Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Prineville Country and Golf Club is trying to relax its image. The first step is dropping the words “country club” from the name.  Amelia Templeton reports.

The nine-hole course is set along a hillside a few miles out of town. It’s been around since 1948.

The past few years have been tough. Members are getting old and leaving. The cost of keeping up the greens has risen. So have membership fees: they’re now $145 a month. 

Club President Buddy Gast says he hopes the name change will help bring in new members to get those fees back down.

Buddy Gast: “Back in the day when all the mills were in town it was a high roller place. Probably not the most inviting place if you weren’t a member. And we’re trying to let everybody know that’s not the way it is anymore.”

The Prineville Golf Club has opened up all but two days a week to public play.