John,
The courses are not all that similar in how they play. The Doak course (the one I liked best) has quite a bit more room off the tee to play. Also, the greens are wilder on that course. I thought the C&C course was harder, had less room to play off the tee, and had more of a chance to lose a golf ball. I wasn't playing all that well, and I lost 3 golf balls on the C&C course and none on the Doak course. I also considered that they could put together a "composite course", and they probably could...but the person with a keen eye could probably tell which holes belong on each course.
I thought that the Doak course had most of the best property to work with. I was told that Bill Coore had his pick of which land to choose and his decision was driven by choosing the property that would require the most work, in order to keep his guys working. Not sure if that is true, but I kind of think it is.
But for a winter get away, I think SS is going to be a big hit. From the middle of the country, you can get to Tampa in about a 2 hour flight, and then you've got 1 hr 10 min by car. Compare that to Bandon, which takes all day to get to. There is great appeal in that part of the equation.
TS