Best three hole stretch at Bandon?

[Swingem]

Getting away from the "what's the best course at BD" question...

What's the best 3 hole stretch at Bandon?

What are the top five 3 hole stretches?

 

Off the top of my head:

4-6 BD

11-13 BT

3-5 PD

3-5 BT

15-17 OM

 

Going to be there in a couple weeks so I'm starting to geek on Bandon stuff.

[jrg75]

Id add 15-17 BD to the list 

[jackbauer]

I agree with @jrg75 and would add 11-13 at Pacific and 15-17 at Sheep Ranch too.

 

@Swingem, if you really want to nerd out, try ranking all 90 holes from the big courses!

[jrg75]

@jackbauer that's a hell of a challenge.  My contribution:

 

1. #4 Pacific

.....

90. #18 Sheep Ranch

 

The middle is too difficult 😄

[Swingem]

1 hour ago, jackbauer said:

try ranking all 90 holes from the big courses!

Hmmm, sounds like a lot of work. Maybe in it's own thread 👍.

 

Being a Trails fanboy, I'd add 7-9 on Trails. 

 

 

[Swingem]

OK, let's play best and worst hole at the big courses too:

IMO

Best - 13 at PD.

Worst - 3 at SR.

[spud3]

My favorite 3-hole stretches:

 

BD: 3-5

OM: 7-9

BT: 10-12

PD: 2-4

SR: 15-17

Preserve: 11-13

Shorty's:  Breakfast torta, Posole, Birria tacos

[Edaw68]

BD: 4-6

PD: 3-5

BT: 4-6

OM: 15-17

SR: 15-17

Bachelors Inn: Crystal, Electra, other Crystal

 

[jrg75]

4 hours ago, Edaw68 said:

BD: 4-6

PD: 3-5

BT: 4-6

OM: 15-17

SR: 15-17

Bachelors Inn: Crystal, Electra, other Crystal

 

Disagree with BT 4-6 but seems like you nailed everything else.

[Edaw68]

2 hours ago, jrg75 said:

Disagree with BT 4-6 but seems like you nailed everything else.

There's several good 3 hole stretches on Trails, it's hard to pick one.  So many excellent mid length par 4's out there.

[eboettne]

BT 11-13 is it for me, the entire thing feels like an amphitheater and the golf holes are great too. You so badly want to cut off some yardage on 11 to have a wedge in so the approach isn't as scary.  Then the approach is just begging you to miss left and play it safe.  Hole 12 has an easy bail out right but then you have to deal with the huge mound.  And hole 13's tee shot is so wide yet so uncomfortable, especially if you hit a cut like I do.  Then the approach is incredible.  End it all with the walk/shuttle up to the 14th hole. 

[jackbauer]

BD: 3-5

PD: 11-13

BT: 9-11

OM: 15-17

SR: 15-17

[Swingem]

On 2/7/2025 at 6:42 PM, Edaw68 said:

There's several good 3 hole stretches on Trails, it's hard to pick one.  So many excellent mid length par 4's out there.

 

19 hours ago, eboettne said:

BT 11-13 is it for me, the entire thing feels like an amphitheater and the golf holes are great too. You so badly want to cut off some yardage on 11 to have a wedge in so the approach isn't as scary.  Then the approach is just begging you to miss left and play it safe.  Hole 12 has an easy bail out right but then you have to deal with the huge mound.  And hole 13's tee shot is so wide yet so uncomfortable, especially if you hit a cut like I do.  Then the approach is incredible.  End it all with the walk/shuttle up to the 14th hole. 

Agreed. I think BT lends itself to really cool spaces and environments. How about 1-3 as an intro? I want to pick 17 for something, maybe best par three at BD. Or the 15th green. 11-13 is definitely special.

[jrg75]

+1 on Trails having multiple amazing 3 hole stretches.  11 is the centerpiece for me, 9-11, 11-13 are my two favorite stretches on property.  I'd put 1-3, 3-5, 4-6, 12-14 in the conversation.

 

@Swingem, I'm with you on 17, love that hole and one of the best par 3s out there.  Just can't seem to get it into a best 3 hole stretch discussion because I really don't love #16.

[Edaw68]

Agree on 16. 15 and 17 are awesome. 16 to me seems to exist only to connect a great green complex to a great par 3. 

[eboettne]

12 hours ago, Edaw68 said:

Agree on 16. 15 and 17 are awesome. 16 to me seems to exist only to connect a great green complex to a great par 3. 

That's always what it's felt like to me as well. Straight uphill slog, doesn't feel like much strategy. Just keep hitting it as far up the hill as you can on each shot.

[Swingem]

14 hours ago, Edaw68 said:

Agree on 16. 15 and 17 are awesome. 16 to me seems to exist only to connect a great green complex to a great par 3. 

 

1 hour ago, eboettne said:

That's always what it's felt like to me as well. Straight uphill slog, doesn't feel like much strategy. Just keep hitting it as far up the hill as you can on each shot.

Gotta get up the hill somehow...

[spud3]

8 hours ago, eboettne said:

That's always what it's felt like to me as well. Straight uphill slog, doesn't feel like much strategy. Just keep hitting it as far up the hill as you can on each shot.

+1

The only strategy involved with BT 16 is remembering the layout of the green for the approach shot so your ball doesn't end up down the hill to 17 tee.

 

Of course, you're so out of breath by that time that you kinda don't care anymore where it ends up...

[graveydellic]

9-13 at Trails is my favorite part of the entire property, especially in the late afternoon.  9 is my favorite hole anywhere, although I know for many they don't view it as that special, but I just love the way the towering pines frame the hole and it narrows as the green approaches.

[Kernel]

3 hours ago, graveydellic said:

9-13 at Trails is my favorite part of the entire property, especially in the late afternoon.  9 is my favorite hole anywhere, although I know for many they don't view it as that special, but I just love the way the towering pines frame the hole and it narrows as the green approaches.

Same for me

 

I love 9 so much

11 is all world

The way 13 green blends into the forest is amazing

[knock it close]

Fully agree, 9 has such a spooky feel when you get to the end of the last bunker and have the trees creeping in on you from the other side, I love it. 

[BG5]

Pacific Dunes 9, 10 and 11 is pretty hard to beat but there are so many good ones its tough to argue anyone's list

[knock it close]

50 minutes ago, BG5 said:

Pacific Dunes 9, 10 and 11 is pretty hard to beat but there are so many good ones its tough to argue anyone's list

Lower - Lower >>>>> Upper - Upper on 9/10

[kaschreiber]

44 minutes ago, knock it close said:

Lower - Lower >>>>> Upper - Upper on 9/10

I gotta disagree with this one. I don't have a strong preference between the lower or upper green on 9, but that shot on from the upper tee on 10 I think takes the cake hands down

[knock it close]

4 minutes ago, kaschreiber said:

I gotta disagree with this one. I don't have a strong preference between the lower or upper green on 9, but that shot on from the upper tee on 10 I think takes the cake hands down

The view is better from the upper tee on 10 sure, but I think the golf hole is far better from the lower box, also I love the lower greensite on 9 and the walk through the trees, not a fan of the upper green on 9. 

[spud3]

Definitely the lower green on PD 9.  Something about approach shots that are downhill sweepers that just makes me happy...

[hammergolf]

On 2/6/2025 at 9:56 AM, jrg75 said:

Id add 15-17 BD to the list 

Yep, for me that would be top of the list.

[jrg75]

The fact that I can't seriously disagree with anyone's favorite 3 hole stretch speaks volumes about the quality of golf at Bandon.

 

Here's a different challenge, what's the worst 3 hole stretch.  My take, Old Mac 11-13.  Maybe Bandon 7-9?

Edited February 12 by jrg75

[spud3]

Hard to call anything there "worst stretch," but my least favorites are OM 11-13 and SR 12-14.

[knock it close]

13 hours ago, jrg75 said:

The fact that I can't seriously disagree with anyone's favorite 3 hole stretch speaks volumes about the quality of golf at Bandon.

 

Here's a different challenge, what's the worst 3 hole stretch.  My take, Old Mac 11-13.  Maybe Bandon 7-9?

I like 11 and 13 at OM, I'd say Bandon 8-10, I think 7 is slightly better than 10.