I've said this before in so many words. I see no reason why this won't be the premiere shot-making, ball-watching course at the Bandon resort. Pacific Dunes is currently my favorite course at the resort, but in my opinion, it requires a more traditional aerial attack than Tom's Ballyneal course, where optional trajectories and alternative strategies are suggested on a more regular basis. Ballyneal is also the greatest ball-watching course I regularly play, where the ball disappears and reappears on the fairways, and greenside shots are played away from the hole to a higher degree than Pacific Dunes.
I've seen the land and how the Old Macdonald is laid out. I see no reason why Tom and Jim and the associates cannot evolve from what must seem to be the pinnacle of success to an even higher plane of design. Pacific Dunes is, in many ways, a heroic design, where a certain shot of must be executed. with considerable penalty for failure.
In golf, there are perhaps three types of elation. First, there is the awe of nature and beauty which a beautiful course will induce. Then there are two types for the actual golf, the triumph of a successful shot (the fist-pumping "Yes!"), or the spontaneous laughter from an amusing result (the disarming "look at that thing go!").
Even though Old Macdonald will be longer and probably more difficult in terms of pure score, I predict it will be more of a "Look at that thing go!" course, and to me, that is a greater accomplishment.