Golf Course Review: The 5th Annual US Senior Women's Open at Waverley Country Club in Portland, Oregon

 

WAVERLEY COUNTRY CLUB

Portland, Oregon

August 21-25, 2023

US Senior Women's Open

OVERVIEW

FACILITY TYPE: Private

CLUB FOUNDED: 1896

ARCHITECTS: Jack Moffat (1898), H. Chandler Egan (1912), Gil Hanse (2012)

PAR: 72

LENGTH: 5,301 - 6,668

USGA RATING: 66.1 - 72.8

USGA SLOPE: 124 - 134

TEE OPTIONS: 7

WEBSITE: waverley.cc

PHONE: (503) 654-6521

 

This review is a special one because while I have played the course in the past, this trip I didn’t hit a single shot yet I know nearly every square foot of the property. For a week I had the great fortune to caddie for Patricia Beliard in the 5th annual US Senior Women's Open at Waverley Country Club in my former home city of Portland, Oregon.

It was less than two weeks earlier that I met Patricia when I caddied for her in the US Senior Women's Open Qualifier at Firewheel Golf Park in Garland, Texas. After draining a 27-foot birdie putt on the 3rd playoff hole to qualify for the Open, Patricia and I sat down to celebrate and start making plans for Waverley.

One week later, it’s show time and we’re in Portland for the first practice round. Straight off the plane and on the course, we were off and running. I mean literally running. It’s not uncommon to need to run a little to catch up to your player after fixing a divot or raking a bunker. I found myself running ahead to get a view around the corner, or coordinating bathroom breaks between holes. This experience gave me a great appreciation for full-time tour caddies.

COURSE CONDITIONS RATINGS

TEES: 4.5

FAIRWAYS: 4.5

GREENS: 5

BUNKERS: 4.5

SCENERY: 4.5

LAYOUT: 4.5

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OVERALL: 4.58

Waverley Country Club has an esteemed history spanning back to 1896. It has played a key role in the development of Oregon golf and the founding of the Oregon Golf Association. They have hosted a USGA Championship every decade since the 1950s and pledged to continue hosting an event every decade for the foreseeable future. As such, you can only imagine the beauty and purity of the course.

The US Open is regarded as the most difficult test of the year. Greens are firm and fast, bunkers deep and soft, the fairways narrow and tight, and rough that’s lush and thick. In the US Open, every aspect of your game will be challenged. 

The layout of the course and the purity of the conditions were perfectly suited for championship golf at the highest level. The course is old school but timeless nonetheless. It stands the test of time and even to this day is a pure test for the best players in the world and was a pleasure to walk each day.

ACCESSIBILITY

COURSE DIFFICULTY: 5

WALKABILITY: 4

There’s no beating around the bush.. the course was hard. It’s the US Open after all. I would be surprised if it was easy. The genius of the design is the strategic placement of bunkers, the brilliant use of natural slopes, and some of the best greens in the country.

Being an older course, it’s built with the intention of being walked. When the course was opened, there were hardly automobiles let alone golf cars. As such, the property is a pleasure to walk and provides surrounding views of the property featuring old-growth fir trees and riverfrontage on the Willamette.

The property is situated alongside the east bank of the Willamette River just south of downtown Portland. The property features a few large rolling hills that eventually wind down to the banks of the river. The front nine mainly weaves up and down the east side of the property which features a large hilly knoll, little knobs, and bowls, and is surrounded primarily by large fir trees.

The back nine is more open. The land is still affected by the hill of the east side of the property but unlike the front nine, the back nine makes its way down alongside the river, providing some of the best views of any Portland golf course and has a brilliant par 3, par 5, par 5 finish along the river.

AMENITIES

GOLF SHOP: 4.5

PRACTICE FACILITIES: 4.5

COMFORT STATIONS: 2.5

FOOD & BEV: 5

World-class is the only way to describe Waverley CC, not only during the US Open but also during my other experiences at the club back when I used to live in Portland. The clubhouse has a lot of history and even features a museum downstairs highlighting the champions of each of the USGA events the course has hosted over the decades. 

Of all the experiences during the week of the open, the food each day was beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. Each day the club would have a buffet breakfast and buffet lunch. Each day was a different theme, featuring foods and cuisines from all around the world, and each day was delicious. I know how difficult it must be to coordinate such a menu for so many people, and to do it well, and they absolutely knocked it out of the park at Waverley. They created the best dining experience I have had to date.

SUMMARY

Waverley checks every box. The course itself, the staff, the atmosphere, the history, Waverley has it all. And while it’s not a course one can play easily or often, it certainly is a course everyone can experience. With Waverley pledging to host a USGA Major every decade for the foreseeable future, it’s only a matter of time until the next event comes around and you too can buy a ticket and spend the week walking the historic property, pondering what it must have been like over 100 years ago to play with wooden clubs and gutta-percha balls. It was a different game back then, yet with the work the club has done to preserve its history, it has remained the same.

MOVE BETTER - PLAY BETTER

COACH BLAINE ⛳🏌️‍♂️

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