Random Bandon Thread

[sniper]

Heading for my first trip the last week of April.  For those that have been recently any cool merchandise you saw or purchased?

[ND2005]

8 hours ago, sniper said:

Heading for my first trip the last week of April.  For those that have been recently any cool merchandise you saw or purchased?

 

The merchandise is almost overwhelming since every course has its own shop and own logo. They have tons of Peter Millar at every shop, lots of other brands. The only downsides to me were no Holderness & Bourne and no American Needle hats. I tried to snag at least one thing with every logo. Hat from one course, yeti from another, etc. 

[VNutz]

10 hours ago, sniper said:

Heading for my first trip the last week of April.  For those that have been recently any cool merchandise you saw or purchased?

The one thing I keep kicking myself on is not buying extra colors of the Bandon Yeti for $20.

[me05501]

On 2/21/2023 at 5:08 PM, spud3 said:

The routing for the par 3 looks interesting, and a whole lot safer than the Preserve.  I get the coolness of playing the Preserve in a group of 157, all with drinks and vape sticks in one hand, but the routing of that little course makes it kinda dangerous, not to mention the frat-party atmosphere that can ensue.  Hoping they keep the new course to groups of 4 max, as there are a lot of us who just want a quiet session on a less-than-6000yd course to end/start the day.

 

On 2/23/2023 at 6:49 PM, spud3 said:

Personally, I'd like to see limits on group size.  I went one year solo and was faced with a Toyota Dealer convention of over 100 people, and it was impossible to get a table or a morning tee time without having to deal with hordes of idiots who were acting like it was Spring Break in Ft Lauderdale.

 

 

Ugh. Nightmare fuel. 

 

I get so tired of seeing these supposed golf accounts on Instagram and TikTok that feature dudebros acting stupid on golf courses. Obviously this encourages a lot of dudebro viewers to think it's okay to act like they're the only ones on the course. I hate it. 

Edited March 16, 2023 by me05501

[JLo_73]

Heading there on Wednesday for 7 rounds over 4 days (including Preserve).  Too bad to hear about SR, it's round 2 for us but none of us have played it so will just have to enjoy it for what it is from the sounds of it.  

[Chilidog]

Ok boys, here is my Bandon download after 5 days of being there. Before we get to the courses, I’ll say this: this is probably my last time going to Bandon. It’s so hard to get there from NC (I have my red eye back tonight because I couldn’t get back today without taking one) and honestly, the experience was as bad as I’ve ever had it (this was my 6th trip). First, let’s start with the good:

 

The staff in the pro shops were outstanding. We had 12 guys but most days only 10 could make the second 18. We had the last tee times out each day for the replay and they let us play fivesomes which made for incredible wolf games. The shuttles were quick, they had theraguns and leg recovery systems in every cottage and the food was good. 
 

The bad:

 

Food and bar service took incredibly long. We ate at dinners at the Forge, McKees and Pacific. Multiple nights at McKees we would arrive around 8:30 for dinner. We would wait 20 minutes each time after ordering a beer to actually get it. It got bad enough that we started ordering 1 and as soon as they would drop it off, we would order the next. The food took about an hour from the time we ordered it until the time it was brought to our table. Our last night we almost sent it back because we waited so long and we were so tired that we weren’t even hungry to eat anymore. 
 

The Punchbowl was fun but they didn’t have the Tap-In open several times when we were there in the late afternoon so we would have to walk up to Pacific Grill to get more drinks. We had to let several groups “play through” while waiting for our guys to come back. Everyone was grumbling about how poor it was run on the Punch Bowl for keeping people moving with drinks in hand. 
 

We stayed in the Cottages and they are really getting run down. My room had mold in a corner, one of the outlets didn’t work (which I was really happy about the next morning as it was charging my hand warmer pouch) and they are really dated with their design (mostly pink/green from the 90s). They aren’t well insulated as our neighbor cottage had a bunch of guys smoking weed outside my window which I could smell as I was going to sleep through my windows that weren’t open. I’m not a weed guy but it was everywhere out here on the Punch Bowl and course. 
 

I forgot how far the halfway houses are from each other on the course. It was too cold to carry more than one drink and I discovered if you put an extra in your bag, by the time you were ready for it, it was so shaken up that it would explode on you. We asked if we could call in drinks and tip a ranger for bringing them to us and we were told no. Just very unfortunate. 
 

Our caddies in our group were extremely hit or miss. I got a caddie that was brand new who did his best but was so inexperienced that he was guessing on a lot. I found that I read the greens better than him after about 9 holes. It rained our first couple of days and often times they would say something like “it’s 120 yards into the wind…I like your 135 yard club.”  I had to tell him that it’s a 3 club wind on a really cold day…it’s probably more around 170. Several times I still came up short. I had another caddie that wouldn’t stop talking from the time we teed off until the time we finished. He would talk in your swing to other members of the group and ultimately had no golf etiquette to him. Two of the guys in my group had to finally tell him they couldn’t take it anymore and he was going to have to shut up. He’s apparently been there for 20 years but loved telling us how he loves playing in 30 mph winds and often shot under par on whatever course we were on. He would tell us that he hit his clubs crazy distances and if I missed a putt, sometimes he would take my putter and throw a ball down and putt it. If it went in he would say that’s all you had to do. If he missed he would tell me I need to get a new putter and how good his Scotty Cameron is. Overall, we talked as a group last night and out of 12 people only 1 guy said he liked his caddie for this trip. 
 

Now to the courses:

 

Sheep Ranch: We played Sheep Ranch the first day of our trip. We showed up and met our caddies and they asked what our schedule was. I told him we were playing each course once but Pacific twice. He asked my second favorite course was and I said Trails. He asked if I wanted to switch to Trails instead of Sheep. I said no that I had never played Sheep. He said the greens were atrocious but understand that we were probably just going to have to play automatic two putts. I said we weren’t doing that. Then we played and I got it. The greens were some of the worst greens I’ve putted on in 40 years of golf. I would have been upset paying $15 to play those greens on a muni back home. Much less hundreds of dollars. We had 5 foot putts that were getting airborne and being bumped 6-8 inches off line. On the back side we just turned to automatic 2 putts and we had guys just picking them up and not even attempting putts on the back 9. That course needs to be shut down and the greens completely redone. 
 

Old Mac: We played it two days ago and we heard the greens were bad but they were rolling them. That helped some but they were still extremely slow and bumpy. Not as bad as Sheep but they still were bad. Again, we would have been upset with those green conditions at home, much less for the prices we paid. Tee through fairway, everything was great though. 
 

Pacific: This was my biggest gripe. We played on Monday in the wind and rain. We got to the course and 18 had a river running through it. We went inside and asked if the course was even playable. The guy at the register said there may be a couple of greens that have some water on them but overall we should be fine. We decided to brave the conditions instead of sitting at the cottages. The starter asked if we knew about the voucher system. We said no and he said we could turn back now and use the money we just paid for pro shop credit. The minute we hit the first ball, there were no vouchers. We discussed it and said that the guy said most of the greens would be playable and so we decided to press forward thinking the rain would be done by the time we got to 18. We got to the first green and it was underwater. We got to the 2nd green, same. This went the same for 5 more holes. Our caddies complained that they had to be there the whole time and we were moving putts 30 feet just to get them to where it was really wet but not completely under water. On the 7th hole we walked down the fairway talking to each other about how much the caddies were complaining and not making it fun on top of how we felt we were lied to inside. We decided to quit after 7 since it’s right by the Punch Bowl and head in. We sat at the bar at Pacific and complained that the whole experience was miserable because we felt like Bandon was more interested in making money from us on top of the caddies multiple times saying how much they hated having to be there in this weather. We agreed that the day was just awful on top of most of us buying $1k rain suits because our rain gear failed the day before at Sheep. 
 

We played Pacific yesterday and the greens were much better (not great) and we had a great time. 
 

Bandon Dunes: The greens were great at Dunes (we think from the hosting of the collegiate tournament). We had a blast there and the whole course was in great condition. 
 

Bandon Trails. We teed off second behind another foursome and we had the next two tee times in our group. One of our guys had an emergency bathroom break on 4 that held us up for 10 minutes but our foursome behind us still didn’t catch us. The starter said we were out of position and needed to get back in. So we hustled and caught the foursome in front of us by 6. We had a stop at the turn stand and the foursome in front of us didn’t. The ranger came by the turn stand and said we needed to speed up. Our group behind us wasn’t even on the green and we said the next two groups we knew and they were allowed to hit into us if we held them up. He said we just needed to pick it up. I caught the foursome again until the next turn stand stop. We were waiting on the lady to make transfusions and we told him we couldn’t go any faster than her. Our group behind us wasn’t even in sight and the ranger said we needed to pick up the pace. Our caddies told us he shouldn’t be saying that. We hustled to catch up again and finished right behind the foursome. We played in just under 4 hours. We waited the groups behind us to come in but they were a ways back. We waited on lunch and talked about how rushed we felt from the ranger all day long. Our next two groups finished and we all sat and ate lunch. I noticed that there weren’t any groups coming up 18 and I asked our last group if there was anyone behind them and they said no and that the starter said there was a 40 min difference until the next group was going off. We talked about how we were told to rush all day and we didn’t even need to and how it lessened the experience. The course was great though. Greens were the second best behind Dunes on the property. 
 

Preserve: we played twice and had a great time both times. Nothing ever disappoints with the Preserve. 
 

Overall, I would give the experience a B- to C+. We talked about with all the good golf destination options combined with how hard it is to get there, most of us wouldn’t be back. It’s still my favorite place on Earth but they have some serious challenges. They said that they 40 job openings to fill right now and it’s growing. They are building a restaurant out at OM where they are moving the Forge but they have been delaying building due to the job shortage. 
 

Streamsong will be my Bandon like fix for the future due to its proximity with Ireland/Scotland getting the bulk of my trips. 
 

Hope that helps!

[DLiver]

On 3/13/2023 at 4:33 PM, CDM said:

Friends on the east coast I went to college with have never been to Bandon and they say they probably will never go.   Easier for them to go to Ireland / Scotland vs courses they can play there. The cost is pretty much the same, plus now that Bandon is $350 a round during peak season. 

This, 100%. I say this as an east coaster who has been to BD several times, and Ireland/Scotland several times. It is hard to imagine circumstances where I would travel to BD instead of some other premium golf destination. I love BD but it is a real PITA to get there from the east coast. Heck I can be in Dublin in 6 hrs.

[DLiver]

@Chilidog    interesting experience. Last time I was there, we got admonished for all kinds of nonsensical things. It got to be a joke with my group--who would be yelled at for the most comical thing.

[me05501]

31 minutes ago, DLiver said:

@Chilidog    interesting experience. Last time I was there, we got admonished for all kinds of nonsensical things. It got to be a joke with my group--who would be yelled at for the most comical thing.

That is a weird dynamic that I probably wouldn’t enjoy. 

[ND2005]

Either fire the caddies or give them feedback. 
 

If a caddie grabbed my putter and played shots without permission I’d be done. 

[Chilidog]

33 minutes ago, ND2005 said:

Either fire the caddies or give them feedback. 
 

If a caddie grabbed my putter and played shots without permission I’d be done. 

The caddie told me he wasn’t working the next day and then showed up back on my bag saying that he didn’t have anything better to do. I wasn’t going to tell the caddie master to get rid of him right in front of him. I did only give him $110 instead of the normal $150 I gave everyone else. 

[ND2005]

7 minutes ago, Chilidog said:

The caddie told me he wasn’t working the next day and then showed up back on my bag saying that he didn’t have anything better to do. I wasn’t going to tell the caddie master to get rid of him right in front of him. I did only give him $110 instead of the normal $150 I gave everyone else. 

If you’re unhappy with your caddie, that is literally what the caddie master is for. If they don’t get feedback they can’t help you. 

[spud3]

Hmm.  Sad to hear about the continuing issues with hiring and the food service.

 

We there in a week and a half for eight rounds in five days.  Glad we've only got one round each on SR and OM.

[Chilidog]

15 minutes ago, ND2005 said:

If you’re unhappy with your caddie, that is literally what the caddie master is for. If they don’t get feedback they can’t help you. 

I plan to give them feedback. I am non-confrontational and will not make things awkward. 

[Chilidog]

16 minutes ago, ND2005 said:

If you’re unhappy with your caddie, that is literally what the caddie master is for. If they don’t get feedback they can’t help you. 

I don’t understand why they don’t buy a piece of land in North Bend/Coos Bay and make a parking lot. Run an employee shuttle every hour during the day. Offer benefits to all of those people working at ATT, Subway, etc. You can solve your staffing issue. They just aren’t being creative enough. I would think Streamsong would have it worse than them with how remote they are. 

[ND2005]

26 minutes ago, Chilidog said:

I plan to give them feedback. I am non-confrontational and will not make things awkward. 

I’m not a confrontational person either by nature. But you’re writing 500 word essays online complaining about your experience yet wouldn’t do anything to better it while you were there. Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I fired a caddie in Scotland and it took me about three holes longer to do it than it should have, but my day was immensely better afterwards. 
 

for Bandon where they try to keep your caddie with you the whole trip I would certainly speak up if there were major issues. 

[Chilidog]

33 minutes ago, ND2005 said:

I’m not a confrontational person either by nature. But you’re writing 500 word essays online complaining about your experience yet wouldn’t do anything to better it while you were there. Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I fired a caddie in Scotland and it took me about three holes longer to do it than it should have, but my day was immensely better afterwards. 
 

for Bandon where they try to keep your caddie with you the whole trip I would certainly speak up if there were major issues. 

I’m sorry. You win the better than me person of the award for the day. Congratulations. 

[SteelieD]

6 hours ago, Chilidog said:

Hope that helps!

😂😂😂

[Ronnie Mundt]

Leaving for Bandon on Saturday; 5 days 9 rounds.

 

@Chilidog I’m curious about this “emergency bathroom” situation on Trails. Did he sh!t his pants after a few long evenings of whisky and IPAs? Don’t get me wrong, that’s what I’m about to do.

 

But yeah, that’s a gigantic Yelp review there. No doubt the resort has gone through changes. If you’ve been so many times why even hire a caddie? I guess world class golf resorts aren’t immune to the staffing issues that have plagued the service industry for 3+ years now. I get it. I especially get it considering the crowds I see at Bandon now vs. the crowds I used to see. The place is littered with golfbro entitled a******* that think they should be waited on like they are royalty just because they made the trek to the Oregon Coast. Well it wasn’t always like that. The resort chased the dollar (don’t blame them) and service has suffered. In my opinion it has way more to do with the cretins that frequent the place than it does the good people that work there.  Nobody gives a s*** anymore, nobody respects the place like they should (everyone should be required to read “Dream Golf” before they visit IMO).

 

But we are going and we will have a blast. I will just ask if anyone reading this thread visits, don’t be a d!ckwad. Be kind, be respectful, don’t be an entitled little doosh. Say thank you and be appreciative of this wonderland on the Oregon coast. The folks that work there can’t do it alone. It’s the responsibility of all who visit, IMO.

[spud3]

@Chilidog In a couple days, you'll get a survey from the resort emailed to you asking about your trip.  Please take the time to complete it and let them know about the things that were sub-par for you.  I know for fact that the directors read all of those and take them seriously.  Nothing will change if they don't get honest feedback.

[Madhoshi]

1 hour ago, Ronnie Mundt said:

Leaving for Bandon on Saturday; 5 days 9 rounds.

 

@Chilidog I’m curious about this “emergency bathroom” situation on Trails. Did he sh!t his pants after a few long evenings of whisky and IPAs? Don’t get me wrong, that’s what I’m about to do.

 

But yeah, that’s a gigantic Yelp review there. No doubt the resort has gone through changes. If you’ve been so many times why even hire a caddie? I guess world class golf resorts aren’t immune to the staffing issues that have plagued the service industry for 3+ years now. I get it. I especially get it considering the crowds I see at Bandon now vs. the crowds I used to see. The place is littered with golfbro entitled a******* that think they should be waited on like they are royalty just because they made the trek to the Oregon Coast. Well it wasn’t always like that. The resort chased the dollar (don’t blame them) and service has suffered. In my opinion it has way more to do with the cretins that frequent the place than it does the good people that work there.  Nobody gives a s*** anymore, nobody respects the place like they should (everyone should be required to read “Dream Golf” before they visit IMO).

 

But we are going and we will have a blast. I will just ask if anyone reading this thread visits, don’t be a d!ckwad. Be kind, be respectful, don’t be an entitled little doosh. Say thank you and be appreciative of this wonderland on the Oregon coast. The folks that work there can’t do it alone. It’s the responsibility of all who visit, IMO.

Going with a group on Monday. It'll be our 4th time. Agree with this, be respectful and appreciative. Leave the attitudes at the edge of the property, and enjoy the golf and nature!

[st1800e]

9 hours ago, Chilidog said:

I had another caddie that wouldn’t stop talking from the time we teed off until the time we finished. He would talk in your swing to other members of the group and ultimately had no golf etiquette to him. Two of the guys in my group had to finally tell him they couldn’t take it anymore and he was going to have to shut up.

Was his name Roger?  

[Chilidog]

5 hours ago, Ronnie Mundt said:

Leaving for Bandon on Saturday; 5 days 9 rounds.

 

@Chilidog I’m curious about this “emergency bathroom” situation on Trails. Did he sh!t his pants after a few long evenings of whisky and IPAs? Don’t get me wrong, that’s what I’m about to do.

 

But yeah, that’s a gigantic Yelp review there. No doubt the resort has gone through changes. If you’ve been so many times why even hire a caddie? I guess world class golf resorts aren’t immune to the staffing issues that have plagued the service industry for 3+ years now. I get it. I especially get it considering the crowds I see at Bandon now vs. the crowds I used to see. The place is littered with golfbro entitled a******* that think they should be waited on like they are royalty just because they made the trek to the Oregon Coast. Well it wasn’t always like that. The resort chased the dollar (don’t blame them) and service has suffered. In my opinion it has way more to do with the cretins that frequent the place than it does the good people that work there.  Nobody gives a s*** anymore, nobody respects the place like they should (everyone should be required to read “Dream Golf” before they visit IMO).

 

But we are going and we will have a blast. I will just ask if anyone reading this thread visits, don’t be a d!ckwad. Be kind, be respectful, don’t be an entitled little doosh. Say thank you and be appreciative of this wonderland on the Oregon coast. The folks that work there can’t do it alone. It’s the responsibility of all who visit, IMO.

We were the second, third and fourth tee times off that day. We ate at the Trails that morning and several groups showed up that weren’t playing Trails but liked the breakfast. There are only 2 bathrooms at the clubhouse. One guy waited but 2 guys took long craps that morning and we had to head to the tee. He asked if there was a bathroom on the course. They said yes right after 3. He said he could make it that long. He could not. He ran off 2 green trying to make a run for it. Luckily the ranger was right there and he drove him to the bathroom. He met us as we came off 3. 

[Chilidog]

5 hours ago, spud3 said:

@Chilidog In a couple days, you'll get a survey from the resort emailed to you asking about your trip.  Please take the time to complete it and let them know about the things that were sub-par for you.  I know for fact that the directors read all of those and take them seriously.  Nothing will change if they don't get honest feedback.

I always do this. Mostly to point out people that I thought did an outstanding job. This will be my first where I have to note negative things. 

[Chilidog]

4 hours ago, st1800e said:

Was his name Roger?  

I shouldn’t say. I’m case he’s a WRXer. 

Edited March 17, 2023 by Chilidog

[me05501]

9 hours ago, ND2005 said:

I’m not a confrontational person either by nature. But you’re writing 500 word essays online complaining about your experience yet wouldn’t do anything to better it while you were there. Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I fired a caddie in Scotland and it took me about three holes longer to do it than it should have, but my day was immensely better afterwards. 
 

for Bandon where they try to keep your caddie with you the whole trip I would certainly speak up if there were major issues. 

The guy just had a very expensive and very negative experience. Telling him how he should have handled it better seems like piling on. 

[jrg75]

 

14 hours ago, Chilidog said:

I forgot how far the halfway houses are from each other on the course. It was too cold to carry more than one drink and I discovered if you put an extra in your bag, by the time you were ready for it, it was so shaken up that it would explode on you. We asked if we could call in drinks and tip a ranger for bringing them to us and we were told no. Just very unfortunate. 

Gotta say, agree with your perspectives on food which has gone hill since the pandemic but find your disappointment with rangers not bringing you drinks, a pretty odd comment. they are not cocktail waitresses.  The halfway houses are all pretty convenient in my view (except if you try to get a drink from 15-16 on OM).

 

[jrg75]

@Ronnie Mundt nailed it, biggest change I've seen really has nothing to do with how Bandon operates, it's mostly that a completely different group of clients are now the main guests.  My first trip 6 years ago, it was all golf nerds and those that were there for the spiritual experience. When I got paired up, the talk with complete strangers would be mostly golf, much of it from Dream Golf. "Oh, this must be Shoe's bunker, or, here are the railroad ties that DMK installed on 17 to shore up the right side of the fairway, etc etc"

 

Fast forward to post pandemic where everyone took up golf and the main guests are no longer golf nerds but instead the golfbros.  On course experience is mostly now about watching your playing partners do fireball shots, slam IPAs, play the wrong tee boxes (usually the tips), blast music on their wingman, talk smack and generally act like it's a course on the Vegas strip.  I exaggerate a little bit and I've also met some really cool guys in my last few trips but I've had a few rounds much like described above.

 

I definitely miss Bandon from 5 or more years ago but I think those days are gone.  It won't keep me away as I love the place. I just have to mentally prepare myself each time I go now, it's just different.

 

[DLiver]

I had no idea the problems with service at BD are because so many a-holes go there. Good to know.

[Chilidog]

56 minutes ago, jrg75 said:

 

Gotta say, agree with your perspectives on food which has gone hill since the pandemic but find your disappointment with rangers not bringing you drinks, a pretty odd comment. they are not cocktail waitresses.  The halfway houses are all pretty convenient in my view (except if you try to get a drink from 15-16 on OM).

 

I should clarify after not understanding your post and re-reading mine…I wasn’t saying it was unfortunate a ranger couldn’t bring us drinks…it was unfortunate that we couldn’t carry more drinks with us. It was cold and windy so I loved getting a hot chocolate with baileys and would have loved to have a beer afterwards. First time a tried, my beer exploded everywhere when I opened it so I didn’t try again. I would have the hot chocolate down in half a hole. So, I would go 4-5 holes with nothing afterwards. That was the unfortunate part.