The punchbowl looks like a blast to play.

it really is...and as KJ mentioned above there's drink service on the course. in fact, each 'tee' area has a drink holder.

*edit: this is a stock image i found online...i do not know the woman wearing yoga pants in this pic.

Flying from Denver to Portland today and driving to Bandon.

Old Mac and Bandon Dunes tomorrow

Pacific Dunes and Trails Tuesday. Weather looks like it's gonna be most dry the forts half of this week. Ship it.

Playing Bandon Crossings Wednesday and gonna try and get a round at either BD or PD Thursday morning. Preserve & punch bowl that afternoon.

Here we go.

Looks like rain Tues & Wed, but that doesn't matter...have fun!

Looking forward to a trip report. T minus 2 months give or take a few days before my short overnight trip there.

i'm not sure if you're traveling solo, or with a small group. but if at all possible i'd suggest swapping the Bandon Crossing day for playing at the Bally Bandon Sheep Ranch.
The course is just north of Bandon Dunes (but not part of the resort, so the shuttles won't take you there). There are 13 greens, and you will be given a suggested routing when you show up, but the idea of the course is for you to pick a green from anywhere you want to tee the ball and play from there. they offer one group time in the morning and one time in the afternoon. you'll be the only group on the course when you go. the articles below will let you know how to schedule a time.

http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/sh...n-dunes-review
http://news.cybergolf.com/golf_news/..._simpler_times
https://www.flickr.com/photos/123169...7607143288245/

That is awesome. Wish I had 30 acres sitting around, would build myself that.

Three weeks until I tee it up at Pacific Dunes. Can't wait!

I hope this thread become a repository of all things Bandon ... and we get some more from KJ's last trip!

I'm seriously considering an offseason trip, after Thanksgiving would work well. My dad has a milestone birthday this fall and I'd love to take him somewhere like Bandon -- Pebble Beach would have been my first choice (since he sent his parents there for a milestone years ago) but it's so over the top expensive that's not happening. If I can find a decent airfare and there is availability at the resort this just might happen.

probably the biggest challenge for someone flying from out of state is getting to the resort. here are some tips from the BD website: http://www.bandondunesgolf.com/resort/getting-here

found a pretty good article (and video) from Matty G on some basics. if you pick only two suggestions of his to listen to, make it the ones about your best rain gear (and this trip may be the excuse you need to upgrade what you currently have) and the one about two pairs of shoes, but not new ones that you'll be breaking in. one of the guys in our group wasn't thinking and brought a brand new pair he'd never worn and was thoroughly blistered up on the first day of a four day trip and he suffered during the next three rounds. you don't want something that easy to control dragging down your trip. on the plus side, during my last trip in Jan they had shoe warmers/dryers in the rooms at the Chrome Lake Cabins. probably the same in other buildings, but don't know for sure.
http://www.golfadvisor.com/articles/...know-14632.htm

I don't even own rain gear. I will be keeping a close eye on the forecast and will be picking some up in Vegas before I get there if I have to. Since I'm only there for a day I hope to get lucky with the weather.

Any recommendations on what to get. I'm on a fairly tight budget though. I know the Walter Hagen stuff at Dick's is pretty cheap but I guess you get what you pay for.

I have Walter Hagen rain gear that I bought on sale at Dick's and it works fine.

1. Rain gloves. I don't even care that much about other gear, if I don't have rain gloves I'm not playing any more.

As for other stuff, dunno. I haven't bought rain gear in ages. I'd check eBay and online discounters for clearance stuff, no reason to pay full retail.

I do own rain gloves, picked those up as soon as I booked Bandon. Picking up stuff online will not be possible as I am just going to purchase it last minute if I need it. Guess that's the chance I am gonna take. Plenty of outlet malls in Vegas I can pick something up reasonably cheap I guess.

5 days out for me. Picked up some rain gear last night. The weather forecast (for what good it is this far out) shows 56*, 10% chance of rain and 4 mph winds. If that forecast happens I will be elated.

Making the 5 hour drive from Redding tomorrow am. Trying to decide whether to leave at 5am to check out more of the resort or not, thinking yes.

Weather tomorrow doesn't look good. I had hoped to play the preserve tomorrow. Problem is that I have enough $ for:

a) Pacific Wednesday and a replay somewhere after.
b) Preserve Tuesday and Pacific Wednesday
c) Pacific Wednesday and Preserve after.

I also haven't walked a course in 10 years.

Yes, leave early and get there. You can spent time on the range/Shorty's/punchbowl.

Weather tomorrow just looks like showers, which is enough to slightly annoy but shouldn't wash you off the course. Weather Wed. looks to be great for this time of year. If you're seriously concerned about walking stamina, then Pacific + Preserve might be the play. Old Mac might be challenging walking a reroute, Bandon is easier, and Trails would be my last choice for a reroute (but still great). The resort has rickshaws available so you can push your clubs, if that helps.
Playing Shorty's at the practice center is another very cheap option to get some short holes in at the end of the day (if it's open).

Yeah looks like I hit the lottery for weather on Wednesday. Right now I have tee times for Pacific and the Preserve Wednesday. I'm gonna ask to see if I can get a replay tee time for later Wednesday and then decide which I want to play after the first round is over.

You staying on property?

So sick. I'm moving to Redding here shortly and reading this TR made me wonder exactly how far it is. Now I'll have to convince the future wife to make a pit stop here before we head to Portland for some beer and food shenanigans!

Yes, just checked-in. I already hit the practice area for a while and checked out the punch bowl. They set the punch bowl course at 2 so I am heading back to do that and probably hit the range again before the end of the day.

I switched my afternoon tee time tomorrow so now I have:

7:40a - Pacific Dunes
12:40p - Old MacDonald

Already took a ton of video and some photos. Will have to do a big photo dump when I get back to the room later tonight and when I get back home Friday.

So far, this place is amazing! I never really want to leave.

P.S. Weather is great here today, 50* and light winds, no rain yet. 50* here feels warm actually.

Yep, left at 5:30a and got here at 10:30a. Stopped for gas once and a bathroom break 2x. I wouldn't want to leave any earlier than I did cause you really would want to go through the mountain passes in the daylight. There was snow on the ground and it rained on and off. Not cold enough for it to freeze but it did get as low as 32* passing through according to the car.

punch bowl pictures and video if possible please, pretty sure I could just play that all day drinking and have a blast.

where are you staying? asking because my only experience for the past 7 years is the chrome lake cabins and i'm curious about other accommodations. for what's it worth, they're great.

it's worth purchasing a yardage book for each of the courses you're playing, if only to know which direction you're headed.

so happy to hear you're playing old mac. holes 1 & 2 are right in front of you and a good warm up for what's to come, but please post about your thoughts about the tee shot on 3 and what you see as you walk to your second shot.

also curious which green at Pacific 9 and tee at Pacific 10 are in play tomorrow. Pac 9 is another blind tee shot over the mound similar to Old Mac 3. Pac 10 & 11 (back to back 3 pars) are my favorite two hole sequence of the limited courses i've played.

to summarize: i'm jealous. wishing i could go back in time and fully appreciate the first time i played each of those courses. congrats.

edit: if you're fighting the budget, McKee's Pub next to the Bandon pro shop (not in the main lodge) will be your best dinner option...just get a burger or sandwich, and for breakfast go to the main lodge but don't order the buffet unless you plan on putting down a large amount of food. if you want to try to make some money, head to the Bunker Bar on the basement level of the main lodge to see what sort of poker game is running.

This pic really doesn't do it justice but I tried to get all of it in the pic (but couldn't). Basically everything you see is the Punch Bowl.



I have a vid of me taking a 1 handed putt to watch it roll. Trying to upload that to YouTube.

I played the Punch Bowl twice, shooting 42 and 46. The second time through I 5-putted a hole. Hit it up, came down x3.