April 2016 - Black Butte Ranch

28 04, 2016

Look ahead: Demo Days & Tent Sale among highlights of busy May at Black Butte Ranch

Shopping for new golf clubs can be intimidating. Without professional help, finding just the right fit is often impossible. And with so many manufacturers, opportunities to truly comparison shop with a vast array of equipment all in one place is rare. This is exactly why Black Butte Ranch began hosting its annual Memorial Day Demo Days & Tent Sale. Scheduled for May 28 and 29, the annual event is among the marquee events during a busy May. Held at the driving range of Big Meadow, NikeGolf, Ping, TaylorMade, Cobra, Titleist, and Bridgestone Golf will all be on hand for [...]

14 04, 2016

SNAG Golf hits Sisters Elementary

Sure, golf is a difficult game that confounds even the the world’s greatest players. (Just ask Jordan Spieth!) Strange as it might sound, though, golf does not have to be a chore to learn. At least, that is the premise of SNAG Golf (Starting New at Golf). Black Butte Ranch offered up SNAG Golf for the first time last summer. And this year, the golf professionals at Black Butte Ranch have gone on the road … or at least down the street to Sisters Elementary School. Black Butte Ranch Director of Golf Jeff Fought, Head Golf Professional Tom Baker and [...]

12 04, 2016

Readying your equipment for the season can save strokes
Readying your equipment for the season can save strokes

Readying your equipment for the season can save strokes

Prudent golfers instinctively know to take certain steps to get that rusty swing ready for the golf season. The best of us spend extra time working on our short game. We all mentally prepare ourselves for a season spent trying to improve. Even with all that preparation golfers often neglect the very tools that will help us perform at our best. We grab our clubs from the garage, toss them into the trunk and speed off to the greener pastures of our favorite golf courses. This can be a mistake. A little time spent getting our golf clubs into [...]

8 04, 2016

Conditions report: Courses springing to life as weather warms
Conditions report: Courses springing to life as weather warms

Conditions report: Courses springing to life as weather warms

The striping on Big Meadow No. 5 is really beginning to show. Spring has officially grabbed hold here in Central Oregon. And with each passing day the golf courses at Black Butte Ranch spring back to life. For the maintenance crew at Black Butte Ranch there are few sweeter views than both Big Meadow and Glaze Meadow beginning to return to their peak-season glory. “You can actually see the striping in the fairway out there,” Phil Lagao, Black Butte Ranch’s longtime superintendent, said of Big Meadow. “It’s starting to come back to life and look like a golf course [...]

6 04, 2016

Golf tip: Start the season off by working on your chipping

Golfers have so many ways to get ready for the golf season. But most of us amateurs probably make it harder on ourselves than we need to make it. Our first instinct often is to head to the range, grab the driver and work out that dormant golf swing by punishing golf balls one after another with our full swing. Or worse yet, we skip the preparation altogether and rush out to the first tee. This, you might expect, is likely not be the best approach to knocking off that winter rust. Working on the short game, particularly greenside [...]