Day 1 - outlined above but BD followed by OM. We got wet but overall very playable (no standing water on greens). The pace of play at Bandon that first morning was atrocious coming in at 4:40 as the 4th group out which is insane when they say you need to play in 4:05. OM was slow but not ridiculous - we teed off at 1:40 (1:30 tee time but we were late from the slow morning) and finished at 6:15 so right at 4:30ish pace. It was pretty dark playing 18. My gf walked with us - she loves OM and had a nice time with color commentary and my brother met us at 15 tee and walked in. Had breakfast at the buffet and was still doing well energy wise so just snacked during the day. Dinner at McKee's. We had one first timer on this trip and I think it was a golf-life changing day for them which is always fun to see.

Day 2 - SR in the morning and Trails in the afternoon. Had breakfast at SR - the ham/egg/cheese sammy was solid. After some rough weather the day before we had amazing weather this morning where I ended up in just a golf shirt and vest for most of the 11-18 stretch. I played really well shooting 74 with 4 bridies and 6 bogies. Birdied 3, 4, 17 & 18. My best round ever is 73 so I had an eagle* putt on 18 to tie that which was pretty fun. And I played 11, 12 and 13 so bad with 3-straight bogies (2 of those are par-5s) so that was disappointing looking back. My bridie on 4 felt so good as that is a long par-4 into the winter wind.

16 Green soaking in the views:


SR #17 green (I had already tapped for biride nbd):


Afternoon at Trails was very solid - 1:50 tee time so we knew we'd be pushing darkness coming down 17 and 18 and the forecast also called for heavy rain the last hour before sunset so we were trying to move, and we flew to 7 tee where we came around the corner and found a twosome on the box, 4 guys in the fairway and 4 on the green. The drivable 8th was backing everything up - it moved decently once we got to 9. It started to rain on 14 and we were soaked by 16 fairway and could barely see as we played 18 - but it was fun we hit 4 drives and walked over the hill and found 4 balls right in the middle of the fairway. First timer took a caddie this round and made a bomb for birdie on the first hole and then got shepareded around for a double-bogie free round which was exciting. He also birdied 9 and shot a very solid 80 as a 9 hcp. I played terribly (shot 92 with 8 doubles!) but love BT so much it was a nice walk.

BT #14 from 15 tee:


We left the others for dinner and my gf brother and I went into town and got cheap chinese food - a favorite tradition of mine after one of the 36 hole days on a Bandon trip. Gf and bro went for a pretty big hike south of Bandon so we all had worked up an appetite - smashed some food and went back to the resort to sleep.

Day 3 was my morning off - the other 4 played Sheep Ranch in the morning and got soaked and blown off the planet. But they're all capable golfers so they instituted auto 2-putts and cruised around. They were 3rd off but the first two groups vouchered out so they played fast - there was a lightning delay (very rare) so they had to walk from 6 green to the turn stand and wait for about 20 minutes. Including the delay they finsihed under 4 hours and had a bit of time to eat and dry out before our afternoon round at Pacific.

My gf was scheduled to fly back to CO from the North Bend (OTH) airport that afternoon but the rain and win diverted the SF inbound flight to Portland and she got rebooked for the next day out of Medford. She had to drop off the rental and couldn't get it back so my brother picked her up and they met us on 7 green at Pacific (right behind the punch bowl) and walked the rest of the round with us. Really fun round at Pac - I played okay. We all hit the green on 10 and 11. We all missed the green on 14. It rained lightly as we played 15 and 16. It stopped and was very foggy as we played 17 - maybe my favorite par 3 at the resort and I hit a very solid shot and 2 putted for par. Only playing Pac once this trip I was really hoping to play the redan well so it was rewarding. Then we played 18 and it was getting dark but I played it sensably in 3 shots leaving 35 feet. My caddie was helping his other bag and I just casually asked my brother how far out to play it - he told me a foot and a half and I hit and hoped - dead center with perfect speed for my only birdie of the round. Pac continues to be a course I really like, but it stays in the 4th spot for me. I played #5 well for maybe the first time ever. I continue to play 6 terribly - made par from short left of the mega bunker but just can't get myself to hit it over the right corner. I hit an amazing second shot on 13 but it was actually too good and ended up in the right greenside bunker and left the next one in there and made double. Solid 82 as I played a half(+1)-set. Went driver, driving iron, hybrid, 6i, 8i, pw, sw and putter. Hardly missed the other 6 clubs and shot about what I always shoot on Pac ha! We also saw a big coyote on #7 green - walked right across the front of the green when we were on the back of it and he was on the hunt for something - couldn't have cared less about us.

Walking up to 18 tee my brother suggested he order a bunch of pizzas from town and we have a pizza party at the lodge. We all went to change and he went and grabbed the pizzas - the rain stayed away so we sat out at the new firepit behind 18 green at Bandon and had a great time. Good change of pace as I think the rest of the crew ate at McKees the first 3 nights they were there.

Day 4 - BT and BD. My brother drove my gf to Medford after breakfast at the lodge and them seeing us off at Trails. We were first off and had a great morning - played decent and birdied 11 hitting one of the most pure 5 irons I've ever hit down the hill to 5 feet. I played 15 badly which is a bummer as I love that hole but another solid. Played in 3:40 so we had a time for lunch at the trails restaurant before heading to Bandon for the pm round. BD that afternoon was delightful - windy but dry. The wind really picked up playing the back nine and it was wild how down wind 11 and 14 played and then how hard/long 12, 13 and 16 played. My +1 buddy who carries it close to 280 at sea level hit a solid driver that barely covered the split fairway bunker to get up top which was like 185 from our tee. I flushed my driving iron to the lower level - it was playing very long! Birdied 10 - shot 81.

Trails with some awesome sunlight that morning:




Bandon 16 - caddie Bradley, me, caddie Jacob, and the boys:


Teeing off on 16:


We all went to McKees for dinner and after 7 rounds in 4 days I was tired!

Day 5 - BD morning - scheduled OM afternoon but we switched to Preserve as most everyone was getting pretty beat. Also my buddy's wife and her dad went to play OM as he hadn't played it earlier and a 2-some was available which allowed all 5 of us to play that morning. As we were then 3 on the BD time my brother was able to play, which was super fun. Dad and brother were leaving for Eugene that afternoon anyway - so getting everyone out worked great. We were first out again and played in 3:35 - we don't rush but I don't understand how even poor golfers can play with no one in front of them, or close to no one in front and have it take longer than 4:10...

Weather was very solid that morning minus 2 5-minute squalls that were pretty gnarly. #5 was playing very downwind and I hit a great drive to the bottle and then hit a super fun 7i bump and run which landed on the front edge and rolled out nicely to the back flag where I two putted for a very linksy par. Wind was rough on the back again - font pin on 12 yardage was like 125 playing 200+; my 5i came up short. Hit a driving iron for fun and pulled it and it still barely got to middle of green (just over the bunker). Hit a great shot on 15 and just missed birdie. 16 played super hard into the wind again - but Driving iron, 6 iron, chip and canning a 5 footer that we played a cup out plus another half cup for wind made for a super memorable par. Then 18 downwind was fun - ended the regulation course part of the trip with a birdie.

Brother and I on 16 and Bandon:


The preserve was a fun way to end the trip - it was windy but again stayed dry and had a great time hitting fun shots and putting off of #6 and 13 tee boxes.



I then stayed in old town Bandon that night. My brother and I ate at Angelo's and it was solid Italian food with good service and there was a guitarist/singer - live music 7 nights a week I hear.

Flew home Tuesday and it was uneventful which is nice.

Some parting thoughts -

• I flew with my clubs this time instead of ship sticks based on my playing schedule before. I'm working to have a backup set as shipping is easier but had no issues flying with them.
• Merch was solid at all of the courses
• New Shorty's is growing in nicely - should open next Summer and you can see some holes from BT #1 green, #2 tee and the preserve. If the "clubhouse" (OM sized I hear) is down right of BT #3 - the shuttle traffic going past BT #3 tee will make a mess.
• Service around the whole resort was great - easy to check in, get tables, etc. - it seems the challenges from 2021 coming out of covid have all been addressed
• I took a caddie every round, as did buddy's wife and her dad. The other two took caddies some rounds - caddies were excellent and flexible as we moved around times and groups. Jacob P has been my caddie the last three years (2021, 2022 and 2023) and he's excellent - great green reader, a coos county native coming up on 20 years of course experience and his energy and enthusiasm is through the roof. Our other looper was Bradley T who was great - long time Bandon caddie and a very chill but insightful guy. Also a great green reader and fun to have around.