Margaret Mitchell, author of “Gone With The Wind,’’ wrote that land “is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything.’’
Atlanta born and bred, Mitchell likely would have loved every inch of Silvies Valley Ranch’s 150,000 acres, in which over the past several years, Dr. Scott Campbell has created an eco-resort and ranch near Seneca, in the heart of the Oregon frontier.
Besides the land itself, the property’s centerpiece is The Retreat, a boutique 46 room eco-resort, complete with Western chic accommodations, fine dining, horse trail rides, a destination spa, pistol and rifle shooting, ATV adventures, fishing, a small conference center, full-service fitness center, spa, and member owned, luxury eco-cabins. The ranch also features two reversible 18-hole courses – the Hankins and Craddock Courses; McVeigh’s Gauntlet, a seven-hole ridge course; Chief Egan, a mountain meadow nine-hole par-3 course; and Claire’s Courses, two reversible 18-hole putting courses.
Thanks in part to all of that land, guests of The Retreat this summer will see even more of the Hankins Course, as its original architect Dan Hixson, recently lengthened the course by 925 yards, making it the longest course throughout Washington, Oregon and Idaho. The addition of the “GOAT’’ tees increases Hankins’ total distance to 8,000 yards, including the 680-yard par-5 third hole.
Remember, the golf ball generally flies 10 to 15 percent farther in the higher altitude of nearly 4,700 feet above sea level, but still… there was a method to Hixson’s distance madness.
“Some golfers want to play the longest, hardest course just for the experience and not their scores,’’ said Hixson, a native Oregonian perhaps best known for his design of Bandon Crossings at Bandon (OR) Dunes Resort. “From a strategic and playability standpoint, it’s kind of neat when you design a golf course for the variety or people who can hit the ball.
“Today (architects) are building greens that longer players are hitting wedges into and that shorter players are hitting 6-irons into. So trying to shape the green is really intriguing. We have a real luxury here because the property is so big. We can move back some teeing grounds and create more forward teeing grounds. A golf course that works for all different lengths of hitters is a better golf course.’’
The addition of the GOAT tees to the Hankins course, Campbell believes, will create more business for the already-popular resort.
“The GOAT tees are one more unique experience that Silvies offers and yet another reason to return or visit for the first time,’’ Campbell said. “They are something that everybody will want to say they have done.’’