Sam,
It was definitely a function of both time and money. My friend and I drove from Washington to San Fran on a last minute trip to see Roger Waters. We only had time and money for one round and one round only. At the time, Old Mac hadn't even been dreamed up yet and I believe Bandon Trails was either only recently opened, or still growing in, so I knew little about it.
I had read before hand that while everyone really liked Bandon Dunes, they were raving over Pacific Dunes, so we played that one and we're not disappointed. At that point in time, it was easily the best course either my buddy or I had ever played.