The Three Rivers Golf Course, an 18-hole course established in 1983 next to the Cowlitz River, is owned by the Kelso-Longview Elks BPOE 1482. The course is built on a base of material deposited in the Cowlitz River by the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens and removed by dredging. This porous combination of ash, dust, sand and silt drains well in wet weather, and golfers commute here from up and down the I-5 corridor when other Northwest courses are too soggy to play. The poa annua (annual bluegrass) greens putt well all year, and the winter rye fairways hold up well.
Four sets of tee boxes accommodate golfers with more or less length to their game. This Robert Muir Graves design plays almost 6,700 yards from the longest (blue) tees, with a men’s Course Rating of 71.7 and Slope of 128. Course length from the shortest (red) tee boxes is 5,393 yards, with a ladies’ Course Rating of 70.4 and Slope of 119.