Bandon Dunes Links Championship

My partner and I just signed up for the 2017 Bandon Dunes Links Championship in June. I was wondering if anyone has played in this tournament or any others put on by Bandon.

This will be my third trip to Bandon. I was just wondering what we could expect from one of their tournaments. It seems like a great event. Any feedback would be great.

Bandon does several tourney's. The links is quit the challenge. Class A instructors, club champions in the champions flight. Lots of fun and great people to make friends with. Last year our team with two scratch, a 4 hcp and a 18 hcp came in last in our flight. Six under after 72 didn't get us much. There were teams from Colorado,Washington, Nevada, Arizona and a lot from Cali. After all was said and done it was the best 2 grand I had spent since I bought my first wife's wedding ring.

Wow that looks really cool. No new info but please update when you return.

How are you planning to travel? I'm in Phoenix as well but haven't made a trip since moving here. I assume Portland is the most economical option from az

We're flying into Eugene and then making the drive over for a late afternoon round on the Preserve par3 course. I've made the drive from Portland before. It's not horrible. Just long.

The Links Championship is a great event. I assisted in putting it on last year. You can expect to have scoring done at each course with the scoreboards updated on property as the event goes. The awards lunch is usually skipped by a fair number of players as they are rushing to catch flights out. You will get to meet other teams from all over and the banter makes it a blast. Definitely try to meet some of the other competitors. Any other specific questions?

Bumping this up...but registration for this year's event just opened today and I'm interested in making this event my first Bandon experience...I know I have absolutely no chance of competing to win, but for the price and the experience, is it worth doing this event rather than just coordinating a trip?

AcYou should consider the Bandon Cup in May - I have done the Cup every year and the Links once. The links is 2 days of 36 holes and it was not as enjoyable as the Cup. The cup is 18, 36, 18.

Also, you should consider able to compete: It is 6 flights based on team handicap - so you will be competing with same type players. Plus it is gross and net winners - so half the field wins something.

Finally - it is TOTALLY worth both the price and experience and competition.

Please DM me and I will explain further if you want.

Thanks for the info! I see what you mean about the Links being played in two days rather than three; it must be a total grind! However, a positive I see with the Links is that you get to play your own ball the whole way, which we'd prefer since it'd be our first time.

Make sense. But you can also think of it as this: for the Cup, You get a discounted practice round on any course the Sunday before, plus you can tack on an extra round on Day 1 or Day 3 for the replay rate. Or just stay extra after. :)

Event-wise, getting 3 different formats is really cool.

Either way it is an outstanding way to visit Bandon.

how many people per team? 4 man or 2 man? when is this offered and how do i sign up in the future?

2 person teams. The invite comes out to previous participants, then the public in mid Jan. https://www.golfgenius.com/register?league_id=181959

PepsiDuck, I've done both the Links Championship and the Cup. Both are great experiences and well worth the money IMO. The resort does it up really nice. I would agree with puttnforthe8 about preferring the Cup, it's a little bit more laid back and it is fun to do the scramble and the alternate shot rounds. I'd never played alternate shot before and it was definitely a unique & fun experience.

Just be wary of the sandbagging, there was a decent amount of it. Net scores in the 50s, that kind of thing. Only a few people, but it is a negative. The times I went, the one negative was that the resort didn't really do anything to police it. I guess I can understand that people pay a lot of money to be there and they don't want to DQ anyone, but it does take something away from the overwhelming majority of players who play with honest handicaps.

The sandbagging that I have seen is in the higher hc flights....as long as you are in the 1st 3 flights I have not noticed any sandbagging and you really can't do much with the formats.

Yea, it's pretty evident that the Cup is the more popular event...it was wait-listed on the same day registration opened five days ago, while the Links Championship is still open... Although it'd be nice to compete for the resort credit prizes, it isn't a priority. Honestly, I did the quick napkin math, and it seems the price is quite good for four rounds of golf, three nights lodging, and the extras during peak season. So prizes or not, it's a good deal...or am I missing something?

In any case, all my potential partners are unavailable or can't plan that far in advance. I'd be willing to put down the money to hold the spot for one of them; how flexible are they in terms of player changes leading up to the event?

PepsiDuck, while I haven’t done either tournament since 2015, I would answer with an enthusiastic YES that the events are 100% worthwhile whether you are in the running for prizes or not. The resort does it up really nice, the value is great for what you get, and the overwhelming majority of fellow players are terrific. I dealt with a handful of jerks/sandbaggers but you would get that at any tournament. Most people are great. Also, they organize an optional skins game that I would recommend if you are up for it. A great chance to win some $$ even if you aren’t near the top overall.

Regarding the changing of players, in my experience they are quite flexible. I had a buddy whose partner cancelled at the last minute and BD found a staff member to play with him as a partner. They were very accommodating and it was no problem.

Nope, not missing anything...fantastic deal. There is also team skins as well - one year, I paid for my trip and another was about half. And yes, the Cup is the more popular event. The players from previous years get early invites. While I have not met everyone, a rough estimate is that at least 60-70% are 'regulars' that come back year after year.

Well it looks like I have no partner; either due to non-availability or price being too high...if I really wanted to do Bandon, I feel like I could just go out solo for a fraction of the price during the shoulder season...

Sorry to hear about ur partnering probs. Always tough not having golf-trip enablers...

i’ve played the Cup 4 times and the Links once - I like the Cup much better. The 1-2-1 rounds a day format ends up being a wash mainly because my group are idiots :) - we play 2 practice rounds Sunday, and an extra round Monday, so that’s 7 rounds in 3 days, close to 30k steps a day! Even with caddies we always end up shot by the day 2 rounds of the tournament.

Another consideration is the wind - for the Cup in early May you get the prevailing wind from the south but it’s a sustained 10mph usually. By the end of June it’s a sustained 20 mph wind usually. If you go from Nov-March it usually is a reverse wind from the North - but tamer on average unless u get storms...try playing Old Mac #4 (480 ur par 4) INTO the wind to experience true pain :)...

Well...I'll hit you up next year and see if you are interested!? :)

I'm shocked that the Links Championship registration is still open! Is it that miserable of an event (36 holes over two days in presumably worse conditions) or is it because it's still almost five months out?

Does anybody have a review of the Bandon Dunes Golf Digest family four ball?