@PP ~ The caddie owned and operated bar is called "The Arcade" if I am not mistaken. It is in Old Town Bandon. Our caddie explained to us that there were 3 caddies at Bandon who grew up there and had always wanted to have their own bar. Apparently they looped their butts off for a few years and saved every bit of money, and bought the bar for $300,000 cash. Pretty cool story, now they operate it and its the town hangout for all the caddies. All of the Bandon caddies apparently play at Bandon Crossings a lot too.
On that note, I am glad that I got off of the property for both the Old Bandon Golf Links round and the Bandon Crossings round. Both were fun tracks. OBGL is this tiny course stuck in a little valley between dunes, and it was really fun. There is a creek that runs through the center of the course, and it comes into play on 7 out of 9 holes on the out-and-back layout. Just a fun place to be with the Hickories especially.
Crossings was a nice break from the intense rounds at Bandon, especially playing it between my two rounds at Old MacDonald. It is a fun little course with some fun forced carries and some really interesting par 5s that are a blast to play! A couple of really pretty par 3s as well, and every hole seems vastly different than another you have played out there. For its price, it is also a nice breather on the wallet. I think the course would stand out more if it was away from the sanctuary of golf just down the road... Holes to note are #4, #5, #14, #16, #17, #18. 17 is a beautiful short par 3, and the carries on 4, 5, and 18 are a blast. 14 is a fun drop shot par 3, and 16 is a driveable par 4 with trouble everywhere if you miss.
@ AG ~ That picture is from a singles championship tournament my senior year of high school, 4 years ago. I don't know if my spine can still do that, but I don't think I finish that high behind the ball anymore, otherwise I would hit it sky-high!
And some more notes about my Bandon Adventure:
Day 2 of Resort golf commenced with an early morning round at Bandon Trails. I really enjoyed the layout, and it is MUCH more a test of accuracy compared to the others. I found it somewhat of a tough walk compared to the others, and my feet felt it especially after the end of a 43 hole day. The uphill par 5 16th to me seemed a little out of place, and it is an absolute monster into the wind. 17 and 18 are a brilliant finish though, ending back up in the dunes. The view from the black tees on #1 did however leave me wondering what else could have / would have been in store had the routing winded through the dunes between BT and BD.
The afternoon was our first round on Old Mac. When asked what tees we had wanted to play, my playing partner and I saw that the back tees were ~ 6940 and thought it was somewhat within our reach, and the starter cautioned us. We figured that we wanted to see the whole course and that we could move up the following afternoon if we chose to. Boy were we in for a battle... By the 4th tee we started to realize just how long the course actually is from back there. #4 played over 500 yards, but downwind so it wasnt too bad. The green at the 5th is easily the biggest green I have ever seen, and I was lucky enough to birdie the hole in both rounds. I wasn't so lucky on #6, as I don't think I even made a bogey in either round. The hole from the back tees just plays SOOOOO long! The 2ish club wind combined with my somewhat out-of-season fade swing created a tough series of events to reach that green in three. I consider myself a fairly long hitter, and I hit driver-driver-3wood just to be pin high. #7 is an absolutely wonderful hole, and interesting that it is one of the true originals on the course. I was lucky enough to birdie it the 2nd of our two rounds on Old Mac. The greensite just couldn't be passed upon, and leaves you licking your chops heading down to the Biarritz. I also found it cool and congruent with Ran's thoughts in his profile, as it seems the Biarritz and Redan are almost switched in terms of yardage, but you almost don't even notice given the wind and elevation change.
The one hole out there that I felt was a little strange was the 10th. I understand the strategic value of the "Bottle" design, and how it is supposed to be played, however as the caddie agreed with me, it is almost too penal. Laying back behind the bunkers leaves a REALLY long shot to be played into that wind. Our caddie informed me that the hole was meant to be played from left-center so I attempted to risk the deep bunkers and found one of them. He after told me that he had begin lining people up outside of the fairway on the right side, as it offers no trouble, but that he knew I was a student of course-architecture and that the architect would roll over in his grave to hear such a thing! It just seemed slightly out of place in a sense of unwarranted penalty. The road hole 11th plays as an absolute beast into the wind. The following day, from the green tees (up 25~yards) my playing partner crushed a driver and a 4 wood to reach in two and walked away with par. I also really enjoyed the finish of 15-18. 15 is a very wonderful par 5 with another breathtaking greensite. Another par 5 that required a driver-driver approach, but this time I just had a short pitch to the back pin locations. The Alps 16th is an incredible design. The bunkers protecting the green are simply awesome, and the dangerous depth of the railroad tie-sided short bunker isn't understood until you are looking down upon it. Even walking up to the green you think it is maybe 6 feet deep, not the actual 15 or so that it is! I found that #17 played better from the green tees the following round. From the black tees you can't really take the bunkers into play, but rather must lay back leaving 260 downwind into the green. While this shot is in my bag, clearing a bunker 40 yards short and stopping the ball off links-land downslope all the way to the pin is not. With a 4 iron, however, as is the case of taking the bunkers right into play from the green tees, it is a far more fun option. Finally, the 18th was simply awesome. The 2nd round offered my best shot of the trip. I hit my drive around ~310 downwind, and was left with just a PW. I hit it slightly thin, and left, but watched it ride the punchbowl contours all the way back to the pin. Near the pin it hit a tuft of rough, stopped dead, and rolled down the bowl and lipped out for a 2. I walked up and tapped in the 1 footer shortly after, walking away with a 79 -- satisfied, but hungry for my return to Bandon.
Following the first round at Old Mac, we had time to fit the first 7 holes of PD in again before dark (for freeeee!). Both my friend Chris and I teed off from the "Tom Watson tee" at #4. Took a beautiful picture (attached below) from the tee during sunset. Both of us hit our drives around 320, and had 5irons in to the hole that played ~530 from all the way back. Unfortunately we both hit poor irons and chips, and both lipped out for par. Was fun to get those 7 holes in before dark, but my feet were paying for it while we watched Monday Night Football from the deck of the Pacific Grill with beer-in-hand.
All-in-all, I will be back to this place as soon as I can.
#4 at Pacific Dunes @ Sunset, from the back tee.
#10 upper tee at Pacific Dunes, with me in my follow through.
#2 at Old Bandon Golf Links with Hickory Sticks. Chris @ Impact. Kudos to the person who made the stands for these bags...
#1 at Bandon Trails, on a cloudless day @ 8am.
#17 at Bandon Crossings (booo cartpaths...)
#5 at Old MacDonald on a cloudless day...
Looking up the coast North at the Sheep Ranch! From around the turnstand.
