LODGE VILLAGE
A home-away-from-home located between The Lodge at Sunriver Resort and the Cove Aquatic Center. Each room is accessed straight from the outdoors and features a cozy fireplace, outdoor space and spectacular views.
Ryan Wulff, Sunriver Resort’s director of agronomy, could hardly ask for better Central Oregon weather. Sure, winter was particularly cold and snowy. The spring has been cool and wet. But for a Director of Agronomy charged with presenting golfers with the very best conditions he can, the weather has been tailor made.
The warm, sun-splashed weather that has made Sunriver Resort a favorite among Pacific Northwest destinations has returned. And it could not have come to soon, with the Meadows Course set to open under blue skies on Friday, May 19, giving Sunriver Resort guests all 63 holes to play with and marking the official beginning of the summer golf season.
The warm up is welcomed by most any golfer. But for Wulff, that same cool weather has been the gift to golfers that will keep giving all season long.
“We fared remarkably well through winter,” Wulff said. “It was a huge sigh of relief for us.”
Yes, despite a record amount of winter snow in December and January and a cool, moist spring, Sunriver’s courses came through in ideal shape.
For Wulff, it was a perfect combination. The winter weather was cold enough that ice never formed on the greens, so when the snow finally did melt, the ground was easily able to absorb the moisture.
Then the dampness and chill of spring came. Natural moisture means less irrigation, and cool temperatures are less stressful on the turf.
“It’s not exactly favorable for golfers, but it is perfect for growing turf,” Wulff said. “That should pay huge dividends this season, with fantastic course conditions. The weather was just about perfect.”
This is great news for golfers, providing a healthy baseline ahead of the peak golf season.
Of course, the work of Wulff and his staff is never truly complete. The crew has been awfully busy preparing Sunriver Resort for another momentous golf season, which includes hosting the 50th PGA Professional Championship, June 18-21, at Meadows and Crosswater Club.
Perhaps the most obvious improvement for Sunriver Resort golfers will be the maturity of the Meadows golf course following two consecutive years of substantial capital investments. In 2015 the Meadows greens were reconstructed with T-1 bentgrass, and in 2016 each bunker was reconstructed individually establishing a Golden Age appearance through irregular shaped bunkers lined with native fescues. The maturity of the greens will provide golfers a pristine putting surface, and the new Golden Age bunkers are a tremendous compliment to the native fescues in the surrounding meadow.
Sunriver Resort’s other preparations for the season included:
It all adds up to what appears to be another wonderful golf season at Sunriver Resort.
To play at any one of Sunriver Resort’s acclaimed golf courses, book online or call 541-593-4402. Stay-and-play packages at Sunriver Resort are also available online