Bandon Dunes 1st Trip - November 2018

[eboettne]

After reading these boards for about 6 months, the time FINALLY came for me to experience this place for myself and.... just wow. I feel like my mind is still there despite being home since Sunday. It was an immersive golf experience that I'm not soon to ever forget. I'll try to give a summary by breaking it down into each day but I feel like I won't do it justice but here goes:

 

Day 1

 

The night before leaving I only slept for 2 hours since my daughter woke me up at 130am crying and after she went back down I was too excited to fall back asleep. 330am rolls around and it's time to leave for the airport, the time for this trip I've looked forward to more than any other has arrived. We fly through security as our local airport only has two gates and a single plane leaving at this time. We had tight connections in Minneapolis and Seattle but the golf gods were on our sides as we arrived just as our MSP>SEA was boarding and somehow arrived in Seattle a full hour earlier than expected. Jumped on the plane to Eugene and 45 minutes later we had arrived... well not quite as we still had to drive 2.5 hours.

 

We picked up our Turo car(much cheaper than renting a car, look it up) and I volunteered to drive to Bandon. Did I mention I only got a quick 20 minute nap on all of the flights? We made it to Reedsport and I was about to fall asleep at the wheel so we stopped and grabbed Subway and booze for the trip. This rejuvenated me enough that I was able to get back behind the wheel and finish off the drive. On the way to the resort my passenger, and my friend that agreed to go on this golf adventure with me, called the resort to see if any times had opened up for The Preserve but no dice. So he asks can we sneak in 9 holes at another course. The guy tells he can get us on Bandon Dunes at 220PM for $70 and we say why not, let's start the trip with a bang at the course that started it all.

 

We get a dose of adrenaline when we pull onto the property but are completely gassed for having traveled for the past 13 hours. So we check in to our lily pond room at about 145pm, grab our golf clubs that were shipped there and go straight to the room to change and get ready. We are frantically trying to make our tee time while packing our golf bag with all of the essentials, including fireball of course, and get to the 1st tee at Bandon Dunes at about 219pm, just in time!

 

The starter greets us and I am no longer even a little tired, I'm so jacked up to play this course it's not even funny. Also, it is sunny out, not a lot of wind, and about 55 degrees. The starter gives us our marching orders and I tee the ball up on the glorious tee box. I take my first golf swing on actual golf course in the past 2 months and pipe one right down the middle at the bunker, luckily for me it is my standard fade that takes it past the bunker on the right. My friend pulls his left of the bunker and we're off. My first impression approaching our balls on hole 1 are that this is not the same golf course I saw hundreds and hundreds of pictures of. The scale is not properly captured in photos/videos/etc, it's stupid how different it is when you actually play the courses. I'm not going to give a shot for shot as I'd fall short of keeping my audience's attention but some high points were:

- Hole 3 - getting our 1st glimpse of the Pacific Ocean

- Hole 4 - Coming around the corner and getting to the green, I considered never leaving it until the sun went down. It was just the most incredible place I've been on a golf course up until that point.

- Hole 6 - Another holy s*** we're actually here moment on this green

- Hole 8&9 - birdieing the last 2 holes on the front

- Hole 10 - when we decided to try keep playing until it got pitch black out or they kicked us off the course

- Hole 12 - See Hole 6

- Hole 13 - What a cool par 5, especially the approach to the green

- Hole 15 - Just another great par 3, standard fare at Bandon

- Hole 16 - At this point it is getting really dark, but we both pipe drives left of the green. I end up on the other side of the green side bunker from the pin. My friend ends up in a bunker 30 yards from the green. He makes 6, I make 3. Welcome to Bandon.

- Hole 17 - We hit our drives and have no idea where they went, somehow find them and repeat the process to the green.

- Hole 18 - I do an Arnold palmer like swing to try to keep it low and straight and think I do but can barely see 20 feet in front of me. My partner does the same. He finds his ball, I do not find mine. We decide to walk it in from the fairway and look at our watches to see it's 5:20PM. We played 17 1/2 holes in 3 hours time. We would've finished too if we hadn't caught up to other groups on hole 15.

 

Walking up to the clubhouse in near pitch black with my buddy was a golf moment I'll remember for the rest of my life. I have goosebumps typing it right now. It was just perfect. I had no idea what I shot and didn't care(although I remembered the 3 birdies). We both remarked that we stole a round from Bandon Dunes when we were thinking we'd be pushing it to get a round in on the par 3 course.

 

We both went back to our room, changed into our swimsuits, grabbed a beer and headed down to the hot tub. We jumped in with a group from Salt Lake that was surprisingly friendly. I came to understand this was how everyone was at the resort. They were all ecstatic to be in this place at this time and wanted to know how awesome of a time you were having as well. After the hot tub and sauna we went back to the room, called our respective SOs and headed to McKee's for our dinner reservation. The atmosphere was jovial and welcoming in the pub. Friend ordered some sort of crab cake thing that he loved. I got the meatloaf and it was exactly what I needed. I nearly ate the whole thing because I was so hungry from this long day. The only thing that stopped me from finishing is I feared I would fall asleep on top of the mashed potatoes if I attempted it. Washed it down with a couple of beers and back to our room at 9:30PM. I had been up for 22 hours straight save a 20 minute plane nap. I don't even remember my head hitting the pillow but that was one of the most sound sleeps I'm likely to ever have.

 

I needed my rest for our first 36 hole day starting on Bandon Trails the next morning... <to be continued>

[ebrasmus21]

Golf heaven (you’re there).

 

Keep us posted.

[ebrasmus21]

Btw - could not agree more with your comment regarding scale. Until seeing it in person it’s difficult to understand how big the hills are, how much elevation change there is, how deep the bunkers are.... Sometimes pictures just don’t do it justice.

[wkuo3]

You guys lucked out at the end of November for the beautiful weather.

Great experience.

[spud3]

Always nice to read the trip reports from those making their first visit. Looking forward to the write-up on the rest of the trip!

[kamizzou91]

Nice write up! I need to get my trip report from early November posted, I'm slacking...

[ryu123]

Whether it was my 1st trip or my 12th, the excitement level was almost the same. The only real difference is I kind of know which club to hit on the first tee.

 

Bandon is like a different world.

[Lefty.Golfer]

Great write-up! I can't wait to read the rest. I'm heading out with 3 buddies that I've known for 95% of my life in February. Fingers crossed we get a day with decent weather.

[Lefty.Golfer]

Question for people with Bandon experience: should I have made reservations for dinner? I really want to have the famous meatloaf. Anything else you guys recommend?

[ebrasmus21]

Question for people with Bandon experience: should I have made reservations for dinner? I really want to have the famous meatloaf. Anything else you guys recommend?

 

Not sure about reservations but the Sheppard's Pie looked good. Massive portions with the meatloaf and S. Pie.

[spud3]

Question for people with Bandon experience: should I have made reservations for dinner? I really want to have the famous meatloaf. Anything else you guys recommend?

 

Call a week out and make reservations.

 

I had the chicken pot pie this trip and it was enormous (and pretty good).

[buzlin]

Question for people with Bandon experience: should I have made reservations for dinner? I really want to have the famous meatloaf. Anything else you guys recommend?

 

Call a week out and make reservations.

 

I had the chicken pot pie this trip and it was enormous (and pretty good).

Reservations don't hurt, and can be cancelled. Takes some stress out of things and you'll be pretty tired, so extra wait time isn't ideal. We usually make reservations around 30-45 a minutes after dark, since we're typically farting around on punchbowl till dark, then want time to wash up.

[eboettne]

Question for people with Bandon experience: should I have made reservations for dinner? I really want to have the famous meatloaf. Anything else you guys recommend?

 

We made reservations every night for 8pm. Got off the course by 5, time for punch bowl, hot tub, sauna, and a few pre-meal drinks. Usually ended up going at 730 and had no trouble being sat early but I'm sure that varies by time of year.

[eboettne]

Day 2

 

Wake up about 630 for our 750 tee time at Trails. Stretched in the room, took our time getting ready and it was 720 all of the sudden so we called the shuttle. Were originally going to go to Pacific Grill because I thought their breakfast menu looked good but driver was smart enough to ask our tee time and told us just to tell them what we wanted at Trails End bc we were cutting it close, for some reason I was completely unaware of how long it would take to go all the way to Pacific get food and get a shuttle back.

 

Dropped our bag at the drop to be put on a rickshaw and walked into Trails End. The waitress, aware that we looked like lost puppies, asked if we were looking to get breakfast for sit down or to go and asked our tee time which was in like 15 minutes at this point. This type of service puts Bandon above other places, she proactively sought us out and got us food and on our way. She suggested we get either the breakfast burrito or sandwich so I got the burrito and my friend got a sandwich. Both were incredible, he crushed the sandwich and I got through half of my burrito before folding it back in the foil and putting it in my bag. I couldn't throw it as it was just too good.

 

We then grab our bags on the rickshaws and hustle our way across the practice green and onto the 1st tee. This reminds me. We didn't hit one practice putt, chip or full shot at any of the facilities unless you count the punchbowl at dark. In hindsight, make time for practice putts as there were certain rounds I was putting well and some I just couldn't figure it out. I have to believe a little investment of time on the putting green would have certainly helped.

 

The starter greeted us and introduced us to the other twosome we were with, Glen and Greg. I think they were from Reno. I met so many people on this trip that I started to forget where they were all from. These were the perfect twosome to get paired with as they were super nice guys and had insight on the course and were happy to help us out for the most part. They were on the last round of their trip which showed towards the end of the round as their swings got progressively worse and their attitudes weren't quite as up beat, completely understandable. On to the golf course and the highlights:

 

Hole 1 - Pretty clear this is going to be a different course with the whisky heather, dunes, and tall intimidating bunkers framing the fairway. Also, holy crap the greens were flying! I loved them already.

 

Hole 2 - Apparently this hole is "supposed to play a club or 2 less" but I hit 2 good shots each time I played it and ended up short both times. A good spot to miss though.

 

Hole 4 - This is where our twosome was invaluable, talking about when they first played it they assumed the ridge represented a big dogleg right and they all ended up in the junk. However the insight to go up the left side of the fairway saved us both a shot or two, really fun tee shot.

 

Hole 5 - I assumed this hole was longer just glancing at pictures. It played 93 yards the first time we played it as the pin was on the front fringe. I saw two balls go long before I decided I'd take less club and swing harder... big mistake. Caught it a touch heavy and ended up short of the front bunker. 5 strokes later and I had the pleasure of triple bogeying the shortest hole we played all week. I doubled it the 2nd time and still love the hole though, which tells you how good it is.

 

Hole 7 - The tee shot reminded me a lot of hole 5 at Bethpage Black, not quite as demanding but the same great strategy with a fairway that favors a cut.

 

Hole 9 - The layup shot is genius as the comfortable range for most people is squeezed by a nasty bunker and the trees on the right collapsing in on you.

 

Hole 11 - I might as well have played 2 different holes each time. This first time I bombed one down the right side that caught the hill and I had a wedge into the green leaving me a makable birdie putt. The 2nd time I had a 4 iron out of the bunker and leaked it into the pond. Just a fantastic hole that rewards good shots.

 

Hole 12 - Loooong par 3 but seemed to play easier than the yardage, loved the huge bailout right of the green that penalized you by making you navigate the large mound.

 

Hole 13 - Ampitheater approach shot, don't miss right in the impossibly deep bunker like I did our 2nd loop around

 

Hole 14 - Controversial but I didn't mind it, 1st time I hit into the collection area and hit a 60 degree to 20 ft and rolled in a birdie. 2nd time the wind was behind us and drove just short and right of the green. Putted up the slope between the bunkers and parred. It was different and I like different.

 

Hole 16 - Not a big fan. Straight up hill and didn't see a ton of strategy besides being able to miss your tee shot way right and have it kick down.

 

I made a ton of putts this round, like more than any other round I played all year. I made 4 birdies, each one outside of 15 feet and 2-3 pars at that length too. I was rolling it so well that one of the guys from Reno wondered aloud how many feet of putts I had made during the round. Usually that would be a round flirting with the 60s for me. So naturally I shot 78, such is Bandon. There are big numbers out there and I found that to be true for every course. Forgot to mention it also rained on us the entire round but had decent rain gear so it didn't both us much. Trails was a magical walk in the woods with so much interesting slope, bunkering and greens that it still retained the links strategy the other courses possess. We remarked that it reminded us a lot like The Quarry at Giants Ridge that we generally make occasional trips to in Northern Minnesota. However, Trails keeps you more interested on every shot and has better shot value.

 

We finished in solid time but still only had about 10 minutes to stop at the lily pond to change socks and rain gear for our 2nd round of the day at Pacific Dunes. This is the course I was most looking forward to... it didn't disappoint. Pacific Dunes now tops my personal list of the best course I've ever played, bumping Bethpage Black down to #2 and if I had 10 rounds it would probably be 8 at Pacific and 2 at Bethpage, it's just a fun, exhilarating round of golf. The ocean holes are amazing but are somewhat comparable to Bandon Dunes at least in the look. But the inland holes are just superb and really separate Pacific in my opinion.

 

Hole 1 - Hit my drive right and had a blind 90 yard approach shot, didn't learn my 2nd time as I was in damn near the same spot. Still a great opening hole if you play it correctly.

 

Hole 3 - Hit it pretty much wherever but it'll change your strategy. The view from the green is awesome, never quite figured out how to hit a good approach shot on this hole as I was so worried I'd miss short in the deep bunker.

 

Hole 4 - I couldn't wipe the smile off my face walking down this fairway and I'd have permanent whiplash if I had to play this hole over and over. My miss is right but I didn't lose one to the ocean(surprisingly didn't lose one to the ocean all trip). I ripped a cut into the wind that got held up to the wind. My friend hit a half top draw. He ended up 40 yards past me, so unfair haha

 

Hole 6 - This reminded me of that short par 4 on Erin Hills( dont remember the #), It makes up for its distance by having virtually nowhere good to miss the green.

 

Hole 7 - "Oh there's trees on this course too", it's almost a hybrid between Bandon Dunes and Bandon Trails.

 

Hole 9 - Played lower first day and upper 2nd, still don't know which one I like better.

 

Hole 10 - Pictures don't do this hole justice(common theme throughout the week)

 

Hole 11 - Beautifully rugged and just as fun to play

 

Hole 12 - The view from this green is something to behold, the hole's not too shabby either

 

Hole 13 - This is gut check time, hit a great approach shot or make a big number. I hit a 2 hybrid into the wind both times.

 

Hole 14 - Love this short par 3 after a brutal par 4

 

Hole 15 - Another breather, made the green in 2 both times and birdied it twice

 

Hole 16 - Love this hole, how much can you cut off and is it even worth it? Had a 40 yard wedge shot well below the green, maybe laying 90 yards back would've been better?

 

Hole 18 - Best finishing hole at the resort IMO, demanding 3 shot par 5

 

As we learned on BD, the areas around the greens roll just as fast as the greens. It's a tough concept to wrap your head around if you're used to traditional American golf courses. You can tell yourself that it's true but your hands don't believe you and you blow the putts by the hole until you finally make yourself stroke a 40 yard putt like... well a 40 yard putt! This is the course we started to figure it out on but once we got on the greens, couldn't make anything to save our lives. I only birdied one hole and it was a 2 putt from about 15 feet. The greens have subtle breaks and I imagine you could play them for a lifetime and still misread them. Tom Doak created a masterpiece here and I'd play it every day for the rest of my life if I could.

 

After our sublime 36 holes we decided to hit the punchbowl until it got so dark we couldn't see our feet. We got 18 holes in and yours truly won the beer at the end when a 4 foot putt of my partner's to win the match slid a couple feet by... then kept going for 40 more yards to the bottom of the green. One of my regrets is that we didn't get to play this in the sunlight, while having drinks delivered out to us. However, cutting out any of our 18 hole rounds didn't seem like a good justification.

 

After the round, we pretty much stuck to the same routine: hot tub, sauna, drinks. We chose Mckee's again but then we went out by the fire to have one more beer and smoke a cigar. There was a group out there from Seattle that asked us to sit down and settle an argument about the NFL. We ended up staying for over an hour drinking, smoking and carrying on with them. When the party started to die down a bit we headed to the Bunker Bar to have a couple more beers than called it a night.

 

On the docket for day 3 was the first tee time off at Old Mac and another round at Bandon Dunes, or so we thought... <to be continued>

[ebrasmus21]

^^^ love it. Frickin Bandon, man. What a place.

[eboettne]

Sorry for the long delay but started a new job this week so just getting back to this...

Day 3

We are the first ones out at Old Mac with a 730am tee time, which has us waking up at 615am. We shuttle over to the clubhouse to discover it's much smaller than the other clubhouses. It's not a bad thing and actually a cool secluded feeling that was further from the main area of the resort than I had pictured it. We get a breakfast sandwich and both of us are feeling pretty crappy for some reason. We conclude it must be all the new food we're eating mixed with booze. It was raining and pretty chilly when we arrived at Old Mac and I was second guessing my choice to go with a short sleeve FJ pullover. I considered buying a new rain jacket or at least extra layer before teeing off but they didn't have anything with the new Ghost Tree logo... still regretting that I didn't buy anything with this logo. We step outside after our sandwich and it seems to have warmed up so I'm no longer worried about being cold.

We walk by the practice green and talk about hitting a few practice putts but that's as far as that idea goes. We arrive at the starter shack and a friendly gentleman greets us and informs us we'll be playing as a twosome...NICE! He gives us a little background and we're off. We decided to both hit driver and piped both right down the middle, too well in fact as we were left with 20-30 yard tricky wedge shots off as tight a lie as you could imagine. Being pretty cold and wet with not much feeling in our hands, we both dumped our shots in the front bunker. A bogey and double bogey and we were off. Also, as soon as we stepped off the tee box, it was as if God turned on the rain switch. Other highlights of this round:

Hole 2 - This hole is the bane of my existence and one that I need another crack at. The pin was on the very back ledge which was brutal. Missed short on 1st shot. Hit over the green on 2nd, back over the back on 3rd, in to front bunker on 4th.... ended up with a 7. This was a rude awakening of what Old Mac would provide me.

Hole 3 - I flared one way right(story of this round), my friend steps up and hit the ghost tree so solidly that we though it might tip over. We were laughing so hard that we could barely stand. Another great Bandon moment for the memory banks.

Hole 4- Parring this hole was probably the highlight of my round... it wasn't a good round

Hole 5 - Really fun green, the sun had started to come out to what turned out to be a spectacular morning

Hole 7 - The approach to the green is so far uphill, pictures don't do it justice as usual. We stood up on top of this green taking pictures for a good 20-25 minutes and only left when we noticed the group behind us get to the tee.

Hole 10 - Just a wonderful hole from tee to green. The drive makes you decide and the approach has great strategy. Friend hit a shot that looked to be going well left only to ride the slope and stop 10 feet away, he drained the birdie putt.

Hole 11 - Road hole template, just a fantastic green, soooo much fun.

Hole 12 - Redan green, we had a back left pin so got to fully experience it.

Hole 13 - One of my favorite holes at OM, played it off the left slope to roll about 6 feet away to make birdie. Isn't it funny how you love the holes you birdie?

Hole 15 - Neat par 5 with the railroad ties in the massive bunker short of the green, my friend hit a hybrid pin high and drained the 20 footer for Eagle. Big fist pump before agreeing with me that it would've gone another 20 ft by the hole had it not hit the cup :)

Hole 16 - Hole didn't do much for me, could have been how badly I was playing. Rang the bell in frustration as I walked off the green.

Hole 18 - I really enjoyed how the course takes you back into the woods and has a coming home feeling.

We played our round in 3.5 hrs despite stopping for almost 30 minutes for pictures. Another tidbit I forgot to include was there was a ton of heavy machinery working on Sheep Ranch that could be seen from Hole 7's green. The starter on our last day at Trails told us they are hoping to finish it before the 2020 US Amateur for promotional purposes. Also gave me the little tidbit that Coore and Crenshaw had visited a week before we were there to see if it would be viable to add cart paths to Bandon Trails. Anyone have thoughts on this? My initial reaction was it would ruin the secluded feel of the place if you had carts zipping around everywhere. However, I do see how it would be useful as that was by far the toughest course to walk. Then people of all ages could enjoy it as well. I still lean towards keeping it pure however.

The afternoon we teed off at Bandon Dunes and my left forearm was really starting to both me, it had started that morning . So much so that I could only hold my left hand on the club and only generate speed with my right hand. It would continually get worse throughout the trip and I found out it was probably tendonitis but just grimaced through it. No way was I skipping any golf while I was in this golf nirvana. Long story short it downpours all the way through hole 5 at Bandon Dunes in the afternoon with flashes of lightning. On hole 5 we are called off the course. My friend and I are told that we can get refunds if we head back to our rooms and call in later. We go back to our rooms get undressed and call Bandon Dunes. The guy says because it's a replay and in not guaranteed to finish time, we get no refund. It would've only been like $35 but we're honestly a little miffed on principle, but not letting it ruin our day.

We go into the town of Bandon on a whim and eat at Tony's Crab Shack. We figure the weather is a sign that we were supposed to take a little adventure. They have really good crab sandwiches and cider. Stop at Bullard Beach on the way back for a little sightseeing and touch the water(weird thing I have to do when I'm near an ocean). It was a cool beach but I think we needed to drive further to get close to the rock formations as they were still pretty far away, however we were feeling lazy. This is a time in the day where I kick myself a little for not checking out Bandon Preserve but with the unknown of the weather and if we'd even be able to get on the par 3 course we went into town. It was fine but we would've been fine if we skipped the town, I don't see myself going into town on future trips.

Head back to our rooms for some drinking and head to Trails End for dinner. We considered doing McKee's Pub for a 3rd straight night but wanted to mix it up and I'm glad we did. Got potstickers ahead of time which were only 2nd to one of my best friend's moms pot stickers that she makes(They are from Hong Kong so I imagine she knows what she's doing). Then got Char Siu Pork which was great as well. The highlight of the night(or lowlight I suppose) was a big group that was there with guys of all ages. They seemed like they were having a good time but once they started to disperse there was some commotion outside the restaurant. Apparently one of the older gentlemen had too many drinks and fell over and cracked his head open. The staff and some patrons attended to him but he seemed to insist on coming back inside. Once there, he raised a glass to the rest of the group and started drunkenly babbling on about how much he loves them yada yada. It was pretty entertaining once we knew he was ok. Hit up the bunker bar for the last time as we were checking out in the morning and driving to Eugene after 36 holes the following day. Each smoked a cigar and had a couple beers that my buddy owed me for various side bets we had made. Agreed that we would need to return to this incredible place as much as possible.

Next up: The last day of golf and saying goodbye to Bandon <continued>

[eboettne]

Day 4

 

This will probably be relatively brief as we have played Trails and Pacific already. I wake up after icing my forearm all night and it is throbbing. Oh well, one more day and I'm determined to suck it up. We get to Trails and get out traditional breakfast sandwich and burrito. Feeling like I hadn't purchased enough Bandon gear, I decide that I will peruse the pro shop at trails as I already have a Bandon hat and Pacific t-shirt. I find a Trails UA vest for half off which seems like a steal and I go outside my comfort zone and purchase a bucket hat. It was down pouring in the morning so I am really glad I made the jump. The thing was invaluable to keep me comfortable in heavy rain.

 

Once again we make it to the 1st tee just in time for our tee off with no practice putting done. We are paired with 2 guys that are sharing a caddie so this will be our 1st experience with a caddy for the trip. As I'm practice swinging I realize just how bad my arm really is. Every swing results in a grimace and grunt. The morning round didn't go all that well for any of the people in our group. The twosome we were paired with were "fine" but their demeanor was closer to that of a root canal than playing the best golf courses in the world. It must have rubbed off on the caddy because he wasn't particularly enthused either. Oh well, not everyone gets as giddy as I do to play golf I suppose.

 

One highlight of the morning round at trails was on hole 3 I had about a 130 yard for my 3rd shot on the par 5. I took my pitching wedge out and made a standard swing with no more divot than usual. "TING TING TING" was the sound as my golf club snapped off at the grip and bounded down the fairway into a bunker. The ball ended up about 15 feet away but it seemed like a strange omen.

 

No one in the group played particularly well besides a few shots here and there. I'm basically holding myself together physically with advil and fireball shots that my and my buddy drink after every birdie(we cheated and drank after some holes we didn't birdie too). We kind of sludge our way through this round, especially the walk up the hill on hole 16 which is into a driving rain(toughest hole to walk on the property IMO). As we're finishing we connect the dots that we are paired with the same twosome for the afternoon and we quietly groan. So after our round we jump in our rental car as it's all packed up now and drive to PD ASAP. We get to the 1st tee and ask the starter if we can jump ahead of the twosome we had the morning before. It wasn't that we strongly disliked them but kinda wanted to enjoy the last round of the trip as just 2 buddies. The round couldn't have been more perfect. The rain let up after hole 3 in time for me to grab a transfusion drink to walk down the beautiful 4th fairway with. My buddy ended up beating me on our 9 hole game for the first time(I gave him 4 a side) so I was determined to win back the beer(I'm competitive).

 

A 20 footer from the fringe for par on the scenic par 3 11th gave me life. I made a good bogey on #13 after hitting my approach about halfway up the 60 foot high sand dune. Then I turned it on to close out the match with birdies on the 14th and 15th. Lipped out birdies on 16 and 17 had me at even on the back 9. On hole 17 we had slowed down due to groups in front and the twosome from before caught up. With the light getting really minimal we invited them to play in with us so we could all finish 36. I hit 2 really good shots on #18 only to find myself in a collection area short right of the green in really long, gnarly fescue. 3 hacks and 2 putts later I walked away with a stupid double bogey that honestly pissed me off at the time. In hindsight, it was Bandon telling me I need to come back again for another shot at it.

 

Get changed for the long drive back to Eugene in the parking lot and off we go back to reality. As soon as we left the property I wanted to go back. Some things I learned from my first trip:

 

- You don't have to be a marathon runner to get 36 holes in every day but you will probably pay for it one way or another. Keep in mind we had 9 hours of daylight every day so there was literally no rest for the weary. I'm early 30s, 5'10" and 200 lbs, so not peak physical condition by any means. I did some running on a treadmill 3-4 times a week to get ready. The one thing I forgot to stretch or prepare for was my forearms and swinging the golf club so much. I had tendonitis for a couple weeks after where when I would twist doorhandles and it felt like you could hear my arm creak like an old barn door, first time that's ever happened to me but I'd do it again in a second.

 

- The drive from Eugene to Bandon is a trek with windy roads, logging trucks and wet roads usually. Don't expect to be able to set the cruise and take it easy. On that note, Eugene is somewhat interesting but I wouldn't go back except to stay overnight before flying out.

 

- The most difficult walks to me were Trails>OM>Pacific>Bandon

 

- If you're trying to do a budget trip don't feel discouraged from going here if you plan ahead in the winter season. We used miles to fly to Eugene, spent $450 on golf, $200ish on food and alcohol, $340 on lodging. So roughly $1,000 or $1,400 if we paid for our flights.

 

- Speaking of the winter season, I was never cold playing here. I'm from a subzero climate so that may have something to do with it but the lows never got worse than 40 degrees while we were there. I wore shorts on our first day and never needed my long underwear even for our morning rounds. A base layer, mid layer, and strong rain coat and pants did me fine for the entire trip. I'm sure it can be worse but from what I saw this was pretty average weather.

 

- Favorite places on each course: #4 at BD was our intro on the 1st day which I'll never forget, #11 by the lake on BT is so secluded it's almost magical, #7 at OM was just breathtaking while, especially seeing the 5th course being built before our eyes, #13 at PD which for my money has to be the best hole on the property. Played into a heavy wind both days and took my 2 biggest clubs to get back to the pin.

 

- And finally my ranking of courses(although I need another shot at BD) is : 1. Pacific Dunes(I honestly can't see this one changing) 2. Bandon Trails 3. Bandon Dunes 4. Old Mac

 

Lastly, appreciate all of the info provided on this site. It made my 1st trip so much more efficient and enjoyable than it otherwise would have been.

 

My parting words are what my friend and I both agreed on after we got back home. This was a trip we thought would be once in a lifetime but there's no way we're not going back as soon as possible. Cheers!

[Nobbykat]

Great coverage of your trip. Can’t wait to book ours ASAP.

[eboettne]

Bandon even makes pictures on an iPhone 6 look good