the great blue course is our favorite of the two, more challenging. It is maybe not the best winter course, but beautiful challenging holes. The staff is awesome as well.

Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 2
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser

great layout

some hard holes but great layout very challanging course play great blue want to try other 18 course next

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Poor
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser

needs a bit of attention.

I enjoy both Greenback and Great Blue. The course condition is a problem. The golfers playing this track seem to be lacking very basic skills, namely; repairing ball marks, replacing divots and raking bunkers. It's a shame because it's a great course and I just wish people would have more respect for the course and the players that follow them.

Conditions Poor
Value Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Good
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser

Nice course, modest facilities

Played here for the first time in years in early February, played great blue. Given the time of year the course was actually in pretty nice shape, some drainage issues but relatively few ball parks on the greens which is unusual for a PDX public course. They had a dog out trying to keep the geese at bay--harvest them to feed the poor, I say. Slow place was mostly the fault of the other twosome we were paired with.

Conditions Average
Value Average
Friendliness Average
Pace Fair
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 6
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Dodged the rain showers for a lucky outing

Went out for a Tuesday mid-day tee time and got an electric cart that was clean and peppy. It was soggy out there, and the pro-shop attendant allowed us to tee off on 10 instead of wait for the 3 groups that would be ahead of us on 1. Turned out very well which allowed us to play at our own speed and truly enjoy the course.

The greens were true and there were a handful of groundskeepers out and about blowing leaves away and tending overall course conditions. Luckily I did not end up in a sand trap that had a small pool in it. Some left over leaves hid golf balls and made searching for off-fairway balls difficult, but the course has a good amount of challenge on many holes.

Not too many undulations, but there are a good amount of doglegs that do challenge your approaches - if you hit fairways. Mild/medium amount of old growth trees and water come in to play on a lot of the holes and are truly fun to play.

I'll have to come back and play Great Blue next time!

Conditions Average
Value Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
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