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Expand the horizon
The golf course at the Wildhorse Resort & Casino strictly was a business concept at first, but now it has grown into a community treasure
By Paul Ramsdell, PNGA Media
The concept of a high-quality golf course on the rolling foothills east of Pendleton, Ore., had been tossed around for a quarter of a century before the Wildhorse Resort & Casino opened its first tee box along Interstate 84.
Eight years after that opening, however, the wide range of benefits from bringing golf to the northeast corner of the state are somewhat staggering.
The golf course is part of the Wildhorse Resort & Casino, which is owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, a confederation of three tribes of about 2,200 members total.
Tribal leaders knew they had some remarkable property leading up to the Blue Mountains, and in 1969 discussed ideas of a destination resort.
"It was part of the long-term visions of the elders of the Tribe, and carrying out that vision was an important message," said Allen Waggoner, the director of finance for Wildhorse who was the project manager for the construction of the golf course. "Also, one of the Tribe's goal was diversification of its economy and the creation of jobs."
Visions are fine, but in 1969, and for the next two decades, that's all they were.
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| Allen Waggoner |
"The Tribe just didn't have the resources to really act on it," Waggoner said.
"In the early '90s, when the gaming facility came along, all of a sudden that provided the opportunity, some resources, to do some different things."
The main casino was finished in 1995, the hotel in 1996, and the front nine of the golf course in 1997.
The golfers have come from all over, just as was expected. What wasn't expected was how golf would be accepted right there in the tribal community.
"It was a surprise benefit," said Gary George, the chief operating officer of Wildhorse and the former executive director for the Tribe.
"We just had no knowledge that the community and the reservation would embrace it so much. We'd always looked at it as a business, so it was surprise benefit."
Golf hadn't really been a part of any culture around Pendleton, particularly the cultures of the three tribes that make up the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation - the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla. There were no public golf courses available within 20 miles of Pendleton before Wildhorse.
The game caught on quickly with the locals.
"One of the most important things that I think came out of the golf course is that golf is a game that can be played by all people in all walks of life," George said.
"It became a real social benefit to the community where all of the sudden we start to see families coming out and that can only strengthen the bonds between a family," he added.
"It not only brought families together, but it introduced a sport to our kids and a lot of them are excelling."
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| Gary George |
George told a story of how for the first five years or so of the golf course at Wildhorse, a lot of the older regulars would get up early on Jan. 1 in an attempt to be the first ones to hit a tee shot in the new year. Now, youngsters are getting up at 5 a.m. or earlier to be able to claim that honor.
Waggoner has noticed the benefits as well.
"The positive elements that golf brings - the discipline, the honor, the character of the game - all of that I think played into that it was a positive experience for the youth," Waggoner said. "Here was a very positive sport that teaches a lot of life decisions."
And some of those youngsters are learning the game very well.
"On our local high school golf teams, we have tribal members on those now," Waggoner said. "We have a new tribal charter school that has opened and they have a golf team. So you can definitely see the impact that it has had on the youth, they're up there playing all the time. It's giving them something very positive to do and you can see the successes in them doing that."
Besides all that, it's a wonderful place to hang out. John Steidl of Kennewick, Wash., designed the par-72 that can be stretched to 7,112 yards.
"The one thing that the golf course has provided is we have those 360-degree panoramic views of the Blue Mountains," Waggoner said. "There are no homes around the golf course or anything like that. So we've had a lot of folks from the larger urban areas mention, 'Wow, we usually don't get to play a golf course of this caliber that's not in a populated area.'"
And the golf course has helped the bottom line at the resort and casino as well.
"The adage is, gamblers aren't golfers, but golfers are gamblers," George said.
The whole Wildhorse concept was as much about diversification as anything.
"The Tribe wanted to create its own economy by developing jobs," George said. "And I think Pendleton was probably just about no growth, and so the Tribe took it upon itself to start developing its economy. The casino was the catalyst that started it."
But the casino, if out along a lonely stretch of Interstate 84 in northeastern Oregon all by itself, wasn't going to be able to do it all alone.
"If we were going to get people there, then we're going to have to build the golf course, the hotel and the RV park," he said.
Those are key elements, especially when preparing for the future, George said. The gaming industry always is the subject of the whims and laws of various governmental jurisdictions.
"There may be a point where gaming itself may just go away. Gaming itself isn't a real good means for a tribe, or any government, to rely on for sustained revenue," he said.
"Something we'll continue to have in the Pendleton area is a resort-type facility that would continue to draw people."
With a golf course that draws people - young and old - from near and far.
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