Bend has become a hotspot for professionals who work remotely and can live pretty much anywhere they choose.

Many of these newcomers to Central Oregon are golfers.

So as the housing market has surged in Bend, so has the demand for golf as the COVID-19 pandemic enters its second year.

Proof of the increase in the popularity of the game can be found in the memberships at Bend Golf Club.

The venerable club’s membership is completely full for the first time in 16 years, according to Bend Golf Club general manager Jeff Keller.

“There’s a lot of folks moving to town,” Keller said. “If people can work from home, where do they want to live? That helps. We’ve done what we’ve done over the last three years (at Bend Golf Club), and we’ve done no advertising. So everybody’s talking about who we are, and it’s been fun to watch.”

Central Oregon’s oldest club has announced big changes for this season, including more than $270,000 of upgrades that are under way.

“Once we became debt-free, we were able to focus our efforts on who we really are as a club, and what we needed to do to our facility and course to attract those golfers who shared our vision,” Keller said.

Bend Golf Club, located in southeast Bend, is nearly 100 years old, so the club has lots of traditions to be preserved, but also lots of improvements needed to attract today’s golfers.

This year the club realigned iconic holes 11 and 12 to improve playability and give a completely new look to the short par-3 No. 11, with its old-style water feature.

The No. 11 green was enlarged in order to offer more pin locations that are close to the water, Keller noted. Two old bunkers were removed and a new one was built.

“We moved the tee box farther to the north on No. 10 and made it a dog-leg right,” Keller said. “We built three new bunkers on No. 10 closer to the fairway, to sort of put some teeth into it. So you’ll think twice about hitting driver.”

Keller said the club spent $120,000 on the changes to Nos. 11 and 12.

Improvements to the club also include a new pool deck with outdoor seating and a new cart barn.

Keller said that one of the things that attracts golfers to Bend Golf Club is the walkability of the course. Because the course was built nearly a century ago, before power carts existed, it was built as a course that could be easily walked without long distances between tee boxes and not much elevation change.

“No one in those days wanted to have to pack their clubs that far,” Keller said. “70% of our members walk. It was built 95 years ago, so it was built as a golf course instead of a development, which is probably the big thing.”

Keller said that Bend Golf Club features an unpretentious vibe, but no shortage of talent among its members. More than 120 members are single-digit handicappers, according to Keller.

Bend Golf Club also has a new head professional this year in Monte Hanson, who spent the last 20 years as the head pro at prestigious Bernardo Heights Country Club in San Diego.

Members are welcome to bring visitors to play at Bend Golf Club, according to Keller.

“If they live within 50 miles of the club, you can bring them once a month,” Keller said. “If someone is from Portland, Seattle or whatever and coming for a week, they can play as much as that want.”