Oregon Golf Trail would link together state's best courses.

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

The words Oregon and Trail are linked together. Like Lewis and Clark.

Well, golf and Oregon go together, too. Like gold and rush.

Indeed, Oregon tourism officials might want to borrow a page from our neighbors to the east by creating and promoting an "Oregon Golf Trail."

Idaho last month unveiled the Idaho Golf Trail, a collection of six of that state's most beautiful and expensive golf courses - BanBury Golf Club in Eagle, Sun Valley Golf Club in Sun Valley, the Whitetail Club in McCall, Circling Raven Golf Club in Worley, Coeur d'Alene Resort in Coeur d'Alene, and Hidden Lakes Golf Resort in Sandpoint. All have one thing in common - each is located at a posh resort.

Anyone who plays the Idaho Golf Trail is bound to spend a lot of money.

Golf "trails" as promotional devices are nothing new. The best-known ones feature the works of a single course designer, like the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama and the Bear Trace circuit of Jack Nicklaus courses in Tennessee.

Oregon's golf trail should be crafted to highlight the incredible diversity this state has to offer in terms of scenery and golf experiences.

From sea level links courses such as Bandon and Pacific Dunes to ski level courses such as Crosswater.

From High Desert tracks cut out of juniper and lava, such as Pronghorn, to verdant Willamette Valley courses such as Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club's Witch Hollow course.

One thing Oregon does not have is an abundance of courses by "name" designers, although that is beginning to change with Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio, Ben Crenshaw and Peter Jacobsen all working on, or recently completing, Oregon layouts.

Even without the "name" designers, Oregon has so many great courses that it's difficult to decide which ones should be included on an Oregon Golf Trail that would lure golfing visitors to spend a leisurely week or two touring the state.

The coastal portion of the trail would have to include both "Dunes" courses in Bandon. Sandpines and the newly renovated Salishan are also worthy of consideration.

The Running Y near Klamath Falls and Eagle Point Golf Course near Medford would represent southern Oregon well.

Crosswater at Sunriver is certainly worthy of a stop on any golf trail.

Then there's Aspen Lakes near Sisters, with its unique red cinder bunkers, ample water features and stunning Three Sisters views, and the Glaze Meadows course at Black Butte Ranch.

Tokatee would have to be included. (How could you leave off a course named three times to Golf Digest's list of the top 25 public courses in the country?)

And Elkhorn Valley west of Salem - thrice rated among the best nine-hole courses in the nation, but now a regulation 18 - would undoubtedly be worth a postcard to the boys back in the office, asking them to please send more balls.

Heading back to the airport in Portland, of course, a visitor would swing by those Pumpkin Ridge courses - both Witch Hollow and Ghost Creek are consistently rated among the state's best.

There may not be an official Oregon Golf Trail. But if you can find better way for a golfer to spend 14 days in Oregon than the ones I've just listed, let me know.

Meanwhile, if you'd like more information about golf courses in Oregon - not to mention Idaho and Washington - pick up a copy of the recently published "Best Places to Golf: Northwest," by Jeff Wallach (Sasquatch Books, $22.95).

The guidebook for golfers includes yardages, prices and personal reflections on golf courses and resorts from British Columbia to northern Utah, and from the western Rockies to the Pacific.

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