First Bandon trip; shocked by the cost

We are looking at next summer with caddies and we don't share rooms. So the cost is about $1000 per day all in. Quite shocking.

And if you don't stay on-site, they add $100 per round to the green fees. I suppose when you have a desireable brand, you can charge a big premium.

I can do a Scotland or Ireland trip for less.

You mean a popular resort is pricier than a goat track?

I’m stunned! ?

> @Roadking2003 said:

> I can do a Scotland or Ireland trip for less.

Frm what I have been finding ... much less

Go in the shoulder season like I did, share rooms, and skip caddies and it's insanely affordable. Compare it to the price of a Pebble or Pinehurst trip if you want like for like.

Scotland can be a ton cheaper, but I'm not sure it is when you compare it to the top 5-10 courses in Scotland. The Old Course is ~$230 (way more if you want a guaranteed tee time), Turnbury is~$400, Troon is ~$300, etc. Where Scotland is better is that there are so many quality under the radar courses, but if you stick to the top names, the greens fees are comparable. Single rooms comparable to the quality of Bandon will be a few hundred dollars any where you go and I found caddy costs in Scotland to be similar to Bandon ($100-120). From a golf perspective, I don't see a huge savings if you play courses comparable in the rankings to Bandon.

On the other hand if you go off the beaten path, a more budget friendly trip in Scotland can be had very easily for sure.

> @ryu123 said:

> You mean a popular resort is pricier than a goat track?

>

> I’m stunned! ?

You calling Royal County Down a goat track? Have you played it?

> @eboettne said:

> Go in the shoulder season like I did, share rooms, and skip caddies and it's insanely affordable. Compare it to the price of a Pebble or Pinehurst trip if you want like for like.

I know there are cheaper ways to do Bandon such as shared rooms, no caddies, and going in the shoulder or offseason. And it's a lot cheaper than Pebble but probably cheaper than Pinehurst.

But the group I travel with are getting up in age and are more interested in quality than quantity.

We will do the Bandon trip in prime time. I was just surprised at the all-in cost.

> @CMCSGolf said:

> Scotland can be a ton cheaper, but I'm not sure it is when you compare it to the top 5-10 courses in Scotland. The Old Course is ~$230 (way more if you want a guaranteed tee time), Turnbury is~$400, Troon is ~$300, etc. Where Scotland is better is that there are so many quality under the radar courses, but if you stick to the top names, the greens fees are comparable. Single rooms comparable to the quality of Bandon will be a few hundred dollars any where you go and I found caddy costs in Scotland to be similar to Bandon ($100-120). From a golf perspective, I don't see a huge savings if you play courses comparable in the rankings to Bandon.

>

> On the other hand if you go off the beaten path, a more budget friendly trip in Scotland can be had very easily for sure.

Primetime in Bandon is $300 - 400 per room, $295 green fees, $120 caddie fees plus food and alcohol.

> @Roadking2003 said:

> > @CMCSGolf said:

> > Scotland can be a ton cheaper, but I'm not sure it is when you compare it to the top 5-10 courses in Scotland. The Old Course is ~$230 (way more if you want a guaranteed tee time), Turnbury is~$400, Troon is ~$300, etc. Where Scotland is better is that there are so many quality under the radar courses, but if you stick to the top names, the greens fees are comparable. Single rooms comparable to the quality of Bandon will be a few hundred dollars any where you go and I found caddy costs in Scotland to be similar to Bandon ($100-120). From a golf perspective, I don't see a huge savings if you play courses comparable in the rankings to Bandon.

> >

> > On the other hand if you go off the beaten path, a more budget friendly trip in Scotland can be had very easily for sure.

>

> Primetime in Bandon is $300 - 400 per room, $295 green fees, $120 caddie fees plus food and alcohol.

So the only difference from a trip to the top flight courses in Scotland is $100 a room it seems. But I agree with your general opinion that Bandon is not the no frill budget golf trip in the summer time that it is sometimes portrayed as.

By no means is Bandon cheap, certainly when looking in the high season summer months, but I think the key way to make Bandon more affordable is to play multiple rounds a day, which reduces your per round cost and gets you more out of your nightly room rate. I did the research when booking my trip for a couple weeks from now and rooms start at $240 in the high season. Splitting the cost with another person would net you $120-$200/person/night. Splitting a room with another golfer and playing 36 holes in a day could cost as little as $500, which for a place of Bandon's caliber is in my opinion tremendous. Playing multiple rounds of golf a day brings the per round cost to ~ $210, which I feel is a complete bargain when compared to other golf courses in the US of similar caliber. For reference, The Ocean Course is running $400/round these days, Whistling Straits doesn't even publish its rates on its website, and Pebble is minimum $550 for 18, in terms of comparing to other Top 10 Publics in the country. I have not done Scotland or Ireland (although I'd certainly like to) but when I was looking at courses that would make one of my trips there, most were priced very similarly to a round of golf at Bandon: between $200 and $300 and sometimes more. As others have said, going in the shoulder seasons, splitting rooms, staying offsite, and playing multiple rounds a day are all ways to decrease the cost of a Bandon trip. To each his own about the costs of a trip, but Bandon was good enough the first time I went that I am willingly going back and playing there again!

Road, you missed my point. Bandon is expensive because it has great courses and is popular.

I'm just whining. I'll get over it. We will go and pay the price. At our ages, we don't play more than 18 per day and then relax with a bottle of Scotch.

I do wish we could rent a house offsite, but I don't want to pay the $100 extra green fees.

@Roadking2003 the way my dad and I did it the first time was to only stay on site for one of the three nights we were there: they'll give you on-site rates on the day of arrival and departure so you can knock off a couple nights' lodging if you need to.

> @Roadking2003 said:

> > @eboettne said:

> > Go in the shoulder season like I did, share rooms, and skip caddies and it's insanely affordable. Compare it to the price of a Pebble or Pinehurst trip if you want like for like.

>

> I know there are cheaper ways to do Bandon such as shared rooms, no caddies, and going in the shoulder or offseason. And it's a lot cheaper than Pebble but probably cheaper than Pinehurst.

>

> But the group I travel with are getting up in age and are more interested in quality than quantity.

>

> We will do the Bandon trip in prime time. I was just surprised at the all-in cost.

Yeah that's fair, I'm sure when I'm further along in my career/life I'll require those things too. As for now, I'll stick to my December trips where 6 rounds of golf and 3 nights lodging is a cool $750! :smile:

''

> @Roadking2003 said:

>I suppose when you have a desireable brand, you can charge a big premium.

Or maybe it's just worth it...?

Seriously, though, I'm sure the folks at Bandon understand the concept of setting prices according to what the market will bear. If it's worth it to you to play four of the top courses in the country during the extreme high season without cutting any corners, then go. If it's not, you can always go to Scotland.

But if you do, please keep the whining to yourself. In all my trips as a single I've only encountered a couple of people that I wished I hadn't been paired up with, and they were both complaining about how much the round was costing them.

> @CMCSGolf said:

> So the only difference from a trip to the top flight courses in Scotland is $100 a room it seems. But I agree with your general opinion that Bandon is not the no frill budget golf trip in the summer time that it is sometimes portrayed as.

I don't think I've ever seen Bandon in high season mentioned as a no frills budget trip...

January or February for sure, but not summer time.

> @spud3 said:

> > @CMCSGolf said:

> > So the only difference from a trip to the top flight courses in Scotland is $100 a room it seems. But I agree with your general opinion that Bandon is not the no frill budget golf trip in the summer time that it is sometimes portrayed as.

>

> I don't think I've ever seen Bandon in high season mentioned as a no frills budget trip...

>

> January or February for sure, but not summer time.

Bandon sells itself as a "just golf" experience with no extra stuff, which suggests it would be cheaper than similar resorts. That's true in the winter and the summer. I don't think the option of playing in January is something the average retail golfer normally considers. We know Bandon is a deal in the winter because we are freaks who live and breathe golf. But most golfers don't and I think they would share RK's surprise that Bandon in summer is really expensive.

> @CMCSGolf said:

> Bandon sells itself as a "just golf" experience with no extra stuff, which suggests it would be cheaper than similar resorts. That's true in the winter and the summer. I don't think the option of playing in January is something the average retail golfer normally considers. We know Bandon is a deal in the winter because we are freaks who live and breathe golf. But most golfers don't and I think they would share RK's surprise that Bandon in summer is really expensive.

This is true and comparing costs to Pebble is silly. Pebble is in one of the most expensive places in the country considering the cost of labor and land. Bandon is the opposite in that regard.

Nevertheless, the market usually dictates prices and Bandon (in the Summer) has a product that commands high prices.

> @Roadking2003 said:

> We are looking at next summer with caddies and we don't share rooms. So the cost is about $1000 per day all in. Quite shocking.

>

> And if you don't stay on-site, they add $100 per round to the green fees. I suppose when you have a desireable brand, you can charge a big premium.

>

> I can do a Scotland or Ireland trip for less.

So after all these years of playing golf all over the world, Sunday was the first time you ever looked at their rates page? Fantastic.

And not a single Jack Nicklaus or Tom Fazio course in sight, darn eh.

TBF, you're probably better off going a few hours inland to Bend instead, the courses would be more to your liking. And I'm not being facetious, they would be. If you've put off Bandon this long, maybe just best to leave it.

> @CMCSGolf said:

> > @spud3 said:

> > > @CMCSGolf said:

> > > So the only difference from a trip to the top flight courses in Scotland is $100 a room it seems. But I agree with your general opinion that Bandon is not the no frill budget golf trip in the summer time that it is sometimes portrayed as.

> >

> > I don't think I've ever seen Bandon in high season mentioned as a no frills budget trip...

> >

> > January or February for sure, but not summer time.

>

> Bandon sells itself as a "just golf" experience with no extra stuff, which suggests it would be cheaper than similar resorts. That's true in the winter and the summer. I don't think the option of playing in January is something the average retail golfer normally considers. We know Bandon is a deal in the winter because we are freaks who live and breathe golf. But most golfers don't and I think they would share RK's surprise that Bandon in summer is really expensive.

Myrtle Beach sells itself as a fit all budgets destination ;-)

I've never heard Bandon pitch itself as a 'budget' summer destination. Happy to be proven wrong with some advertising campaigns and the like to the contrary, but anyone I've talked to about it - and it's been a lot of folks from different parts of the States when/where I've been playing - have known it to be expensive and were conversely surprised to hear how it can be a relative deal Nov-Mar.

> @duffer987 said:

> > @CMCSGolf said:

> > > @spud3 said:

> > > > @CMCSGolf said:

> > > > So the only difference from a trip to the top flight courses in Scotland is $100 a room it seems. But I agree with your general opinion that Bandon is not the no frill budget golf trip in the summer time that it is sometimes portrayed as.

> > >

> > > I don't think I've ever seen Bandon in high season mentioned as a no frills budget trip...

> > >

> > > January or February for sure, but not summer time.

> >

> > Bandon sells itself as a "just golf" experience with no extra stuff, which suggests it would be cheaper than similar resorts. That's true in the winter and the summer. I don't think the option of playing in January is something the average retail golfer normally considers. We know Bandon is a deal in the winter because we are freaks who live and breathe golf. But most golfers don't and I think they would share RK's surprise that Bandon in summer is really expensive.

>

> Myrtle Beach sells itself as a fit all budgets destination ;-)

> I've never heard Bandon pitch itself as a 'budget' summer destination. Happy to be proven wrong with some advertising campaigns and the like to the contrary, but anyone I've talked to about it - and it's been a lot of folks from different parts of the States when/where I've been playing - have known it to be expensive and were conversely surprised to hear how it can be a relative deal Nov-Mar.

I think "budget" is the wrong word I used. Nothing about any of the Keiser courses are cut rate. But it definitely portrays itself as the course for every man, the public golfer's country club, etc. A $295 green fee is not exactly affordable for the masses (and I'm not saying it has to be, Bandon is underpriced if anything). Maybe my impressions aren't as close to average as I think, but I was a bit surprised that it's priced similarly to somewhere that reeks of country club like Pinehurst.

> @CMCSGolf said:

> > @duffer987 said:

> > > @CMCSGolf said:

> > > > @spud3 said:

> > > > > @CMCSGolf said:

> > > > > So the only difference from a trip to the top flight courses in Scotland is $100 a room it seems. But I agree with your general opinion that Bandon is not the no frill budget golf trip in the summer time that it is sometimes portrayed as.

> > > >

> > > > I don't think I've ever seen Bandon in high season mentioned as a no frills budget trip...

> > > >

> > > > January or February for sure, but not summer time.

> > >

> > > Bandon sells itself as a "just golf" experience with no extra stuff, which suggests it would be cheaper than similar resorts. That's true in the winter and the summer. I don't think the option of playing in January is something the average retail golfer normally considers. We know Bandon is a deal in the winter because we are freaks who live and breathe golf. But most golfers don't and I think they would share RK's surprise that Bandon in summer is really expensive.

> >

> > Myrtle Beach sells itself as a fit all budgets destination ;-)

> > I've never heard Bandon pitch itself as a 'budget' summer destination. Happy to be proven wrong with some advertising campaigns and the like to the contrary, but anyone I've talked to about it - and it's been a lot of folks from different parts of the States when/where I've been playing - have known it to be expensive and were conversely surprised to hear how it can be a relative deal Nov-Mar.

>

> I think "budget" is the wrong word I used. Nothing about any of the Keiser courses are cut rate. But it definitely portrays itself as the course for every man, the public golfer's country club, etc. A $295 green fee is not exactly affordable for the masses (and I'm not saying it has to be, Bandon is underpriced if anything). Maybe my impressions aren't as close to average as I think, but I was a bit surprised that it's priced similarly to somewhere that reeks of country club like Pinehurst.

Oh sure Bandon trades on the coastal ruggedness and genuine links golf experience... I mean that is their USP :-)

But Pinehurst call themselves the 'cradle of US golf' and pin their flag to the Ross name and the 'origins of the game', which is a flavour of the true golf experience schtick.

Of course I don't think any resort is going to win business by promoting the smoothest cart paths and best water stations... actually maybe for a certain demographic it might ;-)

I look at Bandon as a 911 GT3 RS vs a 911 Turbo.

Being a more focused, stripped down (relatively) version make it even more compelling than the full fat version and it's priced accordingly, as there's a sizeable market looking for that.

> @duffer987 said:

> > @Roadking2003 said:

> > We are looking at next summer with caddies and we don't share rooms. So the cost is about $1000 per day all in. Quite shocking.

> >

> > And if you don't stay on-site, they add $100 per round to the green fees. I suppose when you have a desireable brand, you can charge a big premium.

> >

> > I can do a Scotland or Ireland trip for less.

>

> So after all these years of playing golf all over the world, Sunday was the first time you ever looked at their rates page? Fantastic.

> And not a single Jack Nicklaus or Tom Fazio course in sight, darn eh.

>

> TBF, you're probably better off going a few hours inland to Bend instead, the courses would be more to your liking. And I'm not being facetious, they would be. If you've put off Bandon this long, maybe just best to leave it.

If Bandon had a Nicklaus or Fazio course I would have gone there years ago.

And I've been to Bend and played a wonderful Nicklaus course.

Thanks for the insults. I hope they make you feel better about your little self.

> @duffer987 said:

> I've never heard Bandon pitch itself as a 'budget' summer destination. Happy to be proven wrong with some advertising campaigns and the like to the contrary, but anyone I've talked to about it - and it's been a lot of folks from different parts of the States when/where I've been playing - have known it to be expensive and were conversely surprised to hear how it can be a relative deal Nov-Mar.

Hmmm..... just like Orlando is a "relative deal" June - August. There is a reason why Bandon is is discounted 60% in January...... because nobody wants to go then.

> @Roadking2003 said:

> > @duffer987 said:

> > I've never heard Bandon pitch itself as a 'budget' summer destination. Happy to be proven wrong with some advertising campaigns and the like to the contrary, but anyone I've talked to about it - and it's been a lot of folks from different parts of the States when/where I've been playing - have known it to be expensive and were conversely surprised to hear how it can be a relative deal Nov-Mar.

>

> Hmmm..... just like Orlando is a "relative deal" June - August. There is a reason why Bandon is is discounted 60% in January...... because nobody wants to go then.

Try booking a trip in January bet they are booked solid

> @Roadking2003 said:

> > @duffer987 said:

> > I've never heard Bandon pitch itself as a 'budget' summer destination. Happy to be proven wrong with some advertising campaigns and the like to the contrary, but anyone I've talked to about it - and it's been a lot of folks from different parts of the States when/where I've been playing - have known it to be expensive and were conversely surprised to hear how it can be a relative deal Nov-Mar.

>

> Hmmm..... just like Orlando is a "relative deal" June - August. There is a reason why Bandon is is discounted 60% in January...... because nobody wants to go then.

Sure. Old guys playing one round a day, needing 70F+ and caddies to make it through, might not want to go ;-)

But Bandon can be at capacity both lodging and golf wise, just as much in Winter as Summer.

It is a PITA to get to from Austin and I'm happy I don't have to do it anymore, Streamsong is dead easy. that said surely Pronghorn is calling...

> @cbbaron said:

> > @Roadking2003 said:

> > > @duffer987 said:

> > > I've never heard Bandon pitch itself as a 'budget' summer destination. Happy to be proven wrong with some advertising campaigns and the like to the contrary, but anyone I've talked to about it - and it's been a lot of folks from different parts of the States when/where I've been playing - have known it to be expensive and were conversely surprised to hear how it can be a relative deal Nov-Mar.

> >

> > Hmmm..... just like Orlando is a "relative deal" June - August. There is a reason why Bandon is is discounted 60% in January...... because nobody wants to go then.

> Try booking a trip in January bet they are booked solid

Isn't that the goal of reducing prices by 60% in January? They price their product in response to demand. A $450 room in August is $200 in January.

> @duffer987 said:

> Sure. Old guys playing one round a day, needing 70F+ and caddies to make it through, might not want to go ;-)

> But Bandon can be at capacity both lodging and golf wise, just as much in Winter as Summer.

> It is a PITA to get to from Austin and I'm happy I don't have to do it anymore, Streamsong is dead easy. that said surely Pronghorn is calling...

If you are lucky, someday you will be one of the "Old guys playing one round a day, needing 70F+ and caddies to make it through". Fortunately, we all have enough money to go on two or three of these trips every year.

BTW, I played Pronghorn. It's wonderful and I will go back.

> @Roadking2003 said:

> > @duffer987 said:

> > Sure. Old guys playing one round a day, needing 70F+ and caddies to make it through, might not want to go ;-)

> > But Bandon can be at capacity both lodging and golf wise, just as much in Winter as Summer.

> > It is a PITA to get to from Austin and I'm happy I don't have to do it anymore, Streamsong is dead easy. that said surely Pronghorn is calling...

>

> If you are lucky, someday you will be one of the "Old guys playing one round a day, needing 70F+ and caddies to make it through". Fortunately, we all have enough money to go on two or three of these trips every year.

>

> BTW, I played Pronghorn. It's wonderful and I will go back.

Exactly, your lot is doing well for themselves, so why whinge about the price when you've surely spent more on places that don't come close to the quality of golf on offer*. Or go in April and be less whingey.

And obviously the UK is simply better and if you are East/East-ish North America it can be simpler travel, so that's an easy argument to make. Conversely for West Coasters, Bandon is a breeze.

IMHO the great thing about Bandon, due to weather/daylight in the winter months they can and do reduce their rates and give a much larger swathe of avid golfers a chance to play the best public courses in North America. I've got mates who I cannot drag over to the UK with me, or don't want to go to Kohler, but will happily plunk down $150 for 36 hole days in November, which we have to book 10-12 months out.

*Yes Bandon food and lodging is nothing special, I'd expect most top-tier golf resorts to exceed it, so that will be another whingeable topic when the time comes I am sure.