Bandon trip report 3/27-31

[spud3]

Currently in the middle of our annual trip.  Thought I’d do a running report and just didn’t have the gumption to start until tonight.

 

Drove down Monday in some drizzle, but after lunch at Tony’s (this is quickly evolving into a highlight) headed out on PD for an afternoon taster round.  Steady rain that didn’t really feel like a lot until we got to 15 green and started to see some pooling/rivulets, and by the time we finished there was some significant rivers.  Other than that, the course is in fine shape and greens were rolling slow but true.  My only minor gripe was that some of the tee boxes were pretty ragged, but that’s not a huge concern.

 

Walked right into dinner at McKee’s, which was surprisingly slow.  Got the meatloaf on a good night.  Quick shower and early bed to get ready for 36 on Tuesday.

 

The forecast for yesterday was iffy at best, and driving out to the range at 7:15 there were sprinkles and we all had full rain gear, expecting rain all day.  By the time we got to the first tee at OM, rain had stopped and we saw no more precip the rest of the day.  There’s been much teeth-grinding about the greens at OM, and some of them were deserving, but for the most part it just looked like they do after a long hard winter.  Have I seen them better? Sure.  But I’ve seen them worse.  Putting on OM has never been about being precise - it’s more about finding the main lines to the hole across those massive greens.  All in all, I didn’t feel like we’d been cheated or anything.

 

The afternoon round was on BD, and the sun had emerged by then and it was pretty much a glorious afternoon.  Greens were typically slow, but in great shape. The course overall was just fine.  Another dinner at McKee’s, and we walked right in again at 6 PM.  Had the Popper burger, which was ok - nothing spectacular.  I’ve always thought that McKee’s should have at least one killer burger, and it just never seems to happen.  Service was just fine.  In fact, thus far into the trip, I haven’t noticed any letup in the quality of the service.  If they are short-staffed, it’s not really very noticeable.

 

This morning was the “easy” day - started with a round on the Preserve after a leisurely breakfast at Pacific.  Greens there were awesome, the best yet.  Got a 100% bluebird day all day long, through the afternoon round at Pacific.  Typical round at PD, lots of pars and lots of really big numbers.  I always forget that PD is such a penal course when you get off from the specific landing areas, which I seemed to do with alarming regularity.  Got into the hellish bunker below the par 5 3rd green, and struggled mightily just to get the ball out.  This would be a recurring theme, and it was difficult to keep from snapping a wedge in half.  Hit into a lot of fairway bunkers and generally fought my swing all day.  In  the end, Mr Doak won this round…

 

Dinner at Pacific (roasted chicken with couscous) was excellent, great service and a decent cocktail, then we headed down for a few holes on the Punchbowl.  It was medium-crowded, but not too annoying, so that’s always a nice way to end the day and forget about all the bad breaks/swings from the afternoon round.  Pretty tired, but it was a very nice day.

 

Tomorrow is our last 36 day, Trails in the morning and Sheep Ranch in the afternoon.  I’m going to be paying close attention to the greens at SR, so I’ll have some photos to share there.  Posting some pics of the greens from the past two days below.  For now, got a date with a shower and a foam roller.

[spud3]

Typical green at BD

 

[spud3]

Preserve greens

 

[spud3]

PD greens

 

[spud3]

This just happens…

 

[spud3]

But a day like this makes it bearable

 

[spud3]

Work on the new par 3 course is underway

 

[wtoomey]

Great report. I’m doing the opposite of you today, SR in the morning and Trails in the afternoon. 
 

Will have to compare notes. 
 

We got in Wednesday (yesterday) afternoon, and hit the range and the first three holes at Shortys, so nothing to report about the golf yet. 

[Looper34]

1 hour ago, wtoomey said:

Great report. I’m doing the opposite of you today, SR in the morning and Trails in the afternoon. 
 

Will have to compare notes. 
 

We got in Wednesday (yesterday) afternoon, and hit the range and the first three holes at Shortys, so nothing to report about the golf yet. 

Can you post some pictures of the SR greens?

[Edaw68]

Spud and I are both here, will try in the afternoon if toomey doesn’t get them first.

[wtoomey]

Live from SR. 
 

They are spotty. Not rolling well. 

[dcmidnight]

Oof.

[jrg75]

Double oof, is that a green?!?  Calling to see if I can swap my time to BD or PD on 4/12.

[ThermalDan]

I just called for our June 4 spots and none of the courses can accommodate a group our size.  It’s tough to balance the cool tee shots, approaches, greens, views at Sheep Ranch vs the bad taste in your mouth with greens in that poor condition.  

[Looper34]

It's a shame the resort is charging full boat to play on that. At least offer a credit in the pro shop or the restaurant. 

[spud3]

Played Trails and SR with Edaw today.  There’s already some pics of the SR greens, and I’ll add a few more below.

 

Weather was chilly all morning, but dry, and Trails is in really nice shape.  Greens are great, fairways are superb.  No complaints there at all.  They have instituted a new shuttle between 13 and 14, and it now picks you up just off the front of 13 green, eliminating the short but annoying climb from that green to the road going up to 14 tee.  We all approved.

 

After a solid lunch at Sheep Ranch snack bar (seriously, the pastrami hoagie is one of the best food items at the resort), we took off on the much anticipated round on SR.  Tees and fairways are just great, but, as has been discussed quite a bit, the greens are in the throes of transitioning to poa from fescue.  They do look awful, really patchy and mangy.  We got a dry day, so no mud, but much bouncing.  We could see where a wet day would give some really muddy appearances and performance.  Some are worse than others, and some are  farther along in their transition.  It’s very similar to the greens at Chambers when they were transitioning from fescue to poa.  And it’s simply in the worst phase of the transition.  We could absolutely see the validity of the statement that the resort really should be (at the very least) communicating the situation to guests and offering to help find alternatives.  The reality is that they will likely  not shut down the course, given that there are still plenty of people willing to play on greens that functionally are playing like they just got a serious aeration.

 

Having said all that, we decided to play it anyway, as two of our group hadn’t played the course, plus we all just like the course and were willing to accept the conditions of the greens.  Again, better communication would go a long way to helping diffuse the situation, and I know I’ll be mentioning it in my post-visit survey.

 

Just finished a dinner at the Tufted Puffin, and we were all pretty wasted from the consecutive days of playing.  Had a Bandon Burger and a side of mac & cheese, which was way too much food, but basically justified it in my mind calorically with all the golf.  Also tried the Sheep Ranch Lager (which you can’t get at the Sheep Ranch), which was a nice compromise between a light pilsner and a hoppy IPA.

 

We’re slated for a final round on BD tomorrow, and we all agreed that playing it is weather dependent.  The wind is supposed to increase overnight, and the precip prediction keeps swinging both ways.  Looks like it’ll be a game time call.

 

All in all, a great trip - only one drizzly day on Monday, and the rest has been great.  Even with the greens on SR, we really enjoyed the week.  I’ll maybe add some final thoughts tomorrow night after I get home.  Greens pics below.

[spud3]

Trails greens

 

[spud3]

SR greens:

 

[spud3]

Kinda hard to get the full impression from photos, but it looks like the fescue is still dormant while the poa is actually growing.  I think there will be some improvement once the weather warms a bit and the fescue gets into a growth stage.   Plus, it has been a really brutal winter here in the PNW.

 

But they do look pretty ugly.

[jvincent]

@spud3Thanks for the report and picks.

 

When I played SR last April the Poa encroachment had started and wasn't as bad as what you show. As you point out once it warms up and all the grass get's growing it should be much better overall.

[Edaw68]

I’ll tack on to Spuds comments. One thing I noticed with the 13-14 shuttle change on trails. The back of that green, in the past where everyone walks off, was always the worst on the course. Noticeable improvement with the shuttle moving spots.

[spud3]

2 hours ago, jvincent said:

@spud3Thanks for the report and picks.

 

When I played SR last April the Poa encroachment had started and wasn't as bad as what you show. As you point out once it warms up and all the grass get's growing it should be much better overall.

Yeah, it’s just in the worst moment of being “in between in between,” so I think the resort is probably just trying to wait it out for a couple more weeks until the fescue gets going

[spud3]

We ended up bagging the round today, as it was already raining hard and the winds were gusting, and the forecast was for more of the same with temps struggling to get to 45 degrees.  If it would have been Tuesday or Wednesday, I would have been saying "gear up, buttercup, let's get to it!" but we'd already had two spectacular days and one decent day weather-wise, so we all just headed out early.

 

I stopped by the SR clubhouse for a breakfast sandwich on my way out and the rain was already blowing sideways.  Glad I was inside and not teeing off...

 

[soregongolfer]

On 3/30/2023 at 8:43 PM, spud3 said:

Kinda hard to get the full impression from photos, but it looks like the fescue is still dormant while the poa is actually growing.  I think there will be some improvement once the weather warms a bit and the fescue gets into a growth stage.   Plus, it has been a really brutal winter here in the PNW.

 

But they do look pretty ugly.

Yeah, this winter has been a real stinker.  The good news is that Spring appears to begin on Wednesday.  

[shackmangolf]

Great write up Spud. 

 

As for SR condition. I belong to a private course. We just re-did our course and facing many of the challenges that SR is facing. SR is only 3 years old.  I am confident that SR will be in great condition in no time.  The winter across the US wreaked havoc on many courses (except the NE). 

 

Reading the other thread, I do think the threat to Bandon is the reduced focus on the true golfer.

 

What makes Bandon special is:

- 4 hour rounds. You go to Bandon to play 36 holes a day. There is nothing else to do there. The moment the management makes decisions that takes away the 4 hour round, Bandon is screwed.  This is why Streamsong sucks big time. 6 hour rounds. 

- Scarcity.  They need to find a balance between rooms and tee times.  They don't need 9 courses. The best ski areas limit tickets. Keep Bandon small and special. The hallmark of Bandon is that it always over delivered - the price/value equation was always positive. 

- Focus on Golfers: I have never seen corporate outings at Bandon and never hope to. But, it seems there are more these days. The place is sold out for years, why do they need corporate outings? Bad decision. 

 

This, IMHO, is what Bandon needs to keep. I missed Solstice last year but am back this year for 6 days and 12 guys in July. Will see how it changed. 

 

 

 

[puttnforthe8]

7 hours ago, shackmangolf said:

Great write up Spud. 

 

As for SR condition. I belong to a private course. We just re-did our course and facing many of the challenges that SR is facing. SR is only 3 years old.  I am confident that SR will be in great condition in no time.  The winter across the US wreaked havoc on many courses (except the NE). 

 

Reading the other thread, I do think the threat to Bandon is the reduced focus on the true golfer.

 

What makes Bandon special is:

- 4 hour rounds. You go to Bandon to play 36 holes a day. There is nothing else to do there. The moment the management makes decisions that takes away the 4 hour round, Bandon is screwed.  This is why Streamsong sucks big time. 6 hour rounds. 

- Scarcity.  They need to find a balance between rooms and tee times.  They don't need 9 courses. The best ski areas limit tickets. Keep Bandon small and special. The hallmark of Bandon is that it always over delivered - the price/value equation was always positive. 

- Focus on Golfers: I have never seen corporate outings at Bandon and never hope to. But, it seems there are more these days. The place is sold out for years, why do they need corporate outings? Bad decision. 

 

This, IMHO, is what Bandon needs to keep. I missed Solstice last year but am back this year for 6 days and 12 guys in July. Will see how it changed. 

 

 

 

 

 

I mentioned these points in a different discussion.  Problem is always the same root cause...they don't care about anything but money.    I know of so very few places (food, retail, entertainment) that don't eventually lose everything that made them great because of money.  Fully understandable, but it will never change.

 

We had an Italian restaurant about 20 miles away; went all the time; it was a smallish place, but virtually perfect in every respect:  Homemade pasta, meats, breads, herbs and veggies fresh and locally sourced, small vineyard wines and great/consistent service (employees were 'part owners' and invested in the biz).  It became popular.  3x'd it's size.  Today - nothing is homemade-the food/veg/etc is Sysco; wine list reads like Olive Garden; had to hire lots of people that did not care (only there for the paycheck).  Haven't been back.

 

Bandon ownership now does not hold the same values as before.

[dcmidnight]

12 hours ago, puttnforthe8 said:

I mentioned these points in a different discussion.  Problem is always the same root cause...they don't care about anything but money.    I know of so very few places (food, retail, entertainment) that don't eventually lose everything that made them great because of money.  Fully understandable, but it will never change.

 

Knowing some of the service/staffing issues they have/had it honestly scares me to think what the place will look like with hundreds more golfers added into the mix. If they have hiring problems now, how in the heck are they going to appropriately support 1-2 new courses with all of the top to bottom staff that requires? You are going to have to convince hundreds of folks to move out there to live/work?

 

I loved my BD trip, it was absolutely magic. But I also tell friends on the East Coast - going to Scotland will take you half as much time and cost you half as much.