Meg Roussos / The BulletinGolfers play the par 5 17th hole at Widgi Creek Golf Course in Bend on Friday.

At first glance, my 10-foot putt for par on the par-4 eighth hole at Widgi Creek Golf Club looked as if it might hold a straight line.

I hit the downhill putt and was confident that I had read it correctly. To my surprise, the ball dipped a touch to the left and flattened, gliding about an inch wide of the hole.

Prompted by my grumbling, my playing partner, Bob — alongtime employee at Widgi Creek and a frequent golfer at the ponderosa-pine-lined course in southwest Bend — gave me a piece advice: “There are no straight putts on these greens,” he said. “That’s the thing.”

The thing — the very best thing — about Widgi Creek is indeed its rolling greens.

But Widgi Creek is more than just above-par putting surfaces.

Nestled in the woods off Century Drive, Widgi Creek gets its character from the trees that shape the golf course. And the conditioning of the course is better than most would expect from such a busy facility, something that was proven to me on a cool, overcast afternoon last week.

With tees that stretch from 3,785 yards to 6,905 yards from the back tees, Widgi Creek will not overwhelm many golfers with distance. But the challenge at Widgi Creek is significant.

Widgi is a well-designed course, fashioned by Robert Muir Graves, a prolific architect whose other creations include the Big Meadow course at Black Butte Ranch, The Greens at Redmond, and River’s Edge in Bend. The layout presents a wide variety of holes, nearly all of which require game-management skills to play well.

Shots that drift too far from the intended target will likely find their way into a wooded jail. And a secondary rough of primarily scraggly native grasses will make escape even more difficult.

This makes using a driver particularly risky on most holes.

On this day I forced a driver on far too many (which is becoming something of a bad habit for me). I paid a price, beginning on Widgi Creek’s mammoth 653-yard, par-5 third hole, where I pulled a tee shot that nearly found its way to the road that borders the fairway.

I would find trouble again with a driver on the par-4 fourth hole, the par-5 seventh and the par-4 eighth. This all before my entire game went to pieces on the back nine, most likely a product of constantly trying to dig myself out of trouble.

The funny thing is that my stupid, overly aggressive play was wholly unnecessary. The approach shots into Widgi Creek’s wonderful, often well-bunkered green complexes are what make or break a round, not grabbing extra distance off the tee.

A smarter golfer than me would have figured this out after I was forced to lay up with a 2-hybrid by a pond that fronts the green on the 334-yard sixth hole. My tee shot left me an easy 100-yard sand wedge away into the three-tiered green.

I should have learned that lesson again on the 537-yard, par-5 12th hole, the first of four holes bordering the Deschutes River. This time I teed off with a conservative 3-wood that landed short, but safely in the fairway. Another 3-wood left me another easy shot into a front pin on the rolling green.

Of course, even once a golfer figures out how to play the course, one challenge remains to be conquered at Widgi Creek: the greens.

After missing my overly long birdie putt on 12, a product of a miscalculated pitch to the green, I was left with a 6-footer for a much-needed par. But my next putt took an unexpected turn, forcing me to mark down a “6.”

“It breaks toward the river if it breaks anywhere,” Bob advised after my miss. “Especially on these next couple of holes.”

As if on cue, Bob’s brother, Phil, who rounded out our threesome, missed his putt to the opposite direction of the river.

“I guess you gotta know where the river is first,” Bob said with a laugh.

Course knowledge certainly helps at Widgi Creek. But as I was reminded, playing the game intelligently is even more important.

Difficulty of course

At 6,905 yards, Widgi Creek is of average length among Central Oregon’s daily fee courses. However, it is difficult to overpower the tree-lined track, which is primarily a position golf course.

Widgi Creek will punish golfers who stray too far off target. Adding to the difficulty is that Widgi Creek’s scraggly secondary rough is a chore to escape.

Novices will find the par-4 sixth hole and the par-3 11th hole, which both present forced carries over water, particularly challenging. But both holes have just enough bailout area to keep cautious golfers in play.

In addition, Widgi Creek offers an extremely forward green tee, which is set at just 3,785 yards. Those tees will keep even beginners on course.

Favorite hole

I did not play the hole well this time around — a constant theme on this day — but the par-3 11th hole is easily among the most challenging par 3s in Central Oregon.

The back tees are set at 216 yards, and the blue tees, from which I played, are at 201 yards. The distance alone is tough enough for most amateurs. But nearly the entire tee shot must be carried over water, and a crater of a bunker fronts the wide, shallow and tiered green.

A pin position on the front right of the green takes away much of the danger, but a pin set on the back left makes bogey a good score.

How to approach the course

Widgi Creek is best attacked with a dose of caution, especially off the tee, to avoid the trees and native grasses that border the rough. Escaping from those areas can turn an off-target drive into a meltdown.

Two of Widgi Creek’s par 5s are especially long, including the 653-yard third hole. But the course does a nice job of mixing in short par 4s that will allow golfers to play more conservative clubs off the tee.

Keep in mind that setting up an accurate approach into Widgi’s many tiered greens is paramount. The greens at Widgi Creek have a deserved reputation for being among the best surfaces in Central Oregon. Straight lines are a rarity, but the well-manicured surfaces should provide enough confidence to choose an aggressive line to the hole.

Off the course

A bar and restaurant — and a roomy deck — highlight Widgi Creek’s spacious clubhouse. The club also offers a full-service spa for those less interested in hitting the links.

Just behind the clubhouse rests an ample driving range, and the practice putting has three tiers, which should prepare golfers for Widgi Creek’s challenging greens.

A short-game practice area is located between the driving range and the 18th tee and offers plenty of room for chipping, a target green and two sizeable bunkers.

Verdict

Widgi Creek remains among my favorites in Central Oregon.

The course is almost always in excellent condition, a credit to longtime superintendent Paul Rozek. And its greens are among the best of any daily fee courses in Central Oregon.

However, during prime times, Widgi is not particularly inexpensive at $79. The cost does drop significantly at noon, to $49, and drops even further as the day goes on, to $25 after 5 p.m.

Considering the high quality of the course, its afternoon rates make Widgi Creek a fair bargain and a key reason why it is among the busiest courses in Bend.

— Reporter: 541-617-7868, zhall@bendbulletin.com.