Winter Series: Stone Creek GC One of the Best Portland Courses to Play in Winter

OREGON CITY, Oregon - Stone Creek Golf Club provides some amazing views of Mt. Hood in the distance but beyond the views it provides much more.

Known as one of the best public golf courses in Portland to play in the winter, due to its drainage and green conditions.

In tune with the best of Portland golf, Stone Creek provides a promise for winter playing conditions.

“During the winter we have always stated that if you ever lose your ball in the fairway due to a plugged ball your round is free.” Stone Creek GC PGA Head Professional Doug Suse said. “It’s still clay-based soil that we deal with.”

The course opened in 2002 after Peter Jacobsen and Jim Hardy teamed up to design the course, which is owned and operated by Clackamas County.

“When the course was built Peter Jacobsen and Jim Hardy really did a great job of laying out the course and shaping the land. However, our soil is still clay based and not much different than the courses in the area. We have sanded fairways and done drainage work where needed.” Suse said.

Stone Creek GC was voted best value under $100 by NW Golf Guys once in recent years. But over the years they have continued to invest in the playability of the course since it opened in 2002.

“About 15 years ago we hired a company out of Washington called Green Shield. We spent about $35,000 on our 15th hole. It is a process where they cut a small trench that goes down about 3 feet, and they repeat this trench every 10 feet, 90 degrees to the slope,” Suse said. “The trenches tie into another pipe to take the water away, and it has done very well. Many of the private courses have done this as well. A lot of private clubs did Green Shield, but it really helped a lot.”

Often, courses can’t get mowers out because the grass is so wet, even if the grass grows in the winter, but at Stone Creek, they still can get the mowers moving with their drainage.

This video shows a bit about how the process works.

“We could not afford to do this work throughout the course but we watched closely how it was done and did the same on holes #3, #5, #9, #11, #12, and #17. When we do drainage, we put a thin layer of peat gravel, then a perforated pipe, then about 8" of peat gravel, then sand, and cover it with sand based sod. We continue to do french drains where needed and each winter do what we can to improve the course. Richard Rosenberry (GCSA Superintendent) and his staff do a terrific job.” Suse added.

Rosenberry has been with Stone Creek since 2019.

“In the winter, we’re always trying to add lines to existing drainage where we find wet spots,” Roseberry said. “We have catch basins in the low areas every 50 yards, so we will add lines into that. Aerifying and punching holes to help drainage. Collar dams, they are on greens when you top dress. They build up on the greens with a lot of rain, so we cut the sod to its natural grade, so the water drains off the green into the catch basins. It’s one of the things we do in the winter to keep the greens dry. On the fairways, were always looking to improve the area, by adding lines.”

“We’ll selectively aerify fairways during the fall and in the spring, so we take one day off to do the greens, but we do the fairways and tees during play early in the day to keep playing going,” Roseberry said.

Doug Suse has been with Stone Creek Golf Club since before it opened in 2002.

“I have been here since December 2001. We opened in June of 2002. Head Pro the entire time. Prior to that I was at Waverly Country Club for 5 1/2 years.” Suse added.

The front nine is more open and flat with generally fewer trees, although there are several ponds to contend with on the front nine. The back nine provides more elevation change with several hills and more trees that come into play. Hole no. 11 is par five, that takes you through a set of trees, on either side of the fairway to a green tucked around more trees.

Hole no. 12 has trees on both sides of a challenging tee shot, which requires control and the ability to keep the ball in play. Hole no. 13 is one of the most challenging holes where you have to likely lay up with a blind tee shot to the landing zone with a creek on the far side, leaving an uphill shot that is lengthy. Hole no. 15 plays in a similar fashion, playing a blind tee shot, along with an uphill approach shot that could also be blind depending on your location.

We created some polls on Facebook and Reddit, which you can view by clicking on those links, asking about the best public courses to play in Portland during the winter where Stone Creek received a large % of responses.

Stone Creek GC is a gem in the Portland area that provides a variety of challenges while providing great value and playing conditions year round.