Heron Lakes Golf Club is a public, municipal golf facility that is owned by the City of Portland and opperated by Portland Parks & Recreation. The property is managed through KemperSports, a recognized leader in the golf course management industry. With two full 18-hole golf courses, Heron Lakes is one of only a few public 36-hole golf facilities in the Pacific Northwest. Both the Great Blue and Greenback courses have been consistently rated among the top public golf courses in the region and have also received several national awards.
Before being dramatically transformed into a popular destination for golfers in Portland and Southwest Washington, the present 340 acre site was once part of Vanport City, which at the time, was the second-largest city in Oregon. The construction of Vanport began in 1943 to house nearly 40,000 workers who came to work at the Portland and Vancouver shipyards during the height of wartime production. Following World War II, the population reduced by half due to many wartime workers leaving, although the newly built Vanport College (present-day Portland State University) attracted a large number of veterans and their families.
