Once in a blue moon I get to play a golf course that reminds me of why golf is such an amazing game. Two years ago, I was able to play Gearhart Golf Links, located in Gearhart, Oregon. Gearhart is an adorable little town that is just north of Seaside, an uber popular vacation spot in northern Oregon. When we decided to plan a last minute trip to Seaside to end the summer, Gearhart was my first though, and I’m glad it was. The course plays 5157 from the front tees and 6551 from the stones. From the vintage clubhouse, which is home to the fabulous Mcminnaminns Gearhart Hotel and Sandtrap Pub, to the knee high fescue that lines the fairway, Gearhart takes you back in time to where you might think your bag should feature hickory shafts and forged blades. The course is nothing short of amazing and for the price, it’s something that should be considered for every golfer that heads to the Oregon Coast. Enough about this amazing course, let’s get to the round up.
Coming back to Gearhart and hitting that first tee box just made me smile. I was playing with a group that was playing a bit further up on the blocks, so we compromised and played the black tees instead of the stones this time around. This made the course come in just under 6200 yards. The first hole, par 4 – 340 yards, was playing a touch into the light breeze that was up in the morning. I decided to break out the Wilson Triton for it’s on course debut for this cold tee shot. The driver was decent, travelling about 250 yards down the left side of the fairway, bit it had an extremely low flight path as it went. Still for a cold tee shot, I’ll take it. I followed up the drive with a solid lob wedge from 95 yards out. We then were introduced to the Gearhart greens, which wiggled out a three putt on the first for a bogey. I started off the second hole, par 4 – 360 yards, with my 2 hybrid as the flight of the hole was favoring a draw. Well, good intentions usually lead to bad execution and this was no exception. I played the ball too far forward in my stance and hit a dead pull about 10 feet off the ground into the trees left. A punch out/recovery 5 iron put me in position to hit the green from 100 yards. I ran my first putt about 3 feet past the hole, but made the come back for bogey. The third, par 4 – 270 yards, was the exact type of hole that I carry my 2 hybrid for, but again, not placing the ball in the correct position in my stance lead to another pull left. It wasn’t as bad as the first, but it wasn’t much better. The ball got caught up in the fescue on the left and left me another 100 yard wedge to the green. A quick two putt netted me my first par of the day. I was two over after three holes.
Moving on to the fourth, par 3 – 176 yards, I had a dilemma on my hands. The hole was screaming 7 iron, but my head was saying 8 iron and let it bounce up to the green. I went with the 8 iron but left it slightly left of the green. My chip shot hit the green and just kept rolling to about 20 feet past the pin, even though I landed it just as short. These greens were fast and hard to say the least. I was able to convert another two putt on this tough green, but it was another bogey on the card. The fifth hole, par 4 – 360 yards, played very straight up. I played a nice 250 yard drive down the middle of the fairway and followed that up with a sand wedge to the back of the green. A quick 2 putts and I was off to the sixth with another par. The sixth, par 4 – 340 yards, played wonderfully short down the slope it was on. This is also the first time I let the Triton run wild and really put a swing on it. I played the ball slightly further up in my stance and really let one rip. The drive came to rest just short of the green about 310 yards away from the tee. Once again, a decent chip shot turned a bit nasty and the ball ran about 20 feet past the hole. A two putt par moved me to the seventh hole at 3 over par.
The seventh hole, par 4 – 335 yards, turned a bit disastrous off the tee. Honestly, the hole started off badly when we mis-identified the target fairway right off the bat. My ball ended up short and left on the hole in the fescue. At least I could see the green from the lie. I hit a very solid 153 yard pitching wedge to the back of the green and had a very easy two putt par. Next up was the long eighth hole, par 5 – 456, and it was an uphill monster. I hit a very solid 275 yard drive down the middle, which came to rest on a downhill lie. A bladed 7 iron came up well short of the green from where a good sand wedge got me in two putt range once again. What looked like a sure birdie off the tee turned in to a solid par. That brought me back to the ninth tee box to close out the outward nine. The ninth hole, par 4 – 346 yards, set up very well for me. A 270 yard drive off the tee found the fairway and my lob wedge approach came up just short of the green. A pitch on landed just short of the flag and a tap in netted me one last par on the front side and a score of 39.
As I made the turn, I have to be honest with you and say that I was much more sure that an 80’s score was in the cards for me today than any possibility of keeping things in the 70’s. In fact, when I stepped on the tenth hole, par 4 – 343 yards, I figured I was about done for the day. Especially after hitting another low driver off the tee that found the fescue. On the next shot, however, something changed. I hit a very strong sand wedge from the deep stuff and found the green. My 60 foot putt came to rest 2 feet from the hole and it was a tap in par. It was an interesting one to say the least, but it was another hole down without a bogey. On the eleventh, par 3 – 221 yards, I debated club selection in my head based off the 2 hybrid misses I had earlier, and I chose wrong. Instead of hitting a strong 5 iron into the green, I pulled the 4 hybrid from my bag. Once again, my ball position was off on these guys today and left it went. A gap wedge to the green and two putts later, I carded my 4th bogey of the day. The twelfth hole, par 4 – 386 yards, offered some relief from the craziness with a good drive down the right center of the fairway. That was followed up with a great pitching wedge to the green where I just missed my 30 foot birdie putt and tapped in for another par. I was four over par with just 6 holes to play.
The thirteenth hole, par 5 – 528 yards, was the turning point of the round for sure. A 280 yard drive found the fairway, which led to me going after the green in two. Once again, a topped hybrid ruined those chances. The difference this time was the gap wedge that I hit to 3 feet. A virtual tap in birdie got me back to 3 over par for the day. The fourteenth hole, par 4 – 363 yards, can be summed up with the simple thought of – make sure to hit your wedges clean – because that was all that kept me from keeping the birdie train rolling for another hole. A perfect drive left me 85 yards in to the flag. Unfortunately, I caught my lob wedge a bit high on the face and lost about 10 yards on the shot. I chipped up to the flag only to have the ball release once again and roll about 20 feet past. The two putt bogey put me back to four over for the round. If there is any respite at Gearhart, it’s the fifteenth hole, par 3 – 116 yards. This short, even baby sized, par 3 is one of the easier holes on the course. My lob wedge tried to make up for the last hole on this one by hitting a gorgeous shot into the green. It missed the flag location right, but an easy two putt par kept me moving on to the closing 3 holes at 4 over par.
As I came into the final three holes, the sixteenth, par 4 – 344 yards, was the first step in a few tough closers. Today, this hole let me have one as I hit a great drive into the breeze followed by a perfect 80 yard lob wedge into the green. 2 putts later, I was cruising to the 17th still holding strong at 4 over par. The seventeenth, par 4 – 341 yards, played equally simplistic on this day. Another good drive found the fairway and a knockdown gap wedge found the front of the green. Repeating the previous hole, 2 putts later I was off to the dreaded 18th with a four over par score. The eighteenth, par 5 – 588 yards, is a hard hole even from the front tees. It’s a long, dog-leg left, that finishes at an uphill green. After a good drive, I tried to run the ball closer to the green with my 3 hybrid. Once again, these go to clubs failed me due to me not remembering how I hit them at the range the week before. With my forward ball position, I didn’t hit one good hybrid the entire day. In fact, every single one of them was left of target – and that was due to one reason only – I had the ball too far forward in my stance. After hitting a thin hybrid to the left, a solid 8 iron found the green for one last par and a good finishing hole. That left me at 4 over par, 76, for the round. It was definitely one of the better scrambling rounds I have ever played and I will certainly look to best that the next time we go to Seaside, or anywhere near there for that matter.
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