Bandon next week!

[spud3]

Switched up on my plan to go in late April and will be there solo this coming Tues/Wed/Thur (Feb 25-27). Playing BD on Tuesday, PD Wed and Old Mac on Thursday (Trails will have to wait 'til next year).

 

From recent threads, it seems like there will be several WRX'rs there. It would be cool to meet up for a Guiness after the round if, anyone is interested.

 

Quite excited....

[Chris_NH]

Of course you're excited! You can actually start looking at weather forecasts (not that they mean all that much, but it's nice that you can look at them) :-)

Enjoy your trip.

[Swingem]

Why not play 36 one of the days and play Trails? If I had to skip one of them, it would be Old Mac.Enjoy your trip.

[the.landshark]

I suggest trying to fit all four in, but if I had to skip one, it would be BD.

Pacific is the prettiest, Old Mac is (by far) the most unique and most "Scottish linksy", and Trails is so very underrated. FWIW, depending on the day you ask me, each of those three could be my number one course on property, but Bandon Dunes is *always* my fourth. Interestingly, if you were to ask (just about) any caddie, they'd likely tell you their number one is Trails, so food for thought.

It's a pretty good place to be regardless, trying to figure out which is the worst of the best, lol... and whatever to decide is still going to be awesome.

Enjoy your trip!

[Chris_NH]

[quote name='the.landshark' timestamp='1392907877' post='8708409']
I suggest trying to fit all four in, but if I had to skip one, it would be BD.

Pacific is the prettiest, Old Mac is (by far) the most unique and most "Scottish linksy", and Trails is so very underrated. FWIW, depending on the day you ask me, each of those three could be my number one course on property, but Bandon Dunes is *always* my fourth. Interestingly, if you were to ask (just about) any caddie, they'd likely tell you their number one is Trails, so food for thought.

It's a pretty good place to be regardless, trying to figure out which is the worst of the best, lol... and whatever to decide is still going to be awesome.

Enjoy your trip!
[/quote]

I'd agree with this, with the added rationale that BD and PD are the two that are most similar to each other, so skipping one of those would be my choice (and BD would be the one I'd skip). However, the whole thing is an exercise in painful decisions. I'm sure whichever courses he chooses, he'll enjoy them.

[Chris_NH]

[quote name='Swingem' timestamp='1392906352' post='8708277']
Why not play 36 one of the days and play Trails? If I had to skip one of them, it would be Old Mac.Enjoy your trip.
[/quote]

The beauty of differing opinions.

I've mentioned this in other threads. Three of our foursome are returning this year and our schedule is such that we're playing one course twice, all others once. All three of us chose Old Mac as the course we wanted to play twice.

[mringwelski]

Good choice with Old Mac. IMO Old Macdonald is the most fun course to play out there. I agree Trails is very underrated as its a great golf course and people just hop on the bandwagon because of #14 or because there aren't any oceanside holes. It's very hard to rank the courses out there because they are all so different and are all amazing and I don't think its justly for Bandon to be ranked that low. Bandon Dunes holes 4, 5, 6, 12, 16 and amazing holes. IMO #16 at Bandon and #13 at Pacific are tied for the best holes out there.

[spud3]

Well, I'm trying a little different approach this time.

Living within a 5 hour drive makes it so I can go for shorter trips and not feel like I have to jam in as much golf as my 52 yr old body can stand (which is what I did last year), and I can savor it a little more (and have to recover a lot less). That's my theory, anyway.

Plus, I'm going as a single, which makes this kind of adjustment possible. Just keep an eye on the forecasts (with appropriate grains of salt - this is the Oregon Coast, after all), call the resort and find out what rooms are available.

I'm going to spend the mornings on the practice range, Preserve and Shorty's course, then play 18 in the later part of the day. Since I'm only going to be there two nights, one of the four courses will be skipped, and the luck of the draw was Trails. Next year, it'll be a different one. I love Trails, in a very different manner than the other three, probably because it's the one course at Bandon most like the courses here in PDX. I played it last in the rota when I was there last year, and it was like a more familiar feeling course, after four days of links. Kind of a "taste of home" after spending time in another country...

[bjackson]

Have fun! I can't wait to get back to Bandon, can't believe it's almost been a year since I was there last.

[Ranchobob]

[quote name='Swingem' timestamp='1392906352' post='8708277']
Why not play 36 one of the days and play Trails? If I had to skip one of them, it would be Old Mac.Enjoy your trip.
[/quote]

I've played there a few times. If it were me:

Day 1: AM Old Mac; PM Pac Dunes
Day 2: AM Pac Dunes; PM Bandon Dunes
Day 3: AM Bandon Dunes; PM Old Mac

I don't need to play Trails again, but it's a course you have to try once just on principle.

But no rush. It's a really good course but in the company of greatness.

Have a blast and take tons of pics.

[spud3]

Actually, I took enough photos last time so that I think I can just play this trip...

[spud3]

Been here in Bandon two days and have had absolutely stellar weather. Yesterday (Tuesday) was about 65 and very little breeze. The ocean was as calm as I've ever seen it. BD is in great shape, greens are nice and true, and I managed an 83 despite creaky joints from the 4.5 hr. drive. Played solo, and finished in 3:45, and I dawdled quite a bit and hit some "alternate" shots/putts more than a few times.

Staying in the Inn this time, and the room is just great. I prefer the lodge, but only because it is so much closer to the center of things, and it's a minor inconvenience to get to the sauna/Jacuzzi (such problems...). Chris_NH, you won't be disappointed with the gorse bloom. It's not 100%, but enough to give the course quite a bit of color and that sweet smell is in the air. I know it's a noxious, invasive, non-native weed, but it has it's charms...

Played PD this morning. It drizzled on the practice tee and looked like rain all day, so everyone had their full raingear going. By the third hole, we had all stripped down to shirtsleeves, as the sun came out and gave us another day in the 60's with sun and about a 10 mph breeze. The golf gods smiled on me today, and I shot a 76 with two birdies on 4(!) and 15 (almost-eagle on 15). Greens on PD are a little blotchy, but still managed to roll fairly true. Played with a group of three others, and our round was much slower than yesterday. Probably 4:10, with several waits on par three tees. The course was very full, but that is something I've noticed about PD. Maybe because it's the highest rated course here, but it seems to be the busiest. All three other players had caddies (George, Eric and Bernie - all great loopers), and I kicked in an extra tip for them. I did not ask for any service, nor was I offered any explicitly, just felt like I benefitted from being there as a part of the group during their conversations with their players.

Driving the ball in the proper spot in the fairway is really setting me up for scoring on these courses. Haven't been putting particularly well. 33 yesterday and 37 today, but putting from off the green is completely the way to go here. Yesterday I was chipping more, and the score reflects it. Today I made a conscious effort to use the putter more, and it worked.

Like I said before, rather than trying to jam in 36 holes each day, I'm spending the mornings at the practice area and Shorty's course, then playing 18 in the late morning. My body is much happier, and I feel less hurried and more able to savor the round(s). Couple that with not being as "star-struck" as I was my first trip here, and it is translating into having a better focus on the course and shot at hand. This is really cool.

One more round on Old Mac tomorrow, then home. Been a great little getaway, and I've already made my reservation for next February. I realize this is a fortunate run of weather, but the truth is this is just about as likely in February as it is in April.

[Chris_NH]

spud3 - really glad to hear your trip is going so well. We leave two weeks from today, so reading reports like yours is enjoyable and helpful. I recall when I was there last year, PD's greens were the fuzziest - I would have liked them a tad quicker. I wonder if that's a conscious decision on PD, given the wind and the undulations (BD's greens are flatter, so maybe they feel like they can get away with a bit more speed on those?).

Enjoy the rest of your trip.

[TheCityGame]

Did you get a look at the Punchbowl? This showed up in my Google+ feed this morning. . .opens in May (I'm going Labor day weekend this year. I CAN NOT wait.)

 

 

 

[spud3]

Good morning from Bandon! I did get a look at the Punchbowl yesterday. It's located right next to the PD clubhouse, and they have a small portion roped off to use as the putting green there. The rest is not open, but it looks like a really fun putting course. Just what you would have expected if someone told you that Tom Doak was making a putt-putt course at Bandon. The photo above must have been taken standing on the deck of the PD clubhouse.

The greens at PD had a lot of roughness to them. It wasn't just that they were letting them get a bit shaggy, there were some real patches of bare ground in a few of them. Didn't bother me too much, and like I said, they were still rolling true. BD's greens were superb, as is the practice green.

Weather this morning is typical Oregon Coast grey, and it's hard to tell if it will clear off and be nice or turn evil. Either way, I've gotten two postcard days here, so I'm good with whatever happens. Off to breakfast and my last round on Old Mac.

[kencanuck]

Enjoy Old Mac...I loved that course! I wished I had played it twice as I left it for the last day.

[natedd]

spud3 - Sounds like a great trip and as someone who is stuck in the midwest:

Damn you!

[glowchoy]

I noticed the greens at PD as well. My caddie mentioned it was they had challenges with poa infesting the greens, and that on some of the courses (Trails?) they hand pick the poa to remove it. I found the greens on Trails and Old Mac to be the nicest - I found adjusting to PD the hardest.

[spud3]

Finished up with a pretty lousy round at Old Mac today. Seemed like I hit one bad shot on almost every hole, and the putter was not saving me much. Ah, well...

Got two significant rain showers, the heaviest while we were on the 18th green. The round was not going well, so it was a kind of like getting the finger from the golf gods after yesterday's gift. Just could not put together a decent hole, either a bad luck bounce into a pot bunker or 3-jacking a green I would finally hit in regulation. Just goes that way sometimes.

Still, a great trip and already looking forward to next year!

Heads up for those driving from Eugene or Portland: There is a road project about 15 miles west of I-5 that has the road closed from 8PM to 6 AM Saturdays-Wednesdays through the summer. They are working on a tunnel near Elkton, and the detour is not desirable. So if you are driving and will be going through there after 8PM and before 6 AM, the you might want to find an alternate route. Best way from the north is probably to take Hwy 126 west from Eugene to Florence, then south to Bandon. From the south,, you can exit I-5 at Sutherlin and take 138 up to Elkton, then 38 to Reedsport. ODOT trip info here:

[url="http://www.tripcheck.com/Pages/RCMap.asp?curRegion=4"]http://www.tripcheck...asp?curRegion=4[/url]

[spud3]

[quote name='glowchoy' timestamp='1393566140' post='8763230']
I noticed the greens at PD as well. My caddie mentioned it was they had challenges with poa infesting the greens, and that on some of the courses (Trails?) they hand pick the poa to remove it. I found the greens on Trails and Old Mac to be the nicest - I found adjusting to PD the hardest.
[/quote]

That sounds like a plausible reason. I only had to putt through the bare spots once, and the ball still rolled amazingly well. And it wasn't on a lot of greens, maybe three or four. But it was noticeable, especially after seeing them last April in such good shape.

And the greens on Old Mac were quite nice, even though I couldn't putt to save my life today...