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more photosJeff Hunter, center, of Prineville putts on the fourth green at Prineville Golf Club.
Dean Guernsey / The Bulletin
New name for Prineville golf course
Prineville Golf reflects its open-to-the-public, blue-collar image
By Zack Hall / The Bulletin
Last modified: March 03. 2010 1:58PM PSTPRINEVILLE — Prineville Golf & Country Club is no more — at least, not in name.
The venerable nine-hole golf course on the eastern outskirts of Prineville has officially changed its name to Prineville Golf Club.
It is a superficial change, to be sure, but the new name signifies a change of image at the formerly exclusive golf course.
“We are trying to kind of get rid of the country-club stigma that it’s always had,” says Buddy Gast, the 39-year-old president of Prineville’s membership board.
Prineville Golf Club opened in 1948 as Prineville Golf & Country Club and is second only to Bend Golf and Country Club as Central Oregon’s oldest course. It has a rich history in the area, over the years having hosted major regional tournaments and having served as the golf home to many of Prineville’s most prominent residents, including tire magnate Les Schwab.
But the 62-year-old golf course has struggled recently with declining membership, and the current economic recession has not helped. So rather than trying to reinforce an image of exclusive golf, Prineville Golf Club is embracing its more blue-collar roots.
It is now allowing public play on most days. And it is using a volunteer force to maintain the grounds.
“Back in the day, when all the mills were running and (Les) Schwab (headquarters, which are now located in Bend) was here, it was kind of a white-collar area,” says Gast, who works for Les Schwab Tire Centers in Prineville. “There really is not much white-collar (presence) in this town.
“So you kind of got to appeal to the average Joe.”
The member-owned course now considers itself semiprivate meaning that in a somewhat limited fashion (Wednesday mornings and Thursdays are reserved for the women’s and men’s clubs, respectively), the public can play the course for fees of $15 for nine holes and $30 for 18.
Public play is expected to help generate more revenue for the club. But Gast is hoping it will also expose new golfers to the course — which members claim features a better, more-challenging design than many players may think — and entice some of them to become dues-paying members.
“We’re just trying to open it up a little bit,” Gast says. “I’m sure there are people that have moved to this town that don’t even know that it (Prineville Golf Club) exists.”
Prineville Golf Club bucks many of the stuffy stereotypes of private golf.
The course itself is unique, winding through foothills that border the course’s southern side. And with only nine holes, an 18-hole round is played by alternating tee boxes to change the look and distance of each hole.
It lacks many of the amenities that high-end private country clubs offer, such as swimming pools and tennis courts. But it does have a tightknit membership. Nowhere is that more evident than with the all-volunteer grounds crew.
During the offseason volunteers, most of whom are club members, have been doing everything from rolling the greens to manicuring fairways to working in the clubhouse. Those contributions have helped keep expenses low, says Gast.
And there has been no shortage of hands willing to pitch in.
“We do have a great bunch of volunteers,” says Bob Lyman, a retired Prineville resident who manages the volunteer grounds crew. “So it is working really well.
“I grew up in a small town and I live in a small town now, and it’s the attitude that the smallest towns have ... this community is really that way. We are proud of what we have and we always try to pitch in.”
Mark Payne has worked as the head pro at Prineville three separate times, beginning in 1981 and ending with his retirement in 2005.
Payne, a 60-year-old who lives in Prineville and is an honorary club member, says that the willingness of members to help keep the course in shape does not surprise him.
“A lot of people really care about the place and don’t want to see it turn into a subdivision,” says Payne. “So there has been a lot of volunteer efforts just to keep things presentable. I mean, it looks better now than it (usually) does in peak season.”
Payne fondly remembers the days when Prineville was as busy as any course in Central Oregon.
In the early 1980s, the Hudspeth Invitational (an annual pro-am tournament now known as the Prineville Invitational) would draw enough golfers to require three shotgun starts in one day, Payne recalls.
“Boy, that was nuts,” Payne says. “You played quick, and if you didn’t, you didn’t get invited back. And it was hard to get into it.”
The golf course then boasted nearly 200 members. Today, that number has dwindled to fewer than 100 full-time members, Gast says.
But the members are working to bring in new faces with a slew of membership offerings. Among the most inexpensive in Central Oregon, golf memberships at Prineville allow golfers to join for $175 a month for a family or $135 a month for a single golfer.
The course is also offering seasonal memberships for “snowbird” golfers for $170 a month for families and $130 for singles, with no commitment past Oct. 1.
“They’re trying to get very innovative with some different membership deals,” says Payne. “I think that’s healthy.”
Prineville Golf Club might not be an elite club in Central Oregon anymore. But, Gast says, it does have something to offer golfers who do not need the bells and whistles often associated with private golf.
“We don’t offer what Bend Country Club does,” Gast says. “We don’t have an 18-hole course and all the facilities — which is why I am trying to get rid of the country-club aspect of it. Because really, we are just a golf course with a bar and restaurant.
But, he adds: “Most people who play it, love it. It’s a fun place to be part of.”
Zack Hall can be reached at 541-617-7868 or at zhall@bendbulletin.com.
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