Shortland Golf Club near Portland, Oregon, has opened a new 19-hole short course by Jackson Kahn Design.

After a career that included developing footwear for Nike Golf and leading his family’s engineering automation firm, DWFritz, Mike Fritz purchased Sandelie Golf Course, an 18-hole course that shut down in late 2022.

“Mike reached out to us a few weeks after closing on the property and asked if we would be interested in putting together a design for the golf course,” said Jackson Kahn design associate Connor Dougherty. “Mike’s goal was to create an artificial turf par-three course to reduce maintenance needs on the property and provide more consistent playing conditions day in and day out.”

Jackson Kahn’s 19-hole routing has the sixth, eleventh and sixteenth greens all located near Slam’s Bar, the central hub at Shortland (Photo: Jackson Kahn Design)

“One of the most important goals was to create a central hub for the golf course – this ultimately became Slam’s Bar, named after one of Mike’s closest friends and longtime Portland Golf Club professional, Rick Lamberton,” said Dougherty. “The routing of the course functions like a four-leaf clover, returning to Slam’s after the sixth, eleventh and sixteenth holes. A subtle ridge runs south to north through the property, and we used the dirt generated from the irrigation pond near the fourteenth and fifteenth holes to build up the pad for the bar. This created a natural high point that feels like an extension of the existing landform, while also providing views of several holes. As a result, golfers can watch shots on six different holes from the bar, and staff now have a central hub from which they can monitor pace of play without having to drive around the course. For golfers, it means fewer drinks to carry – there’s always a cold one waiting at Slam’s every few holes!

“The rest of the golf course was shaped almost entirely in place using two small CAT bulldozers. While it doesn’t have a ‘minimalist’ aesthetic with flashy bunkering and fescue haystacks – sometimes called chocolate drops – we felt like we managed to make the site feel completely different from its original state without moving an excessive amount of dirt. Part of this was also down to clearing some of the existing trees that framed the original holes at Sandelie.”

The course features synthetic turf from Celebrity Greens, even in bunkers – seventeenth hole, pictured (Photo: Jackson Kahn Design)

Construction began in May 2024 and included the removal of 115 trees. As part of a long-term tree management plan, some trees were planted to add to the aesthetic while some existing specimens were preserved.

“Kohl Creek runs along the western boundary of the property, with a low area near the old eleventh green at Sandelie, now the ninth at Shortland,” said Dougherty. “We wanted to mimic the movement of the creek and created a drainage swale that serves two functions: it adds visual character to several holes, particularly seven to eleven, and it drains most of the property, similar to the ditches at Oakmont, this year’s US Open venue. Aside from a few basins – either catching water off the Nest [putting course] or on the eighteenth hole – the entire property surface-drains, with supplemental drainage installed as needed.”

Shortland’s holes range from 59 to 104 yards, with putting surfaces designed to feature various degrees of contouring.

The twelfth green with the thirteenth hole in the background (Photo: Jackson Kahn Design)

“Ultimately, our goal was to create a stimulating environment that would keep golfers coming back,” said Dougherty. “It was important to us to build variety into the green complexes and enough character to appeal to better players while still remaining playable for less experienced golfers. The greens average just 2,500 square feet, which left little wiggle room with size, so we focused on creating dynamic holes that feel distinct from one another despite their similar size.

“We drew some inspiration from McMenamins Edgefield, northeast of Portland, learning how they have been successful with a wide variety of golfers while having much smaller targets to play to, around 1,100 square feet on average. While the greens there are very small, the course remains playable in large part because there is no fairway cut: daily golfers can still get around without issue. We tried to take this same approach at Shortland, only having one height of cut that will be a little shorter than your standard rough length but higher than a traditional fairway.

Dougherty continued: “One of the biggest challenges for us as designers is creating golf courses that appeal to both new golfers – who just want to get around without getting frustrated – and better players who seek challenging, dynamic holes that play differently from day to day. We feel like we struck a great balance at Shortland, largely because the greens’ receptiveness gave us freedom to be more creative with contours. Most holes have a good mix of easy and tough pin placements. The third hole, for instance, can play as the hardest par three on the course – or one of the easiest – depending on whether the pin is in the bowl on the left side of the green or on the well-protected, elevated right side.”

A huge bunker complex separates the eighteenth green (foreground) and the nineteenth green, with the clubhouse in the background (Photo: Jackson Kahn Design)

Greens, tees and bunkers have been built with synthetic turf from Celebrity Greens, while the ‘sand’ in bunkers is a two-inch layer of synthetic turf.

“The artificial turf greens and bunkers were always part of Mike’s vision, so it ultimately came down to selecting the turf supplier that made the most sense in terms of cost and quality of installation,” said Dougherty. “A turning point for us was visiting a backyard project built north of Portland where we could hit shots onto a synthetic surface. Seeing how realistically the ball reacted opened our eyes to what was possible and gave us confidence to incorporate more movement in the greens – movement that defines so much of Shortland’s character. Celebrity Greens, their local dealer, GreenImage Golfscapes, and Corey Billings did a great job of capturing the vision that we had for the green complexes.

“A common misconception about artificial turf is that it requires little or no maintenance. In reality, it presents its own unique challenges, starting with how it’s built. Under each green is a compacted base layer, eight to 12 inches thick, with perforated drain lines installed around the perimeter to handle water both coming onto and running off the surface. As a result, in the winter, greens remain very consistent, and the surrounding areas are supplemented with enough drainage to keep the course dry and playable. In the summer, when the temperature gets over 90 Fahrenheit, the greens will retain that heat, but having smaller greens and natural grass around them mitigates it pretty well. There is also usually a breeze, which also helps.

“We installed drip irrigation around the greens to ensure the transition from synthetic turf to grass is healthy and consistent. The turf can also breed mould and fungus if not maintained, but Shortland has a four-person crew so that will not be an issue.”

The ninth hole is located near the property’s southwest boundary (Photo: Jackson Kahn Design)

Maintenance of the greens also involves rolling and sanding them to keep them running smoothly. Meanwhile, approach and surrounds have natural grass, mown to a height suited to pitch shots.

“The biggest challenge with the synthetic playing surfaces is managing green speeds,” said Dougherty. “As golfers walk across the surfaces, the fibres get pressed down, making the greens faster over time. To counteract this, the club will perform consistent brushing to get the fibres standing again. Recently, courses like Skamania Lodge – a 10-hole par-three in the Columbia River Gorge – have innovated by attaching brushes to triplex mowers to speed up this process. Shortland now uses a brush attachment on a Sand Pro that was fabricated in-house to help manage green speeds.

“From a playing standpoint, most golfers are surprised by how receptive the greens are. Most good players are able to effectively spin the ball back and get the ball to stop quickly. The bunkers, however, take some adjustment – traditional bunker shots rarely work well, but a standard chip is usually effective because the ball sits up nicely on the turf.”

The twelfth green at Shortland (Photo: Jackson Kahn Design)

Jackson Kahn has also designed the Nest, a putting course inspired by backyard chipping courses like Sunset Golf Club near Montreal, Canada, and Bigfoot PitchPutt in North Carolina. “While those courses don’t directly resemble what the Nest became, what we loved was the fun, dynamic feel of the chipping experience and how much better players enjoyed them,” said Dougherty. “We wanted to capture that same energy while also maintaining a more traditional putting course experience for families and casual players.”