MD/DC/VA Golfers - Twelve Monkeys Mental Divergence

[gregh729]

In his first round back, DC went out and shot 79. Jerk.

 

Due to the putting performances by DC and GregH yesterday, at least 4 new putters will be bought in the near future. I think it's a little overblown by both of them. Could be better, but I think they, and a lot of others, give themselves too much heartburn for missing a 15 footer.

 

I can live with the missed 15 footers. It is the 3-4 footers and the (at times) total lack of distance control that irate me. However, I don't practice, so it will not improve until I retire and play twice a week. Come on PowerBall!!

 

I can guarantee there will be a putter purchase and at least one of my "trunk putters" will be banished to the darkest place in the basement.

[TheCityGame]

In his first round back, DC went out and shot 79. Jerk.

 

Due to the putting performances by DC and GregH yesterday, at least 4 new putters will be bought in the near future. I think it's a little overblown by both of them. Could be better, but I think they, and a lot of others, give themselves too much heartburn for missing a 15 footer.

 

I can live with the missed 15 footers. It is the 3-4 footers and the (at times) total lack of distance control that irate me. However, I don't practice, so it will not improve until I retire and play twice a week. Come on PowerBall!!

 

I can guarantee there will be a putter purchase and at least one of my "trunk putters" will be banished to the darkest place in the basement.

Can you promise us that when you retire you won't just "play twice a week", but actually practice?

 

I started eye-balling a putter. I seriously can't justify it one iota because I'm putting fine and it's pricey.

 

It's basically my putter with nubs.

 

I REALLY like my putter though, but I have a desire to just TRY a new modern version. I love the long site line on it and the roll it puts on the ball. You can't try these Bobby Grace putters anywhere. I also love that TourSNSR grip.

[dcmidnight]

Damn I had no idea how pricey the BG putters were, the only ones I really knew were the older ones.

[GooseHook]

In his first round back, DC went out and shot 79. Jerk.

 

Due to the putting performances by DC and GregH yesterday, at least 4 new putters will be bought in the near future. I think it's a little overblown by both of them. Could be better, but I think they, and a lot of others, give themselves too much heartburn for missing a 15 footer.

 

I can live with the missed 15 footers. It is the 3-4 footers and the (at times) total lack of distance control that irate me. However, I don't practice, so it will not improve until I retire and play twice a week. Come on PowerBall!!

 

I can guarantee there will be a putter purchase and at least one of my "trunk putters" will be banished to the darkest place in the basement.

Can you promise us that when you retire you won't just "play twice a week", but actually practice?

 

I started eye-balling a putter. I seriously can't justify it one iota because I'm putting fine and it's pricey.

 

It's basically my putter with nubs.

 

I REALLY like my putter though, but I have a desire to just TRY a new modern version. I love the long site line on it and the roll it puts on the ball. You can't try these Bobby Grace putters anywhere. I also love that TourSNSR grip.

 

Interchangeable putter face is worth the fun to try out. I'm surprised that isn't a bigger thing with insert putters.

[TheCityGame]

Damn I had no idea how pricey the BG putters were, the only ones I really knew were the older ones.

There's a "Red Dragon" version of that putter.

 

It has a laser-engraved dragon on the bottom of it. I love it. $100 premium for the red dragon version. $575.

 

 

[dcmidnight]

This has "City" written all over it - I give it a month before I see this in your bag.

 

Do you have to pay extra for weights that are not used?

[TheCityGame]

This has "City" written all over it - I give it a month before I see this in your bag.

 

Do you have to pay extra for weights that are not used?

 

This has "City" written all over it - I give it a month before I see this in your bag.

 

Do you have to pay extra for weights that are not used?

0% chance that winds up in my bag.

 

I don't really understand his order forms. I can't tell what's optional and what's not. I'd call if I was actually serious. If anything winds up in the bag it would be something like a $30 jacked up version of my current roller.

 

There's another on eBay that's just a putter head, totally paint stripped.

 

 

[gregh729]

In his first round back, DC went out and shot 79. Jerk. Due to the putting performances by DC and GregH yesterday, at least 4 new putters will be bought in the near future. I think it's a little overblown by both of them. Could be better, but I think they, and a lot of others, give themselves too much heartburn for missing a 15 footer.

I can live with the missed 15 footers. It is the 3-4 footers and the (at times) total lack of distance control that irate me. However, I don't practice, so it will not improve until I retire and play twice a week. Come on PowerBall!! I can guarantee there will be a putter purchase and at least one of my "trunk putters" will be banished to the darkest place in the basement.

Can you promise us that when you retire you won't just "play twice a week", but actually practice? I started eye-balling a putter. I seriously can't justify it one iota because I'm putting fine and it's pricey. It's basically my putter with nubs. I REALLY like my putter though, but I have a desire to just TRY a new modern version. I love the long site line on it and the roll it puts on the ball. You can't try these Bobby Grace putters anywhere. I also love that TourSNSR grip.

 

No promises

[FAbb]

I'm still highly uncertain of whether City's putter shaft is in straight. I'm even more uncertain that the putter shaft itself isn't bent in a way that it's not supposed to be. He's obviously figured out how to putt with it regardless of any irregularities it has though.

 

I'm working on the Bandon recap. There's a slim chance I get it up today, but it should be by tomorrow night at the latest.

[bayrat88]

Damn I had no idea how pricey the BG putters were, the only ones I really knew were the older ones.

There's a "Red Dragon" version of that putter.

 

It has a laser-engraved dragon on the bottom of it. I love it. $100 premium for the red dragon version. $575.

 

 

 

An AK-47 holding unicorn costs WAY less than $100. Don't sell out to the mainstream graphics.

[TheCityGame]

I'm still highly uncertain of whether City's putter shaft is in straight. I'm even more uncertain that the putter shaft itself isn't bent in a way that it's not supposed to be. He's obviously figured out how to putt with it regardless of any irregularities it has though.

 

I'm working on the Bandon recap. There's a slim chance I get it up today, but it should be by tomorrow night at the latest.

there's a video where Bobby Grace says he hand bends all the shafts himself.

 

I'm still not sure if it's in straight.

 

I think that, like everybody, I'd like to make more in that 15-20 foot range, but I really feel like I'm getting most of my long stuff close and making a good percentage of stuff inside of 10 feet. I think that's really all you can hope for. And, I make a ton on the practice green so I really feel that if I can get the right read, the putter (and my stroke) are not limiting factors.

 

And, that, pretty much sums up my philosophy about putting and equipment.

 

Putting is really the easiest thing to drive yourself nuts over. There is NO ONE -- no matter how good they are -- that just goes out and makes everything. I've played with a couple guys this year who are +3 to +4 (legitimately) and I've seen them both have off days. Seen them go out and make multiple 20 footers and miss 4 footers. But I've never seen them go out and not hit greens.

 

Sort of tied in with what Sully said earlier, but lots of guys beat themselves up over what I consider good putting days. There are just some guys who will flip a coin and get mad at themselves for a bad flip every time a tails comes up.

[dcmidnight]

Sort of tied in with what Sully said earlier, but lots of guys beat themselves up over what I consider good putting days. There are just some guys who will flip a coin and get mad at themselves for a bad flip every time a tails comes up.

 

(raises hand)

 

I beat myself up over my front nine but then at the end of the day I had 31 putts which I'd normally be very happy with. I hit one bad putt, up hill 8 footer for par on 2, left it two rolls short.

 

Honestly, Iike that way of looking at it though. I'm going to try thinking about it that way more often.

 

I had a "stick with it" minute on 11 yesterday that I hope I have more of. Thumped a 3 iron down the middle, had @ 90 yards in. Hit a wedge way too far, flew the green. I was hottttt when I walked up to the green - even though it was just a bad yardage and at that minute I had played...10 holes of golf in the last two months. Back of 11 green is just dead but hit a perfect 60*, landed on the fringe and rolled through - best I could do. Rolled in the 20 footer to save par.

[TheCityGame]

Yeah, at the end of the day, you can go "I should have made this, this, and this" but you forget that you made that one, and that one.

 

I always go back to just trying to give myself more opportunities to make birdies, which is going back to ball striking. Whether they go in or not can only change so much.

 

I definitely get "mad"-ish when it's something that you really can control, though, like not getting an 8 footer to the hole. You can miss an 8 footer, but not getting it to the hole is a cardinal sin.

[SullGolf]

In his first round back, DC went out and shot 79. Jerk.

 

Due to the putting performances by DC and GregH yesterday, at least 4 new putters will be bought in the near future. I think it's a little overblown by both of them. Could be better, but I think they, and a lot of others, give themselves too much heartburn for missing a 15 footer.

 

I can live with the missed 15 footers. It is the 3-4 footers and the (at times) total lack of distance control that irate me. However, I don't practice, so it will not improve until I retire and play twice a week. Come on PowerBall!!

 

I can guarantee there will be a putter purchase and at least one of my "trunk putters" will be banished to the darkest place in the basement.

 

BTW, when I heard this yesterday, it was my new favorite thing I've learned about a WRXer this year. GregH has multiple banishment zones for his putters, depending on how bad they've treated him. There's the trunk for the immediate backups, the basement for the ones in detention, and then there's the BACK BACK of the basement for the really bad putters. I took it as the equivalent of the teenager who sold meth and got expelled from high school, but his parents still really love him and won't kick him out of the house.

 

With that many banishment zones, I can't even imagine what it takes for gregh to actually get rid of a putter.

[dcmidnight]

With that many banishment zones, I can't even imagine what it takes for gregh to actually get rid of a putter.

 

I've been playing with Greg long enough that when he said "I've got three putters in my trunk, I'm swapping this out at the turn" I knew it was at least 80-20 that he was dead serious.

 

If he had, he would have walked right by the old guy who literally walked out of the parking lot and onto the 10th tee to yell at me that the touchscreens GPS in the carts arent actually touch screen. I still have no idea wtf that guy was doing.

[davechen]

I had a great time yesterday golfing with gregh, sully and dcmidnight. My game was a mixed bag, some pretty good stretches, and some OMG! WTF am I doing?!?

 

Had a really nice par on the par 5 #9: Good drive, good 5 wood to the end of the fairway, then a decent gap wedge that was left of the hole. Unfortunately, the slope took it down, way left of the hole, but had a really good 2 putt for par.

 

The WTF holes included #12 and #18. Have I mentioned that I hate #12? Just an awkward hole. Duffed 5 wood off the tee, pured a 7 iron to lay up, but that rolled into the high grass, and then just more horror show flailing about.

 

On 18 I hit a good tee shot, and a good 5 wood. My approach 8 iron was fatted into the bunker. My bunker game is another horror show. Too much ball, over the green, OB. Dammit.

 

Other than that, I wasn't too unhappy with my game.

 

I normally play WM from the whites, so playing the blues, when they were set pretty far back, was a bit tough. The only really bad holes as far as length goes (for me), were the two 200 yard par 3s. Hit 5 wood on both. On the first, I hooked it into the water, and the other I duffed it into the high grass. I always try to overhit in those type of situations. Can't relax and just hit a normal swing.

[TheCityGame]

#9: Good drive, good 5 wood to the end of the fairway

At least one of those 3 things isn't true. :cheesy:

[dcmidnight]

#9: Good drive, good 5 wood to the end of the fairway

At least one of those 3 things isn't true. :cheesy:

 

From where the blue tees were, it was probably 250 / 200 to get to the end of the fairway.

[gregh729]

I really don't get mad. I get frustrated with myself. I go through spurts where I have absolutely no feel for the putter. Like now. It doesn't matter what I use right now. I feel like I am putting with boxing gloves on. This lasts a few weeks and then goes back to normal. The next 7-8 days are very busy, so I won't pick up a club until next Thur or Fri at the earliest. We'll see what happens then.

 

New/different putters - I like having different styles of putters. I am used to blades, but I like having a mallet or something along those lines to give me a new look from time to time. I think I just like buying putters....

[dcmidnight]

The next 7-8 days are very busy, so I won't pick up a club until next Thur or Fri at the earliest. We'll see what happens then.

 

Early afternoon LH tee time...

[eagle1997]

now I get to schedule a very special round at a very special course next year.

 

 

I'm working on the Bandon recap.

 

 

above are excellent examples of the emma watson "tease" gif in verbal form.

 

 

 

[gregh729]

In his first round back, DC went out and shot 79. Jerk.

 

Due to the putting performances by DC and GregH yesterday, at least 4 new putters will be bought in the near future. I think it's a little overblown by both of them. Could be better, but I think they, and a lot of others, give themselves too much heartburn for missing a 15 footer.

 

I can live with the missed 15 footers. It is the 3-4 footers and the (at times) total lack of distance control that irate me. However, I don't practice, so it will not improve until I retire and play twice a week. Come on PowerBall!!

 

I can guarantee there will be a putter purchase and at least one of my "trunk putters" will be banished to the darkest place in the basement.

 

BTW, when I heard this yesterday, it was my new favorite thing I've learned about a WRXer this year. GregH has multiple banishment zones for his putters, depending on how bad they've treated him. There's the trunk for the immediate backups, the basement for the ones in detention, and then there's the BACK BACK of the basement for the really bad putters. I took it as the equivalent of the teenager who sold meth and got expelled from high school, but his parents still really love him and won't kick him out of the house.

 

With that many banishment zones, I can't even imagine what it takes for gregh to actually get rid of a putter.

 

That is highly classified.

 

Although, I have stopped at Play It Again Sports a few times, back in the day, and traded one on the way home from the course.

 

The next 7-8 days are very busy, so I won't pick up a club until next Thur or Fri at the earliest. We'll see what happens then.

 

Early afternoon LH tee time...

 

I like the way you think. That could happen

[davechen]

#9: Good drive, good 5 wood to the end of the fairway

At least one of those 3 things isn't true. :cheesy:

 

Card says the hole is 536. I had ~90 left on the 3rd shot. So first two shots go ~430. Tee shot is decent contact, straight and in the air. Got stuck on the upslope, so got no roll. 5 wood is decent contact, in the air and straight. Good enough for me.

[FAbb]

Bandon Dunes Trip Report October 2018

 

A year of anticipation came to a head last week, as I headed to Bandon Dunes with my father-in-law. I'm going to do my best to recap the experience, along with tips and lessons learned from the trip here.

 

Our planned itinerary was as follows:

 

Wednesday, October 3rd

 

Fly into Eugene, drive to the resort, Punchbowl and dinner

 

Thursday, October 4th

Pacific Dunes AM, Bandon Trails PM

 

Friday, October 5th

Old Macdonald AM, Bandon Dunes PM

 

Saturday, October 6th

Pacific Dunes AM, The Preserve PM

 

Sunday, October 7th

Departure

 

Round Highlights

 

I'm going to try and keep these pretty brief.

 

Round 1 - Pacific Dunes

 

What better way to start the trip than on the top rated course on the resort, that gets you playing out to the ocean by the third hole! It turned out to be an A++ weather day on top of that. By mid day, it was in the low 60s, calm (wind we had was apparently opposite of the summer wind), and amazingly clear skies.

 

I had some good and bad overall. I struggled with the speed on the greens pretty mightily for the entire front 9. They were by far the fastest, and best rolling greens of all the courses. Highlights included rolling in a bomb for birdie after a crappy tee shot on 5, stuffing one from the tee on top of the hill on 10 and burying the putt, and knocking it on the 12th green under regulation and 2-putting for birdie.

 

My favorite par 3s were 11, and 17. 11 just felt so do-or-die, and is beautiful playing along the cliff with the ocean to the left. 17 was a really cool downhill Redan.

 

The cliff side par 4s (4 and 13) were stunning. It'd be hard to argue against them as the best on the course, though I'd put 7 up there with them, along with maybe one or two of the short 4s that were great risk-reward tee shots.

 

The 5s, depending on wind strength and direction, could all potentially be reached with 2 very good shots. I'd probably rank them 12-3-18-15.

 

Something I think Pacific Dunes did exceptionally well is to put the pedal down early, and never let up. Since all the clubhouses are inland, you have to play your way out to the ocean at the start, and back away from it to finish. Pacific Dunes gets you looking at the ocean very quickly, as you make it to the third tee. Then they move you through the properly brilliantly between cliff side and inland holes. They're just knockout holes all the way through. You start heading away from the ocean from the 14th tee, but the golf is of such high quality that you don't feel let down.

 

Round 2 - Bandon Trails

 

The stellar weather for the day continued into our round at Trails. We shed the beanie caps and outer layers for the round, as temps were around 60 with more shielding from the sea breeze than the other courses offer.

 

The highlights were mostly on the front 9, making 3 birdies. I had sweet sandie on the par 5 second, and back-to-back eagle attempts on 8 and 9. I drove the green on 8, with my tee ball running right by the hole for a chance at a 1. I knocked on on the 9th hole in 2. Unfortunately, I didn't convert either putt.

 

I wouldn't say the course gets off to a slow start by any means, but to me it really picked up steam and was absolutely stellar from 7-17. The 11th and 13th were such cool par 4s, and the view from the 14th tee is just unreal. The tee box is right near where Keiser, on his first visit to the property, had the "big reveal" moment where he saw a large chunk of the property laid in front of him from a single location. Overall, there is just a ton of variety, and great golf holes on Trails. I'm sure the lack of ocean side holes lead the course to be vastly under appreciated in comparison to it's peers on the resort. It's got a very similar feel and aesthetic to Dormie, but is superior in every way.

 

Round 3 - Old Macdonald

 

By this point, we were gearing up to contend with some legit weather for the day. The forecast was in the mid 50s all day, with intermittent rain becoming steady around 11, and wind speeds moving up to sustained 20mph as we hit mid-day.

 

Highlights from the round included birdies on 4, 6, and 13. 4 is the hardest hole on the course, and with the wind, less than ideal tee angle, and pin location, it took driver-3w to reach the green. Caddie came up yuge letting me know which side of the green to run the ball in from, and I spanked a 3w that rolled out 2ft past the hole. I played a blind approach over the hell bunker on 6 to about 2 feet, and 2-putted for bird. 13 was sick, as 3 of us in the group all stuffed wedges inside 5ft and made the putts. FIL and I birdied, along with one of the Canadians we were playing with. That led to the guy who made the bird taking a knee to chug a beer, while his buddy filmed and provided commentary. The rain was spotty at most for about 13 holes, before rolling in and hitting us pretty fierce for the end of the round.

 

Granted there are some significant spots with terrain on the course, but Old Macdonald really showed what can be done to make interesting golf holes out on property with mostly small land forms. You play up to the ocean a couple times, and up and over a ridge line a couple others, but the rest of the course lays in a relatively flat area. The bunkering and green complexes made for brilliant golf holes throughout. They're some of the largest greens in the world, but they're nothing like what you think of when you see a large green around here. Here you might see a green with 3 or so distinct areas. The greens at Old Macdonald were more like giant potato chips, with ridges and bumps all over. It wasn't like you had to be faced with a long putt to have difficult slopes to navigate. For any pin location, you generally had a very small area near the hole where you'd be left with a putt that was easy to get close or make. It was a course you could play over and over, and keep getting better at playing it. It was fun watching shots land in the right spots and turn out well, and heartbreaking watching shots you thought were good land just a few feet too far/short/left/right, and bound away from the hole.

 

Round 4 - The Preserve

 

This was the audible of the trip. We were scheduled to play Bandon Dunes after Old Macdonald, and would've had no problem going right over to do so. Our caddie recommended we go in and check to see if we could swap to play Bandon Dunes the next afternoon, since the weather forecast was good the next day. They had one tee time that would fit for us, so we made the swap, and headed over to The Preserve instead.

 

Being our first trip, we didn't want to miss The Preserve, and I'm glad we didn't. It was 13 cool tee shots, to some really interesting green complexes. We were just getting pounded by wind and rain out there, having an absolute blast. I'm not big into trying to hit different shots into greens when the conditions don't really dictate it, but it was fun as heck to do it when they did. I'm glad we didn't skip out on playing it. It's also nice to get a mental and physical break from doing 36 on the main courses every single day, but still get more than 18 in.

 

Round 5 - Pacific Dunes

 

Another great weather day, albeit with wind this time, blowing in the prevailing direction. I made 3 more birds, one of which came on the really tough 7th hole.

 

We got to play to the lower green on 9, which was great. We played the upper during our first round, so we got to play the 9th to both greens, and the 10th from both tee boxes.

 

I won't re-hash the course talk again. It cemented itself as my current favorite for sure though.

 

Round 6 - Bandon Dunes

 

The rescheduled round was looking as good as ever, with mild temperatures, and abundantly clear skies.

 

I only had a couple birds on the day, but not from a lack of good looks. I hit two good smashes on 9 with driver->3w to give myself about 12ft for eagle. A nifty up and in from the left fringe on 13 gave me my other bird. I had my most "use the slope" moment of the trip on the second hole. My tee shot landed on the front, and rolled back all the way down the hill. I had a blind shot to the green, but could see the flag. There was a ridge short of the pin I had to get over. Rather than try to flirt with carrying that perfectly on a blind shot, I threw something that I knew would get all the way to the back of the green where there was a big backstop. I couldn't see it happen, but it went off perfectly, coming back down 2ft from the hole.

 

Overall, I thought Bandon Dunes was the easiest course of the bunch, regardless at how I scored at them all comparatively. The fairways were wide an accommodating, with room to miss off them without too much punishment. There were some tough holes, no doubt. Just on the whole, I'd say it was the most user friendly. I don't think it had the same strength of golf from start to finish as Pacific Dunes, or even Bandon Trails, but it featured some of the most spectacular holes on the entire resort. Playing out to the ocean on 4, 12, and 15 was stunning. The 16th jutting out onto little fingers of land on the cliff side was epic. Even the 17th, playing downhill with a nasty pit all along the right was a spectacular setting. Playing through the dunes on 5 was another exceptionally strong hole.

 

Overall Thoughts and Rankings of Courses

 

The setting of the resort is much more dramatic than I realized it would be. The land forms are much larger than I expected. I just expected everything to be flatter, when in actuality the topography was quite dramatic on all the courses. I don't think any number of replays would make my jaw drop less at the ocean views. They're just that stunning.

 

The golf was just so fun. If you can reliably get your ball airborne, and keep it on the planet, you can play these golf courses. There were options at every turn, fromt the tee boxes to the greens. Granted I wasn't aiming for the middle, but I managed to miss a fairway that had to be 100 yards wide at the spot where I ended up - I still hit the green and made a par. I was left with a terrible angle and much more challenging shot to get on the green and close'ish to the hole, but I had a chance.

Putting was hard. Pacific had by far the fastest, and truest greens of the bunch. The others were slower, and all pretty similar speed. Bandon Dunes got punched during our first day of play. While they used small tines instead of pulling plugs, they were still bumpy enough that it was very hard to make putts outside a few feet. Old Macdonald had the only all fescue greens, and they confused the crap out of me. I had uphill putts that blew by, and downhill putts that didn't get there. Maybe fescue is grainy? Dumb as it sounds, there also seemed to be something to the idea that putts toward the ocean were faster than putts away from the ocean. Speed aside, the greens were just difficult to putt. You generally had to get really close to the hole to have any chance at a relatively low breaking putt. Even then, I faced a way higher percentage of putts in the 3-8ft range with legit break than I do at home. With all the slopes to contend with on the greens, it was quite a challenge to lag putts to kick-in range. I definitely had to make a lot more footage of second putts here than at home as well.

 

 

It's so hard to rank the courses, especially with only a single play on each course but Pacific Dunes. If I absolutely had to, I'd rank them as follows.

 

1. Pacific Dunes

2. Bandon Trails

3. Bandon Dunes

4. Old Macdonald

 

I've seen some other threads where as opposed to ranking the courses, people say how they'd split 10 rounds among them.

 

4 Pacific Dunes

2 Bandon Trails

2 Bandon Dunes

2 Old Macdonald

 

As is pretty obvious, I'd put Pacific Dunes ahead of the rest after a single trip. I wouldn't short change any of the courses, giving them 0 or 1 rounds. They're all too good to do something like that, in my opinion.

 

Bandon Dunes is the only course that can compete with the natural setting of Pacific Dunes. That's not to say that Old Macdonald and Bandon Trails are on shabbya pieces of property. They're both spectacular in their own ways. The topography and oceanside vistas on Pacific Dunes and Bandon Dunes are just very special, with a slight edge going to Pacific Dunes in my opinion. I think there are more intersting and dramatic land features on Pacific Dunes than Bandon Dunes. There were also some really cool spots on Pacific Dunes, where you can see other parts of the course, some where you can see parts of Bandon Dunes, and then on the 14th tee you can see all but like 4 holes of Old Macdonald that sit on the other side of the ridge.

 

I think Bandon Dunes had the best opening hole. The opening holes on all the courses were pretty easy, from the green tees at least. That's a welcome thing, since you're very likely showing up to the first tee cold. I just don't think there was quite as much to be gained or lost off the tee on the openers for the other 3 courses.

 

Pacific Dunes had my favorite closing hole, followed by the finisher at Old Macdonald. The closing hole at Bandon felt like sort of a letdown, coming off a pretty spectacular stretch from 15-17. Similarly at Bandon Trails, the stretch leading up to 18 (really the entire back 9 to be honest) is so spectacular, that it just felt a little lacking.

 

The par 3s on all the courses are so good, that it's hard to pick a favorite group. If I had to pick a single favorite hole, I'd probably take the 12th at Bandon Dunes. The view from the tee playing out to the ocean is stunning. The pin being back-left'ish probably helped me to appreciate the hole more than I would've if we played a pin on the right side of the green. It's just a perfect model of simplicity. They use the contours of the green complex, and a single bunker to dictate the play of the hole. The 15th also plays out to the ocean, but is a bit more do or die off the tee. The 6th plays along the cliff side, but I didn't find the hole really matched the drama of the setting in the way other ocean side 3s on the resort did. I don't think many people would pick one of the inland par 3s as their favorite, which really criminally under rates them. I could take or leave 14 on Bandon Trails, but the rest of the one-shotters there are superb. The downhill Redan 17th at Pacific Dunes is awesome. I think it's better than the Redan they did on Old Macdonald.

 

Food and Lodging

 

We stayed at the Lily Pond, which was totally adequate. You're pretty much using the room to sleep, and shower, which it was more than acceptable for.

 

The food was surprisingly fairly priced, I thought. For breakfast, being on east-coast time, we waited for The Gallery to open, and then either dined in or carried out from the menu. The breakfast buffet just seemed excessive, and most other people seemed to be ordering off the menu as well. For lunch, we just hit whatever turn stand we were near in the vicinity of lunch time. We ate at McKee's all but one of the nights, which we did at Trails End. McKee's was solid pub/bar type food. The pricing was very reasonable. I did apps one night, ribs another, and meatloaf the last night of the trip. Trails end is more Asian-inspired. I had the Indonesian Fried Noodles there. The portion sizes were very large at every meal.

 

There's just not a ton to say in this department. The resort is well laid out. When we used the shuttles, they were very convenient. We mostly drove, since we had rented a car. The place is very well run. The service is excellent.

 

Trip Planning and Lessons Learned

 

We did the trip with caddies for all 5 rounds. There were times where the caddie got on my nerves, gave me "plays like" numbers that F'd me, and neglected to give me adequate information about where balls needed to land coming into the greens. There were also times that the caddie gave me invaluable advice off the tee and coming into the greens. The good and the bad probably cancelled each other out. I ended up just reading my own putts the entire time. His reads were suspect. I could have and could in the future play those courses without a caddie to advise me for sure. That said, I would absolutely do it with caddies again if I'm able to return. Those courses are not easy walks, at all. I think the fatigue from carrying or pushing would put a serious damper on the enjoyment of such a packed itinerary. I stood on the tee of the 36th hole of our last day fully energized to swing away. There's no way I'd have felt that fresh if I was lugging my own crap around for the duration of the trip.

 

I decided to go with the green tees for all rounds, which I think was the right call. If I was out there playing 18 holes a day, I'd play the back tees. For such a packed trip, playing up to the green tees just made it less stressful, and more fun. I made 14 birdies in 5 rounds, and had a lot of missed chances on top of that. I had one or more eagle putts every single round I played, because all but a few 5s were reachable with two well executed shots, and there were a few 4s you could get on from the tee. I honestly don't think it ruined the strategy or intention of the course to play up, either. There were times I could tell that I was blowing it over hazards that were supposed to play, but there were basically always others that would come into play at the range I was hitting it. I didn't find myself in a shortage of fairway bunkers compared to normal home rounds by any means.

 

I think the trip was about the right length. We were supposed to play 36-36-18+Preserve, with travel days on either side. It may have worked out to our advantage to do the 18+Preserve day in the middle of the golf days, as somewhat of a rest between 36 hole days. You could add maybe one more 18 hole round on either end of the trip, but I wouldn't want to do much more. Between the golf, and the travel, it was a really exhausting trip. We landed back home around midnight on the return end of the trip, and I spent pretty much the entire day lounging around feeling wiped out and like my equilibrium was off from the traveling.

 

It was just 2 of us on the trip, which worked out really nicely. It was cool to get paired with and meet different people. The single who was supposed to be with us on our first round at Pacific Dunes didn't show, but another single joined us on the 7th hole. He was on the trip alone, and we found out within a few holes that he was actually going to be paired with us in the afternoon on Bandon Trails. He was such a nice guy, and it was fun to get a second round in together. We played with 2 highly entertaining Canadian guys from Vancouver at Old Macdonald the second morning. One guy was the Canadian City. He hit driver off the deck (827 gangster drop style, no less) on like 10 tee shots. He told lots of funny stories like City as well. Once he even took a story right up to the start of his swing, cold topped it, then cursed himself. It was exactly the same thing City did at Timbers with Domes, PQ, and myself one time. Funny stuff. The last day, we got paired with a couple buddies from Portland for our morning round at Pacific Dunes. They have been playing at the resort basically since it opened. The one guy was like the Asian Tommy Fleetwood with his hair. My jeally meter was maxed. They were so nice, and we ended up having lunch with them in the bar at Bandon Dunes since we both had afternoon rounds there. We finished the trip playing with a father-son duo that were a pleasure to play with as well. This is not all to say that you shouldn't go with 4 or more buddies. It's more to say that getting a foursome shouldn't be a prerequisite to planning a Bandon trip. We had a phenomenal time with 2 of us, and meeting other people was actually an addition to the experience.

 

I'm glad we played The Preserve, but I do think it's skippable if you're really set on doing 36 every day of a trip. Or if you don't want to spend the 100 bucks on it, you could go over and play Shortys one or more times instead of The Preserve. I think I'd try the latter if I make a return trip.

 

I'm glad we hit the Punchbowl on our first night there as well. It was a welcome introduction to putting on greens unlike anything we see around here. It was fun trying to find ways to use slopes to get putts close. There were a couple times we played holes with "infinity greens" so to speak, and it was hilarious watching balls hit too far run 50 yards clear off to another part of the course. It's something I think you've got to hit at least once, but I wouldn't be sad if I made a return trip and just didn't have time for it. Great way to kill time doing something golfy if you have it, but not a must if you've seen it before.

 

Flying to Eugene was a good call, I think. Since we went at the start of shoulder season, commercial flights into North Bend were either done for the season, or reduced to the point where it wouldn't work for our trip. I don't care how pretty the drive is - there's just no way I'm flying to Portland and then driving 5+ hours. Flying to Eugene proved to be pretty easy, and the 2.5 hour drive couldn't have been any easier. Driving 2.5 hours on highways around here is stressful. Driving 2.5 hours on totally not crowded 2 lane highways in a scenic area was a breeze. I'd do it the same way if I go back, provided I don't hit the lottery and have a private jet to take into North Bend.

 

Final Thoughts

 

Somebody made a comment along the lines of "you end up wanting to go back even more than you wanted to go in the first place" on a picture I posted. That sums it up pretty darn perfectly. Nothing I read about, or looked at remotely prepared me for just how special the experience would be. It was truly the greatest golf experience of my life. It's not easy to find the time, or save the disposable income to get there, but I'd recommend it to anybody with a passion for this great game do their best to find a way to go. I wish I had been able to go sooner, and I hope I can go many more times before I find myself on the wrong side of the grass. Since I've used every other hyperbole in the book by now, I'll finish with the only one left. Bandon Dunes is magical. Find a way, and go. Don't wait for somebody else to plan it. Don't wait for a big group. Start pinching pennies, and planning now. There is not a chance in hell you'll regret it.

 

Sorry/not sorry, but I'm not digging through all the pictures I took to post select ones here. I'm going to post the link to the google album on The Hive Google Group, since the album will have full names of all the people that join it, and I try to respect other's desires for privacy as much as possible given this public forum.

[eagle1997]

I had one or more eagle putts every single round I played, because all but a few 5s were reachable with two well executed shots.

 

i know you put this in there specifically for us. nice.

 

 

also, excellent recap bud.

[SullGolf]

Great recap. Pics are awesome. Looks like FAbbInLaw got more of his moneys worth by seeing more of the course than you :) .

 

The place looks immaculate, and a real golfers paradise. For practical and financial reasons though, I don't see myself getting there any time in the near future, so I'll have to live vicariously through everyone's recaps. I don't have any golf related things that I call "bucket list", but it's definitely one I'd like to do at some point in my life.

 

I'm a huge sucker for the ocean views. Huge. What's the most iconic hole there in terms of the view? At Torrey Pines South I'd say #3, and Bethpage Black is definitely #4.

[thechief16]

Nice Fabb. As I think I mentioned at the time, wife and kids and I drove from San Fran to Seattle last March and overnighted in the town of Bandon. I took an hour to explore the resort while they were in town and, man, what a piece of property. I immediately declared a fall 2019 trip was on the books (and got approval from the wife).

 

Now it looks like it will be 2020, as a buddy is celebrating his 50th with a late April 2019 (prime season) trip to Pinehurst that is going to suck up time and money I had already earmarked for Bandon Dunes. I just don't know I can wait that long.....

[FAbb]

There are signature views all over that place. I don't know that you could pick a single most iconic hole on the resort.

 

For Pacific Dunes, pick any of the holes that play along the side of the cliffs. Then you tack on the view from the par 3 14th tee, where you can look out to the cliff holes and ocean on one side, and see almost all of Old Macdonald from the other side. Jaw dropping stuff.

 

Old Macdonald, was cool because most of the course was on one side of a ridge line. You start on the side where 2.5 holes are, hit the third tee shot over the ridge line, walk up it, and the rest of the course is out in front of you. Then you climb up to the ocean side at the infinity green 7th, and try to hold back your nut. Go towards the snack shack just north of the green, and you can look up the coast to where the sheep ranch is.

 

Trails is definitely the area near the 14th tee where you can look out to a big chunk of the property. Then even just the view from the actual 14th tee down to the green is awesome.

 

Bandon plays out to the ocean several times, any of which could be considered a signature view. There was a spot on Bandon (I think between 6 and 7 tee) where they cut the top off a pretty high dune, and made a little spot they could use for a tee box. It had a great vantage to look out on a number of different holes. I took a picture looking north along the cost, and you can see flags from 3 different green sites on Bandon Dunes in the frame.

[XHoop24]

Trails is definitely the area near the 14th tee where you can look out to a big chunk of the property. Then even just the view from the actual 14th tee down to the green is awesome.

 

Speaking of - the 14th at Trails is very controversial in the golf architecture world. What did you think of it?

[FAbb]

Trails is definitely the area near the 14th tee where you can look out to a big chunk of the property. Then even just the view from the actual 14th tee down to the green is awesome.

 

Speaking of - the 14th at Trails is very controversial in the golf architecture world. What did you think of it?

 

I'd like to go back and play it about 10 more times, to form a comprehensive opinion :)

 

My one play leaves my take as inconclusive. I tried to drive the green

 

<aside>Any time on this trip there was a choice between a bold play and a safe play, I went bold. I wasn't going to leave and regret having tried to drive the green on 14, and having it turn out poorly. I very well might've regretted not trying the bold shots. I pulled a lot of them off, and they're the kind of things that are burned into my bank of good memories.</aside>

 

and pulled it into the bunker left of the green. The pin was back right. I blasted it too far onto the green, so it rolled through into the rough between two bunkers right of the green. I chipped up 1/4 revolution short of going in. It was hanging on the lip.

 

So I didn't hit an approach of any length into the green. I basically didn't putt on the green either. So I'm not really informed about the green itself.

 

IIRC, it's controversially difficult to hit an approach to from the right side of the fairway, yes? Well that fairway is a mile wide, and it doesn't exactly take a spectacular shot to keep a tee shot to the left.