Golf legend visits former worksite

A legend stopped by Black Butte Ranch last week.

Former golf pro "Bunny" Mason spoke to a large, enthusiastic Friends of Black Butte Ranch (BBR) audience. The visit kindled many old memories as the designer of the Glaze Meadow golf course met with his friends and former colleagues.

Hired by Brooks Resources in 1969 in the early planning stages of BBR, Bunny remained at the Ranch until 1992. He reminisced about many of the managers and employees he had worked with and told the crowd that the original plans were for a tennis resort at BBR.

Also, there was a time when Blitz-Weinhard thought about obtaining the land that is now BBR and building a brewery because of the clean water available.

"The original plans called for six tennis courts, a nine hole golf course and two swimming pools," said Mason. "I was astonished when I heard they were only going to charge $5 dollars a month for unlimited play on the golf course. I got them to convert that to $60 a year and we only played about three months of the year. We would have lost our shirts at the $5 figure."

The Big Meadow course, designed by Robert Graves, soon expanded and became a very popular 18-hole course.

"In 1976 they told me to design a nine-hole golf course at Glaze Meadow," Mason said. "The old tennis center became the clubhouse and I took the first and ninth holes to the edge of the property. Later, it was decided to expand to 18-holes at Glaze Meadow and my irrigation system, planned for nine-holes proved expensive to refit at about $500,000."

The new Glaze Meadow course filled up immediately -- an instant success according to Mason.

While laying out the new golf course, Bunny was told that Brooks Resources (owners of BBR) would have to pay the Brooks-Scanlon Company for every Ponderosa left standing on the course, as they would not be harvested for timber sales.

"I wanted to use natural blue grass for the Glaze Meadow course," said Mason. "I was overruled and we went with bent grass that soon became like a brillo pad. That cost us about $100,000 to replant new blue grass.

"The golf courses have become cash cows," said Mason. "We created our own competition by our success. Currently, there are over 25 golf courses in Central Oregon."

Bunny remembered the tough times during the slowdown in 1974 from the oil embargo.

"People weren't traveling as much so we decided to go to the people. A movie and slide show package was developed about BBR and I traveled over the Santiam Pass about 20,000 times (or so it seems) to bring the message to Eugene, Salem and Portland," Mason said. "Eventually, we covered from the Canadian border to Medford with our show."

Bunny was asked about the fish in the lakes at BBR. He had put the rainbows there once (2,500 fingerlings) and they are still found there.

"I remember one fish, Old-fighter," said Bunny. "He was frozen one winter in the lake. An eagle would come and stare down each day at the frozen food. When the ice melted, Old-fighter was no more."

Bunny Mason has been a golf pro for 55 years. He has designed 27 golf courses and presently teaches at Columbia Edgewater golf course in the Portland area.

"Are there any things we can do to improve the golf facilities here at BBR?" asked Julianne Kaneko.

Mason answered that the location is ideal with good golf courses, clear air and magnificent views.

"You might consider trimming some of the trees that have grown up and blocked part of the former views. Also, promoting more group play and package deals might increase usage. Golf rounds are down right now, probably for a number of reasons. However, it's a tradeoff to increase usage that offers less time for locals to use the courses."

Finally, Mason closed with this suggestion: "When in doubt ­ improve the drainage."