The Best Golf Courses in Oregon
No state has reshaped American golf like Oregon, where Bandon Dunes turned a stretch of wild coastline into the country's great links pilgrimage and the high desert around Bend added a second world of golf. Our ranked eight, with verdicts and how to play them.
Photograph: Bandon Dunes Resort, Pacific Dunes, David Meillier, via Google
How we ranked them
Oregon golf is really two stories. The first is Bandon Dunes Resort, the Mike Keiser links retreat on the remote southern coast that opened in 1999 and has since grown into five championship courses plus a celebrated par 3 course, walking only, caddie carried and routinely placed among the best public golf on the planet. The second is the high desert around Bend, a sunnier inland country of lava rock, juniper and mountain views where Pronghorn and Tetherow built modern destination golf of real quality. Around them sit the long established parkland clubs near Portland and the Willamette Valley.
Every fact here, the designers, the opening years and the access, was checked at the time of writing in June 2026 by the GolfForKings editorial desk. We weighed the quality of the golf, the strength of the setting, how a visiting group can get on, and the pedigree of the design. The Bandon courses are open to resort guests and the Bend courses to the public, while one or two of the inland clubs are private. The verdicts are ours. If your group wants any of these built into a costed itinerary, with the tee times, the lodging and the transfers secured, that is exactly what our concierge does.
The 8 best golf courses in Oregon
Pacific Dunes
Tom Doak's 2001 masterpiece is the course that confirmed Bandon as a genuine rival to the great links of Britain and Ireland, and it remains the highest rated layout in the state and one of the best in the country. A wild, intimate routing through towering dunes and gorse above the Pacific, with back to back par 3s and par 5s and not a single weak hole. The clear number one in Oregon.
Bandon Dunes
The original, a David McLay Kidd links that opened in 1999 and started the whole story, running along the cliff tops with some of the most exposed and exhilarating golf at the resort. Broad, bold and played hard into the prevailing wind on the closing stretch, it is a fixture on world top 100 lists and the romantic heart of the property. A round here is where the pilgrimage begins.
Old Macdonald
A tribute to the template holes of C.B. Macdonald, designed by Tom Doak and Jim Urbina and opened in 2010 on the most open, windswept ground at the resort. Enormous, rolling greens, huge fairways and a strategy that reveals itself slowly make it the most cerebral round at Bandon, and a favourite of architecture buffs. Big, brawny links golf with a sense of humour.
Sheep Ranch
The resort's fifth 18 hole course, a Coore and Crenshaw design opened in 2020 on a bluff with more ocean frontage than any other at Bandon, nine greens perched on the edge of the Pacific. There are no bunkers, only the contours, the wind and the cliffs, and the result is the most exposed and photogenic round at the resort. A thrilling, modern coastal links.
Bandon Trails
The odd one out and, to many, the connoisseur's pick, a Coore and Crenshaw routing that leaves the coast and climbs through dunes, meadow and coastal forest. It opens and closes in the sand and spends its middle in the trees, a wonderful change of pace from the open links and a beautifully natural walk. Proof that the best Bandon golf is not only on the cliffs.
Pronghorn, Nicklaus Course
The headline round of central Oregon, a Jack Nicklaus desert layout near Bend threaded through lava rock, juniper and native fescue with the Cascades on the horizon. Bold, dramatic and immaculately kept, with the famous par 3 over a lava tube, it anchors a resort that has become the inland counterpoint to Bandon. The best golf in the high desert.
Tetherow
David McLay Kidd's return to Oregon, a firm, fast links style course on the edge of Bend with fescue fairways, wild contours and the playful, ground game design that made his name. Quirky, exposed and a great deal of fun, it pairs naturally with Pronghorn for a high desert trip and is fully open to the public from its own boutique resort.
Pumpkin Ridge, Ghost Creek
The best public golf near Portland, a Bob Cupp parkland that has hosted national championships and stayed a perennial fixture on top 100 you can play lists. Its private sibling Witch Hollow staged a famous Tiger Woods amateur win, but Ghost Creek is the one a visitor can book, a polished, tree lined test that makes an easy add on at the start or end of an Oregon trip.
Designers and opening years verified June 2026 by the GolfForKings editorial desk. The Bandon Dunes courses are walking only and open to resort guests, the Bend courses are public, and Pumpkin Ridge Witch Hollow is private. Always confirm access and fees directly before booking.
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Where they are, and indicative costs
Oregon golf has two centres of gravity. Bandon Dunes sits on the remote southern coast, about four hours by car from Portland or a short flight into North Bend, and once you arrive everything is walkable from the lodges, so most trips simply stay on site and play. The second hub is Bend in the high desert, three hours from Portland over the Cascades, where Pronghorn and Tetherow anchor a sunnier, drier golf scene. Pumpkin Ridge and the Portland clubs make a natural bookend on the way in or out. Most serious trips pick Bandon, Bend, or pair the two with the drive between.
| Item | Indicative 2026 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bandon Dunes, per round | Around US$120 to $395 | Resort guests, walking only with caddie or push cart, varies sharply by season |
| Bend desert courses | Around US$95 to $250 | Pronghorn and Tetherow, public, by season |
| A Bandon golf week, all in | Around US$3,000 to $6,000 per person | Lodging, several rounds, caddies and transfers, excluding flights |
Indicative third party figures for the 2026 season, shown to set expectations only. We are a guide, not an operator, and never quote our own pricing. Always confirm directly before booking.
Plan your Oregon golf trip
Tell us the courses you want and roughly when. One concierge costs the whole trip to the head, secures the lodging and replies within one working day, with no obligation.
Oregon golf questions
What is the best golf course in Oregon?
Pacific Dunes, Tom Doak's 2001 links at Bandon Dunes Resort on the southern coast, is widely rated the best course in the state and one of the finest in the country. The original Bandon Dunes by David McLay Kidd, Old Macdonald and Sheep Ranch fill out a resort that has no equal in America for walking links golf. Our ranking weighs the golf, the setting and how a visiting group can get on together.
Can visitors play the Bandon Dunes courses?
Yes. Every 18 hole course at Bandon Dunes Resort is open to resort guests, who book tee times as part of a stay, and walking with a caddie or a push cart is the only way to play. The courses around Bend, such as Tetherow, are also publicly accessible, while the Witch Hollow course at Pumpkin Ridge is private. Always confirm access and rates directly before booking.
When is the best time to play golf in Oregon?
Late spring through early autumn, roughly May to October, is the prime window on the Oregon coast, with the driest, calmest stretch from July to September. Bandon is playable year round in true links fashion, firm underfoot and often windy, while the high desert around Bend has a shorter season with snow in winter. Always confirm conditions before you travel.
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