Clear to partly cloudy. Low 58F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph..
Clear to partly cloudy. Low 58F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph.
Tony Miller puts for par on the seventh hole during league play on Thursday at Bar Run Golf & RV Resort.
Joe Kicinski, left and Tony Miller drive along a cement wall that divides the green on the sixth hole from the rest of the fairway at Bar Run Golf & RV Resort.
Brett Birr chips onto the green on the seventh hole during league play at Bar Run Golf & RV Resort.
Will Dain's ball, intended for the green on the sixth hole, bounces off a nearby cement wall during league play Thursday at Bar Run Golf & RV Resort.
Elliot Acree, right, watches as Joe Kicinski attempts a putt on the third hole during league play on Thursday at Bar Run Golf & RV Resort.
Erik Nielsen sends his ball through a nearby opening of a cement wall trap on the sixth hole at Bar Run Golf & RV Resort.
Tony Miller puts for par on the seventh hole during league play on Thursday at Bar Run Golf & RV Resort.
Joe Kicinski, left and Tony Miller drive along a cement wall that divides the green on the sixth hole from the rest of the fairway at Bar Run Golf & RV Resort.
Brett Birr chips onto the green on the seventh hole during league play at Bar Run Golf & RV Resort.
Will Dain's ball, intended for the green on the sixth hole, bounces off a nearby cement wall during league play Thursday at Bar Run Golf & RV Resort.
Elliot Acree, right, watches as Joe Kicinski attempts a putt on the third hole during league play on Thursday at Bar Run Golf & RV Resort.
Erik Nielsen sends his ball through a nearby opening of a cement wall trap on the sixth hole at Bar Run Golf & RV Resort.
Right on schedule, Bar Run Golf & RV Resort has its full 18-hole course open.
Roseburg's latest golf attraction opened its final eight holes to the public exactly one year after it opened the first nine, on July 9. The first holes were made available July 9, 2021, and a 10th hole was made available in late September.
Course designer Dan Hixson, of Portland, looked at the property, an expired mine on Umpqua Sand & Gravel land, and imagined a Scottish-style links design blended with elements of conventional American courses.
"This piece of ground is awesome," Hixson said while giving a tour of the preliminary course in July 2021. "It's flood plain."
Course owner Kelly Guido said that based on the flood plain below the course, one advantage Bar Run has over other courses in the area is that it will remain very playable even in rainy conditions.
"It's really playable all year long, even when it's wet out," Guido said in an article which appeared in The News-Review's June 2022 Visitor's Guide. "We might get a hard rain, but within a few days, it's dried out and you can drive (a cart) on the course.
"We have worked really hard on drainage and sanding so you can play year-round."
Cris Garrison is the head teaching pro at Bar Run. Garrison said one of the most fun aspects of the course is while it may look very open, you still have to be precise even with the shortest shots.
"You have to look this way, you have to do this," Garrison said. "The Scottish try a lot of different things."
Bar Run is not a long course at just 6,215 yards from the furthest-back tee boxes. Most average players will choose to play from the copper tees (5,845 yards) or the grays (5,310). The most forward tees (burgundy) measure to 4,590 yards.
From the first hole, new players will learn very quickly how precise the course requires players to be on many holes. From the tee box, the fairway appears to be 50 yards wide. But what players — especially first-time visitors — won't see is that water pushes 25 yards into the right half of the fairway.
This is not uncommon at Bar Run. Water is hidden behind several knolls in fairways. The sand traps, both in the fairways and greens, are very playable, and the greens roll surprisingly smooth, putting an emphasis on pace while players try to gauge their puts.
There are a couple of longer holes — the par-5 14th being the longest at 600 yards from the black tees and 525 from the coppers — and plenty of short ones, including the 105-yard par-3.
The signature hole is the 375-yard par-4 sixth hole, which was among the new holes revealed to the public last weekend.
The fairway seems straight enough, but most players hitting their approach shots will have to clear a concrete wall into a blind green. Hit your drive too far left, and there is a major swale in the fairway, close enough to the wall that some players could struggle to see the top of the flagstick.
Garrison said the hole was modeled after a hole at North Berwick Golf Club in East Lothian, Scotland. The 13th hole on that course has a four-foot high rock wall diving the fairway from the green
Will Dains saw the sixth hole for the first time Thursday during league play and got to know the wall well enough to give it a name after struggling get over it.
"That's my first time playing a course with a cement wall," said Dains, who called the obstacle his "Wall of Regret."
Garrison said the course design has been a hit especially with one collection of golfers, a group of caddies who work nearby Bandon Dunes Golf Resort.
"We've had numerous caddies from Bandon coming to check it out and they're loving it," Garrison said.
While it is nature to gravitate to the shiny new toy, Garrison said there is plenty of golf in Douglas County to go around.
"We want every golf course in Douglas County to do amazing," he said.
Greens fees are somewhat variable now that the full 18 holes are open. Prime tee times go for $95, including a cart, for an 18-hole round, while "twilight" players can tee off beginning at 5 p.m. for $35.
Bar Run currently offers a limited drink selection and prepackaged snacks. The RV park is open, and plans are under way to construct a driving range on the south/southwest corner of the property.
For more information, visit www.barrungolf.com or call 541-492-0000.
Donovan Brink can be reached at dbrink@nrtoday.com and 541-957-4219.
Donovan Brink is the cops and courts reporter for The News-Review.
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