[Ronald Montesano]

Kyle Berkshire, the long drive champion, plays Bandon in his vLog series. His commentary is from the heart, in the moment. He is not a GCA guy at the beginning, but he bumps into points that we value as he goes through each round. I guess the Long Drive tour is postponed, so he has a lot of time on his hands. Some courses are broken into two videos, while others are complete rounds. Here are a few links to get you started.

Sheep Ranch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o514HTXbuf0&t=40s

Pacific Dunes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkCZ-AGYbqc

Bandon Dunes Front 9: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96jePDE4CXs

Bandon Dunes Back 9: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkgnXwtF_TY

[John Kavanaugh]

This sounds interesting but before I click on a link I’d like to know the origin and affiliation of these YouTube channels. Thanks.

[William_G]

thank you RM

[Ronald Montesano]

This sounds interesting but before I click on a link I’d like to know the origin and affiliation of these YouTube channels. Thanks.

China, Russia, the Alsace, and other assorted (sordid?) locales and affiliations.

Or, you can do your own due diligence and perform research.

[Troy Miller]

I coached Kyle in high school golf; he's a bright kid who dedicated himself to maximize his length - he wasn't the longest player on our team.  I can promise you he is thinking his way around any course, just not in the same way the rest of are and therefore experiencing features in an entirely different context.   

[Tom_Doak]

Thanks for that link.  Kyle definitely hit some shots I wasn't visualizing twenty years ago (!), but in a good wind, Pacific Dunes holds its own against long hitters pretty well.  I especially enjoyed seeing him try to play the low-spin shots, he just needs to get them started on line better.

[Mark Smolens]

I don't see what the big deal is with this long driving thing. Doesn't everyone knock it over the green on a 330+ yard hole with a four iron???

[SL_Solow]

Mark,  Which shot?

[Peter Pallotta]

Thanks Ron for the link. I was most interested not in the long hitting per se but in what was a terrific look at Pacific Dunes. It was a real eye opener for me: ie, I've been reading for years and years here about the prevailing winds there during the summer -- and yet it still took me by surprise how windy it actually was. To state the obvious: Tom and his crew sure performed some great kind of magic trick there -- to create a course that, despite the wind, is so highly ranked and so popular with such a wide range of retail golfers.

For years and years I've also been reading here how some of the great old links courses have a lot of width and big greens 'because of the wind', but I think now: maybe that's not actually true (you know, for discussion purposes) -- maybe they have a lot of width and big greens 'because that's *golf*', and the wind is just an explanation/justification to keep the egg heads happy.

[Ronald Montesano]

This was my first look at Sheep Ranch, so I came away quite happy.

You could begin a thread "Links courses have large greens and wide fairways because..." and get 25 pages of replies in 12 months. 25% would be contributions, 50% would be contradictory, and 25% would be humorous.

On the occasion of the announcement of the passing of John Lewis, I think this way about time~
  ~magazine course rating panelists will recall how they were chastised for their 1st, inevitably optimistic course rankings;
  ~web site designers review their elementary work with grins;
  ~golf course architecture students reconsider their first forays into the breach, with shaking of the head.

It's neat to hear Berkshire's thoughts on how his game has developed and evolved since playing more in the wind. I hope that he continues to seek courses of diverse settings, styles, and conditioning.

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

Watched a bit of the Pacific Dunes video (will watch the rest later), but just wondering (and this is a serious question) why he does not replace any divots? Is this the norm?


I saw a few highlights of the PGA Tour recently and noticed there were divots everywhere on the fairways. I understand that it's ok not to replace divots on tees as you might slip on a loose divot when hitting your tee shot. Is this also the case for fairways on courses with huge maintenance crews and budgets?

[Ronald Montesano]

He has a caddie with him, and the caddie insists on replacing the turf by the surf. Excellent question, fortunate answer.

[William_G]

as to divots at Bandon, rarely are they replaceable


go visit and you'll see for yourself


I'm more concerned with this guy using a 60 degree for every chip, LOL


great promo for the resort though


cheers

[Tom_Doak]

He has a caddie with him, and the caddie insists on replacing the turf by the surf. Excellent question, fortunate answer.

As William says, the divots are not often replaceable, and they tend to dry out and die even if replaced.  So the resort spends a fair portion of their maintenance budget filling and seeding divots every day.


Of course, in the winter the seed won't germinate, so all of the winter play they get now causes problems.

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

He has a caddie with him, and the caddie insists on replacing the turf by the surf. Excellent question, fortunate answer.

Thanks Ronald for the clarification. Nice video which shows the course well. Really enjoying it.

[Kevin_Reilly]

Just back from four days at Bandon, and PD absolutely was by far the toughest course in the summer wind.  I would only play it once on a trip this time of year.

Was very fun to be up there.  Covid restrictions are strictly followed.  Took advantage of Bandonista program for parents playing with 22 and under children.  It is terrific.


Was nice to meet Sven and have him by our side for the trip.

[Tom_Doak]

Just back from four days at Bandon, and PD absolutely was by far the toughest course in the summer wind.  I would only play it once on a trip this time of year.

That's funny.  I remember when people were worried it was too easy to be a great course.

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