Aspen Lakes expands to 18 holes

Memorial Day weekend will bring the long-awaited opening of the second nine holes at Aspen Lakes Golf Course.

The facility is eventually slated for a total of 27 holes.

The second nine will open on Saturday, May 27. A formal Grand Opening will take place from June 30 to July 4. Views of the Three Sisters highlight the new course, and the mountains themselves lend their historic names to each of three nine-hole courses.

In the 1840's, the Three Sisters were named Mounts Faith, Hope, and Charity by members of the Methodist mission in Salem.

The existing nine hole course, named Faith, will -- for the time being -- become the "back nine" when Hope comes on line this week.

Charity is roughed out, but is "still a ways off," according to Pam Cyrus Mitchell, one of the Aspen Lakes owners.

Mitchell is proud of a course that she's obviously poured her heart into. She's been involved every step of the way in planning, financing, sales -- and as a heavy equipment operator, pounding the semi-arid ground into the green, flowing contours that grace the landscape today.

The course is part of the Audubon Signature Program.

"To become a Signature Member, we included Audubon International in our initial planning and throughout construction," Mitchell said. Only programs that bring in Audubon on the initial planning can achieve "Signature" status.

Aspen Lakes is only the 39th golf course in the nation to enroll in the Signature Program, which sets up specific criteria for wildlife conservation, habitat enhancement, water conservation, water quality, pest management, energy efficiency and waste reduction.

"There's more deer and wildlife on this property now, than there was before," says Dan Brand, Aspen Lakes Head Golf Professional.

"What's really unusual, though, is that the Cyruses gave the course designer a free hand with the landscape," Brand noted. "Here the homesites were designed around the course, rather than the other way around, which is how you usually see it."

The project was designed by William Overdorf, a well known Washington golf course designer. This is his first Oregon course.

Brand has some favorite holes on the new course.

"Hope #3 is a monster par 5 at 606 yards," he said. "It plays downhill with bunkers guarding both sides of the fairway."

"Hope #5 is a beautiful par 4," said Brand. "You tee off right at the Three Sisters; it's one of the better views.

The fairway is canted from right to left, and there's a distinct two-level green."

Mitchell pointed out that the original layout of Hope #5 was altered in order to avoid harming an ancient juniper surrounded by rock outcroppings.

In similar fashion, the tee layout at Faith #3 was flip-flopped to utilize an existing bare space and preserve a grove of trees.

Many wildlife trees were also set aside.

Another hole where the scenery could cause a player to temporarily forget about golf is Hope #6, a dog-leg-right par 5.

A seasonal stream runs along the right side of the fairway, and the cart path crosses up and over the waterway beside a little waterfall.

Another imminent improvement that Brand is excited about is the paving of the cart paths.

As on Faith, Hope's new bunkers are filled with Aspen Lakes' distinctive red sand, ground from Central Oregon red cinders.

Brand likes the firm red sand.

"It's much more playable for the average player," he said. "You don't have to blast out. You can putt, pitch or chip out of the traps. Plus, it's not as hard on the clubs as silica sand."

Bent grass fairways are another distinction that sets Aspen Lakes apart.

"It's a special grass you only see on high-end golf courses. It makes the ball sit up a bit nicer," said Brand. "Most courses have bent grass greens and rye grass fairways. We're the only ones in Central Oregon, besides Crosswater, with bent grass fairways."

The new nine brings the entire course potential to a maximum of 7,302 yards for tournament play.

Keith Cyrus, another of the owners, recalls that the project was conceived back in 1987. The original nine was opened 10 years later, on June 20, 1997.

The Cyrus family has been a part of Sisters history since 1892; and, although the golf development is right next door to the Cyrus family farm, the site was not part of their original land holdings.

According to Cyrus, when the family purchased it, the property was slated to be chopped up into ten acre parcels with no CC&Rs (covenants, codes, and restrictions).

In addition, 120 acres along Squaw Creek were preserved intact by redesignation for agricultural use only.