Several posts up I mislabeled a photo. That is not hole 4 at Bandon Dunes it's hole 12. Par 3


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scheduled to leave for the annual trip this coming wednesday and have been suffering from back spasms since yesterday.

please send me all your thoughts and prayers.

Get on a foam roller and some hot tub time

glgl

Best thing for spasms is a theracane. Foam roller is a good supplement, though. Lacrosse balls are great as well to roll on.

I struggle with them too, they suck.

here's a quick update. i was hoping to live blog this trip but apparently Lord Apple has nuked my iphone battery in to planned obsolescence oblivion. i haven't been able to turn on my phone for the past several days, even when directly plugged in to a power source.

happy to report back spasms weren't remotely an issue at any time during the trip.

since my phone was nuked, i hope to follow up in a few days from now with pictures taken by others in my group, specifically a first time participant who happens to be a professional photographer. he is a good friend of someone who flies out from the deep south every year to join us. let's just say the newbie hired a caddie every round to carry his clubs so he could carry his camera and take pictures. he has lots of pics and he's promised to share. i've seen a few proofs and they are phenomenal.

we left Portland early Wednesday morning with a 1:45 slot at the Preserve. we arrive after the 4.5 hour drive, check in early to our rooms at Chrome Lake, and i quickly put on shorts and long sleeves since the sun is out and temps are in the low 60s with not much wind. we play the 13 par 3 holes with six in the group.

here are the games:
randomly draw names out of a hat and predict their score on the course, closest to the score wins. wager? $10 each. 1st gets $40, 2nd gets $20
predict your own score on the course, closest to the score wins. wager? $10 each. 1st gets $40, 2nd gets $20
play skins on each hole at $1 per hole each ($13 total).
each player will pay $5 if someone happens to get an ace as a type of hole in one insurance.

results? the 'predict someone else's score' bet was one stroke off, the 'predict your own score bet' was right on the nose (i missed by a stroke), and we all payed the hole in one insurance because we witnessed someone use the backstop on hole 8 to leave his shot pinned between the flag and the edge of the hole....pull the pin out and the ball fell in. that's the second ace i've seen on that hole in three years, and let's just say his bar bill was north of $400 after 20 of us made our orders (we had a few more groups behind us on the course, as well as some leaving Trails at the same time).

more to follow.

Good news on the back. Looking forward to a full TR and pics.

heading down today from portland. staying four nights.

does it matter which exit i take from I5 to the coast? planning to turn west just south of Eugene for Reedsport, then south to Bandon.

swing has been an absolute mess this summer. cap up four strokes. setting a very low bar for the trip. try not to injure myself. find as many balls as i lose. stay positive. take pictures.

Have fun. I need to make a trip back out again.

you picked the right route...highway 38 (Drain exit) is the way we always go because it maximizes I-5 travel time. i do have to LOL at you saying it's 'just south' of eugene....it's 30 miles south.

Heading back in November; Saturday the 17th to Monday the 19th; 6 rounds in 3 days scheduled if the weather cooperates. Hoping to get in the Preserve one day as well as I have first time out on Saturday and Sunday; if we zip around and get right back out for a replay we might squeeze the Preserve in after.

Staying in the Inn; which I like a lot, on the wait list for a room in the lodge as it's so convenient for the hot tub/sauna and breakfast buffet.

Saturday is scheduled for Pacific then Bandon Trails
Sunday is Old Mac then Pacific
Monday is Bandon and then Trails

Tuesday is a get-away day. Even as a single the resort is pretty jammed up starting Monday as the rates get almost cut in half after the 18th of Nov.

I'm jelly.

Your annual trip is in January? Do you ever squeeze in a weekend if the weather looks good and just head down and get what you can?

the group trip is in January, and i've gone down a time or two when not peak price when invited to fill in with a group of friends when a position opens, but i've never played there from April to November. the trip from Portland is 4.5 hours one way, so it's not exactly a spur of the moment thing, and i struggle to pony up the $250-275 fee per round in the summer when i know it's so much cheaper in the shoulder or low months.

and honestly, a big reason why i enjoy time there is because it's spent with great friends. of course the golf alone is amazing, but having the experience with people you really like makes it so much more.

Got an earlier flight and will get to the resort by 12:30ish Friday; enough time to sneak around whichever of the courses is most open. So 7 rounds likely now as the weather is looking pretty decent this week.

4 day countdown - have enough work to keep me mostly busy this week but lots of checking the weather and getting excited.

I might as well just quote my own reply again. I keep telling my scheduler to add me to anything in southern Oregon. I need to make sure he is still on it.

Edit: Made the phone call and he forgot....

Heading up Monday. 6 more sleeps!

LOL at 'pretty decent' for this forecast in late November: https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClic...ield2=-124.407

the only potential downside to that forecast is the clear nights....fingers crossed you don't get any frost delays (although if you do they shouldn't last that long because of the warmer temps).

Trying not to get too optimistic; but yes; pretty epic forecast for late November

the only frost delay i've experienced at Bandon in January was on Old Mac. luckily we had the first few tee times and went off of 1, but they were shuttling people from several groups behind us to the #6 tee (the first par 5 after the second par 3) to keep things moving. if you look at a map it makes sense because it's very close to the clubhouse.

the only way to get a tee in the ground for the first few holes was to force a taylormade driver tool into the frozen ground to make a pilot hole....that **** was HARD.

Absolute dream weather today Hole 8 Bandon




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nice!

the current countdown for the annual group trip is less than 4 weeks. we'll be leaving early morning from Portland on Wed 1.2. the rota: Preserve 1.2, Bandon 1.3, Old Mac 1.4, Pacific 1.5.

always a great way to start the new year.

for those of you that haven't yet been, here's the same view of Bandon 8 from their website.

I told my mom I want a Bandon gift card again for Christmas. I should be going some time in the 3rd quarter of 2019.

Redeye, You gotta convince your squad to play Trails! It’s a disgrace to skip it haha

I've started a draft of my TR - soon!

Gonna try to book 2019 way earlier; looking out to late Oct/early Nov. 2019 - Scott - let me know when you're thinking and maybe they'll be overlap and we can get RedEyes and Humboldt to swing down, too