My trip to Bandon Dunes

[mackepa]

As a contestant in the Publinx!

I got to experience a once in a life time experience this summer. i qualified for the Public Links Tournament for the first time in my career and it just do happened to be at Bandon Dunes! About a month before the tournament i was leaving a friends house late at night and got into a certain altercation where i had to protect my girlfriend and in the process broke my fifth metacarple, which is the bone below the pinkie. i was taken to University hospital by my girlfriend immediately where the X-rays showed that i completely snapped it in half. i was scheduled for surgery two days after the incident and had a plate installed running the length of my hand with four screws placed in my bone. luckily for me i was pain free enough the week before the tournament that i told my dad i was ready to tough it out. let me tell you, i'm glad i did. i played two scheduled practice rounds at Bandon Trails and Old Macdonald the day after arriving and it was the two hardest rounds of golf i've ever played. my hand would hold up for about 8-10 holes then the swelling, stiffness and the cold weather would take over pretty much leaving me useless. my goal for the tournament was to atleast break 80 one of the two days in the qualifier to Match play but more importantly at least have a ton of fun. My dad and i prepared for the following days of match play with some of the best burgers i've ever had at McFarlin's Grill. (literally amazing. Anyone going to Bandon needs to try them!). The morning of the start of the tournament i got up early and just enjoyed the scenery. i got breakfast at the grill, had coffee with my dad and just walked around the putting green and hit a lot of lag putts and mid range putts. i played Bandon Trails the first day and started on number 10 tee. in all honesty i do not lack confidence in the least bit, but i knew that for me to make it to match play i would have to play the best golf of my life. im a relativity short hitter and was basically another 20-30 shorter than usual due to my hand. all i was concerned about was just having fun. soaking the experience in and leaving the course smiling. my first tee ball of the day split the fairway and my second spot found the center of the green and i ended up rolling to dang thing in for birdie. followed by a bogey, then a birdie... then another birdie.... than another birdie again.... and yet again another birdie. i found myself standing on the 17th tee (my 8th hole) being something crazy like 3 under with a broken hand. after a tough bogey we walked up to nine tee and the wind picked up and so did the rain. pretty much at that point my hand cramped and gave out on me. i hit a good drive but missed the green with my second and found the fescue. i hacked the ball out and at that point my hand was throbbing trying to hold the club head square and ended up making a double. a rough back nine put me at a 79 for the day. the low score of the day i believe was either 69 or 68. in all honesty, i probably made my round look hideous but to me it truly felt like a 69 rather than a 79. the second day was a different story. i played bad and shot a 86, but each day i left the course smiling. i obviously didnt make it to match play but it was sooooo cool being out there. All the Staff, volunteers, grounds crew and anyone involved with the tournament was absolutely amazing! anyone considering going out to Bandon Dunes should do so! it is the experience of a life time!

[mackepa]

im trying to upload pics but its telling me the file is too big >

[mackepa]

here we go

obviously the last two pictures are my dad who caddied for me

[mr75204]

Great story and experience! I'll bet it was great having the old man there

[mac94]

That first pic is atop "Heart Attack Hill." If you don't know why it's called that, you've never played there. LOL!

[toddnt]

That looks like the par4 on BT, if it is, they had carts to trek us up that hill! [quote name='mac94' timestamp='1316660594' post='3581455']
That first pic is atop "Heart Attack Hill." If you don't know why it's called that, you've never played there. LOL!
[/quote]

[sharkiesj]

I just got back from Bandon yesterday after spending 4 glorious days there. Went before in 2003 and had a blast but this was really a treat cuz I went with one of my best buds and it reallly great. Bandon Trails is nice, but your pic of that 14th hole gives me bad memories. You've got no chance if you hit it right and basically a hope-and-a-prayer hitting it left by the green. Really a weird, weird hole. First time I played it I wiped my drive right and spun the hell out of a LW and it still hit the green hard coming in high and rolled off the back of the green and down the hill. Caddie just laughed at me.

Hope your hand feels better, best of luck to ya.

BTW, everyone was commenting on the greens at Old Mac and how crazy they are. Kinda was expecting roller coasters and there are some strange ones but overall, I didn't think they were as bad as people were saying.

[OpusX20]

Bandon is awesome. I try to get there a couple times a year. Glad you had a great trip and congrats on qualifying.

[mshills]

Congratulations on qualifying.

Speaking as a father, I'll bet that was a huge thrill for your pop. My sons are young (really young!) but I cannot imagine how I'd feel if I got the chance to caddy for one of them in a major event.

Well done!

[elib1221]

Great job, sorry to hear about the broken hand. Hopefully you gave the other guy what he deserved.

[BeanieAZ]

Great experience I'm sure! Sucks you had to be injured doing what needed to be done to protect loved ones. Guess you're just going to have to re-qual next year and go play at Soldier Hollow.

[jasman29]

[quote name='mac94' timestamp='1316660594' post='3581455']
That first pic is atop "Heart Attack Hill." If you don't know why it's called that, you've never played there. LOL!
[/quote]

I played there only tooooo many times!!! It is a reachable par 4, if you can hit the ball decently far enough. You can make 3 with a great drive or 6 and above with a bad one! near impossible up and downs around that green, think 10 at Riviera tough.

I am going there this sunday and can't wait to play Old MacDonald as we played the preview 2 years ago when they had 10 holes open.

[mac94]

[quote name='toddnt' timestamp='1316663956' post='3581600']
That looks like the par4 on BT, if it is, they had carts to trek us up that hill! [quote name='mac94' timestamp='1316660594' post='3581455']
That first pic is atop "Heart Attack Hill." If you don't know why it's called that, you've never played there. LOL!
[/quote]
[/quote]

Uh, no carts for us.

[John3Daly]

Awesome!

[Orlimar1]

Wow! Congrats on qualifying and having a great attitude for what you were faced with!

Sounds like you made the most out of it that you possibly could. To have your dad with you was icing on the cake. Thanks for the story and the photos.

[BNich0622]

Views are great. A lot of people love the course, but it just looks so crappy. Why isn't there any green? Anyone know why?

[One_Putt_Blunder]

[quote name='BNich0622' timestamp='1316832496' post='3586899']
Views are great. A lot of people love the course, but it just looks so crappy. Why isn't there any green? Anyone know why?
[/quote]

I guess that depends on your version of looking crappy. IMO it looks great.

The grass at bandon is fescue and during the summer months it will burn out and play very fast and firm. very true to links golf. During the tournament the broadcasters mentioned the fairways were running around 10 on the stimp and the greens around 11 as the were cut just 1/4 inch lower than the fairways. IMO I wish more courses would adopt a naturual approach to maintinance and not be afraid to let fairways brown out and play a little faster.


To the OP great story thanks for sharing. Sorry to hear about the hand. Also adding paragraphs would make your post a little easier to read fwiw.

[BNich0622]

[quote name='One_Putt_Blunder' timestamp='1316833227' post='3586921']
[quote name='BNich0622' timestamp='1316832496' post='3586899']
Views are great. A lot of people love the course, but it just looks so crappy. Why isn't there any green? Anyone know why?
[/quote]

I guess that depends on your version of looking crappy. IMO it looks great.

The grass at bandon is fescue and during the summer months it will burn out and play very fast and firm. very true to links golf. During the tournament the broadcasters mentioned the fairways were running around 10 on the stimp and the greens around 11 as the were cut just 1/4 inch lower than the fairways. IMO I wish more courses would adopt a naturual approach to maintinance and not be afraid to let fairways brown out and play a little faster.


To the OP great story thanks for sharing. Sorry to hear about the hand. Also adding paragraphs would make your post a little easier to read fwiw.
[/quote]

That's nuts!!! Here in the northeast when things dry out and brown out, they are deemed Non-salvagable. You lost the fairways or greens for the year. Maybe it is our weather in our region, but I always think of courses being green and plush. This changes my mind. Links golf is very different than what I am used to.

[mac94]

[quote name='BNich0622' timestamp='1316833586' post='3586935']
[quote name='One_Putt_Blunder' timestamp='1316833227' post='3586921']
[quote name='BNich0622' timestamp='1316832496' post='3586899']
Views are great. A lot of people love the course, but it just looks so crappy. Why isn't there any green? Anyone know why?
[/quote]

I guess that depends on your version of looking crappy. IMO it looks great.

The grass at bandon is fescue and during the summer months it will burn out and play very fast and firm. very true to links golf. During the tournament the broadcasters mentioned the fairways were running around 10 on the stimp and the greens around 11 as the were cut just 1/4 inch lower than the fairways. IMO I wish more courses would adopt a naturual approach to maintinance and not be afraid to let fairways brown out and play a little faster.


To the OP great story thanks for sharing. Sorry to hear about the hand. Also adding paragraphs would make your post a little easier to read fwiw.
[/quote]

That's nuts!!! Here in the northeast when things dry out and brown out, they are deemed Non-salvagable. You lost the fairways or greens for the year. Maybe it is our weather in our region, but I always think of courses being green and plush. This changes my mind. Links golf is very different than what I am used to.
[/quote]

Haven't you ever seen a British Open?

[teejaywhy]

[quote name='BNich0622' timestamp='1316832496' post='3586899']
Views are great. A lot of people love the course, but it just looks so crappy. Why isn't there any green? Anyone know why?
[/quote]

Because "green" is not needed to make great golf conditions. Green is merely a visual aesthetic.

Personally, I think the game has suffered due to the "Augusta Syndrome," where a course is valued more for its "look" than the actual golf playing conditions. The amount of water necessary to keep the green presentation typically creates soft conditions that has caused American golf to evolve into a one-dimensional, aerial style of game where the ground and the turf are taken out of the shot making equation.

Thankfully, the last decade has seen a small but growing effort to shift the trend back toward the classic styles of golf design and maintenance, the courses at Bandon leading the charge.

The game really opens up when the ball can bounce and roll and the joy of discovering how the ground contours can actually be used to position the ball. So much more interesting than the splat, splat dart throwing typical of soft American style golf courses.

[kekoa]

[quote name='BNich0622' timestamp='1316832496' post='3586899']
Views are great. A lot of people love the course, but it just looks so crappy. Why isn't there any green? Anyone know why?
[/quote]

I will play that 'crappy course' all day long!! Bandon kind of reminds me of Chambers bay in seattle, but better.

[brentk14]

I gotta toss this in. Both times I went to Bandon last year, we went to McFarlin's. My wife and I loved the place. It is an awesome pub, that has incredible food, and the staff and owners are great. I'm sure a lot of people that golf at Bandon eat at the resort, but it's definitely worth it to go out and visit this place.

[The Tufted Puffin]

Congratulations on qualifying. I was a volunteer for the event and it was a pleasure to see such great golf from all of the participants. Hope you make it again next year. Maybe I'll see you there.

[ThreePuttPar]

[quote name='BNich0622' timestamp='1316832496' post='3586899']
Views are great. A lot of people love the course, but it just looks so crappy. Why isn't there any green? Anyone know why?
[/quote]
lol.