OGA Golf Course

General Course Description

This 18-hole public course (you don’t have to be an OGA member to play), home of the Oregon Golf Association, is just off of I-5 in Woodburn, 30 miles south of Portland. The OGA Golf Course is a generally open course with about half the holes wandering in and around trees (with marshes, ponds, creeks, elevation changes, and traps tossed in) and the other half within a subdivision (with ponds, creeks, and traps tossed in). The holes are mostly straightforward, but there are a few that will take a few rounds to figure out. For the price, the OGA Golf Course is one of the best-maintained public courses in the Northern Willamette Valley. Although the course is rolling and there are occasional distances between holes, it is very walkable. Forward tees have favorable shorter distances and better angles.

Course History

Opened in 1993. Named as one of the Top 10 Public Places to Play in Oregon by The Oregonian in 2008. Since it has opened, it has hosted a slew of OGA events (including the 2003, 2014 and 2017 Oregon Amateurs) and state high school championships, as well as many, many local qualifiers for USGA events. In 2020 the facility was awarded OGA’s Facility of the Year. In 2023 course superintendent Dan Imes was awarded OGA’s Supervisor of the Year.

Why It Is There

The OGA was looking for a place to call home that also had a golf course. Tuckwila Partners Development Corporation, which owned the adjacent housing development, donated the land to OGA. OGA built its headquarters and the course.

I Wish I Would Have Known Before I Played

On the 4th hole, a short par 5, the fairway drops down to a creek about 215 yards from the center of the green (so you don’t need to bomb it). Favor the right on your drive as trees come in from the left and the hole turns slightly right as it goes uphill (to a green where the back right falls steeply away). Hole 14 is another short but tricky par 5, where from the tee you see traps right that form the corner of a slight dogleg left (that is where you want to go in front of to avoid the marsh and trees left). Then at the first corner you see some additional traps that form the next corner of a hard dogleg left (again, that’s where you want to go in front of) that goes over a creek to an elevated green with traps along the back.

Did You Know

The headquarters of the OGA is just south of the clubhouse. The headquarters has a small library of books and periodicals of local golf interest and, more importantly, a very friendly and knowledgeable staff.

Good For Them

As the headquarters course for the OGA, it does a lot for teaching and bringing people into the game including: hosting multiple junior camps; being one of the courses for The First Tee and PGA Junior League; and visiting local schools to teach SNAG (Starting New At Golf) classes. Juniors (under 17) can play free most afternoons. It is the home course for Woodburn, Silverton, Lake Oswego, and Kennedy High Schools. In the summer, they host “Ladies Night” where women can work with a pro to improve (or start) their golf skill for a low price. It has a set of family tee boxes (so everyone can play).  It is an Evans Scholarship participant course. It is a certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Course. Vets play free on Veterans Day. And it annually holds fundraising tournaments for Folds of Honor (scholarships for spouses and children of fallen service people), and for the local food bank.

Why Play This Course

A challenging and beautiful course that is very well maintained. With very good practice facilities and pleasant and tasty food offerings (and a very nice staff), it provides a great overall golf experience at a very reasonable price.

General

• • Type: 18-hole public course
  • Price: $$ (it can be $$$ at prime times on the weekend for non-seniors and non-juniors)
  • Phone/webpage: (503)981-4653/www.ogagolfcourse.com
  • Address:  2850 Hazelnut Drive, Woodburn, Oregon 97071
  • Owner: OGA Golf Course, Inc.
  • Designer: Bill Robinson
  • Pros: Tyler Dube (PGA Associate)
  • Practice Facilities: Covered driving range on grass and mats, practice chipping and sand areas, practice green
  • Pro Shop: Good amount of clothing and equipment
  • Food: Full-service restaurant upstairs in the clubhouse, with a nice view of the course (hours vary)
  • Bathrooms: Improved in clubhouse, porta potties on course
  • Yardage Markers: 200, 150 and 100 in-ground markers; yardage on most sprinklers; flags color-coded for position
  • Clothing: T-shirts and non-holed jeans are OK
  • Walkable: A little rolling and some distances between holes, but a nice walk
  • Spikes: Soft
  • Shoe Cleaning: Brushes and air hose
  • Rentals: All
  • Open all year