New Course Underway in Medford

A new 18-hole championship golf course is under construction in Medford, Ore., and is scheduled to open for play next spring. Designed by John Fought, a native of Oregon, Centennial Golf Club will be a par-72, 7,350-yard layout with five tees per hole. It is the seventh design Fought has been involved with in his home state.

“We have had very little earth to move on the site,” Fought said. “The course will have beautiful views and is being designed in classic (Donald) Ross motif.”

The name “Centennial” was chosen because it recognizes an important golf era as well as the history of the property, said Kevin McLoughlin, executive director of Rogue Valley Manor, the project’s co-developer.

Fought is coming off an acclaimed restoration of Pine Needles in Southern Pines, N.C., one of Ross’s most popular golf course designs. “Fought’s sensitive touch at Pine Needles should bring course developers to his doorstep,” wrote Lorne Rubenstein, golf columnist for The (Toronto) Globe and Mail. “They’ll find a man who knows how to design new courses and to restore old ones.”

Centennial Golf Club is a joint development of Pacific Retirement Services, Inc., and Rogue Valley Manor, both based in Medford. Pacific Retirement Services also operates Quail Point Golf Course, an existing nine-hole course, which, like Centennial, is part of the Rogue Valley Manor campus. OB Sports Golf Management, which runs numerous golf clubs on the West Coast, has been selected to operate Centennial.

“John (Fought) has been intimately involved with Centennial from the beginning – he’s walked it from end to end every time he’s been here,” McLoughlin said. “We knew of John’s strong reputation in the Pacific Northwest, and it has been a great decision to move forward with him.”

Other courses in Oregon that Fought either collaborated on or designed on his own include: Pumpkin Ridge, Ghost Creek and Witch Hollow courses (Cornelius); Crosswater and Meadows at Sunriver Resort (Sunriver); The Reserve Vineyards & Golf Club (Hillsboro); and Langdon Farms Golf Club (Aurora).

In addition, Fought is part owner of Sundoon, a planned 18-hole course across the Columbia River in Washington state from The Dalles, Ore. Work has not yet started on Sundoon.

Also an accomplished golfer, Fought, 51, is a former U.S. Amateur champion (1977) who won twice on the PGA Tour. He has played in selected Champions Tour events over the past two years, including the 2005 Senior PGA Championship May 26-29 in Ligonier, Pa.