Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club

Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club is a championship golf club in the northwest United States, located in North Plains, Oregon, northwest of Portland. The award-winning 36-hole club opened 29 years ago in 1992 and has hosted several major golf tournaments, including the U.S. Women's Open in 1997 and 2003 and the Safeway Classic on the LPGA Tour from 2009 through 2012. The Witch Hollow course is private, and the Ghost Creek is public.

Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club
Club information
Location in the United States
Coordinates45.614°N 123.002°W / 45.614; -123.002
LocationNorth Plains, Oregon, U.S.
Established1992, 29 years ago
Typeprivate / public
Operated byEscalante Golf
Total holes36
Tournaments hostedSafeway Classic
(2009–2012)
WinCo Foods Portland Open (2014–)
2006 U.S. Women's Amateur[1]
2003 U.S. Women's Open
1997 U.S. Women's Open
1996 U.S. Amateur
Websitepumpkinridge.com
Ghost Creek[2]
Designed byJohn Fought,
Robert E. Cupp
Par71
Length6,839 yards (6,254 m)
Course rating73.8
Slope rating139
Witch Hollow[3]
Designed byRobert E. Cupp
Par72
Length7,017 yards (6,416 m)
Course rating75.1
Slope rating143

History

In 1986, Gay Davis and Marv French were shown 350 acres (1.4 km2) of farmland in rural Washington County just north of North Plains.[4] The same day they looked at the property they made an offer and by late in 1987 they had an option for the property.[4] Then in 1989 Pumpkin Ridge Partners was formed with French, Davis, and Barney Hyde.[4] Next, in 1991 the group secured additional financing by bringing in Shigeru Ito as a 50-50 partner. The Japanese investor from Nagoya financed the $20 million golf club.[4]

In August 1990, construction of the course began with American Golf Construction Company as the general contractor.[5] The club opened on April 1, 1992, with the Ghost Creek course in operation.[4] When Pumpkin Ridge opened, membership cost $37,500.[6] The first hole-in-one recorded was by Bob Staab of Portland in June 1992.[7] In September 1997 National Golf Properties purchased a 50 percent stake in the golf club and then leased the property to American Golf Corporation.[8]

In 2003, the club had three of the top six best holes in Portland area, including the best overall hole.[9] LPGA hall of fame golfer Nancy Lopez named the 18th hole at Pumpkin Ridge in 1997's Women's U.S. Open her favorite hole in the world in 2005.[10] Escalante Golf purchased the course in October 2015.[11]

Tournaments

Since 1993, Pumpkin Ridge has hosted nationally significant tournaments, which started with the Nike Tour Championship that year and again in 1994 at Ghost Creek.[12] In 1996, Pumpkin Ridge hosted the men's U.S. Amateur, where 20-year-old Tiger Woods won his unprecedented third consecutive title on the Witch Hollow course and then turned professional, with Nike founder Phil Knight on hand.[13][14] This event had the highest attendance in the history of the U.S. Amateur, with attendance for the week at 65,353 to watch Woods rally and win the final over Steve Scott on the 38th hole.[15] The U.S. Women's Open was played at Witch Hollow in 1997 and 2003.[16]

The U.S. Junior Amateur (boys') and Girls' Junior Championships were held at Pumpkin Ridge in 2000, contested on both courses with the finals at Ghost Creek.[17] And in 2006, Witch Hollow hosted the U.S. Women's Amateur, where Kimberly Kim won the title as the youngest winner ever for that tournament.[18][19]

From 2009 to 2012, the Ghost Creek course hosted the Safeway Classic on the LPGA Tour, currently played in mid-August. In 2013, the tournament was moved back to Portland, played at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.

Beginning in 2014, the Witch Hollow course has hosted the WinCo Foods Portland Open on the Korn Ferry Tour.[20]

Ghost Creek Golf Course
Ghost Creek course

The Ghost Creek course was the first course to open, with play starting April 1, 1992.[21] It was then named the best new public course in the country for the year by Golf Digest.[4] Later it was named as the fifth best public course by Golf magazine in 1996.[22] For 2007-08 Golf Digest ranked it 68th in the country public golf courses.[23] The par 71 Ghost Creek Course has won several other national awards. This Robert E. Cupp and John Fought designed golf course is 6,839 yards long.[2] In Zagat's "2006/07 Guide To America's Top Golf Courses", the club's Ghost Creek course was named fourth most popular in the Northwest.[24] On that same course the 14th hole was named one of the 100 toughest holes in golf in the book "Golf's 100 Toughest Holes."[25]

Ghost Creek
Tee Rating/Slope 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Par 44353445436 5344353443571
Black 73.8 / 139 4474141845332183714315734693640 49218044438123455213332945431996839
Blue 71.4 / 135 3923911585152053664095624433441 47417040635621953112530142830106451
White 69.1 / 132 3723641284951933413844974193193 45314537032920149811327338127635956
Red 70.6 / 129 3283251084141793163014623682801 4101223272951674219722434224055206
Handicap 9111711315753 61681014218124


Witch Hollow Golf Course

In 1992 when the Witch Hollow course opened, Golf Digest selected it as the second best new private course of the year.[4] This 18 hole course was designed by Robert E. Cupp.[3] The par 72, 7,017 yard design has a rating of 75.1 and had two of the top 500 holes in the world in 2000 as rated by Golf Magazine.[3] Golf Magazine in 2005 and 2006 rated it as one of the 100 best modern course in America.[3]

Witch Hollow
Tee Rating/Slope 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Par 43453454436 3534534453672
Black 75.2 / 143 4011714145332114536233824673655 21255314341047017543242244533627017
Blue 72.7 / 142 3791573864981874155643604273373 43436836541718351816541756934366752
White 70.2 / 140 3451493604761663905263293983139 17250510936745014136635249429566095
Green 69.0 / 132 3451373504761433804663173883002 15842110935542314135635242327385740
Red 72.0 / 134 3181213184261433444662803532769 1334219229539312632731840325085277
Handicap 1117971551133 14218861612104

See also
Entrance to the club

References
  1. U.S. Women's Amateur - 2006
  2. Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club: Ghost Creek Golf Course. Golf Link. Retrieved on March 17, 2008.
  3. Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club: Witch Hollow. Golf Link. Retrieved on March 17, 2008.
  4. Robinson, Bob. One slick layout, The Oregonian, August 14, 1996.
  5. Robinson, Bob. Davis watches golf course dream turn into Pumpkin Ridge. The Oregonian, August 29, 1990.
  6. Wheeler, Ken. Joining a club gets more expensive. The Oregonian, April 21, 1993.
  7. Bob Staab of Portland scored Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club's first. The Oregonian, June 25, 1992.
  8. National Golf Properties Acquires Interest in Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club. Business Wire, September 24, 1997.
  9. The Best Golf Holes 1. Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club's Ghost Creek. The Oregonian, March 9, 2003.
  10. GIMME 5: The tougher the better. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 20, 2005.
  11. Giegerich, Andy (October 7, 2015). "Renowned Pumpkin Ridge club sold to Texas golf course operator". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  12. Robinson, Bob. Two-year-old Pumpkin Ridge growing up fast. The Oregonian, October 9, 1994.
  13. Robinson, Bob. Woods Rallies into history. The Oregonian, August 26, 1996.
  14. Manning, Jeff. Woods lays claim to new kind of green. The Oregonian, August 29, 1996.
  15. Robinson, Bob. Woods Rallies Into History. The Oregonian, August 26, 1996.
  16. U.S. Women's Open Championship 2003 Fact Sheet. United States Golf Association. Retrieved on March 17, 2008.
  17. Tokito, Mike. Pumpkin Ridge shifts to plan B. The Oregonian, June 26, 2005.
  18. White, Ryan. A few rounds in Oregon. The Oregonian, August 30, 2006.
  19. The Oregonian - "Pumpkin Ridge has seen history, from Tiger Woods to Nancy Lopez" - 2009-08-24
  20. "Web.com Tour heading to Portland in 2014 for Regular-Season finale". PGA Tour. June 15, 2014.
  21. Robinson, Bob. Golf Talk: What's haunting about Ghost Creek is its Beauty, The Oregonian, April 15, 1992.
  22. Hunt, John. An open audition. The Oregonian, September 25, 1996.
  23. America's 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses. Archived 2007-04-21 at the Wayback Machine GolfDigest. Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
  24. White, Ryan. Tees and Greens Classic could shake up money list. The Oregonian, September 28, 2005.
  25. Robinson, Bob. Golf Talk: Pumpkin Ridge's No. 14 not as tough as a new book says. The Oregonian, February 5, 2006.
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