1st trip to Bandon Report (November)

[BUCKEYERBALL88]

Flew nonstop to Eugene. 2.5 scenic drive to the resort.

 

Food: all good & reasonable thus far. Have at McKee’s, pac Grill, tufted puffin & Trails end.

 

Very impressed with the friendliness of the employees & quick shuttle service. Personable without being stuffy

 

Friday:

Old Mac-great course. Not a ton of wow factor but a very enjoyable walk. I enjoyed seeing the template holes as I’m into golf course design. The road hole is maybe the most strategic hole I’ve ever played. Only 2 ocean holes. Very wide fairways & Big Greens. I only had 33 putts! Took a good 6 holes to get Used the different shots that links golf requires (firm & fast, creativity!)

Pace-a bit slow. 4h 15m.

Pairing-played with 3 nice guys. We played from 3 different Tees which didn’t help Pace

I was the only player w/ a caddie, Shane. Great guy & caddie!

 

Sheep ranch-2pm-sunset. So cool & old school. Highly recommend. Gorgeous views. The E green is as pretty as 7 at Pebble. Didn’t play the suggested routing. The most unique course I’ve ever played. Greens were cut that morning & excellent. I brought snacks & drinks. Lost a few balls into the pacific. Only other people on the course were a gentleman & his gf. We ended up playing a casual match for 2 hours. Gary the greeehskeeper said it’s like golf in the 1700s and I agree!

 

Both courses are in my top 12 ever. Higher than streamsong & Torrey.

 

Evening: hot tub, sauna & pacific Grill

 

Today: Bandon Dunes & Bandon Trails!

[The Pearl]

How does one go about reserving a time at the Sheep Ranch now that the old Bandon Golf shop is closed?

[BUCKEYERBALL88]

How does one go about reserving a time at the Sheep Ranch now that the old Bandon Golf shop is closed?

 

Call or text Greg to setup a time. You will mail him a check for $100/player a few weeks before your round.

+1 (541) 404-6255

 

[ParParAgain]

Looking forward to reading the next report.

 

9What sort of weather are you experiencing?

[spud3]

Good report! How are the greens?

[BUCKEYERBALL88]

Good report! How are the greens?

 

Good not amazing. 9.5 on avg? Old Mac best. Trails worst (spotty but roll fine)

[BUCKEYERBALL88]

Looking forward to reading the next report.

 

9What sort of weather are you experiencing?

 

Thursday: 50s & light rain (travel day)

Friday: amazing, 55 & sunny

Today: pretty good, a little drizzle, plated the afternoon in a collared shirt & shorts!

 

Def bring layers. Longjohns aren’t great (Hot & a hassle to take off during the round)

 

Very light wind every day, maybe 15 mph max!

 

The courses are scoreable without wind!

 

Highly recommend November!

[BUCKEYERBALL88]

Saturday report:

 

Breakfast at the gallery. Disappointing

Lunch at Bandon Dunes turn stand. Took a wrap to go. Ate on 1st fairway of trails. Very tasty & semi healthy

Dinner at Trails end. Menu has an Asian influence. Tasty food, good ambience & Customer service

 

Morning round: Bandon Dunes

-Paired with a nice couple from

Washington.

-great quick pace

-scenic course, relatively easy,

Design was good but not amazing imho

 

Common Bandon golfers this time of year: families, wash, Oregon & Northern Cal. People that have been coming to the resort for years, most common is push cart then carry then caddy. Caddies don’t expect to double bag this time of year. Only 3 caddies at Bandon Dunes today

 

I also like late November b/c it’s not super busy partially due to the holiday weekend. Flexible as far t times & getting into restaurants.

 

Afternoon round:

Bandon Trails

-Was able to move up my t time by 30 mins to avoid getting stuck b/w foursomes

-So I played as a single w/ Shane my excellent caddie!

-3 hour Pace!

-Played thru 1 group on the polarizing 14th, never saw another group. Toughest walk but not horrible. Course was not super challenging but it played Long from the greens imho. (Longer irons into greens).

-Reminded me of Spyglass but in the PNW, with big fairways & coore & crenshaw minimalist design. Much easier than Spy. More similar to Spyglass than my home course, c&c we ko pa saguaro

 

Finished at 3pm so I played 4 holes on Preserve, & checked out shortys & punchbowl.

 

Course rankings thus far:

1) Trails (variety, beautiful, wide fairways = playable for a wide range of handicaps, minimalism design without being boring at all)

Sheep ranch (so pure)

Old Mac (I love golf course design, exciting to play template holes that I read so much about)

Bandon Dunes (nice walk & pretty, a bit easy, good not great design/look to the course)

Preserve (I only played 4 of 13 holes, saw 1 more)

 

Punchbowl looked very cool & undulating

 

Plan for tomorrow: pacific dunes & labyrinth.

 

For pictures follow me on Instagram @travelinggolfer88

 

Shane is a fantastic caddie & person!

[Edaw68]

Out of curiosity what was disappointing about breakfast at the gallery? It's my usual spot there and I've always found it a good start to the day. Not fancy but filling and reasonably priced.

[BUCKEYERBALL88]

Out of curiosity what was disappointing about breakfast at the gallery? It's my usual spot there and I've always found it a good start to the day. Not fancy but filling and reasonably priced.

 

Salmon hash. Like all potatoes. Not much salmon or egg whites.

[spud3]

Good report! How are the greens?

 

Good not amazing. 9.5 on avg? Old Mac best. Trails worst (spotty but roll fine)

 

OM has had the best greens the past couple years. Maybe because it's the 'newest' course, but they don't seem to be getting the poa invasion like the others.

 

I think Trails has had more issues with fungus, perhaps due to its more inland routing through the forest. I sure like the isolated feeling at Trails, though. Love playing there solo, too. It's like you are on your own private C&C course.

 

Your take on 14? It is a somewhat polarizing design. I fall on the 'really like it' side...

[spud3]

Out of curiosity what was disappointing about breakfast at the gallery? It's my usual spot there and I've always found it a good start to the day. Not fancy but filling and reasonably priced.

 

Salmon hash. Like all potatoes. Not much salmon or egg whites.

 

Hm. Good to know. That's one of the things I haven't tried - maybe I'll stick to the regular breakfast or breakfast sandwich (which are stellar, especially at Pacific). The corned beef hash has yuuuge chunks of corned beef.

[BUCKEYERBALL88]

Good report! How are the greens?

 

Good not amazing. 9.5 on avg? Old Mac best. Trails worst (spotty but roll fine)

 

OM has had the best greens the past couple years. Maybe because it's the 'newest' course, but they don't seem to be getting the poa invasion like the others.

 

I think Trails has had more issues with fungus, perhaps due to its more inland routing through the forest. I sure like the isolated feeling at Trails, though. Love playing there solo, too. It's like you are on your own private C&C course.

 

Your take on 14? It is a somewhat polarizing design. I fall on the 'really like it' side...

 

I 100% agree with your post. I like 14 at trails. I had a par. With a gimme 5 footer b/c a 3some that I played thru waved me up. 14 is polarizing. Love it or hate its memorable like old Mac. Course memorability = good golf course imho

 

Out of curiosity what was disappointing about breakfast at the gallery? It's my usual spot there and I've always found it a good start to the day. Not fancy but filling and reasonably priced.

 

Salmon hash. Like all potatoes. Not much salmon or egg whites.

 

Hm. Good to know. That's one of the things I haven't tried - maybe I'll stick to the regular breakfast or breakfast sandwich (which are stellar, especially at Pacific). The corned beef hash has yuuuge chunks of corned beef.

 

A breakfast wrap from pac Grill is excellent

[BUCKEYERBALL88]

Cool dude:

 

https://www.bandondunesgolf.com/blog/staff-feature-interview-shoe

[BUCKEYERBALL88]

My 10 round split:

4 Pacific

3 Trails

2 Old Mac

1 Bandon Dunes

 

If someone said BD is their favorite no argument from me. All are unique, don’t different from each other & fun & in my top 20 ever.

 

Thanks to all for the wrx’ers for your advice & help

 

Labyrinth was very cool imho

 

Saw but didn’t play: punchbowl & shortys

 

Course rankings:

Pacific

Trails

Sheep ranch

Old Mac (can’t believe this is #4 for me, it’s so amazing)

Bandon Dunes

Preserve (I only saw 5 of the 13 holes after I had walked 36 on Saturday)

 

Restaurant rankings:

 

Pacific grill

Trails end

Tufted puffin

McKee’s pub

The gallery

 

(All very good)

 

Bandon > Pebble > streamsong > Torrey

[mallrat]

The other thing about Trails and the fungus and green issues is the lack of sun some greens don’t get. Turf that gets little sun is very hard to manage.

 

The funny thing is even with the worst greens it doesn’t detract from the course.

 

Glad you had a great time and seems like we have another Bandon convert.

[Chanceman]

Posted this on another thread, hope that's ok.

Also just back from an awesome 7 days at Bandon after driving 10 hours up from San Francisco.

It went like this:

Sunday - Bandon Dunes, McKee's

Monday - Bandon Preserve / Pacific Dunes, Puffin Bar

Tuesday - Sheep Ranch, Tony's Crab Shack, Arcadia Bar

Wednesday - Preserve / Old Mac (Rained out) , McKee's,

Thursday - Bandon Trails / Shorty's, Pacific Grill, Bunker Bar

Friday - Bandon Dunes / Punchbowl, Lord Bennett's in at Bandon town.

Saturday - Old Mac

 

The day we were rained out, they generously gave us a credit on our round which we could use elsewhere for golf or shop.

The weather was patchy but generally windy and wet at various times. High 40s. Only one day was wet, wet, wet. Good conditions for single malt.

I love it that you can leave your wet weather gear at the service center and they dry it all for you.

Best course for me was Bandon Dunes, followed by Trails, Pacific and Old Mac. Others said Trails and Pacific. I think it depends on how you play on that course as to how you rate it.

Shot of the week was my 8 iron over the Alps to 6 feet on Old Mac's 16th. Made up for a lot of baddies.

Best hole at the resort? - the 16th on Bandon Dunes for mine. Most difficult ? - the Hogsback on OM. Most beautiful were the "meadow" holes on Trails.

Loved the shaggy nature of the Sheep Ranch and yes they do have the usual pull-buggy on site. A PJ also but who needs it? You have the place to yourself.

The 14th at the point (E hole)is going to be amazing. Very hard to get it on the green. Mine went half way down the cliff. After the Sheep Ranch we headed into town for beers at the Arcade and some cool seafood at the Crab Shack.

We called the shuttle buses the "Prison Van".

Have to love the shoe warmers in each room. Also does it for gloves.

Grandma's Meatloaf at McKee's was awesome and a good wine list there too. We liked the Waterbrook .

We had a few meals in the Puffin Bar too. The staff were great.

Most amusing sight - some dude asleep in the lobby at the Lodge for about 4 hours.

We were all stuffed by Friday afternoon, how we managed OM on Saturday is a mystery.

It's quite a place is Bandon Dunes.

[BUCKEYERBALL88]

Sunday am pacific dunes:

30 mph sustained winds all round

A good rain holes 8-18

My fav course on the property

I’ve got it in my top 3 ever behind Pasatiempo & kapalua plantation

Only negative is the routing is all holes are into the wind or downwind. No cross wind holes.

Great design

I shot 90 but it was more like 80

My caddie suggested that the course was playing 10 shots harder than without Weather!

Some standing water on the greens

 

Sunday afternoon:

Lunch at pac dunes w/ view of punchbowl

East/Short hike to the labyrinth (cool & unique imho)

Shower in the locker room

Bought visor, calendar, coffee table book, pin flag... in the Bandon pro & gift shops. Since I spent over $100 I asked if they could ship it all to me w/ no charge and they were happy to

 

The asst pro in the Bandon pro shop (Kyle Kaufman -great guy) recommended buying the putter cover with all the course logos on their website. I believe it’s blade only & I think my putter would be classified as an odyssey mallet putter

 

Overall amazing trip. Thinking about booking for the same time next year.

 

Lily pond-highly recommended. Traditional & a bit out dated. Love the fireplace, patio & super comfortable bed. Good location too. 5 min walk to Trails & the inn. 10 min walk to the lodge (main building)

 

I never visited the practice center b/c it opened at sunrise which was only 20 mins b4 my am t times

 

Overall played:

30 holes Friday

40 holes Saturday (this is with limited nov sunlight! 720-445)

18 holes Sunday

 

I feel fine now. Training, caddie & frequent stretching defintely helped

 

I’m happy to answer any questions!

 

Overall great pace of play. Quickest 3 hours, longest 4h 20m

 

Weather was excellent. Only bad for 10 holes

 

Tough to find any negatives:

Bigger or more hot tubs

Opening holes were easy but all pretty short. I like to hit driver & get loose

A couple of course had #2 as a par 3. A bit early in the round imho. I’d love to hit driver on the 1st 2-4 holes

Massage was expensive & ppl are on this forum said it was below avg so I didn’t get 1. If it was $70/hour w/ a good reputation I would have defintely booked 1 after my 2nd day of playing.

 

Again this is nitpicking

 

Kaiser visits about every 6 weeks! They are always making improvements to the courses & resort!

 

Bandon gets the little things right:

Quick shuttle

Great employees

Comfortable beds

DMK did the recorded wake up call

Tasty & reasonable food

Good signage

$2 coffee (not a rip-off like other big resorts)

[BUCKEYERBALL88]

Posted this on another thread, hope that's ok.

Also just back from an awesome 7 days at Bandon after driving 10 hours up from San Francisco.

It went like this:

Sunday - Bandon Dunes, McKee's

Monday - Bandon Preserve / Pacific Dunes, Puffin Bar

Tuesday - Sheep Ranch, Tony's Crab Shack, Arcadia Bar

Wednesday - Preserve / Old Mac (Rained out) , McKee's,

Thursday - Bandon Trails / Shorty's, Pacific Grill, Bunker Bar

Friday - Bandon Dunes / Punchbowl, Lord Bennett's in at Bandon town.

Saturday - Old Mac

 

The day we were rained out, they generously gave us a credit on our round which we could use elsewhere for golf or shop.

The weather was patchy but generally windy and wet at various times. High 40s. Only one day was wet, wet, wet. Good conditions for single malt.

I love it that you can leave your wet weather gear at the service center and they dry it all for you.

Best course for me was Bandon Dunes, followed by Trails, Pacific and Old Mac. Others said Trails and Pacific. I think it depends on how you play on that course as to how you rate it.

Shot of the week was my 8 iron over the Alps to 6 feet on Old Mac's 16th. Made up for a lot of baddies.

Best hole at the resort? - the 16th on Bandon Dunes for mine. Most difficult ? - the Hogsback on OM. Most beautiful were the "meadow" holes on Trails.

Loved the shaggy nature of the Sheep Ranch and yes they do have the usual pull-buggy on site. A PJ also but who needs it? You have the place to yourself.

The 14th at the point (E hole)is going to be amazing. Very hard to get it on the green. Mine went half way down the cliff. After the Sheep Ranch we headed into town for beers at the Arcade and some cool seafood at the Crab Shack.

We called the shuttle buses the "Prison Van".

Have to love the shoe warmers in each room. Also does it for gloves.

Grandma's Meatloaf at McKee's was awesome and a good wine list there too. We liked the Waterbrook .

We had a few meals in the Puffin Bar too. The staff were great.

Most amusing sight - some dude asleep in the lobby at the Lodge for about 4 hours.

We were all stuffed by Friday afternoon, how we managed OM on Saturday is a mystery.

It's quite a place is Bandon Dunes.

 

Good write up! Seeing the guy sleeping would have been hilarious. What’s your 10 round split b/w the 4 Big courses?

[R4haehl]

Awesome trip recap. I am headed to Bandon for the first time in Feb. I am jacked about it! My buddies who I am going with have gone the last 7-8 years, so they have a good handle on everything there. Going to be awesome and glad you had a great time.

[spud3]

Great write-ups, guys! Definitely getting the juices going!

 

Should be seeing duffer's report soon. Who's up in December?

 

Went out for a Bandon Prep day yesterday at the home course and got a 'refresher' for about three holes (25-30 mph wind, heavy rain). Tried to imagine my ball running along the fairway, when it actually was splatting...

[BUCKEYERBALL88]

Awesome trip recap. I am headed to Bandon for the first time in Feb. I am jacked about it! My buddies who I am going with have gone the last 7-8 years, so they have a good handle on everything there. Going to be awesome and glad you had a great time.

 

Maybe my fav place on earth

 

I keep my top 50 favorite courses list on my phone. I’ve got them at:

Pacific #3

Trails #9

Sheep ranch #11

Old Mac #13

Bandon #23

[oregongolf]

Nice write up. I'm headed there with my group in February.

 

 

[Gh05t]

sounds like an awesome trip. saw Erik Laners on Scratch golf (youtube) play the 4 course in a day thing they do annually. definitely on my bucketlist

[Chanceman]

If I had 10 rounds to play at Bandon they would be:

Bandon Dunes 3

Bandon Trails 2

Pacific Dunes 2

Old Macdonald 2

Sheep Ranch 1

and I would play them in that order because BD and PD are kind of similar and BT and OM are the odd ones so best to aleternate them.

[spud3]

I like this ^^^^ breakdown a lot.

[BUCKEYERBALL88]

Why BD? It was beautiful but imho my least fav design

[spud3]

The design of BD works just fine, for me.

 

Plus, turning the corner on #4 is my favorite place on the whole property.

 

But this is splitting hairs. Frankly, I'd be happy to play any of them every day.

[duffer987]

The design of BD works just fine, for me.

 

Plus, turning the corner on #4 is my favorite place on the whole property.

 

But this is splitting hairs. Frankly, I'd be happy to play any of them every day.

 

Like Spud I like 'em all, but for kicks...

 

1 - Option to safely stay short of bunker or go down the right to carry the rough and have a wedge in. Approach is pretty straight forward though, crest the slope on the front and don't go right.

2 - Judge the wind and pick something to bang off the back slope. Mid/back pin you want to roll up it, front pin you literally want to fly it into the hill and get the extra roll or you can try and fly it to the front pin. Must avoid overcooking into the back left and of course flubbing it and having it run down, way down.

3 - Fairly hum-drum I will concede, unless you have a chance to reach in two, then it's fun slotting it through the opening and avoiding the bunker/collection area.

4 - 6 - Don't really need any justification there :-)

7 - Need to pick the side of the fairway that best suits your approach ball flight and thump it as far down as possible. Approach shot can vary widely depending on wind and pin location. Not much room for error, strong second shot hole.

8 - Pick line based on furthest bunker you can carry and the pin; typically as long and as far right as possible. Going left can block you out on approaches, other than deep or right. Except front right, pin is not the yardage, as the ball can really release off the back of the dune and the green falls away left and long.

9 - Stay right, over the dunes to the pocket of fairway right of the bunkers or bail waaay left and have a very long second. If you hit that right bit, I will concede it's a fairly straight forward two hits to the green, barring strong winds.

10 - Fun blind tee shot over the dunes and bunkers. Tricky wedge in; off the back of the slope or fly it? Need to watch releasing off the back of the green, especially back left.

11 - Pick a wind (lack of wind) based line and have at it. Safe out right, but then a potentially tricky approach over the corner of the bunker with a front to back green - or - take on the left side bunkers for a much simpler open approach up the line of the green, with a nice right to left release.

12 - C'mon :)

13 - Maybe a silly roller coaster ride? But also a very fun second shot hole. Getting a good strike, up top left past the hazard gives you a much easier pitch and run or putt down to the green, versus a funky pitch or putt up from the bowl amongst all the divots.

14 - Fun driveable 4 in the right conditions. Take it right side of the green over the low dune, and have it release down to the surface or end up in the bunker 50yds short of the flag for a tough up and down. Conversely avoid the bunkers off the tee either left or short of them for a pitch into a really sloped green.

15 - 'Better' than 12 maybe?

16 - Another driveable 4 in the right conditions. Aim at the flag and let it rip. Lose it right into the icky stuff for a hard pan or muddy pitch up, go too far left and have a delicate tight lie pitch over one or two pot bunkers, or maybe hit one well but find a bunker or rough or run right through. Pull it off and have a two putt birdie.

17 - Another decision off the tee, to lay back and right for a longer approach shot over the ravine, try and pipe one down the middle or get lucky with a miss left with all those bunkers, or blow one way left for a safe but long approach in. Then really get your yardage to a deceptive and huge green.

18 - Another fairly uneventful teeball, barring a big leak right or hard hook left, then a basic 2nd, and basic wedge and I'll again concede it's not the best finishing hole. As I've said in other threads; IMHO 14 very fun holes... and the par 5s ;)

 

And what if I am going through withdrawals.

[buzlin]

I can't peak too soon, so I'm refusing to read your entire post Duf.