Langdon Farms

The fourth course we played on our golf trip to Portland was Langdon Farms, in Wilsonville Oregon. During our other rounds when I’d talk to local golfers, they all said Langdon Farms is always in great condition. They were right. The course was in wonderful shape and has beautiful flower beds throughout - you get free relief from these beds. Range balls are included with your round, and while we were hitting off mats the day we played, it looks like they have grass tees available sometimes as well. They use a numbered system for the various tees here. Just let the starter know which tees you normally play from at other courses, and they’ll tell you which tees you want to play from here. The course is not hilly and is easy to walk.

The course really nice and more difficult than it looks. Lots of holes have elevated greens with closely mowed drop offs. I found it easier to putt up these rather than chip. It would have been really nice if the practice green had an area like this so I could have dialed in the speed putting back up these hills. The first few holes you can hear some traffic noise from an adjacent state highway, but the trees help to block it out. Once you get to the 4th hole it’s much more peaceful.

A few things stood out to me during the round. The par 3 6th is a short hole and had me thinking birdie on the tee box. The green is small and has one of those closely mowed dropoffs. The landing area near the pin is tiny. I missed it and my ball rolled off the green. On the 8th hole, there is a red barn on the left side of the fairway that is in play – no free relief. Looking at the barn, I could tell that it had been peppered with golf balls over the years.

Once you make the turn, you head through a tunnel to the other side of the state highway for holes 10-15. Not only is the state highway on one side of these holes, I-5 is on the other. The traffic noise for this section of the course is a real distraction and took away from my enjoyment. I like peace and quiet when I play and as an old curmudgeon, I don’t like it when people play music on the course. It’s just not for me. Back under the highway and on the 16th tee, the noise faded away, I felt much better and got back into a groove.