Final Bandon Tips

We are going the middle of July. Our itenerary is insane, but it's not set in stone. Help me realize things I haven't planned for.

Arrive Coos Bay on Tuesday

Wednesday : pacific dunes am, Bandon Dunes pm

Thursday: Pacific dunes Am, Old Mac early pm, possibly Bandon for 3rd round

Friday:old Mac am, Bandon trails early pm, poss pac dunes late pm.

Saturday : preserve and fly out.

Have zero restriction rain gear, rain gloves, will buy rain hat there if needed, waterproof shoes.

Will bring 50 golf balls, multiple gloves, running socks, K tape, gold bond, derma bond, sunscreen, light jacket, long pants and shorts.

We will buy alcohol on the way down.

Already have yardage books.

Any other suggestions?

You don't need more than 2 dozen balls as a 7 handicap at Bandon, IMO. It's hard to lose more than 1/2 per round unless you get really really really wild.

Have fun; looks like a great itinerary.

+1 on the comment above. A couple dozen balls should be more than enough.

Good lip balm. The sun and wind will chap the hell out of your lips with that much exposure.

A swim suit for the jacuzzi/sauna. With that itinerary, you'll want to hit that each night/morning.

Other than that, looks like an awesome lineup. Write up a trip report when you get back!

For your third round, you can play the front 9 at Bandon or 1-7 at Pacific. It's a great way to get a few more holes on the ocean at sunset, without killing yourself on another 18 hole round.

For your third round, you can play the front 9 at Bandon or 1-7 at Pacific. It's a great way to get a few more holes on the ocean at sunset, without killing yourself on another 18 hole round.

2nd this. For the third free round any golf is a bonus, get in what you can. You could also do Trails 1 to 5, then 17 and 18 for another short loop depending on time. Old Mac is a little tougher but you could try 1 through 5, 12, 14 to 18.

Couple dozen balls is fine, if you are spraying it you can buy balls at the pro shops.

Have fun, take pics and post em. Not enough summer trip reports in the NW forum, most of us do it in the shoulder season.

Don't take more than a dozen balls. The caddie will remove them from your bag anyway. I'm about as wild as it comes and I rarely lose one.

One thing we did on our last trip was to play Bandon late in the day well past guaranteed finish time, front nine, and then skip 10/11, play 12, and 16, since the 16 tee is just down the bluff from 12 green. You also walk past 15 green, so if you have daylight, walk back to 15 tee, before playing 16. Then if it's dark by then, take a seat on the bench overlooking the ocean between 16 green and 17 tee, bust out the flask and watch the sun set completely. Then meander your way back up 17 and 18 in the dark. Or something like that! Hahaha. Clearly I think 12,15, and 16 are the best back nine holes on BD.

Snacks for the bag. You'll burn more calories than you think, even if you are taking caddies.

Shorty's is a blast if you decide to pass on the 3rd round of the night. Bring 1-3 clubs and some beer.

As everyone mentioned, you won't need many balls. Hell, I usually find a few and come home with more than I go with.

Buying alcohol on way down is a very good idea. Resort prices are, well, resort prices.

Have a blast.

Swim gear to sit in the whirlpool; foot spray; plenty of socks (change btw rounds); vaseline(for face to avoid wind chafing); i prefer a light long sleeve under gear shirt

I just got back from Bandon.....The FJ Performance Lined Sweater was the only thing I wore aside from a light UA Storm pullover 1 day when the wind died down and the sun was out. I strongly suggest Kentwool Socks. They are awesome and kept my feet blister free and not sweaty at all. If you can do it....True Linkswear makes IMO the best walking/spikeless shoe on the market in their Outsider line. Crazy comfortable and 100% waterproof.

Few things to note.....I drove it horrendously, and I mean all over the place...I lost 1 ball in 3 days/4.5 rounds. It's hard to lose balls there, especially if you have a caddy. 2) It's not nearly as bad a walk as I expected. I walked and carried my own bag for 18, 43, 31 holes each day and could have kept going. Granted I walk when I play at home as well but I'm normally gassed after 18 at home....the excitement I think helps. 3) chapstick is a must...as is sunscreen...easy to forget you still burn when it's cloudy outside. 4) shuttles are nice but I liked to drive myself around. They are very quick to arrive though. 5) May want to spend the first night on the range and putting/chipping areas. The turf is totally different and could take some getting used to.

Thanks for all of the responses so far. One more question. Besides caddies, do you need a significant amount of smaller bills for tipping? Shuttle drivers, attendants cleaning clubs between rounds, etc. Thanks.

The caddies clean your clubs as you play so no need for tipping staff after...actually...there is no staff after if you don't take a caddy as there aren't carts allowed. FYI prices all include tax on pro shop goods and golf rounds.

Thanks for all of the responses so far. One more question. Besides caddies, do you need a significant amount of smaller bills for tipping? Shuttle drivers, attendants cleaning clubs between rounds, etc. Thanks.

The shuttle drivers are about the only ones I'd have cash on hand for tipping, if you feel the need. For staff in the various restaurants you can either have cash or tack it onto your bill like any other place. Most other employees aren't in traditional "tipping" roles.

I go every year and have a suggestion. My last trip my brother and I brought airplane shooters and tossed some of them in our bag every morning. We are both have a morning screwdriver that we pour in our room and 2-3 drinks on the course. It is our vacation!! We each took a yeti and sipped on that during the rounds. Saved a bundle of money and time from going the snack shack everytime we passed it. Plus, no condensation from the drinks we get from the resort so our hands stayed dry.

The caddies clean your clubs as you play so no need for tipping staff after...actually...there is no staff after if you don't take a caddy as there aren't carts allowed. FYI prices all include tax on pro shop goods and golf rounds.

There is no sales tax in Oregon, so the price you see is the price you pay.

I agree with those who say it's rare to lose balls there.

The caddies clean your clubs as you play so no need for tipping staff after...actually...there is no staff after if you don't take a caddy as there aren't carts allowed. FYI prices all include tax on pro shop goods and golf rounds.

There is no sales tax in Oregon, so the price you see is the price you pay.

I am going as a twosome the first week of March. Do you recommend dinner reservations with only two of us?

yes.

T-minus 12 days and I know we’ve gotta be missing some stuff. We’re all first timers and this kind of trip is not our norm. Anything that you forgot your first time that would help us out?!?

One question I have is how to handle cocktails on the course. I see Yeti type cups and what look like plastic cups from the bar presumably, but everything I see looks inconvenient. I’m thinking that’s probably a necessary evil considering there’s no cart cup holders up for grabs. Any advice on this front?? We’re serious golfers, but we’re also seriously on vacation and usually have some drinks in the course.

I’m thinking that I’ll bring a yeti type full water bottle for drinks....what about beer. I guess I’m not understanding the resorts policy. Are they just ok with groups schleping their own booze around all over the place, beers included? And for the course, as far as beer goes, I’m sure caddies aren’t super excited if you load up your bag.

Water? Are there jugs on the courses at different intervals? My guess is no. Do you buy a pack of water bottles to throw in the bag??

Thanks for any thoughts!

As for drinks...

The resort policy is no outside booze. I asked because we heard of a group that hired a single caddie who they tasked with carrying booze and mixers, make the drinks, and read putts, but the players carried their own bags. That apparently is no longer allowed. These days they aren’t searching bags at the first tee. They aren’t going to say anything either if you walk to the first tee with a Yeti or any other beverage in your hand for that matter. The caddie will say something if he/she has a heavy bag because carrying a heavy bag sucks. We’ve gone so far as to bring a wheeled soft side cooler on to The Preserve with no problem, but we wouldn’t try that at a big course. We have found that each course gets you a few chances to restock should you want to buy from a turn stand. Bandon is only at the 9-10 turn, Pacific between 3-4 and again at 12-13, Old Mac at 7-8 and again at 15 green, Trails at 7-8 and again at 10-11.

Best bet to avoid the big booze bill for us has been to have a bottle and then buy a mixer from the stand and spike them on course.

If you forgo the caddie and go with the rickshaw pull cart, then it’s just a matter of how much you are willing to pull/push on your own.

If staying on property, there are two water bottles in your room that are free and housekeeping replaces each day, so no need to worry about water.

> @GCU23 said:

> T-minus 12 days and I know we’ve gotta be missing some stuff. We’re all first timers and this kind of trip is not our norm. Anything that you forgot your first time that would help us out?!?

>

> One question I have is how to handle cocktails on the course. I see Yeti type cups and what look like plastic cups from the bar presumably, but everything I see looks inconvenient. I’m thinking that’s probably a necessary evil considering there’s no cart cup holders up for grabs. Any advice on this front?? We’re serious golfers, but we’re also seriously on vacation and usually have some drinks in the course.

>

> I’m thinking that I’ll bring a yeti type full water bottle for drinks....what about beer. I guess I’m not understanding the resorts policy. Are they just ok with groups schleping their own booze around all over the place, beers included? And for the course, as far as beer goes, I’m sure caddies aren’t super excited if you load up your bag.

>

> Water? Are there jugs on the courses at different intervals? My guess is no. Do you buy a pack of water bottles to throw in the bag??

>

> Thanks for any thoughts!

>

>

>

https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Stroller-Organizer-Bag-Kidluf/dp/B018Y16H5S/ref=sr_1_19?crid=15VJJ76ASXR3R&keywords=baby+stroller+cup+holder&qid=1564882327&s=gateway&sprefix=baby+stroller+cup+h%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-19

Try strapping one of these to the ricksha carts at the resort. Someone suggested it in another Bandon thread and I tried it on my last trip, works great.

As far as outside beverages and refills wtoomey nailed it.

Thanks for the insight. I did see the amazon rickshaw attachment Edaw, thanks for the suggestion, but we’ll have caddies the whole way so I won’t need it this time.

Wtoomey, I appreciate your help. We definitely won’t be loading our bags up and then having the caddies have to bear all that extra weight.

Do you guys have any other final thoughts for first timers? We’ve read and reread pretty much every thread that’s been posted over the last few years . There will be extra socks, 2 shoes, chap stick, body glide, some sort of lotion, a swim suit for the spa, the 60* is stating in because I love firm lies with it, etc.. Just wondering what your final thoughts would be if it were your buddy going without you ?

Don't overthink it.

> @spud3 said:

> Don't overthink it.

Exactly. It's still a golf trip, just with really good courses. Pretty sure you're already set.

Ok ok, but you know it’s been over thought to the n’th degree already :). I mean, we all turned 40 this year for the most part, and today we had a lengthy discussion via text about what outfits we were going to wear........outfits.

We go on trips every year and have a blast, but suffice it to say, this one is different.

If you are the type of guys who listen to music on the course, download the tunes. Sometimes cell service struggles out there, so having them loaded into your phone insures no interruptions.

Make dinner reservations, regardless of party size. Even for later times in the evening, you don’t want to have to worry about where to eat. Plenty of threads on Bandon food...

Play Shorty’s

If I ever hear music on one of the 4 (soon 5) main courses, I will have a single tear - just like the Native American gentleman in that TV commercial from the 80s - running down my cheek; then I'll flag a ranger down to go get them to turn it off.

If you cannot switch off (literally and figuratively) at Bandon, then... um... yeah

Funny you should say that about music because it was at Bandon that I heard music on any course for the first time.

We are those guys, but my buddy just has the big UE so we'll be leaving that at home. We've got reservations at McKee's every night as we've learned thru reading the posts that you don't want to mess around with that. Looking forward to the food for sure. Since you mentioned Shorty's I'll post our itinerary...........I've read a million of them, it's fun to post the one we'll be living out in less than a week!!

Wednesday:

Arrive in Eugene around 11:30 and wait patiently for our buddy to get in around 3. In the meantime, we'll pick up the rental car and go out to pick up what we need in terms of food for rounds and booze for the rooms. We'll also be eating lunch there as well (any suggestions?!? We've never been). Once he get's in we'll perform some sort of controlled drift thru the pick up lane so as not to lose any time getting out of town. He's been practicing entering a moving vehicle for a week now and says that 60% of the time it works every time. Hoping to be on property by around 6ish, to meet up with our other 2 guys, totaling 6 of us. Immediately heading to grab our bags that will be patiently awaiting our arrival and making our way out to the range. We have dinner reservations at McKee's for 8:30......that makes approximately 2 hours for us to play at the range / Shorty's / Punchbowl for our highly anticipated introduction to sea side turf. Cannot wait!

Caddies - based on recommendations from the various threads here we went with Aaron Hill, Sven, Ciaran (Irish) and Bob Janus (or is it Bill, can't remember)....pumped to meet these guys. Meant to go with LooperLon as well, but got caught up in the moment on the phone with the Caddy Master. Anywho, I think from the sounds of it, we got a good group.

Thursday:

7:30 - sweep the dew off of the Trails course

Lunch somewhere

12:40 - Pacific Dunes....ending in time to go grab dinner at 5:30 and then figuring out the play for the 3rd and complimentary (you have nice eyes) round of the day for sunset.

Friday:

10:30 - Bandon Dunes after a night of carrying on and sleeping in I can only assume

5:30 - Preserve for a 6 some....(quick question on this part....are Jones bags just available for free use on the Preserve, or are they for rent)

Saturday;

8:30 - Old Macdonald

3:30 - Pacific Dunes (place holder on this one) We are headed back to Eugene this evening, and aren't positive as to whether or not this will remain on the docket. We know we'll WANT to play, but it's possible maturity might win out. Yet to be determined....

Flight home sunday.......

Did I mention that we CANNOT WAIT!