County Rankings / Oregon
The Best Golf Courses in Deschutes County, Oregon
Seventeen courses in one high desert county, and the argument is not whether Deschutes County has depth. It is what kind of depth wins. Bend and its neighbors built three distinct golf worlds inside one county line: private clubs with tournament records, resort courses the public can book, and a municipal in Redmond that keeps beating both on value. We score the golf first, then the day, then access, and that order puts a private Sunriver course on top while leaving real room for the public game below it. The state picture sits in the full Oregon state ranking; this is the county argument, course by course.
1Crosswater
Robert E. Cupp and John Fought, 1995, par 72 at 7,683 yards at about 4,160 feet elevation on 600 acres along the Deschutes and Little Deschutes rivers, crossing the rivers as often as seven times in a round. It hosted the JELD WEN Tradition senior major from 2007 to 2010 and the PGA Professional National Championship four times. At its opening it was the longest course in the United States. Private, with Sunriver Resort guests admitted. The county's strongest card, and it is not close.
2Nicklaus Course
Jack Nicklaus at Pronghorn, 2004, par 72 at 7,379 yards through lava rock ridges and juniper forest with Cascade views. Ranked No. 6 in Oregon by GolfCourseGurus and No. 10 public in the state by Golfweek, and listed by Golf Digest among America's 100 Greatest Public courses. Resort access at Juniper Preserve, which is why it edges its sibling: nearly the same ceiling, and you can book it.
3Fazio Course
Tom Fazio's second Pronghorn course, 2006, ranked No. 7 in Oregon and a Golf Digest Best in State regular. The par 3 8th plays over a 45 foot deep canyon to a green fronted by an exposed lava tube found during construction blasting, a hole no other course in America can copy. Private access costs it the second spot. The golf alone might deserve it.
4Tetherow Golf Club
The Bend course every visiting golfer asks about first, and the hardest placement on this list because our record file for it is thin. On reputation in broad strokes it belongs in the county's top tier, a modern Bend headliner that anchors the west side conversation. We place it fourth on standing rather than documented detail, and say so plainly. If the record were fuller, it might push higher.
5Broken Top Club
Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish, 1993, par 72 at 7,161 yards, named for the hollowed out volcano whose remnant reaches 9,155 feet. Ranked No. 19 in Oregon, private, with a 27,000 square foot clubhouse overlooking a six acre lake. Classic Bend private golf, scenic and exacting in the Weiskopf manner.
6Bend Golf Club
The county's oldest private club, golf since May 3, 1925, on land donated by the Brooks-Scanlon Lumber Company, the first nine opening with dirt fairways and oiled sand greens. Par 72 at 7,010 yards, host to the Oregon Open, Northwest Open, Oregon Amateur and PNGA Mid-Amateur. A century of Bend golf starts here.
7Brasada Canyons
Peter Jacobsen and Jim Hardy at Brasada Ranch in Powell Butte, 2007, par 72 at 7,295 yards on the west slope of Powell Butte, its par 5 18th holding the course's only water hazard. A Golf Digest Best in State listing and a private resort setting. Big, quiet, high desert golf.
8Aspen Lakes Golf Course
The public counterweight. William Overdorf built it for the Cyrus family on their sixth generation farm in Sisters, nines named Faith and Hope for two of the Three Sisters peaks. Par 72 at 7,302 yards, red sand bunkers of crushed cinder, host of the 2005 Oregon Open. The 450 yard par 4 11th is the signature, the 222 yard par 3 15th among Central Oregon's toughest. Anyone can play it. That matters.
9Juniper Golf Course
Redmond's municipal, John Harbottle, par 72 at 7,186 yards with seven tee sets and a 651 yard par 5 6th. Host of the Oregon Open in 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2017, named Oregon's best municipal for 2009 and 2010. The best public value in the county, full stop.
10Awbrey Glen Golf Club
Private Bend golf on the west side, a 1993 community centerpiece that hosted the Oregon Open in 2011 and the Northwest Open four times. Par 72 at 7,007 yards, with Central Oregon's only five hole par 3 Loop in its practice facility. Members' golf, well kept and well regarded locally.
11Glaze Meadow Course
Black Butte Ranch, Gene Mason's original reworked by John Fought in a $3.75 million renovation finished in 2012 that rebuilt all 18 green complexes and stretched the course to about 7,007 yards at par 72. Ranked No. 20 in Oregon. Resort access west of Sisters, classic in style, deep grass faced bunkers and all.
12Meadows Course
Sunriver's other argument, first crafted in 1969 and redesigned by John Fought in 1999, par 71 at 6,969 yards with seven holes bordering the Sun River. Used alongside Crosswater for PGA Professional National Championship rounds. Access tightened in 2025 to members and resort guests, which drops it a place or two here.
13River's Edge Golf Course
Public Bend golf along the Deschutes River, Robert Muir Graves, par 72 at 6,683 yards. The par 4 6th approaches an elevated green fronted by a pond and a 25 foot waterfall, and the par 3 16th drops some 300 feet from tee to green over 216 yards. Dramatic, public, and honestly a step below the courses above it.
14Quail Run Golf Course
La Pine's public option, Jim Ramey, par 72 at about 6,892 yards, an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary whose original nine was ranked the nation's second best nine hole course by Golf Digest in 2000. The par 3 14th, Green on the Mountain, carries a valley to a guarded green on the mountainside. Worth the drive south, not worth lying about its tier.
15Widgi Creek Golf Club
A Bend name the locals know, placed here on standing alone because our record file carries no verified detail for it. Ordinary placement, honestly flagged. The back of this list is where the county's depth thins from notable to pleasant.
16Woodlands Course
The third of Sunriver's 18 hole resort courses, and the one the fewest golfers travel for. Named and placed on the resort's bench strength rather than any documented distinction in our records. A fine second round on a Sunriver stay. That is the fair sentence, and it is enough.
17Caldera Links
Last, and deliberately not least in spirit: Sunriver's nine hole par 3 family course, holes from about 60 to 185 yards at par 27, walking only, maintained by the Crosswater crew with tour quality bentgrass greens. Resort guests and homeowners only, juniors priced kindly, children 11 and under free with an eligible adult. It ranks last because it is a par 3 course in a championship list. As an hour of golf with a kid, it might be the best buy in the county.
The county in one image, then: snow peaks over red bunkers at Aspen Lakes, rivers crossed seven times at Crosswater, and a Redmond muni holding its own against private money. Deschutes County does not have a golf hierarchy so much as a golf ecosystem, and every level of it, from the Tradition's old home down to a 60 yard par 3, earns its place in it.