Random Bandon Thread

[snakano]

Don't know if McKee's does take reservations, but I was there two weeks ago and had no problem walking in and grabbing a table for three on multiple days.

 

I think The Forge is the only restaurant on property where reservations are needed or at least strongly encouraged.

 

The resort as a whole is pretty open to doing whatever you'd like to do, save for needing tee times to play, obviously. I often wonder how many Bandon residents drop some money in the honor box and use the range whenever they'd like, I know I would if I lived there.

[spud3]

Depends on the size of the group, but I've always tried to make reservations at any of the dinner venues.  Especially if you're going to be there to watch a specific sports event. 

 

They may have changed the practice at McKee's.  Just call them and ask.

[puttnforthe8]

6 hours ago, snakano said:

Don't know if McKee's does take reservations, but I was there two weeks ago and had no problem walking in and grabbing a table for three on multiple days.

 

I think The Forge is the only restaurant on property where reservations are needed or at least strongly encouraged.

 

The resort as a whole is pretty open to doing whatever you'd like to do, save for needing tee times to play, obviously. I often wonder how many Bandon residents drop some money in the honor box and use the range whenever they'd like, I know I would if I lived there.

 

McKees always took reservations when I was there last few years and even look at you oddly if you don't have them.  But you can still walk in and they will have you go upstairs.  

Edited February 12, 2023 by puttnforthe8

[Double Mocha Man]

57 minutes ago, puttnforthe8 said:

 

McKees always took reservations when I was there last few years and even look at you oddly if you don't have them.  But you can still walk in and they will have you go upstairs.  

 

But is the ACC tournament on the TV upstairs?

[Chilidog]

22 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

But is the ACC tournament on the TV upstairs?

I’ll be there during the ACC Tourney as well. Hoping to watch there Saturday evening and hit the punch bowl as well. 

[Double Mocha Man]

50 minutes ago, Chilidog said:

I’ll be there during the ACC Tourney as well. Hoping to watch there Saturday evening and hit the punch bowl as well. 

 

One more ACC guy and you get dibs on the remote control. 😁

 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Double Mocha Man

[TexasTitleistUser]

Can confirm the pastrami sandwich at Sheep Ranch is legit !!

[eboettne]

11 hours ago, TexasTitleistUser said:

Can confirm the pastrami sandwich at Sheep Ranch is legit !!

How was the trip?! I have 11 days left and it can't get here soon enough

[TexasTitleistUser]

8 hours ago, eboettne said:

How was the trip?! I have 11 days left and it can't get here soon enough

At Bandon now, played Sheep, Preserve, Pacific, and Bandon. Next up Old Mac and finish with Trails. So far it’s everything people say and more. 

[TexasTitleistUser]

On 2/13/2023 at 8:35 AM, eboettne said:

How was the trip?! I have 11 days left and it can't get here soon enough

Get the grilled cheese sandwich at Pacific it’s great. Pizza and meatloaf at McKees are ok. Ribeye at Forge ok but the Brussels and Cauliflower were good. 
 

Beers 

sheep ranch lager good

bandon pale ale pretty good

Tip: go to the Library in the Inn (open from 4-10) and get the 7 devils Groundswell IPA only sold in cans it’s really good if you like IPA’s 

Edited February 15, 2023 by TexasTitleistUser

[eboettne]

12 hours ago, TexasTitleistUser said:

Get the grilled cheese sandwich at Pacific it’s great. Pizza and meatloaf at McKees are ok. Ribeye at Forge ok but the Brussels and Cauliflower were good. 
 

Beers 

sheep ranch lager good

bandon pale ale pretty good

Tip: go to the Library in the Inn (open from 4-10) and get the 7 devils Groundswell IPA only sold in cans it’s really good if you like IPA’s 

Great tips, thanks! I'm a lager guy so looking forward to trying the Sheep Ranch Lager. 

[TexasTitleistUser]

On 2/13/2023 at 10:35 AM, eboettne said:

How was the trip?! I have 11 days left and it can't get here soon enough

 
Trip was awesome. Loved everything about it from the Inn, Lodge, McKees, the food at some of the courses, sunsets, and just hanging by a fire pit with a beer or whiskey. Luckily I had great weather. Rained on a couple days but not much at all and it always cleared up with sun. The last day on Trails it was 45-50 and not a cloud in the sky. Spectacular.  I did have one Bandon day at Old Mac. Walked to the first tee and it started hailing. Covered the fairway and greens on one and two. Hit the green on two and made par in the hail! It hailed on 4-5 holes, rained on a few others and the rest were played in partly cloudy sun! Incredible weather and actually the round was a blast. 
 

My course rankings.  

1. Bandon- great course, views, great condition, loved all of it, gets the top spot because a few of the ocean holes and it just felt playable to me, loved the finish

2. Trails- a walk in the woods and happened to play golf, big, sweeping views and a quiet round, loved it, also in top condition, best set of par threes 

3. Pacific- this is a beast, loved the look of the bunkers although I couldn’t get out of them, loved the visual look of the course,  tough ocean holes, great condition, if I was a big hitter and a really good player I could see myself ranking this first like many do

4. Old Mac- heard all the negatives and I don’t get it, felt the most links like course, great condition, way more elevated tees or uphill shots to greens than I thought, I feel Bandon needs this type of course 

5. Sheep- loved the views, ocean holes, and the infinity greens but didn’t like the condition of the greens or course in general, greens are part fescue and part poa and not much of either really, it’s not close on condition compared to the others, 

felt the others were just better golf courses if that makes sense 

 

Hope to make it back someday, just a special place. 

[TexasTitleistUser]

Some trip pics:

[Looper34]

8 hours ago, TexasTitleistUser said:

 
Trip was awesome. Loved everything about it from the Inn, Lodge, McKees, the food at some of the courses, sunsets, and just hanging by a fire pit with a beer or whiskey. Luckily I had great weather. Rained on a couple days but not much at all and it always cleared up with sun. The last day on Trails it was 45-50 and not a cloud in the sky. Spectacular.  I did have one Bandon day at Old Mac. Walked to the first tee and it started hailing. Covered the fairway and greens on one and two. Hit the green on two and made par in the hail! It hailed on 4-5 holes, rained on a few others and the rest were played in partly cloudy sun! Incredible weather and actually the round was a blast. 
 

My course rankings.  

1. Bandon- great course, views, great condition, loved all of it, gets the top spot because a few of the ocean holes and it just felt playable to me, loved the finish

2. Trails- a walk in the woods and happened to play golf, big, sweeping views and a quiet round, loved it, also in top condition, best set of par threes 

3. Pacific- this is a beast, loved the look of the bunkers although I couldn’t get out of them, loved the visual look of the course,  tough ocean holes, great condition, if I was a big hitter and a really good player I could see myself ranking this first like many do

4. Old Mac- heard all the negatives and I don’t get it, felt the most links like course, great condition, way more elevated tees or uphill shots to greens than I thought, I feel Bandon needs this type of course 

5. Sheep- loved the views, ocean holes, and the infinity greens but didn’t like the condition of the greens or course in general, greens are part fescue and part poa and not much of either really, it’s not close on condition compared to the others, 

felt the others were just better golf courses if that makes sense 

 

Hope to make it back someday, just a special place. 

Thanks for the review and glad you had a great time. Quick question. What doypou think is the hardest course in terms of walking and which is the easiest walk? I'm going out there with some friends this summer and we're looking at playing 36 at least once. 

[jvincent]

1 hour ago, Looper34 said:

Thanks for the review and glad you had a great time. Quick question. What doypou think is the hardest course in terms of walking and which is the easiest walk? I'm going out there with some friends this summer and we're looking at playing 36 at least once. 

 

Sheep Ranch is by far the easiest walk.

 

Of the others, I think Trails is probably the hardest walk. That said if you are in decent shape an normally walk, 36 in a day is easy. 

[TexasTitleistUser]

2 hours ago, Looper34 said:

Thanks for the review and glad you had a great time. Quick question. What doypou think is the hardest course in terms of walking and which is the easiest walk? I'm going out there with some friends this summer and we're looking at playing 36 at least once. 

Agree with above that Sheep is the easiest. You are going in the summer so your group has time and can get some walking in for exercise that seemed to really help me. Elbow tendinitis kept me from 36 but the walking was fine. Kentwool socks and broken in shoes help. 
 

I would do Sheep in the morning and either Bandon or Trails. Bandon has that great finish and I would love to see the shadows through the trees on Trails. Yes there are some good inclines/declines on parts of Trails but I think you would be sheltered some from the wind which could really help. 
 

Edited February 18, 2023 by TexasTitleistUser

[eboettne]

On 2/17/2023 at 9:45 PM, TexasTitleistUser said:

 
Trip was awesome. Loved everything about it from the Inn, Lodge, McKees, the food at some of the courses, sunsets, and just hanging by a fire pit with a beer or whiskey. Luckily I had great weather. Rained on a couple days but not much at all and it always cleared up with sun. The last day on Trails it was 45-50 and not a cloud in the sky. Spectacular.  I did have one Bandon day at Old Mac. Walked to the first tee and it started hailing. Covered the fairway and greens on one and two. Hit the green on two and made par in the hail! It hailed on 4-5 holes, rained on a few others and the rest were played in partly cloudy sun! Incredible weather and actually the round was a blast. 
 

My course rankings.  

1. Bandon- great course, views, great condition, loved all of it, gets the top spot because a few of the ocean holes and it just felt playable to me, loved the finish

2. Trails- a walk in the woods and happened to play golf, big, sweeping views and a quiet round, loved it, also in top condition, best set of par threes 

3. Pacific- this is a beast, loved the look of the bunkers although I couldn’t get out of them, loved the visual look of the course,  tough ocean holes, great condition, if I was a big hitter and a really good player I could see myself ranking this first like many do

4. Old Mac- heard all the negatives and I don’t get it, felt the most links like course, great condition, way more elevated tees or uphill shots to greens than I thought, I feel Bandon needs this type of course 

5. Sheep- loved the views, ocean holes, and the infinity greens but didn’t like the condition of the greens or course in general, greens are part fescue and part poa and not much of either really, it’s not close on condition compared to the others, 

felt the others were just better golf courses if that makes sense 

 

Hope to make it back someday, just a special place. 

 

Very cool, great review! Sounds like you got the full Bandon experience. I'm hoping we get the same starting on Saturday.  One negative is we had 1 of our foursome drop out due to injury this past weekend so that's a bit of a bummer as it would have been his first trip.  But we'll soldier on!  The more I hear about SR, the more I'm glad we scrubbed playing it twice in favor of Pac Dunes. Were all the greens in good condition outside of Sheep Ranch?

[TexasTitleistUser]

1 hour ago, eboettne said:

 

Very cool, great review! Sounds like you got the full Bandon experience. I'm hoping we get the same starting on Saturday.  One negative is we had 1 of our foursome drop out due to injury this past weekend so that's a bit of a bummer as it would have been his first trip.  But we'll soldier on!  The more I hear about SR, the more I'm glad we scrubbed playing it twice in favor of Pac Dunes. Were all the greens in good condition outside of Sheep Ranch?

yes all the other courses were in great shape. Sheep was just a notch below maybe because it’s the newest. Greens were all so much faster than what I’m used to though. 

[TexasTitleistUser]

saw this bag at Trails. Was told Mr. Keiser was on site that day too. Caddies showed us several red flags in the ground where possible green sites would be. They said they heard a possible new par three course was being considered that may have some longer shots than the Preserve?  Who knows but that would be cool and I’m sure get a lot of play. 

 

 

[banister]

T minus 1 week for my trip. Forecast for next week doesn't look very favorable though...

[ND2005]

5 hours ago, TexasTitleistUser said:

yes all the other courses were in great shape. Sheep was just a notch below maybe because it’s the newest. Greens were all so much faster than what I’m used to though. 

 

Really? 

 

I didn't find any of the greens particularly fast; I would describe Sheep Ranch greens as downright slow. 

[TexasTitleistUser]

1 hour ago, ND2005 said:

 

Really? 

 

I didn't find any of the greens particularly fast; I would describe Sheep Ranch greens as downright slow. 

 

well I mostly play muni courses with slower Bermuda greens so they were plenty fast to me. 

[TexasTitleistUser]

1 hour ago, banister said:

T minus 1 week for my trip. Forecast for next week doesn't look very favorable though...

hang in there I drove myself nuts looking at weather underground, I had a couple days of rain forecasted too and it did rain on a few holes but cleared up quickly. Just gear up and be ready. 

[oregongolf]

I was there last week Thur-Sun for annual trip with of 16.

 

By and large, the courses are in pretty good shape. We played Mac yesterday and it looked like on #3 they verticut the already pretty thin greens... almost looks like they're trying to promote poa quickly. SR could use the same to be honest, those greens are terrible.

If I were coming cross country to play or something, I'd play BD, Pac, and Trails in that order. I think SR is wildly overrated. Still very fun with awesome views... but I feel like it has 6-8 great, impactful holes and a ton of the rest are throw-ins.

We had the last two times at Preserve Saturday evening. And for our group's money, I don't think there is a better way for 16 guys to play/gamble for fun.

[VNutz]

11 hours ago, oregongolf said:

We had the last two times at Preserve Saturday evening. And for our group's money, I don't think there is a better way for 16 guys to play/gamble for fun.

That's how we try to do it, so much fun.

[2bGood]

On 2/11/2023 at 7:34 PM, puttnforthe8 said:

 

McKees always took reservations when I was there last few years and even look at you oddly if you don't have them.  But you can still walk in and they will have you go upstairs.  

Yes, I have reserved there going back 10 years or more.

22 hours ago, TexasTitleistUser said:

saw this bag at Trails. Was told Mr. Keiser was on site that day too. Caddies showed us several red flags in the ground where possible green sites would be. They said they heard a possible new par three course was being considered that may have some longer shots than the Preserve?  Who knows but that would be cool and I’m sure get a lot of play. 

 

 

Ran into his team and played a round with them last year. They said there were working on two full 18's and one more par three. At that time all the land transfers and permits were still not done but they were working on the routing ect. needed to do the paperwork. 

Edited February 21, 2023 by 2bGood

[Seamus_MacDuff]

The new par 3 course is supposedly being designed by Rod Whitman, Dave Axland and Keith Cutten.  Kidd's new 18 hole course will be at the New River Dunes site which is a few miles south of the town of Bandon.

 

Edited February 21, 2023 by Seamus_MacDuff

[2bGood]

56 minutes ago, Seamus_MacDuff said:

The new par 3 course is supposedly being designed by Rod Whitman, Dave Axland and Keith Cutten.  Kidd's new 18 hole course will be at the New River Dunes site which is a few miles south of the town of Bandon.

 

It was Tom Doak doing the par three originally, not sure if that changed.

 

The guys I golfed with worked for DMK and were scouting out multiple site including the New River Dunes and gave me the impression course will just keep getting added for the next dozen years.

[Seamus_MacDuff]

27 minutes ago, 2bGood said:

It was Tom Doak doing the par three originally, not sure if that changed.

It was announced last year that Doak was no longer doing the new par 3 course, and that Whitman/Axland/Cutten were replacing him as the architects.

[knock it close]

Itinerary locked in for thanksgiving 2023, bumping up to 6 days this year. Countdown on