My thoughts (though I hadn't really intended this to be a "let's talk about the Bandon resort courses" thread since that's been done) are these:
Weather: Quite honestly, I could not have asked for better. Sure, the morning for our second round at trails was horrific. Low 40s, 30mph wind with gusts stronger, Driving rain (as Forrest Gump would say...big 'ol fat rain) but with 1 day of crystal blue skies (our first day) and 2 other days of playable foggy/overcast and only losing 11 holes out of a scheduled 144 to rain, I can't complain.
One great thing for our experience was the variability of the wind - we played each course in opposite winds each time we played. Believe me when I tell you, the courses are COMPLETELY different. One day I hit 3w-LW into 4 from the tips at Pacific, and the next was Driver-3wood.
Got some great shots and photo weather for the coastal courses too...which is great for a photo-geek like myself.
Bandon Dunes - I forget who told me this, or where I read it, but initially I liked this course the best. Over the course of 4.5 rounds there and 3 at Pacific, my preference definitely switched to Pacific. I think Bandon gets a bad rap, and suffers in comparison to Pacific, but I do think it is a brilliant course that is likely prettier than its more revered neighbor, and definitely a better site for a casual evening round of golf due to the more relaxed feeling one gains from the wider fairways and generally easier and less intimidating shots it presents.
My favorite holes were 4, 5, 15, 16, 17. I liked 8/10/14 just fine, but I found it interesting that there were so many similar dogleg right around pot bunker holes heading toward the ocean - those three holes along with 3 present similar visuals, just as 9 and 13 mimic one another. I had a particular affinity for 4 and 16. Seems that not many others list 16 among their favorites, but I personally found it to be one of my favorite holes at the entire resort, with the only suggestion for improvement being that the lower fairway in no way entices me to play to it. However, the choice I was presented with on the first day was whether to play to the upper fairway or go for the green. I went for the green and put it in the rough pin-high between the green and the cliff, chipped up, and two-putted from 15 feet for par.
I love the "reveal" on 4. Unlike Brad, I really felt that this was the place that said "welcome to Bandon Dunes", not the third tee. The third tee showed you the scale of the course and gave you a view of the property, but the approach to 14 is the first shot where you're truly tempted to be distracted by the surrounds.
At PD, I wasn't a fan of 1 (partially because I butchered it every time but the last I played it) but the usual suspects I loved - 4, 10, 11, 13, 17. Playing the 4th from the hidden lower tee was intense.
14 I thought was a great little par 3 with a LOT of bite to it.
BT I was partial to 4, 5, 17, and I actually liked 14. I found that it was difficult for sure, but not impossible. As Brad said, we only played it once, but my second shot from the lower left was nothing more than a difficult lob that I was 3 feet from executing properly. Had I done that, par was mine. I hit a very high ball, though, and suspect that for those that hit it low, the hole is possibly unfair.
I find myself torn between taking one of three approaches for my next pilgrimage to the Oregon Coast - go in the dead of winter, play cheap, but only 36 a day, and brave it, expecting the worst.
Go in shoulder season again for low season rates and roll the dice on weather.
Go in high season, plan on 54 a day, and pay through the nose.
Either way, I will be back, that's a promise.