some guys do play it the same day we play the Preserve but they leave Portland a day earlier than us or are coming from Eugene and other parts closer. The guys i ride with don't care for it much.

Oct/Nov 2019 may be tough for me. I'm spending Sept 15-28 in Scotland on a golf trip and i'm not sure i'll be able to swing time off that soon after. let me know what you're thinking and we'll see if we can make it work. Malice's Attorney and Hey_Porter are other PDX area golfing folks that might be interested.

I was able to get a peek at my 2019 schedule and where I can fit this in. I am in Fossil, OR in August and that seems like a hell of a long ways away from Bandon. I have a chance to be in Bend, OR in October but that's not exactly close either. Next best option for me is I am in Phoenix in December and could just fly to Portland from there.

Decisions, decisions.

how are you getting to Fossil, flying in and out of Bend? Bend is about an hour closer by car than PDX.
Not to derail the Bandon thread, but there are several great courses in the Bend/Redmond/Central Oregon area and August would be a fantastic time to play them. They're obviously not ranked by Golf Digest as highly as the Bandon courses, but they're no slouches.
Crosswater (Bob Cupp/John Fought), Tetherow (David McLay Kidd, architect for Bandon Dunes), and both Pronghorn courses (Nicklaus and Fazio) are probably the highlights, but other courses like Juniper, both Black Butte courses, and Widgi Creek (a local favorite) are all worth a play.

Remove the top four Golf Digest Best in Oregon courses, which are all in Bandon, and here's the rest of the list. The bolded courses are around Bend and three of them are on the 100 Greatest Public list.

(5) Eugene C.C. ≈
(6) Pronghorn Club (Nicklaus), Bend ≈^
(7) Pronghorn Club (Fazio), Bend ≈
(8) Pumpkin Ridge G.C. (Witch Hollow), North Plains
(9) Crosswater, Sunriver ^
(10) Tetherow G.C., Bend ^
(11) Waverley C.C., Portland
(12) Portland G.C.
(13) Pumpkin Ridge G.C. (Ghost Creek), North Plains ^
(14) Columbia Edgewater C.C., Portland
(New) Brasada Canyons G. Cse., Powell Butte ★
KEY TO SYMBOLS

• America's 100 Greatest Course
≈ America's Second 100 Greatest
^ America's 100 Greatest Public Course
★ Other public-access course

Rain held off today!
13 Pacific



and the cherry on ****ing top! My buddy aced 17. 185 pitching wedge it was so down wind!!




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Another group of ours was behind, and the tees backed up so we were all there. 8 of us and 3 caddies. The ruckus was so loud people said they heard us at the clubhouse and on the punch bowl


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Sick - I love 17 at pacific. Such a well framed and designed par-3. And when you hit it where you’re trying the brilliance is magnified.

No clue as of yet. I probably will fly into Portland just because of flight options and the all important segments on Southwest towards A-List status.

And dam on that ace. I was just looking at my pics from my first Bandon trip a few years ago including knocking it to 3 feet with the pin all the way over to the left on Pacific 17. I think I hit the right center of the green. That hole is much easier in the winter being downwind for sure.

yes holes like 17 can be much easier in the winter, but those same winds make 4, 5, 7, 9, 14, 15 and 18 really challenging that time of year.

4: if you have any right spin off the tee you're flirting with the edge of the bluff unless you've aimed way left. i've seen many shots hit near the middle of the fairway with cut spin and roll off the edge.

5: I flushed a 3w off the tee last year from ~180 and was lucky to reach the green.

7: 1 HC and hard no matter the wind...try playing it with 25 mph in your face.

9: almost always plays to the upper green in January and the wind will punish any fade spin and uphill second shot. good luck getting roll if you try to flight your second to a back pin.

14: my choice last year was to hit 5i from 130 yds and an elevated tee to a middle flag. i was short of the green and rolled down to the trash.

15: into the wind simply requires a great drive, a well positioned second that avoids the bunker in the middle of the landing zone, and flighting your third on to a green that will just butcher you if you miss left or right.

18: it's only the longest par 5 on the course by 60 yards from the tips, 70 yards from the green tees, and also the 4 HC hole...what could go wrong when playing it into a strong wind?
off the tee you have to avoid/carry the bunkers to the left, but the wind is pushing your ball to the right, so how much should you try to bite off and still cover the knob to find the fairway? you aren't going to get there in 2 with this wind and your fairway landing zone for a layup is exactly where it severely narrows down with sand on both sides. as for your next shot, you either need to successfully hit the green or somehow run it up the left side...short right or long left are most likely in the sand or on the bank with an awkward shot.

god i love this course

ten or so years ago the 17 tee had gorse on all sides to the extent you wondered if you could even get the ball up quick enough if you were hitting a longer club when the wind required it. the Keiser gorse removal program has definitely made that an easier shot.

watching your shot land 50 yards right of the flag and watching it slowly trickle down the slope to a left pin is a thing of beauty.

I'd have to take my yardage book out to remember each hole but I have had more trouble with 18 than any other hole on Pacific. Granted I have only played it in the winter months. I have been in the death valley of sand to the left and I have been way right off the fairway on the second shot where it drops straight down.

Not fun into the wind.

I've witnessed three aces on Bandon trips.

The longest was on Bandon 2

the two shortest were on Preserve 8

and this past January we had a different guy ace the same hole.

also this:

they will also give you a pin flag of the hole if you ask for it....hope your buddy took advantage of it.

It's looking more like the week of 10/21 is when I will be at Bandon in 2019. Not sure on length of stay as of yet.

Edit: and looking at the rates I'm guessing that week will be very slow as there is a big drop in rates starting 11/1.

actually you don't, just use this interactive yardage book with hole by hole flyovers:

https://envisage.golf/bandondunes/?u...er_Link&hole=1

the pull down menu is at the upper right and will allow you to switch courses or between holes on a particular course. use your scroll wheel to move up and down a fairway, and drag your ball to a position on the left map if you want to be more specific about position and yardage.

I am BOOKED for my trip in October.

Staying in a dune single for 10/22 and 10/23. Never stayed at The Lodge so I kinda wanted to do that. Unknown when I arrive on the 22nd as it's all work dependent. Will hopefully get a round at the Preserve at a minimum. Possibly Bandon Dunes if I have more time.

10/23 8:10a Old Mac
10/23 1:10p Pacific
10/24 8:10a Trails
10:24 1:10p Pacific

Bandon Dunes is not available either day as there is a tournament in the morning and a large group of 40 is going out after that. That's why I will add it Tuesday if I can swing it.

Never played Trails before so looking forward to that. That was the same slot as my second Pacific round is this trip and I scrapped it to get on the road last time there.

The countdown begins.....

just got back from our annual trip. i'll post some pics later when i can get them off my phone.

the quick summary:

gambling games on the Preserve and Shorty's Jan 2nd, lots of booze and money changed hands

Old Mac Jan 3rd. 25mph sustained winds with gusts to 40-45. shot a net +9, hit nine fairways and one GIR. it was extremely difficult to judge the proper distance to hold the greens in to or against the wind. Old Mac is designed to punish you when you miss long over the green and it made me it's ***** because of that.

Pacific Jan 4th. as close to a perfect day as you can get in January on the Oregon coast. only hit three fairways and four GIR but shot a net -2 with three birdies (6, 11, & 15).
Four of us went to Shorty's after the Pacific round and had a four club challenge. I chose 8i, PW, 54*, and putter. 8/9 greens, 6 pars & 3 birdies.

Bandon Jan 5th. such a weird round after striking the ball so well the day before over 27 holes. 10/14 fairways, 0/18 GIR, +3 gross. we had light rain on 4 or 5 holes, but that wasn't an excuse for missing all those greens.

Oh, i forgot the most important part.

it was evident from several vantage points on Old Mac they are actively moving dirt around on the Sheep Ranch. our host also confirmed the next (fifth) Bandon 18 hole course is currently under construction. i've played the original Sheep Ranch course and it's a guess that it's final configuration will end up more like Old Mac than any of the other courses.
there's a green out on a bluff over the ocean (if they make it a par 3) that may end up being one of the most scenic and most challenging in the world.

Sounds like a great trip!

I'm sad I never got to play the Sheep Ranch in its raw form - but it does look like a great piece of property for another championship course.

we had a ton of fun the one time i got to play it a couple of years ago. there's nothing quite like choosing a random flag off in the distance and saying 'let's go there next'. we played the green at Five-Mile Point as a 3 par from both directions (including a blind shot over the mound from the south), and also as the finish of a 4, 5, and 7 par hole.

here's the green at Five-Mile Point i mentioned above looking south. you can see a good chunk of the property to the left, and Old Mac is off in the distance at the top right of the image. they say it will likely have as many ocean side holes as Pacific & Bandon combined.



we also found out our group is one of the longest continuously returning groups since the first course opened (not really surprising since we have a few guys that have literally played a couple hundred rounds on property). because we've been around so long they will give us first right of refusal for tee times on the new course when it opens

It's amazing how much this property just get it. I was just going through my folder with all my yardage books and ran across the Bandon ones. Something simple like selling them in plastic covers makes all the difference. Looking at my Streamsong ones I sweated through a whole book after one round.

my golf pants are extremely tight and my nipples hurt....

....update on the Bally Bandon Sheep Ranch

https://sheepranch.golf/

https://sheepranch.golf/updates/2019...st-kept-secret

https://www.golfadvisor.com/articles...-newest-course

i honestly thing there's a greater than 50% chance it will be the best course on property.

Yeah with 9 greens overlooking the water and a double green at 5 mile point I would tend to agree.

I'm really interested to see if they add any more lodging.

Also on even better news the wife decided that spring break should be spent at Bandon next year. She wanted colder weather and my son never leaves the hotel and his Xbox, so score me.

they will add a 'modest' clubhouse and restaurant at the sheep ranch, and have mentioned at least 24 more rooms.

i'm not sure how old your son is, but if you want two separate rooms you might look into staying at Chrome Lake in one of the 'Loft' upstairs units. They have two separate bedrooms with a central living room, and i think they also have two bathrooms.

Had to adjust my Bandon trip in October up a week. Good news is I can now play all 4.

Date Course Tee Time # of People Green Fees Caddie Request
10/16/2019
Bandon Dunes 7:40 AM 1 1 @ $250 None
10/16/2019
Bandon Trails 1:00 PM 1 1 @ $125 None
10/17/2019
Old Macdonald 8:00 AM 1 1 @ $250 None
10/17/2019
Pacific Dunes 1:00 PM 1 1 @ $125 None


Gonna try and at least get a round in at the Preserve when I arrive on Tuesday.