Central Oregon Golf: Best Par 3s

River’s Edge #16

At 210 yards from the middle tees, this hole at River’s Edge plays another 150 feet downhill. The resulting tee shot feels like you’re hitting a ball off the top of a building to a flag that is located on a green in an adjacent zip code. Take a moment to breathe in the Bend skyline and distant view of Smith Rock State Park, take at least one less club than the distance would suggest and make a confident swing. The good news is that if you go left, the steep bank will feed everything down to the green below.

Sunriver Resort Meadows Course #6

The signature hole on the Sunriver Meadows golf course is a classic mid-iron Par 3. Designer John Fought used not only the natural terrain but also the skyline to create this memorable hole where the green frames a perfect postcard image of nearby Mt. Bachelor. While not overly long, the superintendent and crew are fond of tucking the pin just behind the front right bunker, just goading players to be overly aggressive.

Bend’s original golf course was designed by the renowned Oregon amateur golfer and architect H. Chandler Egan who laid out the front nine holes in 1925. The parkland style layout winds through the soaring pines on the property. Among the many memorable holes in the design is the Par 3 third. A forced carry over water to a dramatic multi-tiered green evokes some of the other classic courses of the era. (Think a certain course in Augusta, GA) Keep your eye’s peeled for a resident fox that’s been known to dart across the green and snatch up the occasional Titleist without so much as a courtesy mark.