New River Dunes and New Par-3 course at Bandon

[Divot_Forensicist]

I just finished reading Mike Keiser's book, The Nature of the Game. At the very end, on page 292, he mentions that construction will begin soon on a sixth course designed by David McLay Kidd, tentatively called New River Dunes, located 10 miles south of the resort. At the same time, he said, construction will begin on a new par-3 course designed by Tom Doak on land just south of the Preserve. He anticipated receiving the permits by the end of 2021 with construction getting underway as soon as possible afterward.

 

Any signs (pictures?) of construction or updates from those who have been to Bandon recently? Does anyone have any news about when we might expect these two new courses to open?

[Lefty_89]

There were flags in spots for the par 3 course next to 2 at Trails, when I was there in April. Didn't appear they had broken ground quite yet.

[wtoomey]

Check out Kidd’s Twitter, he posted a few pictures of the new property. 

[Edaw68]

The flags on the land south of the preserve for the new par 3 have been there since probably 2017 or so.  That course was planned long ago and fell through, guess it's been revived.

 

The course south of town has been off and on for several years as well, there was an old thread on it somewhere in the NW forum.

[soregongolfer]

The course south of town has been in the works for years, but there have been hurdles.  If memory serves, he wanted to build a 27 hole course with substantial price breaks for Oregon residents.  He didn't have enough room for 27 holes, so he attempted some land swaps with the state that environmentalists successfully blocked it.  The last I heard, he was going to build a 18 hole course on land he already owned, but no doubt Covid delayed that.  We'll see.  

[2bGood]

When I was there 3 months ago, Kidd, and Keiser were there walking the New River Dunes sight. I spent sometime speaking with the group.  They did not have all the approvals yet, but design work was underway. 

Edited August 1, 2022 by 2bGood

[Divot_Forensicist]

20 hours ago, 2bGood said:

When I was there 3 months ago, Kidd, and Keiser were there walking the New River Dunes sight. I spent sometime speaking with the group.  They did not have all the approvals yet, but design work was underway. 

One more detail from Keiser's book: His method, when working with the various architects over the years, has been to rate every hole on a 1-10 scale. Of Kidd's routing for New River Dunes he says, "The first twelve holes were 9s on the Keiser scale!" (p. 292).

[2bGood]

1 hour ago, Divot_Forensicist said:

One more detail from Keiser's book: His method, when working with the various architects over the years, has been to rate every hole on a 1-10 scale. Of Kidd's routing for New River Dunes he says, "The first twelve holes were 9s on the Keiser scale!" (p. 292).

The folks I spoke to working on the project were very positive about the land they had and the routing of the course. Mind you, I am sure they would tell me if they were not. 😉

Edited August 2, 2022 by 2bGood

[chussey]

I was just there last week and they had broken ground on the New Par 3 south of the Preserve. Apparently it's going to be like 19 holes or something designed by Tom Doak.

[ND2005]

12 minutes ago, chussey said:

I was just there last week and they had broken ground on the New Par 3 south of the Preserve. Apparently it's going to be like 19 holes or something designed by Tom Doak.

they officially announced it today. Not Doak - Whitman, Axland, Cutten

[asommers1441]

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/bandon-dunes-new-par-3-course

[shackmangolf]

Can't wait. Hopefully some preview play this fall.

[kaschreiber]

Was at Bandon last week, they were out moving earth south of 2 on Trails. 

[Seamus_MacDuff]

Should be interesting to see what they do with the pricing.  The Links Magazine article says it'll be the same $100 price as Bandon Preserve, but it seems like it'd be odd to charge guests the same rate for a 19 hole par 3 course as they do for the current 13 hole par 3 Bandon Preserve, especially if, as Mike Keiser is quoted as saying in the Links Magazine story,  "It's a better site than Bandon Preserve".

Edited March 14 by Seamus_MacDuff

[Edaw68]

Pricing might be the same as the Preserve if it's under the same restrictions as the Preserve where the proceeds go to WCRA because it's a sensitive site.

[spud3]

The routing looks cool.

 

https://www.bandondunesgolf.com/golf/golf-courses/bandon-dunes-newest-golf-experience/

Edited March 15 by spud3

[007iron]

10 hours ago, spud3 said:

The routing looks cool.

 

Yeah - and it looks like 1-6, 1-7 with 18 and 19 and 7-19 would all be possible to end up back/near at the clubhouse - we all love our short loops for the end of the day

[ThermalDan]

Or play 1-11 and you're back at the Trails/Preserve clubhouse.

[quikblitz]

Any thoughts as to how long it would take to complete?

[spud3]

If it's anything like the Preserve, somewhere between 45 min and 2 hours, depending on the number of 12-somes you have in front of you and how many cocktails they've all had...

[mallrat]

On 3/15/2023 at 7:57 PM, quikblitz said:

Any thoughts as to how long it would take to complete?

I would guess 18 months. 
 

what has me really curious is what they will do with the greens. Considering how poor the Sheep Ranch greens are will they go all fescue? 

[spud3]

I'll bet they are debating just starting with poa and saving everyone from the eventual, inevitable and  painful process of transitioning them from fescue...

 

[mallrat]

3 hours ago, spud3 said:

I'll bet they are debating just starting with poa and saving everyone from the eventual, inevitable and  painful process of transitioning them from fescue...

 

That’s what I was wondering but the problem is there isn’t a Poa nursery, to my knowledge. This far ahead there is enough time for someone to grow it. From my understanding when Chambers converted they had to find a sod farm and then contracted with them to grow enough Poa greens sod for the whole course. They then brought in the rest of that sod and replanted it and now have a HUGE nursery of their own.