So what brings you back to Bandon...

[Dsevans8]

So this thread is a little spin off of a current thread about Bandon... I figure we can never have too much talk about Bandon. The question is what is it that makes Bandon so special? What is it that makes you immediately wan't to come back? I remember my first trip I was on the 11th hole of Bandon Dunes and my buddy and I were talking about how amazing the experience was that we were having. Before I knew it we were on the phone, while on the course, making reservations to come back again. (I know I have issues). How do you quantify your Bandon experience. Every time I talk to people about how great it is I find myself struggling to explain exactly what it is that makes Bandon so amazing. There is a lot of amazing golf to be had out there, but a Bandon trip takes the cake. I just had a buddy come back from his first trip and he said Bandon changed his love for golf, and the weather was wet and windy all weekend. Help me explain please!!!

[oregongolf]

Days like this:

 

 

Usually it's a 12some at Preserve with the last tee time. Or playing in a gangsome on the Punchbowl. Last year it was a second replay round at Bandon Dunes finishing playing 16 at sunset, 17-18 in a 12some in the near-dark.

 

But for us, it's all about being with your buddies in a super special place. Bandon is the ultimate buddies trip and truly a place to get lost for a week or weekend. There's no special juju--it's 4 world-class courses and making it all about the golf. From there, everyone finds their own reason why they love the place. It literally has something for everyone.

 

I've played some pretty amazing places and while I always considered myself fortunate to play them... I don't at Bandon, just thankful to have an opportunity to hang there with my buddies.

[Dsevans8]

Days like this:

 

 

Usually it's a 12some at Preserve with the last tee time. Or playing in a gangsome on the Punchbowl. Last year it was a second replay round at Bandon Dunes finishing playing 16 at sunset, 17-18 in a 12some in the near-dark.

 

But for us, it's all about being with your buddies in a super special place. Bandon is the ultimate buddies trip and truly a place to get lost for a week or weekend. There's no special juju--it's 4 world-class courses and making it all about the golf. From there, everyone finds their own reason why they love the place. It literally has something for everyone.

 

I've played some pretty amazing places and while I always considered myself fortunate to play them... I don't at Bandon, just thankful to have an opportunity to hang there with my buddies.

I got to agree with you on that. Hangin with buddies, sharing that experience with them. Just an amazing time.

[dpb5031]

I had the unbelievable opportunity to play all four Bandon courses with my daughter several years ago when she was 16. We are (well,"were") from NJ (FL now), so a pretty long trek. She had just finished playing in the US Women's Am at Portland CC, so we drove down from there. Two of my buddies met us there to round out the foursome.

 

I think something about the awesome natural rawness of the place makes it incredibly unique and special. A day playing Bandon is like a day on the slopes (if you're a skier you'll get it...lol); you're exhausted, starving, thankful for an adult beverage, and completely stoked that you get to wake up and do it all over again the next day!

[spud3]

It's a little too easy to just say "the golf," as there's a bazillion places to go and play great courses. That said, having four truly world-class courses designed by three of the best modern architects all on one property is a darn big reason I keep going back.

 

Another is that the resort was conceived and implemented as a Golf Destination. Not a real estate venture or a typical "resort." There's nothing else to do there besides golf. No tennis. No spa. No shopping. Just golf.

 

I love that the location is just outside Bumf*ck Oregon. You really have to want to go there. I may feel differently if I didn't live about 5 hours away.

 

This will sound weird, but I love the smell of the place. That invasive, noxious, flammable weed called gorse emits a particularly pleasant scent that is all over the three seaside courses. And Trails has its own flavor, a mix of Scotch Broom, Spruce and Alder. All of these mixed with a dose of fescue trimmings and a splash of fungicide. Magical.

[spud3]

Oh, yeah... all the above and the view as you come around the corner on BD #4

[Dsevans8]

Oh, yeah... all the above and the view as you come around the corner on BD #4

Man that view just smacks you in the face... that green just perched up there. You are so certain if you are one yard long that you have hit it in to the ocean. In regards to the location... I think this is such a huge part of the appeal. You have to wan't to get there, it takes work, you have isolated yourself from everything else. There is only one purpose to being there, no beer drinking cart guys, loud music, no casual participants. Golf until it hurts, fill up your tank, sleep it off, and wake up and do it again. The course CAN NOT DISAPPOINT! This is why nobody speaks ill of Bandon, because you are only there for the amazing golf, and the courses have enough bite to keep you coming back again and again and again. Sunny, cold, windy, rain, or all together on the same round. Doesn't matter, Bandon will not disappoint.

[duffer987]

Links golf + 4 of the best public golf courses in the US + I can drive (allbeit 8 hrs) to them.

 

We've had geographic proximity threads before and for my money I can only match it (accessible to public golf) by going to England or Scotland.

[mallrat]

This may have been covered but for me, when i’m there, I just check out. Cell phone who cares besides pictures of the round, social media, not important. I answer the phone only for my wife and son. I don’t know what it is about that place but it puts me in the biggest happy trance.

[dpark]

Personally it is the meatloaf at McKees that brings me back...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh and this:

 

 

[ryu123]

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

[2putttom]

friend's and the fear that some day I'll be too stoved up to walk it

[buzlin]

I'll add that the routing and lack of cart paths makes each round feel like a mini expedition, with a sense of exploration. Returning to each clubhouse feels like breaking out of nature and back to civilization.

[DFinch]

It exists for one purpose: world class golf. From the moment you enter the property, nothing exists but golf.

 

It feels like being transported to a different country.

 

You are surrounded by people who share your passion for the game. There is no mixed company or motivations...everyone there made the trek for the same reason.

 

The variety of the property, from the courses to the practice facility to Shorty's to Punchbowl. All golf. All unique. Always something different to experience.

[kaschreiber]

I think it's a couple things-

1. Yes, 4 world class courses at the same resort, plus one of the top par 3 courses in the country. The NW isn't really thought of us a golf destination, but here you have a premier destination right in "our" backyard that we get to take pride in.

2. It's in the middle of nowhere. You don't feel compelled to check email, texts, etc. while you're there. You unplug and enjoy the golf. To me, it's not that far removed from camping with a golf club in hand.

3. I know going as a single is popular with a lot of people on this thread, but I think a buddy's golf trip is about the best way I can spend a weekend/week (don't tell my wife) and this place makes it so, so easy to do.

4. Golf tends to feel stuffy/corporate at times, this is the exact opposite. Don't really feel like you have to be "on" while you're there. Just be yourself and geek out on the place as most others are as well.

5. I think this is the big one and what DFinch and others allude to- the sense of community of the place. When I see someone wearing a hat/polo/pullover with any of the logos, I feel almost compelled to talk to them and I don't think many people would be put off or turned away. Some of the other premier courses- Pebble, Augusta, Pine Valley- you have to be of a certain station in life to have played there and seeing the guy wear that logo almost feels like a "look at me" sort of thing. All four courses at Bandon can be done and done right for the price of a single round at Pebble, if you plan it well enough.

6. There are a lot of people on these forums too that even though we've never met, you start to feel like you kind of know them from reading their thoughts/opinions about all things golf day in and day out and Bandon is ingrained in that camaraderie.

 

It's a place I've got to visit with my dad, trip 2 with him and 10 other friends is this Fall, and I hope one day to take my kids/grandkids/nieces/nephews along with my friends and their kids until we're too old to move. Not sure I'd feel the same way about visiting Monterey or Florida.

[Slippin_Jimmy]

Obviously the golf is the #1 reason to go to Bandon, we wouldn't be this excited about the place if the courses weren't world class. Outside of that, the biggest draw for me is the vibe of the place, they really did it right. The worst thing about golf IMO is the snobbery, and the perception that it's an elitist sport. I love that you really don't find any of that at Bandon. Most of us will never get to play Augusta, Cypress, etc., but even if we did we'd constantly be worried about offending someone with a minor slight of some sort and not being invited back. It's great that at Bandon I can wear jeans in the bar or change my shoes in the parking lot and nobody's really going to judge me. The only snobbery I've ever seen at Bandon has come from the occasional guest, certainly not from anyone who works at the resort. There's something great about being able to enjoy world class golf and feel relaxed at the same time that few other places offer, and it keeps me coming back.

[payerasjl]

Nothing that makes me not want to go back. But overall, id say the quality of the peera you meet. Everyone makes the treck out there (10+ hrs for me) which means were all equally addicted to golf.

 

The ghost tree, the breeze, the hail- the turn onto 5 on BD, and the 70 yd bump n runs, the rain gear all blended with golf as it truly was meant to be.

 

Ill be going back for as long as i can handle the walk. And when i cant, i hope i can wait on the 19th hole for my kids to finish their rounds.