A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I drove down to Bandon to play Bandon Crossings. I decided to make a weekend of it, and booked a night at the resort, plus a round at Pacific Dunes the next morning.
Bandon Crossings was a pleasant surprise, quiet and uncrowded on a Saturday afternoon, while many Oregonians were watching the state football team pound Michigan. The course is a quirky, mimimal style design, with beautiful par threes and plenty of variety. Nice place, like playing golf in somebody's really nice backyard, which, in essence, is the case. We met the owners and had a nice chat afterwards. Great time.
That evening we checked into our Chrome Lake suite. It's a busy time of year at the Resort, and the lodge was a swirl of activity, filled with hundreds of nameless golf guys, just like the others I had seen there before. The front desk incorrectly informed us that all resort restaurants were booked for the evening, but we were easily able to secure a table at the Asian influenced Trails End. My wife’s sea scallops dinner was wonderful, her best restaurant meal of the year.
Early next morning we played the great Pacific Dunes, for many years my favorite place to play. We were blessed or cursed with a calm day, windless for the first nine or ten holes, followed by a most unusual southwest summer wind, due to a phenomenon known as a temperature low, due to unusually warm inland conditions. The course, set up for the typical northerly fair weather wind, now played easy up to the 13th green, and tougher back to the clubhouse.
I played from the back tees, and managed to start par-birdie the first couple holes while getting loose. Got a great up and down from 77 yards on #4 for par. With the exception of the 7th hole, I scored very well for sixteen holes, before screwing up the final two holes.
It was a strange day. Somehow, after twenty-some odd plays, the magic was gone. I played OK, but not that great, and managed to keep it around par all day, something that had escaped me in the past. While it’s true that I continue to improve at the game, I didn’t expect to handle the course on an off day so easily. I found it uninspiring and lacking challenge. It seemed like every putt on the recently sanded greens broke an inch or two. The turf and bunkers looked a bit weary from the constant play. I hit a 4-wood approach into #7, a 4-iron into #10, and another 4-wood into #18 after mis-hitting my second shot on #18. Otherwise, I never hit more than 8-iron into a green. I laid up on #4 to set up the great up and down. #13 was downwind and driver, 8-iron to the back of the green. I never used four clubs: 7-wood, and 5-7 irons.
What does this mean? Why didn’t I enjoy the round more? Some possible explanations:
1. Bandon Dunes has changed through the years, more popular and less personal. Perhaps I’m spoiled by my recent transition to the private golf experience. We were paired with two fine gentlemen, but the experience was less intimate than would be with friends. At one point, we fell a hole or two off pace, and had to rush through holes 10 through 12 to catch up.
2. We were tired from driving for 5 hours and playing Bandon Crossings the day before. Fatigue is a key factor in course evaluation and enjoyment. After 25 or so rounds, maybe I’ve played Pacific Dunes enough times where I’m tired of playing there. But it had been a couple years, and I expected to enjoy it more, even on a calm day.
3. Maybe I just got lucky, and was presented with easy shots and easy putts to read, despite playing indifferently. The course seemed short and the putting seemed easy. I realize that Pacific plays plenty long for the average resort guest, but a great course still must challenge the low handicapper.
I’m no longer sure Pacific Dunes is my favorite course. Recently, I’ve been playing a longer, more complex course, with more uneven lies and far more interest and undulation around the greens. It’s very private and in superb condition. The transition has occurred; I’d rather play Ballyneal.
A few weeks ago, John Kavanaugh made the following comment: “I don’t think there is any doubt that Pacific Dunes is Doak’s best work, and it was very early in his career.” This is a curious remark, since John’s previous comments indicated he liked Ballyneal better. Pacific Dunes is presently the consensus choice as Doak’s finest American “work”. I’ve played Stone Eagle, and have seen Wicked Pony in its early stages of development. Stone Eagle is flawed, but spectacularly beautiful, and with creative bunkering and severe greens. Wicked Pony is built upon a gentle, terraced piece of high desert, and will be challenging, though far less severe and dramatic than previous notable efforts. It looks different and great. Pacific Dunes may ultimately be viewed as a course where compromises were made to cater to the resort golfer. I sincerely hope the Old Macdonald course is created with the same uncompromising standards at The National Golf Links of America, whose green complexes are bold and stunning.
Most popular musicians are fully formed by the time they become major recording artists, and most times, I think the first or second album or CD is their best. Great bands like the Beatles or the Rolling Stones continue to evolve, and their best work comes a few years later. There are rare cases where a musician reaches his peak late in life; I saw Stephane Grappelli perform in his 70s. I’d like to believe that the artistry of golf architecture is more like jazz, learned slowly through experience, and not the product of an early profusion of ideas.