We always hate to report such news, but over the timeline of our hiatus due to Pete’s back injury, another two courses in Oregon shut down. Not major courses, to be sure, but courses that will be missed.

The first was Bay Breeze in Tillamook, which closed its doors in December 2016. Bay Breeze included a driving range — in fact, it started in the 1990s as just a driving range — a 9-hole executive course and a fun-to-play 18-hole putting course. Bay Breeze’s closure was simply a case of the owner retiring, and rather then looking for a successor, he took a long-standing offer from his across-the-road neighbor, the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Bay Breeze was nothing fancy, but a fun diversion for golfers on the North Oregon Coast.

“Nothing fancy” even more aptly describes the Auburn Golf Center, located off E. Center Street in Salem. Few details are available, but it closed in 2017. Auburn was nominally a par 3 course, though that was almost a stretch. Contained in an oversized back yard, Auburn did not attract serious or, dare we say it, “real” golfers. And yet, it had its place and its fans. Its demise was lamented by several on Yelp, and during our recent visit to Meadowlawn in Salem, we met a couple there that expressed their disappointment to us about Auburn’s closure.