A quick Bandon trip 12/13 - 12/15

[mallrat]

It started with a buddy who hasn’t been and we kind of talked it over since Oct., well I booked those days and said let’s go. Messed around with the schedule a couple times and at the last minute he had something come up. It was inside the 7 day window and the lady on the phone said “call back and if he needs to quarantine we are very forgiving on our refunds this year.” That was awesome, basically told me how to get around it. Anyways I still went. Schedule was supposed to be...

 

12/13 - Trails @ 11:45

12/14 - Sheep Ranch @ 8:30 then open

12/15 - Pac @ 9 am 

 

1 thing that stunk was the 15th, only Pac and Old MAC we’re open for play. Bandon had a tournament and Trails & Sheep Ranch we’re closed for maintenance. 
 

Left Sunday morning at 5 am (I like to take my time, stop get coffee once or twice on the drive and stretch my legs).  Got there about 9:45 including driving through a day I thought would be miserable because it was forecasted for .75” of rain and it POURED the whole drive down. That is until I got to Drain, just stopped, a clear drive in from there. Got to the resort and checked in but room wasn’t ready, changed in the massive bathroom at the Inn. Off to the PC for a quick warm up and then stopped by Bandon for some protein balls. Went into the pro shop as there was no one on the tee and they said I was free to head out on my own and they cancelled Trails for me. This was kind of a big deal because Trails is

my favorite course on property. 
 

So glad I switched, I had only played 9 holes on Bandon out of my last 2 trips down. I forgot how great of a course it is. Every hole just makes sense and it flows. Played the first 7 holes with no rain, 8 started drizzling and 9 the real rain came. Now it wasn’t a heavens opening up day but it was a good rain. By 15 the group in front of me had their rain gear off and back on by 17. I forgot just how fun the course is while still challenging. Played pretty well and birdied 9.  OH, that was the 1st time I had played all 18 since the course transitioned to Poa and WOW. The greens looked good, rolled smooth even with some standing water and were firm but fair. Slapped it around ok to the tune of an 82, drive and putted well, irons were garbage. 
 

As said before, ordering takeout was a breeze and food was basically the same as eating in a restaurant without the camaraderie. 
 

Sheep Ranch at 8:30 on Monday morning. Got there, sunny clear and 6-10 mph winds. Hole #1 is fantastic. I really enjoyed the course and a weird description is “the best amateur match play course there is.” It’s the perfect course for match play on a guys trip, there are big numbers on some holes (I made a joke out of 6 (tried to cut too much corner) and 9 (bailed on my driver and was side hill on a little grass bunker by 8 tee).  But most every hole everyone is in play and competitive. I enjoyed it just not my favorite and definitely felt a little forced but I can’t imagine anyone could have done any better with what is there. Ended up shooting an 88 going 47 -41 including 3 putting every hole on the front 9 (as much operator error as pin position). I was scheduled to go back out with the same group but one of the guys had his son playing in the group behind him and asked if I minded if he could play the next round with him. So I checked in at the shop and they had a packed tee sheet, they could get me out quick but Bandon and Pac were wide open. So loaded up and headed to Bandon, ended up playing 1-9 solo twice with a 1/2 bag in 3 hrs. Weather was perfect and I mean perfect. Sunny to foggy to sun with a 5 - 10 mph breeze. 

Woke up today for a day that was supposed to be .5” inch of rain and the forecast changed overnight, no rain but steady 25 to gusts of 45. I slapped the ball around at the beginning but settled in ok. Some holes were brutal. 2 of the guys I played with played the tips and were good. #4 was a 3 shot hole for all 3 of us. I went driving iron, 4 wood, 5 iron to 8 ft and missed the putt. Ended up with an 86 in those conditions, I’ll take it. One of the guys almost birdied the last 4 In a row but missed a 4 footer on 18 to shoot a 70 from the tips, it was impressive. Just a great round and fun. I’m not a huge fan of Pac but it is an awesome course. 
 

Just a reminder to me that this is why we go down there now. 2 of the 3 days were supposed to be MISERABLE and ended up just gorgeous. So for $570 without food, basically 4 rounds and lodging, you can’t beat it. Yes you have to hustle to get as much as you can in in the afternoon but worth it. I didn’t use my industry discount this time. 
 

Also surprised they said the resort was only 70% full this week and next week or the week of X-mas only 20% full

 

Edited December 16, 2020 by mallrat

[spud3]

Nice write-up! 

 

Kinda too bad you didn't get to play Trails, as the greens there last week were every bit as good as on BD.  And I thought the greens on BD were dang near perfect.

 

Sounds like you made do just fine...

[MileHighGuye]

Great write up. Cant wait till Oct 21.

[mallrat]

Stinks I didn’t get out to Trails but absence makes the heart grow fonder. I imagine it will do what not playing Bandon did for me in reminding me how much to appreciate the course. 
 

For anyone who questions Poa there, it works and works well. The Poa greens are a touch slower than the fescue greens (OM, SR), but slower with those slopes is not a bad thing. 
 

I had no idea there was a 3 hole loop at Shorty’s. It’s interesting that they are actively promoting Shorty’s now as I always just kind of thought it was an insiders secret. I will say it was weird how quiet it was. Once the sun goes down it is almost like camping, a few groups drinking g in their cars & or stumbling back from Chrome Lake places but other than that it’s like a ghost town until the range in the morning.
 

OH YEAH my gripe, they Only had the South end of the range open Mon & Tues and everyone had to wait for spots to open. Add in how close the stalls were I almost got hit by swings multiple times

[MileHighGuye]

Never played shortys. I’ve heard it’s a can’t miss. Is it an obvious layout!??

[puttnforthe8]

14 minutes ago, bradleyguye said:

Never played shortys. I’ve heard it’s a can’t miss. Is it an obvious layout!??

 

Not really a "can't miss"; but it is free and plenty enjoyable.  And yes, very obvious how to play the routing.

[lazyjk]

Sounds like you missed a very rough day today. I've heard a few reports that it was pretty brutal between the wind and rain. 

[spud3]

The full Shorty's course is open Sun-Thur, and several of its greens are part of the target greens for the South range, which is why only three of its holes are open those days (red flag on the shack).

 

And I ran into the same issue, where there were too many golfers for available range slots, and I've never seen that before.  That's saying something, because there are a lot of stalls on that range line.

 

Seems like they now have enough guests to rethink the way they open Shorty's.

[spud3]

Looks like today was a challenge.  Airport in NB had winds at 20 and gusts to 30, which the rule of thumb is add 5 and 10 to those respectively for the courses on the water. 

 

Add 1/4" of rain or so and I'll bet OM and especially SR was a real party... 🌧️

 

Many people thanking themselves for spending the $ on the Gore Tex today.

[soregongolfer]

That's too bad about the range.  Nothing like dodging somebody's 5 iron in your teeth while warming up.

[duffer987]

8 hours ago, spud3 said:

The full Shorty's course is open Sun-Thur, and several of its greens are part of the target greens for the South range, which is why only three of its holes are open those days (red flag on the shack).

 

And I ran into the same issue, where there were too many golfers for available range slots, and I've never seen that before.  That's saying something, because there are a lot of stalls on that range line.

 

Seems like they now have enough guests to rethink the way they open Shorty's.

Wow. Except frost delays I've never seen the range 'full' as such, as long as you don't get one of those down the far end where they start sloping down to the short game area 🤭

Edit - that said I might only hit balls on the first day, so I likely don't know what I'm talking about, lol

Edited December 17, 2020 by duffer987

[spud3]

+1  

 

Range time diminishes exponentially with each day of a trip

[mallrat]

Totally agree. First day is a good 1/2 hr -40 minute warm up. After that it is just trying to get loose. On Sunday around 9:45 there was only 5 -10 opening using the north side of the range. Now they didn’t use the extension on the Far East side where the hill slopes down and flattens out but yeesh. 

[jrg75]

Had the exact same experience in August, South range completely full on the days I used it.  My trip straddled the swap and North didn't seem as bad, I guess slightly more real estate. 

 

Past trips can't remember the practice center as busy as I saw it this time.  There was actually two campers parked at the practice center with guys out on lawn chairs drinking beer near the first hole at Shorty's!!!!  Seemed very odd to me but then again, it is 2020.

Edited December 18, 2020 by jrg75

[PNWBBBogeyMaster8977]

I dont think I will ever pay too close attention to the forecast until the day prior.  Sunday turned out to be awesome this week! Had a blast at Sheep that day but will admit, least favorite course of the 5.  I did really enjoy the par 5 hole #11.  That was a badass hole.  Enjoyed hole #1.. even more so after hitting the speed slot and rolling out to 350 yards!  Left me a 7 iron into the green followed by a 3 putt 🙄.  #16 and #17 were awesome too but many holes were just mehh.  Bandon Dunes is still my favorite course followed by Pacific Dunes.  And holy crap was Tuesday nuts, those winds!!! We played PD that day.  Made hole #4 feel like it was playing 500+ yards from the green tees.  We ended up playing Trails Wed and Thursday.  Played it Thursday since Wednesday was a fricken down pour for 3 hours straight, holy s*** was there a ton of rain, just never let up.  Still enjoyed every minute of it.  All in all was expecting some rough conditions a lot of pissing/moaning but was greeted with awesome conditions and another memorable trip.  Cant complain.  Highlight of my trip, first eagle recorded ever on hole #18 at Bandon Dunes on Monday, beautiful perfect conditions.  Smashed my driver out to 297, left me about 245 to pin.. 3 wood onto the green and rolled up to the second tier where pin was.. sunk 8 foot putt for eagle 😃 That experience makes up for the several quad bogey explosions i had thru the tougher days haha.. man those courses can really stick it to ya from time to time.. who am i kidding, at least once every round 😋

[Cwing]

I can’t wait until August !!!