scott - more than happy to share one guy's opinion on places to drive as you make your way out from east to west. also more than happy to keep my mouth shut and let you and the wife figure things out on your own.

I will check back with you before I leave. As of right now here is the plan.

48 hours of actual drive time. Plan is to do 16 hours a day. I have also padded in an extra day in case we don't want to do a long day in there. After Bandon:

- San Fran down the coast. Wife is from there so she wants to go back. Also have two co-workers in the area. Also will likely hit Yosemite on the way down.
- Reno/Tahoe on the way back north.
- Yellowstone
- Maybe stop and visit my parents in MN, depends on if I get back to see them between now and then (likely will for work).
- Head home

I can basically take off as much time as I need but I am going to plan on taking 12 work days off.

Nice pcs, RE...but where's your written take on SR?

HA! you got me. it's been burning in the back of my brain ever since the trip and i suppose your comment is enough to put the spurs to it and finally get it done.

caveat: i've only played it the one time in it's current configuration and once before in the previous version, so my sample size is really small. most of what i say below is conjecture. my opinion of courses always change the more i play them.

quick summary:

my hunch is there will be a lot of people that will find this to be their favorite course on property and it's hard to blame them. as we've all heard it has more coastline holes than all of the other courses combined, no sand traps only grassy depressions, no forced carries (unless you chose to take an aggressive line, i.e the 6th).

there are some things that other people may like that aren't exactly my cup of tea, at least upon first time playing. case in point: i was somewhat surprised at the number of infinity and infinity-like greens. don't get me wrong, i enjoy them, but by a quick mental count there were infinity greens on 1, 3, 5 (kinda), 6 (kinda), 7 (depending on flag placement), 9, 15 (if you play your drive down the right), and 17 (kinda). i suppose it's what you get when you have so many holes along the coast, but it struck me as possibly a bit much...i'm more than willing to change my opinion upon further play.

if you don't know the course and aren't playing with someone that's been there before, it's likely worth getting a caddie or at least a fore-caddie (or study the hell out of it before you go and make notes). there are a couple of drives that aren't on obvious lines (looking at you 10, and especially the blind 14). there are also hole to hole transitions at the south end of the course 7 to 8, 9 to 10, that aren't currently marked very well. there was a marshal directing traffic when we played.

one additional point: the greens were obviously still quite new and not as mature and filled out as other greens on property. the lines of seeding were still visible and they roll different than anywhere else. don't take your Sheep Ranch putting game to other courses without adjusting.

a few holes that stuck in my mind

Hole 1: by far the most welcoming drive on property. hit a little draw that finds the speed slot down the left side of the fairway and you'll likely have 140 or less into a receptive par 5 green. hit a drive right and stay on top of the hill (like i did) and you'll still have a downhill approach of ~200 and a reasonable look at par or better.

Hole 3: this is the short par 3 with an infinity green. hit your tee shot long and you could be down near the 16 flag. the flag when we played was tucked just behind the hill on the left. seriously consider an alternate shot off the tee (putter or hybrid like a putter is not wrong).

Hole 11 (Volcano): just a fantastic par 5. not going to say anything else, just go play it.

Hole 16: par 3 (and we've all seen the video of the woman acing it with a putter from the forward tees). shares the same multi-tiered green with Hole 3. proud to say i made a three putt par from the green tees on that hole. sad to say we each played two balls and i made bogey using a wedge and putting out from where it landed on my first ball.

Hole 18: if the first hole is the most welcoming on property, the 18th is the most hospitable while showing you the door. 436 uphill par 5. par should be routine, birdie or better expected for reasonable players.

in summary: it's going to be a tough decision moving forward which courses to choose during our annual trip in January. i've already signed up to play SR next year because i need several more rounds to develop an informed opinion, but i only have four 18 hole courses to choose from during the time i'm there and Bandon has five. **** you Bandon for being so good.

Solid write up. Per my prior (lame) trip report, I'm one of those who put SR #1, and it has little to do with the views. I see the ocean a lot; I just really like so many of the holes.

if i ever won the lottery and decided to build my own course i'd hire Coore & Crenshaw without much additional thought. Trails, Preserve, and SR is enough of a resume for me.

i think SR really benefits from its constraints. less area than a typical course required non-traditional routing, they had to work hard and get creative to get 18 holes on that piece of land meaning several holes are shorter than 'typical' holes these days to squeeze them all in. how can a short course with only a few dead trees and no sand bunkers or water hazards (not counting the Pacific Ocean) defend itself? just start with undulating links golf topography where every shot can run out in unpredictable ways, mix in nuanced greens with devilish pin positions, and add a healthy dose of unpredictable Mother Nature. C&C are quickly proving themselves to be masters of contours and the elements.

I would agree on C&C. I have played a number of their courses: Kapalua, Dormie Club, Streamsong Red off the top of my head. Dormie Club might be one of my favorites.

add Cabot Cliffs, Sand Valley, Sand Hills, etc.
never played any of them, but i can imagine.
they seem to utilize the more traditional way of thinking about how the ball can roll once it hits the ground instead of always rewarding high flying shots (often over trouble) that stay close to where they land. the more i play with the older guys in our group, think late 60s- early 70s, the more i appreciate how inclusive course design can be when you take those types of factors into consideration. some of these guys are masters of the 5w, and those types of courses give them a great chance at scoring well.

My 2022 trip is starting to round into place.

4 days to get to Bandon (maybe play preserve the arrival day)
4 days of Bandon golf
San Fran
Monterey/Santa Cruz
Fresno (ugh, but wife's grandparents are buried there)
Yosemite
Reno
Park City
Denver
Nashville
Home

Opted against Yellowstone. Just think it's going to be a disappointment after visiting Yosemite. Maybe I'm wrong but need to cut a few days out.

you're going to see a lot of country in that period of time.
may i suggest a slight adjustment? instead of listing Reno, list Lake Tahoe. i know you said reno/tahoe before, but the actual body of water lake tahoe is pretty amazing

I'm directly between Park City and Denver so I look forward to hosting you for a round of golf on your way through

Yeah I have a feeling most of the time will be Tahoe and will sleep in Reno with a couple hours of gambling, hockey playoffs in particular that time of the year.

My golf might be done by that time of the trip. I'm gonna try and squeeze one round in after Bandon, probably gonna try and get Cypress Point.

Yeah that’s better than Battlement Mesa but if you can squeeze it in I’ll prob be around

RED I would be a possibility for a Bandon Dunes outing. From reading this thread it appears you golfed there is JANUARY! wtf. when would be a good time to go? how close are you to the course(s)?

nate -
i've played there the first week in January for close to 15 years now with the same group (usually between 24-28 people). Jan. green fees are $105, July-Sept they're $295. we typically don't play a second full round in a day, but will do the Preserve, Shorty's, and now half the Sheep Ranch as a replay if the weather's good. lodging is also more than half price in Jan. i split a room with two queen beds and pay $210 per day for the room+golf. same thing in the summer would be $520.

weather is typically in the mid 50s during the day and rarely lower than the high 30s at night. yes the wind blows, and yes it can rain, and sometimes rain hard. one year it even snowed the day before we got there but melted by the time we were ready to play. all that said, i've played at least one round wearing shorts and long sleeves for the past 5-6 years. ymmv.

Portland is a 4.5 hour drive to Bandon, i.e. really short when you're going there and just long enough to be annoying when you're driving back. i believe there are direct flights from Denver to North Bend and you can take a shuttle from NB to Bandon. you may even be able to find a flight Buffalo>Denver>NB. once you're on property there really isn't a reason to have a car, they have shuttle service that's super fast and will take you anywhere on property.

so would you be up for another outing at a different time of year or would in an ideal world other 2+2ers be going on this January thing?

it would need to be a different trip. i don't organize the Jan thing and there's a wait list at least 8 deep.

I like golf trips.

nate
ec
red

who else?

A maybe for me, it all comes down to timing. Also if you get many people what's the earliest it could happen? Probably book beginning of 2022 for 2023???

i'm a "now" guy. i don't think i could wait until 2023 if we decided to actually do this.

edit: i'd probably be happy to do it in 2023 as well.

In for other earlier trips too most likely. Pinehurst!

this is a few years old (and someone else may have posted it when it was fresh) but i found it to be a fantastic read.

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/why...r-method-works

I’m interested. Bandon or Pinehurst would be cool.

It depends on timing, but I'm interested. I realize I'm a random and am bad at golf, but counterpoint.... I am also bad at gambling and like to drink.