Salmon Run Golf Course — Local services in Oregon

I hadn't been to the course in a few years. After starting a family and everything else that comes with it, I hadn't had much free time to golf. With 2 young rambunctious boys, (3 years apart, the oldest is 12 now) getting them to realize the way to act at a golf course is a "lilttle" different than the way you act at say, a football stadium. A trip to the grocery store with both of MY 2 little guys, proved on more than one occasion, that they don't know when or where is a good time or place to have a wrestling match. I didnt want the "dairy aisle" incident to come back on the 5th green! Sooo day trips for a round of golf were going to have to wait until they were a bit older and understood the difference between a golf course and monster truck rally!

As summer now approaches, my boys are 9 & 12, and myself wanting to start playing a little golf again, I thought maybe we should try it out. So on a sunny Sunday afternoon around 430ish we loaded some clubs in the car and headed for a "test run" at Salmon Run driving range. We got a couple buckets of balls from the more than helpful club house employee, who said with a chuckle, if it went OK he would like to see us again; maybe for a round instead of just the range. I have to say, I was pretty impressed, the "dairy aisle" didn't return, my boys had a blast, and most of all said they wanted to come back and do it again. I thought this had a lot of upside, health wise, attitude wise, relationship wise, to name a few. So I decided we would return and see how we fared out on the course with other golfers near by and build on that.

That was all that my wife and I heard about for the next few weeks. Are we going golfing today? Can we go hit some balls? Are we getting a cart? C'mom dad, its not dark yet! We went back 2 weeks later on a Wednesday afternoon. Checked inand cart loaded, the 3 of us headed off to play our first 9 holes of golf together. The sun was out and warm. The birds chirping, the beauty of Salmon run, all made for an amazing day. I love this place. It's beautifully kept. Green grass, nicely mowed. The friendly and knowledgeable staff all make for a great outing. We have been, and will continue to play golf here. It's challenging and sometimes a bit frustrating, (we loose quit a few golf balls) but, maybe that's a lesson in patience also. We can all use a bit more patience in this fast paced world we live in. And what better way to do it than rite here at beautiful Salmon Run...

Deep within the remote and brooding wilderness of southern Oregon, tucked between gnarled forests and the winding whispers of the Chetco River, there lies a golf course that feels less like a man-made design and more like a secret unearthed from the folds of the earth itself. It is called Salmon Run, and already in the name, there is something mythic. Something eternal. The movement of life against current. The longing to return home.

This is not merely a golf course. It is an ordeal. A verdant crucible where you do not simply play—you are tested. Each hole carves its way through dense forest, flanked by shadows that do not speak but merely watch. You are not alone here. The trees, ancient and indifferent, bear witness to your struggle. The air is heavy with moss and the scent of slow decay. Nature here does not apologize for its complexity—it simply is.

The course undulates with a kind of defiance. Fairways bend like serpents, greens hide behind ravines and water traps that seem less like hazards and more like metaphors for mortality. The ball disappears not into bunkers, but into the void. And yet—this suffering is beautiful.

At moments, you may hear the salmon themselves, thrashing upriver in their desperate, noble pilgrimage to spawn and perish. What is this if not the very essence of golf? To strive, again and again, with quiet futility, toward an unreachable perfection. You hit the ball not because it will matter in the end—but because to do so is to continue.

And still, among the ruin of lost strokes and vanishing sunlight, there is grace. A par scored not with force, but with surrender. A mist rolling over the ninth hole, rendering even the flagstick spectral. The faint trill of a bird echoing through the pines like a question you do not know how to answer.

Salmon Run does not coddle the golfer. It unmasks them.

Five stars—not for comfort,...

DO NOT book a twilight tee time on Wednesday’s expecting to be done by 5:20. I called as an out of towner Tuesday afternoon to get a twilight rate on Weds.with my wife for 18 holes. A nice lady said “thats fine, we’ll see you tomorrow for a 2:40 tee time” with no mention that at 5:30 a business men’s league starts then. A person actually told me in the parking lot before my round about the men’s league. After getting in the pro shop a gentleman at the counter told me all carts had to be back by 5:20. I had to rush to get my 18 hole round in, while my wife was only able to golf 9 holes. What was supposed to be a relaxing day with my wife for a 4 hour typical round of golf, turned into a stressful round worrying about getting my cart back on time. No discount was offered, but in the future you should only offer 9 holes for a 2:40 tee...