While most people typically head to Florida to get warm and play golf, we do the exact opposite. We head North to Oregon – no, not Bandon but Eastern Oregon – Western style! The destination is, Silvies Valley Ranch, a working ranch that has a reversible golf course, 18 individual holes sharing 27 greens, and as a result, two very different golf courses.
Let’s get the don’ts out of the way
Don’t worry about the rough. There isn’t a whole lot – you’ll either be on the pretty expansive fairways or in the sagebrush, where you don’t have to worry about snakes, at least not poisonous ones!
Don’t throw balls into the pin. The greens are too hard and undulated, so unless you are dropping the ball in from PGA Tour height, it’s unlikely to stay close to the pin or maybe even on the green.
Don’t worry about having fun. It will happen naturally, whether you want it to or not. Drivable greens, elevation changes, and hitting the longest drive of your life, all await you!
On the Range
Assuming you’ve hit some balls on the driving range, having gotten your practice balls from the old cart and tried to hit a few of the iron wheels that act as targets, the one thing you MUST do before teeing up on the first is using the practice green – you cannot spend enough time on this! It’s a simple-looking green, but it’s a great indicator of what you will face on the course, the breaks, the speed, the reads.
The course chooses you. You don’t choose the course
Simply put, you don’t get a choice of what course to play at Silvies Ranch. Each day the course layout changes to being the opposite of the day before. Waking up and thinking you’ll play Hankins first Vs. Craddock isn’t your decision, it is what it is and means, very cleverly for Silvies that you have to stay for at least one night and two days to enjoy both courses.
Hankins Front Nine
The first hole is a great starting hole, with an elevated tee playing out to a wide fairway with bunkers just off-center both left and right. Avoid the bunkers, and you have a 120-yard shot home. This green is one of the shared greens (no.17 Craddock). Protected by bunkers on both sides (I found them both) and one to the rear. It’s “easy” to think when standing on the tee that it’ll be an easy par, good luck with that!
Hole 2 is, quite simply, remarkable. Not only do you have a great view of the massive landscape, but the hole itself is a par-3, small green with a pretty severe drop from tee to green. While the distance itself isn’t long, 150 yds the drop makes it a lot closer. It’s one of the smallest greens on the course and also the flattest, enjoy!! I should add, the par 3’s on both courses are a collection of some of the best and most memorable you’ll play on any course.
Hole 3 is Craddock 16 in reverse, but as a par 5, 470 yards from Grey tees, 590 yards from the tips whichever you are playing, you’ll need some good strikes and as it narrows the closer you are to the green, straight is also good as well-placed bunkers lurk. Hole 5 plays similarly, also a par-5.
Hole 7 – my personal favorite, the second par-3 on the front nine, and when you’re on the tee, you are at the highest point of the course (4887 ft above sea level), playing 175 (200 from the tips) if you are short, there’s every likelihood you’ll be playing your second from the bottom of the hill, go long. There’s, at best, a bunker to capture the ball; otherwise, sagebrush. Either way, you’re trying to stop your ball on a downhill slope…a great hole!
Hole 8 (it’s not usual to write up so many holes, so hopefully, this is a good indication of just how great this course is) This hole is the perfect summary of risk vs. reward. A severe drop from tee to fairway makes it also one of the most scenic. If you play this as a par-4, it’s pretty simple. A good tee shot and something lofted into the green. For those with no fear, play it as a possible eagle hole with a drive over the forest and on the green in one. Stoke Index 5 – please note, may not be as easy as you think!
Hankins Back Nine
Jumping to Hole 11 – another drivable par 4, stay on the right side with the tee shot playing a light draw will have you sitting pretty, either on the green or with a short chip. Going long over the green is not something I’d recommend. Supposedly the easiest hole the course…hmmm.
Hole 14, the penultimate par-5, and what a great looking hole. An elevated tee box (75ft above the fairway) with a fairway that slopes left to right, so favor the left side with your drive, and you’ll be able to see the green. If you go down the right side, there’s a good chance you are, at best, in light rough. A good second will have a reasonably easy chip shot to the green. Just avoid the front, greenside bunker.
Eventually, you’ll end up on Hole 18, probably thinking about going out for another 18, but the real fun is the finish—the Hixon hole, named after Dan Hixon, the course designer. Not knowing Dan, I can only imagine that his definition of humor may be at slight odds to some. He built a hole that incorporates twelve, yep, 12 legal advantages to help us mere mortals hit the longest drive you’ll ever hit! I think his sense of humor is him thinking about you spending the rest of your life trying to repeat the feat somewhere else while telling all your friends about this monster drive you hit one time at Silvies Ranch. Think of it a bit like a fisherman always telling the story of their biggest catch – no one will believe you! That 18th funnels your tee shot down the fairway (it’s a 100ft drop from tee to green) with some speed bumps to move your ball a bit further along. Congrats, you’ve just hit the longest drive of your life. Now get the par! (Stroke Index 7 says long drives aren’t everything…)
Yeah or Nay
Whether you are playing Hankins or Craddock, you will have an experience to talk about when you get home, and that’s before you get to talk about the ranch and all the other things you can do at Silvies. Superb golf, great caddies – goats, fantastic food, fabulous people, and excellent accommodations. What’s not to like?
The Ultimate Question – Which is better, Hankins or Craddock?
You have to be wondering. Our rating of the Hankins course totaled 4.62, an excellent course rating considering all the factors that go into a Golf Aficionado rating. The Craddock earned a 4.64, just edging out The Hankins by .02 percentage points. Our first reversible golf course and we’re already asking ourselves why more designers don’t employ this approach. Play them both, and you decide. You can’t go wrong with either one!