Tips for playing in cold, rain and windy conditions @ Bandon?

Heading to Bandon soon and have not played in typical Bandon conditions. Yes, I have quality rain gear. Mostly looking for tips or hacks while playing in these adverse conditions Thanks in advance.

Embrace the conditions.

hit it solid, hit it low.

wear rain gloves and don’t worry about keeping your gear dry. It is not worth the effort.

Lucky enough to not have played Bandon in the rain, but have done at other places.

Stay warm and dry. You said you have good rain gear, so that's good. If that doesn't include a Gore-Tex bucket hat make sure to get one. Depending on how cold it is the big golf mitts are a good idea too.Embrace the weather and don't worry about score. If you're there with buddies just play match play.Take more club and swing easy. The good news is that Bandon is a great place for the run up shot, which you will play a lot of in the rain.

Bring ziplock bags to keep phone, camera, and valuables dry. I also like an extra small towel or two in ziplock bags so you have dry ones for later in the round. However, if it’s heavy rain, I agree with b.helts and just give up keeping clubs or hands dry.

How about playing out of the sand? I assume the sand is heavy, dense from the constant rain?

Wet sand doesn't need to be thumped as hard as dry sand to get the ball to go equal distances. You'll need to hit closer to the ball though.

I switch to my lower bounce wedge in wet sand.

Hand warmers. Put them in your pants and jacket pockets.

Get comfortable hitting punch shots and get an idea of your distances. You can run the ball up on a majority of the greens. Work on putting from 20-30 yards off the green with a hybrid/3 wood. The ground is your friend.

An example is 4 on Pacific is a mid length par 4 into the wind where anything right is a gift to the ocean. I was a single and the wind was a steady 30 mph. The guys I was paired with all hit driver. 2 caught the wind and went over the cliff and 1 hooked way left. I stepped up and punched a 4 iron that because of roll ended up going about 210 and in the fairway. Then punched another 4, not even trying to get on the green just get close. Then chipped with a 7 iron from about 50 yards and made a a long putt. It still says par on the scorecard.

Hiiting long irons off tee in wind is just as good as driver because it stays low in the wind and runs out.

Bucket hat to help fight rain getting in your collar, a problem even with good rain jackets. Bootie style shoes for the same reason, because the higher ankle will help keep socks dry when you bend over and rain pants ride up. Suspenders for rain pants to keep them hiked up for when you bend over and the rear of the jacket lifts up. And I'll echo the comments of embrace the conditions and don't worry about score. Those horrible weather rounds you finish are the ones you end up telling stories about.

Good whisky or whiskey (whichever you prefer) during or after the round.

A little extra info on equipment/prep:

A flask with Grand Marnier, a nice bourbon or Fireball! Rain gloves!!!! Multiple small towels in a big plastic bag for drying grips or other when needed. if you wear glass, that non fog stuff.

Take extra club/s with the 3/4 knowckdown. I personally like standing more open on the swing because I have all the gear on...makes it easier for me to swing.

unless there's no or little wind, umbrellas are a hindrance.

Wear an extra layer...a raw, damp cold is penetrating.

Wool socks. Your feet will certainly get wet - light wool socks will keep your feet comfy warm even when wet; cotton loses all heat retention when wet.

Wind breaking underlayer. Thin layers keep the wind from cutting through your body while not adding too much bulk so you can still swing. Something like an adidas climaheat does the job.

good question. There is no such things as bad weather; just bad clothing.

Hot Hands are helpful when it isn't actually raining too. I generally keep some in my bag

In cold, windy, rainy conditions, I always wear some type of hydrophobic(non-cotton) base layer, which doesn't absorb water. It helps to keep me warmer and dryer. Avoid wearing stuff that absorbs water is a good idea. You will be walking, so, dress in layer, as, the number one cause of wetting out outer wear is being dressed too warm (ie. sweating too much).

Random idea: I have never used one for golf, but, I have for skiing - a neck gaiter, which, I can pull over my nose, great to keep your face warm and, to protect it from wind and rain.

This is a perfect answer.

Listen to your caddie.

The neck gaiter is incredibly underrated. The problem is the vast majority are fleece so kind of worthless in rain. Been wearing them for about 5/6 years. I’m a greenskeeper and actually have 6 or 7 different ones, let me know if you have any questions on which work best for what.

Goretex and layers. Rain gloves are a must. Also 3/4 shots and accept the lower expectations. Take it as a challenge and you can enjoy discussing it for years after.

If you think there is no such thing as bad weather you haven’t played Bandon at its worst. By that I mean raining sideways so hard that water comes in through your waterproof rain pants pockets. But when it’s like that it’s kind of fun if you can stay warm enough to laugh about it.

Headed there in October for a Team Titleist event. I have played Whistling Straits at least a half dozen times and loved it every time. I have a feeling this is going to blow it away

Make sure to leave some room in your bag for your Jobu Voodoo doll and start worshipping his aass asap.. he will make sure you are blessed with good weather...

Understatement

Joking aside, like others have said, do not try to fight the rain. I went on a 4 night 5 day trip to Bandon two months ago in early December and we got pounded on the day we arrived. We played Bandon Dunes right upon arrival (12:00pm tee time) and we knew it was going to rain but it was forecasted 2 hours into the round, So we weren't prepared for harsh rains right from the get go. During the round I was playing with one glove, two gloves, bucket hat, no bucket hat, beanie, umbrella, no umbrella.. I was clearly not focused on golf but trying to stay dry and keep my clubs dry... God dam rain had gotten into my head.. I could hear the Bandon Dunes voodoo drums in my head.. Once you hear those drums your screwed.. It made for a very painful round.. It was straight up amateur hour on the course.. Had I just wore my dam bucket hat and worn my two rain gloves and accepted I was going to get wet from the get go I likely would have played just fine and been able to focus on purely golfing on an amazing course... Luckily the next 4 days were sunny dry and beautiful.. This December I may not get so lucky...

Get a "buff" for your neck, also cut the sleeves off a base layer and were it under a base layer. You will need layers and if it rains embrace it, get some "gorilla grip". When it rains it rains sideways and nothing you can do about it. Some of my coldest rounds of golf have been there and I live in Bend, OR where I play in 32 often...

At my last trip to Bandon we joined another two-sum in relatively heavy rain.

There was standing water on the greens and we still went out. Not sure if this qualified for a rain check. I just wanted to get out so I did not stress about it.One of the guys that joined us insisted on carrying an umbrella so it was one hand holding the umbrella and one hand dragging/pushing the cart. We all know what the terrain of the second and third holes are like at the Bandon course so needless to say he was already pretty stressed out by the time we hit the fourth hole. He realized that the umbrella had to go.In light of the above a rain proof bucket style hat is suggested.Zip lock bags as stated before. Would recommend a waterproof bag but in a real downpour nothing will work to keep the water out so just deal with having to dry out your gear every night.If you go to guest services (next to the Bandon proshop) they will dry your outer wear for you.If you can get a caddie. Now you just need to concentrate on keeping yourself dry and play golf. BTW some of the caddies there do not wear waterproof shoes instead they use waterproof socks !!!!!!!!!! I think they must make a commission on their sale ...... lol.+1 on the comment by EvolX about rain getting in thru the pants pockets. When I took off my rain pants it looked like I pee'd my pants.

As other have stressed "embrace the rain".

two pairs of rain gloves and plenty of whisky