Despite woes elsewhere, golf in Oregon still on upward course.

Byline: INSIDE THE OUTDOORS By Mike Stahlberg The Register-Guard

Nationally, golfers aren't playing as much as they did last year. The latest "Golf Rounds Played Report" produced by the PGA of America and the National Golf Course Owners Association shows play down 3 percent through the end of May, compared with totals a year earlier.

In Oregon, however, rounds played year to date are up 1.7 percent.

One reason Oregon is on the plus side of the ledger could be our relatively dry spring. (Play in Washington, which had a rainy spring, is down 1.8 percent.)

Another factor might be that Oregon continues to offer more places to play, which attracts more golfers.

Last month, for example, nearly 1,000 people turned out for the formal grand opening of the course Tom Fazio designed for The Club at Pronghorn, one of the new high-end golf communities near Bend.

The event also marked the opening of Pronghorn's 50,000-square-foot clubhouse, which also services the Jack Nicklaus Signature course that opened in 2004.

The Nicklaus Course at Pronghorn is ranked No. 71 on Golfweek Magazine's list of America's top 100 modern courses, while the Fazio Course was named one of the "best new courses of 2006" by Travel & Leisure Golf magazine (which also ranked Pronghorn at No. 8 on its list of the "Top 100" golf communities).

Fazio led attendees on a walk over a portion of his 7,447-yard, par-72, creation, discussing the design process and how he maximized aesthetics. The most eye-catching hole is No. 8, a par three with a sunken green framed by a pair of ancient lava tubes that were exposed during construction.

For many of those in attendance, the opening tour might have been their only chance to see the course, which is open to members only.

Access won't be a problem at the next course to open in Oregon, Bandon Crossings, which is accepting tee times for play beginning July 18.

Located about 5 miles south of Bandon and east of Highway 101, Bandon Crossings is an 18-hole, 6,900-yard public course built on 340 acres of a former sheep and cattle ranch that includes two streams, wetlands and fir forest.

It is owned by Carla and Dr. Rex Smith of Eugene, who saw the need on the south coast for a quality, moderately priced golf course on which power carts could be used.

Greens fees at Bandon Crossing will start at $70 in the summer, $38 from November through March. Cart rentals are $28 for two people, $18 for a single rider.

That compares with rates of $195 to $250 at nearby Bandon Dunes, where power carts are not allowed.

The Smiths expect to get some play from people drawn to the area by the courses at Bandon Dunes, but who do not want to walk 36 holes in one day. In addition, their course is about a mile from the beach and offers some refuge from the wind.

The Bandon Crossings layout was designed by Dan Hixon, who grew up in Cottage Grove and went on to become head professional at Columbia Edgewater Country Club before getting into course design work. His previous projects include the updating of Emerald Valley Golf Course after it was purchased by Jim Pliska.

Tony Russell, who worked on all three Bandon Dunes Resort courses, handled construction.

Mark Fiore, formerly of Aspen Lakes Golf Course in Sisters, is the head professional.

For tee times or additional information, call [phone] or log on to www.bandoncrossings.com.

Finally, one "old" Oregon course is slated to be "new" again this fall.

Crews have been working since February to prepare Mountain High Golf Course near Bend for re-opening. The course has been closed since 2002, when developer Jan Ward stopped watering it after the city of Bend confiscated the private water system Ward had been using.

The revamped course (fairways and greens were all scraped and reseeded) will be watered by a new irrigation system fed by water from a local irrigation district. A large new pond was built near the south entry to the course to help store water for the new system

According to the Bend newspaper, Ward said the old course lost about $150,000 per year.

He is restoring the course under a court order to do so, following a lawsuit by homeowners in his development who said closure of the course reduced their property values.

However, the City of Bend is, in effect, footing the bill for the restoration. Ward won a judgment of $6.7 million, plus interest and attorney's fees, in his lawsuit claiming that the city acted in bad faith when it condemned his water system. The judgment included about $1 million to cover rebuilding the golf course.

Mike Stahlberg can be reached at [e-mail].