Bandon Dunes Conditions

[biggesthouse]

Have a trip to Bandon booked for April. 

 

Has anyone been recently that can attest to the condition of the courses/greens? Someone told me Sheep Ranch greens are in dire condition right now. Trying to decide if we should adjust a second round for a 36 day.

[Seamus_MacDuff]

1 hour ago, biggesthouse said:

Have a trip to Bandon booked for April. 

 

Has anyone been recently that can attest to the condition of the courses/greens? Someone told me Sheep Ranch greens are in dire condition right now. Trying to decide if we should adjust a second round for a 36 day.

'Dire' is overstating it a bit, but the Sheep Ranch greens aren't great right now.  I was there a couple weeks ago and the Sheep Ranch greens are seeing poa annua grass start to take over the original fescue green surfaces.  It'll probably take 18-24 months until poa takes over completely and the greens are like you now have at Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes and Bandon Trails, but as of now the spots of poa result in an inconsistent putting surface as the ball rolls over the different grass types.  If putting on consistent greens is important to you, then I'd skip a 2nd round at Sheep Ranch and schedule a different course.  If you value scenic ocean views more importantly than consistent greens surfaces, then stick with Sheep Ranch.  Personally, I'd choose Pacific Dunes, Bandon Trails or Bandon Dunes over Sheep Ranch anyways, as they're all much better courses.

 

[graveydellic]

The Sheep Ranch greens have never been good, even upon opening.  Some of the holes are ok, some there is barely grass.  

 

Has never taken away from my experience on Sheep, but I also am generally just happy to be there, and SR is a novelty course for me.  Now that I have played it 3-4 times, I know what to expect.  

[ThermalDan]

I'm a little cautious with regards to the conditions of the greens too.  But so many of the tee shots and approach shots are awesome, I wouldn't want to miss it.  

[golfwb]

Do they not have a crew pulling po full time out there? That’s kinda surprising. 

[knock it close]

37 minutes ago, golfwb said:

Do they not have a crew pulling po full time out there? That’s kinda surprising. 

With Poa on Pac, Dunes, and trails its likely a losing battle. I think it would play best with fescue but I don't know if its feasible. What else is fescue on the west coast? I know cal club is and the greens were awesome but for a limited play private course I assume its easier to keep it out. 

[ND2005]

1 hour ago, golfwb said:

Do they not have a crew pulling po full time out there? That’s kinda surprising. 

I think it just doesn’t work with the volume of play they get and the impact it has on maintenance schedules/options. 
 

They’ve just let the Poa take all the older courses, that’s presumably the plan for SR and Old Mac.

 

SR is just screwed in general for conditions by the location and how exposed it is

[Seamus_MacDuff]

16 hours ago, golfwb said:

Do they not have a crew pulling po full time out there? That’s kinda surprising. 

There are only two types of greens in that Pacific NW climate......Poa greens and greens that will soon become Poa greens.  There's no keeping it out long term, and obviously the resort has made the decision to bite the bullet and just speed the transition as best they can. Chambers Bay up in Seattle actually closed for five months back in 2019 to convert from fescue to Poa greens, sodding with Poa turf.  In hindsight, they probably should have sodded SR with Poa to begin with, and hopefully they'll do that with the new par 3 course.

[Zenasray]

Just an FYI, played Sheep Ranch January 4th, 2024, greens are still in very poor shape. If I had known I would not have scheduled to play it. I will not return to SR until at least 2025 to give the course and greens a chance to mature. Layout and views, spectacular, but compared to the  other courses, greens suck.

[graveydellic]

1 hour ago, Zenasray said:

Just an FYI, played Sheep Ranch January 4th, 2024, greens are still in very poor shape. If I had known I would not have scheduled to play it. I will not return to SR until at least 2025 to give the course and greens a chance to mature. Layout and views, spectacular, but compared to the  other courses, greens suck.

 

Sheep is a true resort course.  I played it two weeks ago, greens look worse than they putt, but they are also much much better than they were 18 months ago.  SR has views and that's about it.  It's not architecturally interesting or unique but still a fun play.  

 

I frankly could care less about conditioning at Bandon.  As long as it's serviceable, I am happy to be there.

[monty09]

playing in april and we coming ....