[Tim Bert]

I got my first look at Bandon Trails since the public opening in June 2005.  I photographed it much better than I played it, so I thought I'd share a few with everyone here.  We had some great shadows playing early in the morning.

I really enjoy the course when I'm looking at pictures of it, but for the second straight trip it was my least favorite of the three to play.  Probably because I can't ever seem to strike the ball well when I play it.  The others in my group played it a little better, but it was still a unanimous lunch decision to trade off the second round here for a fourth at Pacific Dunes.

Thanks to David Elvins, Mike Erdmann, and Aidan Bradley for getting me going in the right direction to clear up a few blemishes caused by a spot on my lens.

A look from the left side of the steeply sloping first fairway...



Looking back at the first hole...



The second hole from the tee box...



Looking back on the 4th.  It's the toughest handicap on the card, and for our group it plays at the toughest hole relative to par for the entire resort after trips in 2003 and 2005 and 2007.



Acouple views of the wonderful 5th green...





Most of the pics I've shared cover the opening stretch because that's my favorite run of holes on the course.  Still, I love the 15th green complex.



I hope you enjoy!

[Joe Bentham]

First off, some really nice pics.  But I wonder what you mean by the "toughest handicap on the course" when refering to #4.  Its the 5th handicap on the card.  It wasn't there in '03, so nobody played it your first trip.  Im guessing you all hit it too far right off the tee, don't get over the ridge and then hit too much club into the green.  Do you take caddies?

[Mike Benham]

Let me guess, you don't take caddies.

Let me guess, you are a caddie ...

[Tim Bert]

I just looked at the scorecard online and you are right about it being 5th handicap.  I'm almost absolutely, positively certain that I've got something from 2005 that shows it as 1st - either the yardage book or the scorecard, though I'm too lazy to go check at the moment.  I know I have it entered on my Bandon spreadsheet as the 1st handicap which is why I'm pretty sure I got that information from somewhere at the time.

You are correct that we didn't play it in 2003, but my comment was stated as intended.  We've compiled all the scores from all the holes for all three trips, and we play #4 at Bandon Trails worse than all the others.  We've just got more data points for the other two courses.

You are also correct that we didn't take caddies THIS TIME.  I provided a context clue of the pull carts in the picture of #5.  We did, however, take caddies there for both rounds in 2005 and the scoring was plenty bad on this hole on that trip as well.  We know where to hit it.  We don't execute well.  The bad scores are more a product of losing balls in the trash left of the green and having to hack it out of that stuff when we do find it than a product of hitting the tee shot too far right.

[Joe Bentham]

You miss the green left because you can't see where your going.  A result of hitting it to far right off the tee.  And yes, I'm a caddie.  Not sure spreadsheets and stats are necessary.  What ever deductions can be made from them  are about your golf games and NOT the golf course.

[Joe Hancock]

Part of the fun of playing is learning how to play the course. If I can't figure out how to determine an aiming point or learn that the ground falls away from the shot after a couple of trips around, then maybe my powers of observation aren't all that keen when it comes to architecture.

Discovery is fun. No one should assume that the journey to a double bogey can't be fun and enlightening.

Joe

[Tim Bert]

I miss the green left because I hit the ball left.  

I never claimed that my spreadsheet nor stat keeping were necessary or that they were being used to draw conclusions about the course.  I do the spreadsheet because I enjoy it and the guys I travel with like to see the results since we've played the courses several times.  I simply noted that it was both the 1st handicap and that it played the toughest for us.  I just just double-checked the yardage book that I purchased from the resort (when I had a caddie - not so much for the yardages in 2005 but for the keepsake) and it does indeed list the 4th hole as the #1 handicap.

I have no problem with caddies, and I've taken them several times at several different courses - including 10 rounds at the courses at Bandon on previous trips.

The original post was about pictures.  I hope that some of you enjoy them.  

[Philip Gawith]

Thanks for the pictures Tim - you sure make it look like a course one wants to play, not avoid! You were lucky to play it in such wonderful light.

[Tom_Doak]

Sean:

The reason the fourth hole looks so wide is that you are looking across two holes -- the third fairway is also inside the tree line in the distance on the right.

[Jerry Kluger]

I haven't been to Bandon yet but it makes me laugh to think that this is the least favorite of the courses - makes one realize what a high standard the other 2 have set.

[Tom_Doak]

Jerry:

Absolutely correct.  We know we are going to have to pull out all the stops on Old Macdonald to stand any chance of not being #4 in the hierarchy.

[Kalen Braley]

Tom,

Speaking of OldMac...whats the latest update on the course/routing/property?  Are there very much more hassles in terms of permitting and the likes?

Kalen

[Joe Bentham]

I miss the green left because I hit the ball left.  

Tim
One of the reasons the 4th green is missed left is because of the blind aspect of the shot from the right side of the fairway.  Many times a player will walk to the top of the hill to get his line, go back to his ball, hit what he thinks is a good shot and end up 25 yards left of the green.  I wasn't with your group, but I'd be willing to bet this explains some of the difficulty you've had with the hole.  Even if u don't realize it.  The thread might have been about pics, but this a golf architecture discussion board.....

[Russell Lo]

Great Pics. Just got back from a 3 day trip to the resort. 1st time was last year in May, really enjoyed the trip this year. Just like last year we played 36 a day and played all 3 courses twice.

Last year I thought Bandon was my favorite by a hair. I loved the way it played and the great rhythm to it. It was my least favorite this time. I am a big fan of Trails. having played it last year and getting tips from my caddie, George, made it so much more interesting, even the middle holes, (I love the extension of the waste area on #7). I think I noticed both the subtleties in the course as well as the big picture, the creation of the middle holes out of the forest, the work to make #13 green look like it was already there and the different ways to play #14. My first play was driver hooked left, with a little pitch short of the green to take my medicine. Others in the group fired for the green and either fles long or dropped off left. Dastardly little green. The second time around was Driver at the left bunker with a little fade, 4 hybrid bump right up the gut to fall over the ridge to the cup. It can be done.

Now that I am writing about the trip Pacific sure stands out as a gem. From the opening rollercoaster 2 holes to the fabulous 4th, excellent 5th and wonderful green complexes at 7 and 8 i may change my mind about my favorite course by the time I finish this post. I really noticed the green complexes at 7 and 8 at Pacific. What a gem 7 is.

I still like Trails, perhaps because we played alternate shot on 1-5, 17,18 as out extra 7 holes on day 3. Great loop pulling a trolley, then heading back to a great clubhouse.

BTW, the Wheelhouse in town serves a great Scallop pasta.

[Michael Dugger]

It is indeed awkward that BT is the 3rd best at the facility.

like we need to gloss Bandon Dunes anymore.

[Dan Herrmann]

I haven't been to Bandon yet but it makes me laugh to think that this is the least favorite of the courses - makes one realize what a high standard the other 2 have set.

Jerry - believe me, 95% of us, me included, would die happy if we could only play at Bandon resort every day.    I have a personal hierarchy, but it's like comparing gold to gold to gold.

[Adam Clayman]

Tom,

Speaking of OldMac...whats the latest update on the course/routing/property?  Are there very much more hassles in terms of permitting and the likes?

Kalen

K- Dr.K recently penned this.

http://www.golfweek.com/commentaries/klein_071607

[MBL]

I also just returned from a trip to Bandon and have mentally replayed my rounds constantly.  

My take-away is that Trails is a phenomenal track that may never earn the respect it deserves due to the brialliance of PD and that large water hazard to the west.  

As a member of a CB Mac course, I can't wait to return to play Old Macdonald (it was very cool to see a few of the holes 'flagged' when playing PD).  However, I am truly worried that it will also pail when compared / reviewed by the general public.  Riding a shuttle from the range to the lodge one day, I actually overheard someone state, "I can play a course with pine trees and sand anytime, no reason for me to return to Trails."  Needless to say, I was horrified because I absolutely loved Trails.

If (when?) I return prior to Old Mac being completed I will likely skip my BD round(s) for an extra round at PD and Trails!  My overall take-away is that Mike Keiser (and of course, David McLay Kidd, Tom Doak, Ben Crenshaw & Bill Coore) has unveiled such an insired set of courses that the tragedy is in one being compared to another as opposed to courses across the globe (gold-to-gold-to-gold is indeed an apt analogy).

[rjsimper]

After my first trip I preferred BD.

After my second trip I preferred BT.

As much as I hate to admit it, I believe that I am falling into the group of GCAers who would split rounds drastically in favor of PD and BT over BD - BD, while pretty, just has too many mindless tee shots for my taste.  

It's still a great course and has what has got to be one of the best holes in the world, in my opinion, in the 4th, but there's too much snoozing going on in a round there to really have the reward that BT and PD do.

Even the interior holes at Trails, with the exception of 9, have really grown on me and while they are the weakest on the course, are still pretty good.

 

[Matt_Ward]

Ryan:

The interior holes at BT -- from #7 through the tee shot at #13 are really weak. I don't doubt the start is quite good -- I am a big fan of the 1st at BT and no doubt from the 14th all the way to the house you do have some solid golf. I personally believe the par-5 16th is one of the most underrated holes in the entire complex.

BT gets plenty of brownie points because of the C&C connection. The herd mentality here on GCA needs to delve a bit deeper on the merits of the course.

I don't doubt the opening sequence is quite good -- ditto the end -- but the middle part of that movie does trail (no pun intended) the other two part previously mentioned.

[PThomas]

I like BD a lot

I could easily spend a week playing all three courses there and not get bored one bit.

[Mike Benham]

Matt -

Perhaps you have already commented on the virtues of 7 through 13 but in particular, why are 11 and 12 weak at BT?

Mike

[rjsimper]

Ryan:

The interior holes at BT -- from #7 through the tee shot at #13 are really weak. I don't doubt the start is quite good -- I am a big fan of the 1st at BT and no doubt from the 14th all the way to the house you do have some solid golf. I personally believe the par-5 16th is one of the most underrated holes in the entire complex.

BT gets plenty of brownie points because of the C&C connection. The herd mentality here on GCA needs to delve a bit deeper on the merits of the course.

I don't doubt the opening sequence is quite good -- ditto the end -- but the middle part of that movie does trail (no pun intended) the other two part previously mentioned.

Without getting into old debates (and I grant that they are the weaker holes on the course, by and large, and the most non-unique, I don't think they are weak, other than 9)

I am by no means a C/C sycophant, and if you search my post history you will see that I, too, panned these holes after first playing them.  But, upon seeing them again, I think they hold their own (again, I think 9 is the weakest hole on the course).

11 is maybe my favorite in that stretch, if only for the mound/berm guarding the right side of the green.

I agree with you wholeheartedly that the middle is not as good as the start and the end, but I don't believe they are "really weak", and I believe the lesser half of holes at BT exceeds the quality of the lesser half of holes at BD.

BD, to me, has become more of an honorary member of the group.  I would never go to Bandon and not play it, and I'm just as big of an ocean whore as you will find, but once the novelty of the ocean wears off I found that I spent the mundane holes at BD just waiting to get back to the good ones, whereas this is not the case on BT.

This may also be a function of the disparity between good and bad at BD is far greater than BT.  BT may be a A- to C course while BD is perhaps a D to A+ course.

Either way, if your statement is that 7-13 pale in comparision to the start and finish of BT, I agree with you.  But I don't agree that this makes those holes "really weak"

[Wyatt Halliday]

Good god that picture of #1 leaves me heartbroken that I
don't have my return trip booked yet.

What a banner morning that must have been!

[Matt_Ward]

Here's the thing that amazes me about people who throw the original 18 under the bus. When people say the holes away from the ocean are "mundane" I need to know a good bit more than just a quick throw away phrase.

The course is very good by Kidd -- I'm not a fan of the closing hole but the qualities of many of the other holes is much more than many might think.

Sometime revisionist history is not accurate and that's my take on the original 18.

The Trails is a fine course -- no doubt in my mind. The issue is one of overall greatness and whether it approaches the qualities associated quite rightly with Pac Dunes. The answer for me is it does not.

The middle holes are good holes but they lack any real aspect of uniqueness that would put them in good company with what takes place prior and towards the very end of the round. The overall land is probably one of the clear reasons. Sometimes the C&C formula of "less being more" turns out to be in this particular case -- "less being less." The qualities only return with the approach to the fine 13th hole and continue from #14 all the way to the house.

The key to keep in mind is that their lack of quality is

NOTICEABLE

I enjoy all three courses at Bandon but the original 18 is a good bit better than some have suggested here. The Trails is a fine C&C layout but it's far from being one of their superior efforts.

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()