First Bandon Trip Booked!

So myself and 3 buddies are finally pulling the trigger on our first Bandon trip and are headed there March 2020. Lived in Oregon for most of my life (i'm 33) and now live in the Seattle area but we are finally making it happen. Here is what i have on the schedule. Let me know your guys thoughts and also any advice, tips, etc etc would be helpful

Thanks in advance

**Arrival Sunday**-

Play the preserve and possible the punch bowl

**Monday-** Old Mac in the AM and Bandon Dunes in the Afternoon

**Tuesday**- Bandon Trails in the AM and Pacific Dunes in the afternoon

**Wednesday**- Bandon Dunes one last time in the AM and then we head for home

Haven't booked caddies yet but thinking about doing it for at least a couple of the rounds maybe 2 caddies for our group then possibly a four caddies the rest of the rounds

anyways thoughts, tips, etc

thanks everyone!

-Ryan

From what I've read here, you'll want to swap your Tuesday rounds because Pacific will be windy in the afternoon while Trails is sheltered a bit from the afternoon wind.

Don't forget to play Shorty's on your arrival day. Good way to acclimate to playing a links.

https://www.bandondunesgolf.com/golf/golf-courses/practice-center

Eric is right about the wind usually being up in the afternoon, but in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter that much as spring weather is unpredictable. If you decide to spring for caddies I'd get them for the morning rounds as Old Mac and Trails are the tougher walks. A forecaddie is a good option for guidance around the course, but not absolutely necessary as there really aren't any truly blind shots on Pacific or Bandon, just a few kinda obscured areas. The yardage books at the pro shops will cover it.

When in March are you there?

Awesome

thanks guys! we will be there March 29th- April 1st

The courses are relatively easy to navigate your first time using yardage books. As Edaw said, there aren't too many blind shots across all of the courses. For BD, 10 and 16 can be a bit tricky. PD, just 9. Trails, 4 and 6 are a tad confusing. And for OM, 3 tee and 16 approach can give you a bit of pause. If you're cool with studying the books (read the notes too), and willing to accept some "bad" breaks, you'll be fine flying blind on your own. If you're looking to score, then a forecaddie/caddie is definitely recommended your first go on each course.

Note: Caddie or not, be prepared to **not** score well on your first go....

> @buzlin said:

> The courses are relatively easy to navigate your first time using yardage books. As Edaw said, there aren't too many blind shots across all of the courses. For BD, 10 and 16 can be a bit tricky. PD, just 9. Trails, 4 and 6 are a tad confusing. And for OM, 3 tee and 16 approach can give you a bit of pause. If you're cool with studying the books (read the notes too), and willing to accept some "bad" breaks, you'll be fine flying blind on your own. If you're looking to score, then a forecaddie/caddie is definitely recommended your first go on each course.

Thanks to Buzlin for correcting my brainfart of forgetting #9 tee shot on Pacific.

> @spud3 said:

> Note: Caddie or not, be prepared to **not** score well on your first go....

Hahaha, yeah, it's all relative. My game has been Bandonized more times than I'd like. So many factors come into play on a trip/courses like these that can really mess with the average rec golfer such as myself.

Thanks for all of the advice guys! Really looking forward to this trip just wish it was sooner lol.

going to be a fun one for sure!

We are also looking into doing a double bag caddie 1 round (2 caddies for our group of 4) then a group caddie the rest of the rounds (possibly). I've heard a lot of good things about going this route.