The Mount Hood Golf Club is celebrating its 60th year of playing golf on The Mountain this year. If you go to the Mt. Hood Oregon Resort, you might see members wearing shirts and hats commemorating their anniversary.

Longtime member Dave Lythgoe followed the footsteps of his late father, Stanley, a charter member of the golf club that was founded in the summer of 1963. Dave became a board member, serving as president in 2005. His father was president in 1978. Like father, like son.

“We had a lot of fun,” Dave said. “We loved playing golf together. There were a lot of good memories there.”
One of Dave’s first jobs as a teenager was working at the resort golf course in Welches. In fact, you could say he practically grew up on the golf course, and literally lives there today. sharing his love of the game with his wife and real estate business partner Regina.

They live in a beautiful house on one of the most picturesque golf courses in the Northwest, with windows looking out on spectacular views of the Mount Hood National Forest.

“There’s no prettier place in the summertime,” Dave said. “The views and the proximity to my home make it so special.”

Of course, there are hazards to living on a golf course. But fortunately for Dave, his house is on the hooking side of a fairway. So his house is pretty safe. Golfers occasionally miss the fairway, but usually it’s to the slicing side. Still, he said, he finds about three balls a week in his yard.

Dave and Regina are among about 100 members of the Mount Hood Golf Club. But the men outnumber women by about 60/40, as it was originally founded for men only and the women are just catching up.
Dave finds time to play 18 holes about twice a week, but his game “gets worse every year,” he said jokingly. He frequently plays with his wife or with large groups of club members on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Dave said he is probably the second oldest member of the club at age 76. The oldest active member, and only living charter member, is Robert Burton, now playing into his mid-90s.

“It’s both a golf club and social club,” Club President RickAsai said. “It allows us to get together, enjoy the game of golf and socialize.”

Asai said the club strives to be socially conscious as well, holding fundraisers for local charities. This year, the local Lions Club was a beneficiary.

The Mt. Hood Oregon Resort is the jewel of Northwest golf courses, renowned for its natural setting and sweeping views of the Mount Hood National Forest. Open for year-round play, it features The Three Nines – Thistle, Pinecone and Foxglove – for a total of 27 holes with immaculate greens.

According to the resort’s website, the original golf course was built at the site in 1928 by two golfing enthusiasts, Ralph Shattuck and George Waale. They leased Billy Welch’s Hayfield and created a 9-hole course, making Welches the home of the first Oregon golf resort.

The Mt. Hood Oregon Resort Golf Course, 68010 E Fairway Ave, Welches, OR 97067, is open seven days a week 8 am to 6 pm. For more information, phone (503) 622-3151.