Bandon Dunes Trip Report
11-10-2021
, 04:45 PM
11-11-2021
, 09:13 PM
Okay - super long, apologies but I threw some pictures in to help offset the word vomit.
Trip number 7 in the books. Originally had it booked for first week of November 2020 but Covid pushed it back a year; so, I booked about a year out and was able to get a room in the lodge and early enough tee times each day to get 36 in.
Flew from Colorado to Eugene Saturday afternoon and got the resort after dark. Stayed in the lodge which I think is the best spot for a solo trip due to the convenience to restaurants, spa/exercise room, etc. The Inn is also great.
Forecast as I arrived with nice weather days 1 and 3 and rain on days 2 and 4. So I went ahead and got a full Gore-Tex rainsuit; ended up only raining 9 holes of the 144 I played - but when it comes down hard you want the good stuff and it should last me a long, long time.
Day 1 started with Bandon Trails at 8:20 (3rd time of the day) and somehow, I was out as a single. The 3some in front of me was on a getaway day so they were motivated to play fast and catch a shuttle to the airport and I wasn't looking to rush and play through as they were moving along nicely. Did spend a little extra time at most greens hitting a few extra shots and putts which is also nice when you’re starting your trip to get some extra reps with the wedges and putter. My caddie for day 1 was a guy named Casey who is very good player. Normally you have one caddie for the entire trip but with a 4-day trip, being a single (the caddies all prefer to double bag, of course) and the resort being so busy they had to assign me someone for day 1 and one other caddie for the rest of the rounds.
Trails was softer than I had ever played it - quite a few holes, 9, 13, 14 especially, were all soft on the run-ups to the greens and most of the greens had some rough spots and patches/marks that weren't great looking or to putt on. Still plenty good for a busy resort but the rain the last bit definitely had the course in the worst shape of the bunch.
The afternoon round was Bandon and after a quick bite to eat we met up with the two guys we'd play with and head off on our adventure. Bandon was in great shape! With a 2:00 tee time and the sun setting around 6:50 I had no concerns on our ability to finish until we got to the 12th tee and we were the second group to be waiting and had already waited briefly on the tees of 9, 10 and 11. Pace slows on the back nine of Bandon as groups take pictures and 12 is directly into the sun as it sets in the fall. Then 15 is a tough par-3; drivable par-4 16th (although it’s not drivable for most with the fall/winter south wind) and reachable par-5 18th. So, we were out on 15-17 as the sun was really going down which is so special, even if it means playing 18 in the relative darkness. In fact, I totally shanked my 3rd shot into the canyon right of 18 green due to it being dark.
My brother, who is a caddie at Bandon, normally meets for me dinners after the days but he was busy Sunday night so I ordered room service from McKee’s to my room (perk of the pandemic). It only took 35 or so minutes to have it delivered to the room and it was hot/delicious; I’m glad they are offering the option.
Day 2 was supposed to be the nasty rainy day and I woke up to rain and wind. After the breakfast buffet at the lodge, I geared up with the full raingear and headed to Old Mac. Checked-in and met my caddie for the rest of the rounds, Jacob, who despite the weather was enthusiastic and ready to go. Dumping rain and 15-25+ MPH winds kept me under the guest services shack and then starter shack until it was time to go. We had the south wind so at least 1 and 2 play pretty easy. But the turn back for #s 3 and 4 were rough. I hit a very solid drive on 3 and it got up on top of the dune just right of the ghost tree but man the hole plays long when the drives don’t get down the dune. Same for 4; it took a well struck drive, hybrid then 6 iron to get to the green on a par-4. Fortunately, the rain subsided as we played #7 and it was essentially done in time to enjoy the view from the 7th green. The rest of the round had a perfect amount of wind; enough to make you think and adjust but not strong enough to be a significant issue. Played with a couple from Denver so we got to chat a bit about Colorado stuff; unfortunately, the husband hurt his hand hitting out of some long grass right of 15 fairway and it ended his trip on morning #1.
Rain gear was off by the time we finished at Old Mac and I had just enough time to get back to the room and change before an afternoon round at Sheep Ranch. Sheep Ranch is on the far North end of the property; a good 10-minute shuttle ride from the lodge so you do need to consider the drive out there/back when playing 36 holes. In fact, I think the normal 5- hour minimum mark the resort schedules between rounds needs to be 5:30 if the other course is Trail or Bandon.
I did play Sheep Ranch once before this trip so I knew the routing and what to expect, but like the first time I play a lot of courses I kind of over-amped myself the first time so I was looking forward to the two cracks at it this trip. Didn’t start great yanking my tee ball dead left into the trees; but it popped out playable and we were off. Knowing mostly where to go and have some idea of the strategy of the course lead to a better round; but again, a slower afternoon round left us rushing to finish. In fact, we caught the group in front of us on the 18th tee (after waiting on each box from 15 to 17) and they invited us to play in as 8. It was chaos but everyone was playing decent and we moved up to the green nicely and finished; the group behind us were likely the last to finish.
Had dinner at McKee’s Monday night with my brother and swapped stories from our days.
Tuesday had great weather; little chance of rain and it would alternate from cloudy to sunny with light winds. After 2 days of 36 I got up a little earlier to use the spa and exercise area to stretch it out which felt great. Sheep Ranch has its own range and a turn stand that serves breakfast so I headed out to the far North end of the property about an hour before my time. I tried the corn beef breakfast burrito as I had heard good things, but it underwhelmed as I found it rather bland and needed a lot of hot sauce. The SR range was empty and it was slightly foggy so it was a fun experience to be out there just after sunrise. When our time came to start, we met the twosome we’d be paired with and their caddie, who came over after I teed off and preemptively apologized for the pace at which we’d play. One of the two guys (college roommates in their late 60s) took a long time to figure out what he was doing before every shot and then get to the actual swinging. It was a tough round pace wise as it took us 4:15 as a 3-some in the third group out in the morning. The round went okay; started out the first 5 holes great but chewed off a little more than I could cover on the 6th hole tee shot and lost a ball into the gorse covered side of the cliff and then kind of lost it for the rest of the round with only a few more decent holes and way too many bogies and doubles. I’ve read a lot of reports with people shooting great rounds on Sheep Ranch and finding it pretty easy but through my 3 rounds I’ve had a few decent stretches but haven’t come close to putting a decent round together. The par-3s and 5s are pretty straight forward and not too long but I feel like I have had a ton of long iron and hybrids into par-4s and outside of the 3 shortest 4s (2, 15 & 17) not very many wedges. It’s a lot of fun and I love the 8-10 stretch of medium par-4s but between wind, longer approaches, and putts not falling I have found Sheep Ranch to be a solid test, or at least one I haven’t figured out yet.
The slow twosome was scheduled to play two groups in front of us at Bandon for our afternoon round so as soon as we walked off the 18th I went into the shop to inquire about getting out in front of them at Bandon or on another course. Bandon was full but we had our choice of Old Mac or Trails and I opted to play Trails.
With Trails being on the entirely other end of the resort we had to hustle a bit to get down there, but after checking in and changing shoes we were off again, paired with 3 guys from Northern California who had just arrived after driving up that morning. These guys ended up being a little slow to start (we were prodded along on the 4th tee) but we found a nice groove and had an excellent afternoon walk. Despite what I mentioned earlier about the conditioning, the course is still so good and I love it so much. I think every hole is good and that it’s the best layout at Bandon and isn’t the highest ranked only due to lack of seaside holes/views.
My brother and I headed into town that evening to have cheap Chinese food as the resort was packed and without reservations even a table for two was hard to come by. Debriefed, stuffed our faces and then he dropped me back off at the resort and I crashed hard before my last day of golf.
Wednesday’s forecast looked good up until 3pm when it was supposed to really start coming down. But a picture-perfect morning greeted us for a round at Pacific Dunes; almost no wind and mostly sunny skies. Got paired with the same couple from Colorado as the Old Mac round on day 2, and unfortunately the guy who hurt his wrist that first day was still unable to play and his hand/wrist was pretty wildly swollen. He was walking along as a second caddie and photographer and our group was rounded out with an older gent from New Hampshire on a bit of a cross country road trip; he played Pacific Dunes the year it first opened but hadn’t been back in 20 years so it was fun to see what he remembered, didn’t remember and what he knew changed, etc. I invited him to come play the gold tee on #13 as it is still a great hole but I think the tee shot becomes one of the best on the property by moving up and way to the left; he thought it was cool and I don’t think my caddie had ever had anyone play from that box so feel like I got to spread the knowledge. Pacific was in great shape (minus 13-green had a bit of roughness) and with the wind down I felt it was especially playable and less penal than some of my previous experiences getting wrecked.
The final round of the trip was a 3rd go around Trails and I found out early in my visit that I was scheduled to go out solo which meant my brother and two other caddies were able to come out and play, which was great. The weather was supposed to turn bad sometime between holes 10 and 14 and we were looking like we’d finish in a downpour so we made sure to keep moving. We never waited on the group that went out 20+ minutes in front of us and never saw anyone behind us so it was a delightful afternoon, especially as the rain didn’t start until we had teed off on 17 and it didn’t come down hard until we were under the cover of the Trails clubhouse decks. I had a tough stretch from 6 to 9 but played really well the rest of the round; it was our first afternoon round that didn’t require waiting and it’s amazing how much nicer it is to just cruise along. Most everyone played solid rounds and that’s also fun; a lot of birdies and fun shots plus the gambling and ****-talking kept my energy level high despite the long 4 days.
My brother and one caddie buddy I’ve known for a few years now (we first met caddying at the KF Tour event in 2019) were going to grab dinner at McKees of the Puffin but again the whole resort was crazy, but we were able to secure bar seats at the Bunker Bar and order off the Puffin menu. We all had the Wagyu burger and shot the **** for an hour and a half and it was a great time.
My flight home from Eugene was Thursday at 1:30 so no chance of golf that morning but plenty of time to sleep in a little; have breakfast and do some shopping. Hit the road around 9:15 and while it rained the entire way to Eugene the trek was easy and my entire journey home was uneventful.
I’d play any of the Bandon courses any day with a big smile on my face. My new way to rank the courses is based on the level of excitement I have to play each one. Currently we’re looking at:
1. Bandon
2. Trails
3. Old Mac
4. Sheep Ranch
5. Pacific
6.
I’d play the Preserve every day for eternity, too – but it doesn’t get counted on the above list – that would make it that much harder.
I’ve now flown into Portland, Medford, Eugene and North Bend and the order of efficiency, proximity, cost, etc. for me goes:
1. Eugene
2. Medford
3. North Bend
4. Portland
My next trip is scheduled for April 2022 with 7 people total for 5 days; playing each of the 5 courses once, the Preserve and Bandon and Pacific a second time. We’ve got 3 first timers coming on that trip so I’m excited to see some folks get their first look at the resort.
Spoiler results that no one should care about:
TL/DR: 8 Rounds in 4 days with mostly amazing conditions. Good golf, good people, good food and as always, I left so excited to go back.
Trip number 7 in the books. Originally had it booked for first week of November 2020 but Covid pushed it back a year; so, I booked about a year out and was able to get a room in the lodge and early enough tee times each day to get 36 in.
Flew from Colorado to Eugene Saturday afternoon and got the resort after dark. Stayed in the lodge which I think is the best spot for a solo trip due to the convenience to restaurants, spa/exercise room, etc. The Inn is also great.
Forecast as I arrived with nice weather days 1 and 3 and rain on days 2 and 4. So I went ahead and got a full Gore-Tex rainsuit; ended up only raining 9 holes of the 144 I played - but when it comes down hard you want the good stuff and it should last me a long, long time.
Day 1 started with Bandon Trails at 8:20 (3rd time of the day) and somehow, I was out as a single. The 3some in front of me was on a getaway day so they were motivated to play fast and catch a shuttle to the airport and I wasn't looking to rush and play through as they were moving along nicely. Did spend a little extra time at most greens hitting a few extra shots and putts which is also nice when you’re starting your trip to get some extra reps with the wedges and putter. My caddie for day 1 was a guy named Casey who is very good player. Normally you have one caddie for the entire trip but with a 4-day trip, being a single (the caddies all prefer to double bag, of course) and the resort being so busy they had to assign me someone for day 1 and one other caddie for the rest of the rounds.
Trails was softer than I had ever played it - quite a few holes, 9, 13, 14 especially, were all soft on the run-ups to the greens and most of the greens had some rough spots and patches/marks that weren't great looking or to putt on. Still plenty good for a busy resort but the rain the last bit definitely had the course in the worst shape of the bunch.
The afternoon round was Bandon and after a quick bite to eat we met up with the two guys we'd play with and head off on our adventure. Bandon was in great shape! With a 2:00 tee time and the sun setting around 6:50 I had no concerns on our ability to finish until we got to the 12th tee and we were the second group to be waiting and had already waited briefly on the tees of 9, 10 and 11. Pace slows on the back nine of Bandon as groups take pictures and 12 is directly into the sun as it sets in the fall. Then 15 is a tough par-3; drivable par-4 16th (although it’s not drivable for most with the fall/winter south wind) and reachable par-5 18th. So, we were out on 15-17 as the sun was really going down which is so special, even if it means playing 18 in the relative darkness. In fact, I totally shanked my 3rd shot into the canyon right of 18 green due to it being dark.
My brother, who is a caddie at Bandon, normally meets for me dinners after the days but he was busy Sunday night so I ordered room service from McKee’s to my room (perk of the pandemic). It only took 35 or so minutes to have it delivered to the room and it was hot/delicious; I’m glad they are offering the option.
Day 2 was supposed to be the nasty rainy day and I woke up to rain and wind. After the breakfast buffet at the lodge, I geared up with the full raingear and headed to Old Mac. Checked-in and met my caddie for the rest of the rounds, Jacob, who despite the weather was enthusiastic and ready to go. Dumping rain and 15-25+ MPH winds kept me under the guest services shack and then starter shack until it was time to go. We had the south wind so at least 1 and 2 play pretty easy. But the turn back for #s 3 and 4 were rough. I hit a very solid drive on 3 and it got up on top of the dune just right of the ghost tree but man the hole plays long when the drives don’t get down the dune. Same for 4; it took a well struck drive, hybrid then 6 iron to get to the green on a par-4. Fortunately, the rain subsided as we played #7 and it was essentially done in time to enjoy the view from the 7th green. The rest of the round had a perfect amount of wind; enough to make you think and adjust but not strong enough to be a significant issue. Played with a couple from Denver so we got to chat a bit about Colorado stuff; unfortunately, the husband hurt his hand hitting out of some long grass right of 15 fairway and it ended his trip on morning #1.
Rain gear was off by the time we finished at Old Mac and I had just enough time to get back to the room and change before an afternoon round at Sheep Ranch. Sheep Ranch is on the far North end of the property; a good 10-minute shuttle ride from the lodge so you do need to consider the drive out there/back when playing 36 holes. In fact, I think the normal 5- hour minimum mark the resort schedules between rounds needs to be 5:30 if the other course is Trail or Bandon.
I did play Sheep Ranch once before this trip so I knew the routing and what to expect, but like the first time I play a lot of courses I kind of over-amped myself the first time so I was looking forward to the two cracks at it this trip. Didn’t start great yanking my tee ball dead left into the trees; but it popped out playable and we were off. Knowing mostly where to go and have some idea of the strategy of the course lead to a better round; but again, a slower afternoon round left us rushing to finish. In fact, we caught the group in front of us on the 18th tee (after waiting on each box from 15 to 17) and they invited us to play in as 8. It was chaos but everyone was playing decent and we moved up to the green nicely and finished; the group behind us were likely the last to finish.
Had dinner at McKee’s Monday night with my brother and swapped stories from our days.
Tuesday had great weather; little chance of rain and it would alternate from cloudy to sunny with light winds. After 2 days of 36 I got up a little earlier to use the spa and exercise area to stretch it out which felt great. Sheep Ranch has its own range and a turn stand that serves breakfast so I headed out to the far North end of the property about an hour before my time. I tried the corn beef breakfast burrito as I had heard good things, but it underwhelmed as I found it rather bland and needed a lot of hot sauce. The SR range was empty and it was slightly foggy so it was a fun experience to be out there just after sunrise. When our time came to start, we met the twosome we’d be paired with and their caddie, who came over after I teed off and preemptively apologized for the pace at which we’d play. One of the two guys (college roommates in their late 60s) took a long time to figure out what he was doing before every shot and then get to the actual swinging. It was a tough round pace wise as it took us 4:15 as a 3-some in the third group out in the morning. The round went okay; started out the first 5 holes great but chewed off a little more than I could cover on the 6th hole tee shot and lost a ball into the gorse covered side of the cliff and then kind of lost it for the rest of the round with only a few more decent holes and way too many bogies and doubles. I’ve read a lot of reports with people shooting great rounds on Sheep Ranch and finding it pretty easy but through my 3 rounds I’ve had a few decent stretches but haven’t come close to putting a decent round together. The par-3s and 5s are pretty straight forward and not too long but I feel like I have had a ton of long iron and hybrids into par-4s and outside of the 3 shortest 4s (2, 15 & 17) not very many wedges. It’s a lot of fun and I love the 8-10 stretch of medium par-4s but between wind, longer approaches, and putts not falling I have found Sheep Ranch to be a solid test, or at least one I haven’t figured out yet.
The slow twosome was scheduled to play two groups in front of us at Bandon for our afternoon round so as soon as we walked off the 18th I went into the shop to inquire about getting out in front of them at Bandon or on another course. Bandon was full but we had our choice of Old Mac or Trails and I opted to play Trails.
With Trails being on the entirely other end of the resort we had to hustle a bit to get down there, but after checking in and changing shoes we were off again, paired with 3 guys from Northern California who had just arrived after driving up that morning. These guys ended up being a little slow to start (we were prodded along on the 4th tee) but we found a nice groove and had an excellent afternoon walk. Despite what I mentioned earlier about the conditioning, the course is still so good and I love it so much. I think every hole is good and that it’s the best layout at Bandon and isn’t the highest ranked only due to lack of seaside holes/views.
My brother and I headed into town that evening to have cheap Chinese food as the resort was packed and without reservations even a table for two was hard to come by. Debriefed, stuffed our faces and then he dropped me back off at the resort and I crashed hard before my last day of golf.
Wednesday’s forecast looked good up until 3pm when it was supposed to really start coming down. But a picture-perfect morning greeted us for a round at Pacific Dunes; almost no wind and mostly sunny skies. Got paired with the same couple from Colorado as the Old Mac round on day 2, and unfortunately the guy who hurt his wrist that first day was still unable to play and his hand/wrist was pretty wildly swollen. He was walking along as a second caddie and photographer and our group was rounded out with an older gent from New Hampshire on a bit of a cross country road trip; he played Pacific Dunes the year it first opened but hadn’t been back in 20 years so it was fun to see what he remembered, didn’t remember and what he knew changed, etc. I invited him to come play the gold tee on #13 as it is still a great hole but I think the tee shot becomes one of the best on the property by moving up and way to the left; he thought it was cool and I don’t think my caddie had ever had anyone play from that box so feel like I got to spread the knowledge. Pacific was in great shape (minus 13-green had a bit of roughness) and with the wind down I felt it was especially playable and less penal than some of my previous experiences getting wrecked.
The final round of the trip was a 3rd go around Trails and I found out early in my visit that I was scheduled to go out solo which meant my brother and two other caddies were able to come out and play, which was great. The weather was supposed to turn bad sometime between holes 10 and 14 and we were looking like we’d finish in a downpour so we made sure to keep moving. We never waited on the group that went out 20+ minutes in front of us and never saw anyone behind us so it was a delightful afternoon, especially as the rain didn’t start until we had teed off on 17 and it didn’t come down hard until we were under the cover of the Trails clubhouse decks. I had a tough stretch from 6 to 9 but played really well the rest of the round; it was our first afternoon round that didn’t require waiting and it’s amazing how much nicer it is to just cruise along. Most everyone played solid rounds and that’s also fun; a lot of birdies and fun shots plus the gambling and ****-talking kept my energy level high despite the long 4 days.
My brother and one caddie buddy I’ve known for a few years now (we first met caddying at the KF Tour event in 2019) were going to grab dinner at McKees of the Puffin but again the whole resort was crazy, but we were able to secure bar seats at the Bunker Bar and order off the Puffin menu. We all had the Wagyu burger and shot the **** for an hour and a half and it was a great time.
My flight home from Eugene was Thursday at 1:30 so no chance of golf that morning but plenty of time to sleep in a little; have breakfast and do some shopping. Hit the road around 9:15 and while it rained the entire way to Eugene the trek was easy and my entire journey home was uneventful.
I’d play any of the Bandon courses any day with a big smile on my face. My new way to rank the courses is based on the level of excitement I have to play each one. Currently we’re looking at:
1. Bandon
2. Trails
3. Old Mac
4. Sheep Ranch
5. Pacific
6.
I’d play the Preserve every day for eternity, too – but it doesn’t get counted on the above list – that would make it that much harder.
I’ve now flown into Portland, Medford, Eugene and North Bend and the order of efficiency, proximity, cost, etc. for me goes:
1. Eugene
2. Medford
3. North Bend
4. Portland
My next trip is scheduled for April 2022 with 7 people total for 5 days; playing each of the 5 courses once, the Preserve and Bandon and Pacific a second time. We’ve got 3 first timers coming on that trip so I’m excited to see some folks get their first look at the resort.
Spoiler results that no one should care about:
Spoiler:
TL/DR: 8 Rounds in 4 days with mostly amazing conditions. Good golf, good people, good food and as always, I left so excited to go back.
01-10-2022
, 08:52 PM
01-10-2022
, 09:17 PM
Quote:
Us AGCC members take issue with that....
Shoe posted a 9.5 rating on twitter for yesterday, just a great example of how much luck comes into it when you're booking Bandon so far in advance. We've had absolute **** weather on the Coast for the past several weeks, just miserable, for some reason it decided to be 50 degrees and dry as a bone yesterday.
Shoe posted a 9.5 rating on twitter for yesterday, just a great example of how much luck comes into it when you're booking Bandon so far in advance. We've had absolute **** weather on the Coast for the past several weeks, just miserable, for some reason it decided to be 50 degrees and dry as a bone yesterday.
we showed up on Wed, most of us teed off at noon at the Preserve with ~15mph winds and no wet, but some played Trails and started at 11am. we were off the Preserve for 15 minutes or so, sipping drinks in the restaurant, and the rain and wind decided to team up and pound the folks playing Trails. their last 4 holes were a full rain gear beatdown.
thursday was Sheep. overcast and moody. wind felt like 25mph, but we were chatting with a marshal about the wind and he whipped out a wind gauge that showed us it was only around 15mph. according to him 25mph is when it starts to blow you off your feet when you swing. 15mph is still a two to three club wind unless you pure it.
temps in the mid to high 40s.
friday was Old Mac. actually had to put on the rain gear and gloves for 11 (Road) and 12 (Redan) when a squall came in, but took them off on the next tee. temps probably ended up in the high 40s/low 50s with wind in the low mid-teens when exposed (like hole 3 when you crest the hill and the approach to the elevated green at hole 7) but very low on the sheltered portions of the course.
saturday was OG Bandon, and weather conditions were mentioned above. after this trip OG Bandon is at the top of my ever-changing rankings
Last edited by REDeYeS00; 01-10-2022 at 09:24 PM.