Working at Bandon A good idea? Free Golf? Keep Life Interesting?

[BG5]

Hi Gents,

 

I am soon to be a retired teacher and have thought about working at a place like Bandon, Sand Valley, Streamsong etc just for the opportunity to play free golf at some of the best resorts in the world.  I would assume they need workers as most resorts do but maybe I am wrong.  I will be retiring somewhat early in life (55) and thought it might be fun to work at a place like that just to keep life interesting.

 

I also dont need the money so maybe I just move to a place a join a country club and not work but the idea of living in a place like Bandon for a period of time and golfing it like crazy is somewhat appealing to me.  I doubt I can do it forever but it does seem like it might be cool to do for a period of time and enjoy the simple things in life.

 

Any experience with someone doing this?  Do you get free golf?  Is there a "team" atmosphere at a place like Bandon and if so do people have feedback on this?

[graveydellic]

I don't really have an answer to your question, but I think all of us not in the golf industry have had this thought before.  I think being a starter or a ranger at Bandon would be awesome, but hard to say if those jobs turnover often to where there would be availability.  Certainly some drawbacks, as moving to a remote area in Oregon could probably lead to a very solitary life outside of the work aspect.  A stunning state, but based on my drives to and from Bandon, seems like a place that could get a bit "depressing" at times.

 

As for the free golf, I wonder how often you'd even be able to play.  The tee sheets are stacked sunup to sundown seemingly 365 days a year, so when would an opportunity arise for them to offer a non revenue round to staff?  Perhaps winter months in the late afternoon, but I'd be hard pressed to think any staff members are getting "good" tee times in the summer months, if any at all.  

 

In any regard, congrats on the looming retirement and the fun that lies ahead.  As someone who is in their early 30's with another 25+ to go in the corporate realm, I say be free and go do something like this...it's what the rest of us dream of.  

[jrg75]

I also heard from a few of the caddies I've had at Bandon, the staff must play off mats when playing a complimentary round.  I guess the carry around a small mat to hit off.

[596]

I did what you are considering. I retired at 58 and took a for fun job at a golf course.  Suggestions:

 

1. Work only part time.  If you work full time, trust me, you won't want to hang around the course after working there all day. 

 

2. If you worked with the public all your life like I did, you'll not want to again.  Find a golf course job where interacting with the public is minimal. 

 

My favorite job at the course was cutting rough.  Leave me alone, see you later.  No way I'd be a starter, marshall, cart person. Too much public interaction. I wanted to be left alone. It was great.  Toward my full retirement, even from the golf course, I worked on greens 2 days a week. Just doing small repairs. That was also fun and I was by myself. 

[eboettne]

54 minutes ago, jrg75 said:

I also heard from a few of the caddies I've had at Bandon, the staff must play off mats when playing a complimentary round.  I guess the carry around a small mat to hit off.

Dang that sucks, no wonder I hear the caddies go play at Bandon Crossings.  That and they have carts, of course.

[mallrat]

55 minutes ago, eboettne said:

Dang that sucks, no wonder I hear the caddies go play at Bandon Crossings.  That and they have carts, of course.

They play at Crossings a good bit. More relaxed and they can smoke/drink there. From my understanding, mats are a winter thing when tee divots are not growing back. 

[rooski]

1 hour ago, jrg75 said:

I also heard from a few of the caddies I've had at Bandon, the staff must play off mats when playing a complimentary round.  I guess the carry around a small mat to hit off.

 

I caddied out there for 8 years and at least when I last worked out there, this was a short term thing that only happened at points during the winter. Absolutely not a regular thing

 

[mallrat]

As far as Bandon goes, I would say it depends on where you are in life. Single and want to mingle, rough place to be. Happily married with a wife who is up for tagging along, couldn’t be better. Retired and do not want to deal with people, what more could you ask for. 
 

As for working at a course, look into what’s available. When I was at Pronghorn over 1/2 our crew was retired.  Couple guys would come in 2-3 days a week and mow something specific and go play 18 after a 4-5 hr shift. I know my current course would kill to find a guy or 2 that would come in and mow something 3-4 days a week. We do have a guy that comes in fills in tee divots 3 days a week, 4 hrs a day. All he does, comes in, says his hello’s goes out loads up and does his thing and it’s awesome having guys like that. 
 

One thing to look at is how much you will be able to play. At Bandon your play will be limited and how much are you going to want to play in adverse weather? At Pronghorn we played 3-5 days a week because tee times were open. Some days it was 9 holes, some 18 and some a combination of 1-11 or 1-13 + 18, all worked within the routing. My current course is so busy that you can get out once or twice a week if you are lucky. 
 

Hope this helps

[Jeff58]

Bend

[snakano]

If you never had to worry about money again, don't mind getting off the grid, so to speak, and want access to amazing golf within 15 minutes and really interesting golf/experiences up and down the coast one can do a lot worse than the Bandon area.

 

Others are right though, it can be isolating and I have to assume it would be difficult to spark up a friend group if you weren't working at the resort. I've gone to Bandon a few times solo and even in town most of the folks at the bars are also playing Bandon that week/weekend with their group. This might not be an issue for some, however.

 

As far as the weather and winters go, well, someone once told me as I was zipping up my jacket before heading out into a driving rain: "there's no such thing as bad weather in Oregon, only bad gear."

Edited November 15, 2022 by snakano

[njlam]

Please do it.
 

The HR shortages at Bandon are real and noticeable. It is a world class property and operation that needs more quality people to maintain that level of excellence.

 

 

[BG5]

Thats what I am saying.  I have two masters degrees and I will do anything from water plants to take out the trash.  I just want to play a few free rounds each week.....that does not seem to much to ask in my humble opinion  and I will def work around their tee sheet 🙂

[Chanceman]

Have you asked them what’s possible?

[spud3]

https://www.bandondunesgolf.com/careers/

 

[BG5]

So I am really considering moving to Bandon and working 2-3 days week in retirement to keep myself busy, get great golf perks and to work in an industry that I am passionate about.  I have been watching the job postings at places like Bandon Dunes, Whistling Straits, Sand Valley etc they are always in need of jobs.

 

I decided to see if I really would like working at a course so I started working at a top 100 public course that has hosted numerous majors.  I worked 2 days a week from May - November 1 on the "guest services" team.  We all basically rotated around doing the bag drop, catching carts and cleaning clubs, doing some marshall and starter jobs, working the range and I even did a few forcaddie loops.

 

Long story short I loved the place.  Made about $10,000 working 2 days a week and usually averaged $20-$30 a hour.  The place was run so well, very prof staff with a strong focus on customer service and it was great.  I could not beleive the amount of tips we would bring in and our team usually averaged about $800-$1000 a day with tips that we split.

 

Best part was the golf perks.  I got free golf and could also bring a guest for free.  If I added a 3rd or 4th guy it was only $20 which is insane considering normal golf fees are $200 a man in prime season.  I played over 50 times and added up my free golf and my guests free golf and it was near $20,000.  I used common sense with tee times and looked for openings and never had an issue.  I could basically golf as many days a week as I wanted along with use the pratice areas.

 

The best part is they loved me.  If you are professional, have a good attitude and love the game of golf these places will love ya.  I now know that in retirment I will be working 2 days a week just to stay busy, get the free perks and have fun 🙂

 

Bandon seems like a perfect place to go for a few months

[oneunderbogey]

Keep this thread updated if you do it! 

[mallrat]

Just a heads up that if you go in the winter the caddies have to play off mats a lot of the time. I would ask all playing questions in the interview process (I’m sure you thought of that already).