14 2021 CENTRAL OREGON GOLF PREVIEW • THE BULLETIN • SUNDAY, MAY 23, 2021
Bend
Continued from 13
Bend Golf Club, located in southeast
Bend, is nearly 100 years old, so the club
has lots of traditions to be preserved, but
also lots of improvements needed to at-
tract today’s golfers.
This year the club realigned iconic
holes 11 and 12 to improve playability
and give a completely new look to the
short par-3 No. 11, with its old-style wa-
ter feature.
The No. 11 green was enlarged in or-
der to offer more pin locations that are
close to the water, Keller noted. Two old
bunkers were removed and a new one
was built.
“We moved the tee box farther to the
north on No. 10 and made it a dog-leg
right,” Keller said. “We built three new
bunkers on No. 10 closer to the fairway,
to sort of put some teeth into it. So you’ll
think twice about hitting driver.”
Keller said the club spent $120,000 on
the changes to Nos. 11 and 12.
“Once we became debt-free, we were able to focus
our efforts on who we really are as a club,
and what we needed to do to our facility and course
to attract those golfers who shared our vision.”
— Jeff Keller, Bend Golf Club general manager
Improvements to the club also in-
clude a new pool deck with outdoor
seating and a new cart barn.
Keller said that one of the things that
attracts golfers to Bend Golf Club is the
walkability of the course. Because the
course was built nearly a century ago,
before power carts existed, it was built
as a course that could be easily walked
without long distances between tee
boxes and not much elevation change.
“No one in those days wanted to have
to pack their clubs that far,” Keller said.
“70% of our members walk. It was built
95 years ago, so it was built as a golf
course instead of a development, which
is probably the big thing.”
Keller said that Bend Golf Club fea-
Bend Golf Club is putting in more than $270,000 of upgrades this year.
tures an unpretentious vibe, but no
shortage of talent among its members.
More than 120 members are single-digit
handicappers, according to Keller.
Bend Golf Club also has a new head
professional this year in Monte Hanson,
who spent the last 20 years as the head
pro at prestigious Bernardo Heights
Country Club in San Diego.
Members are welcome to bring visi-
tors to play at Bend Golf Club, accord-
ing to Keller.
“If they live within 50 miles of the
club, you can bring them once a month,”
Keller said. “If someone is from Port-
land, Seattle or whatever and coming
for a week, they can play as much as that
want.”
Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin photos
New landscaping at Bend Golf Club.