Bandon Trip Report; 130 holes in 68 hours

shackmangolf · June 13, 2018

Hey all,

Just got back from Bandon Dunes. I don't have any pictures but I do want to share a more extreme view of what you can do at Bandon.

Context:

Arrived Thursday on SFO flight into North Bend

Left Sunday on SFO flight from North Bend

6 guys / stayed at Grove Cottages

Our Itinerary by Day

Thursday (18 holes)

Flight was late and we teed off Bandon Trails at 4:30pm. Finished 18.

Friday (36 holes)

Old Mac in AM

Bandon Dunes in PM in the soaking rain

Saturday (58 holes, including Punchbowl)

Pac Dunes in AM, started in a downpour

Punchbowl after lunch (6-some)

Preserve (6-some, barefoot)

Back 9 of Bandon (teed off at 7:30pm, finished in 70 minutes, played as 6-some, barefoot): the most beautiful round of my life

Sunday (18 holes)

Pac Dunes, played in 4 hours after asking several foursomes to let us through.... some were nicer than others.

Total Miles Walked = 49

Thursday: 8

Friday: 14

Saturday: 19

Sunday: 8

Average Sleep: 5.5 hours.

After a few (ok all) late nights and with early tee times, we didn't sleep much.

Here are my tips and mistakes:

1) WARM raingear. We all had goretex, rain gloves, bucket hats, and waterproof shoes, but it was 48* and raining. We were all freezing in the pouring rain on Bandon Dunes on Friday afternoon in the wind. At one point, I willed my PXG's to my friend because I didn't think I was going to make it home alive. You need a super warm down or fleece vest under the rain gear.

2) Skip the practice area. No need to work on your game on an empty field. Get your 36 in and work on your game with your 3rd round (free) by playing any course you want. Get up early, get a round in by 11am and then start the festivities... the caddies were super cool about letting us hit an extra ball as long as we were quick (which we were). Play to you are happy on the first tee.

3) Breakfast is tough: we stayed at the Grove cottages and played Pac Dunes and Old Mac in the mornings. We thought breakfast would be easy by eating at those clubhouses/places. Breakfast took forever each am and stressed us out. We never figured out an easy "grab and go" breakfast place - maybe the main lodge or trails has this but we never experienced it. For example: 6 guys trying to get grab and go breakfast sandwiches at Old Mac took 25 minutes for the sandwiches to be made. We wound up eating granola bars until the on course food shacks, were we ate sandwiches/hotdogs. It was easier to get a bloody mary than food before 10am, so we subsisted on tomato juice and olives.

4) Play each course twice if you can. Each time we played a course the second time, it was so much fun. Our second rounds on Bandon and Pac Dunes were blasts. We played both without caddies the second time. I wish I had a chance to play Old Mac again - that course is fun. For late night fun, play these after 7pm (for third round): back 9 at Bandon, the first 5 at Trails (great holes), any holes at Old Mac or Pac Dunes, they are all great but tough to get to since at north end of the property. I would suggest that you throw your scorecard out the window for the first round and just enjoy it because these courses aren't like anything you've ever played before. Treat the second round as the scoring round.

5) For god sakes, play fast. I can't believe how slow people can be on the golf course. I saw terrible course behavior that drove slow play. Never leave your caddy's side without taking a few clubs. Grab your wedge / putter as soon as you know your ball is close to the green. Ball in gorse? It's gone - drop another and move. Not even walking to your ball until your caddie partner hits. Play ready golf. . These courses are very easy to walk and wide open, no reason it should take 4:45 to play. I just saw people being bone headed. I also saw people struggling to walk 8 miles. Don't go if you are out of shape.

6) Have fun. People are super down to earth and very welcoming. You need to laugh even though these courses are tough. Bring a flask. Wager with your friends. Play barefoot. Be creative in your shots. Use your putter from 50 yards in. At one point, I had a 80 yard bunker shot from the bottom of a bunker that had a 30 foot lip (I think it was #15 on Old Mac). I was dead. So I took a five iron and flushed it into the railroad ties on the face of the bunker. The ball kicked up into the air about 150 feet and landed 15 feet from the hole. Caddy said he was hoping someone would try that for 5 years. Missed the putt for birdie.... We routinely had beers in our hand. We had music playing. It was the single coolest golf experience of my life.

7) Be nice to your caddies. These guys are great. These guys work really hard. Buy them a beer or two at the beer shacks. Tip them well. Tell them jokes. I think they put up with a lot of crap but they are all great and work their butts off. From what I can tell, ALL the caddies are great. You really can't have a bad one. All 4 of our caddies were awesome at reading putts...

8) Aviation Transport: www.aviationtransportation.com Can't say enough about Terra and Jennifer at Aviation Transport. They went grocery shopping for us (booze, food, other). They called ahead when we were in route and had our keys / bags / tee times all set for us. They made our trip incredibly easy and went beyond and above to deal with our delayed flights and changing tee times. This company made our trip.

9) Food: McKees. That is all you need. Avoid Pacific Grill unless you have time (food took forever). Maybe the pub in the lodge as well. Can't remember the name of it...

10): Beware of the drunk squirrels. One of the squirrels knocked over one of our beers on the tee and started drinking it. One got into a granola bar in our golf bag. We found this hilarious....

Course Ranking:

1. Pacific Dunes. This is a masterpiece. Doak did such a great job making you think around this course. How he found the natural holes in the dunes is just crazy. This is the best course in the world IMHO.

2. Old Mac. Again, I am a Doak nerd but this course is incredible. A golf experience like you never had before and super fun (unless you played Streamsong Black)

3) Trails: Coore/Crenshaw knocked it out of the park. So much fun. Every hole is different with great shot value. Screw the different environments of meadows and forest - each hole is unique and awesome.

4) Bandon Dunes: The scenery is spectacular. But the course is "what you see is what you get". It is the most compact, wide open, and Scottish of the 4. The course is still awesome but I think the most "expected" of the 4. I feel bad saying this because David McKay Kidd was on property while we were there.... The course is a top 20 course in the world but the others are top 10, especially Old Mac and Pac Dunes.

We loved the Preserve and the Punchbowl. Highly recommend them. Didn't play shorty's (why would we when you can walk on any top 20 course in the world after ~7pm and play for free).

One thing I would change about Bandon Dunes

The food on the courses is pretty average. Just hot dogs on the rollers and some basic sandwiches. I love half way houses that have a personality and a specialty - from pickled eggs to buttered saltines to more fancy lunch options. Just a personal opinion and very small nit, but it is the only thing I would change. The beer selection is great though....