Sven,
What did you think of the NLU guys having Pac Dunes as the 4th ranked course on the property, worthy of 1 round on a 10 round Bandon trip.
Reasonable opinion?
David:
Sorry I missed the question earlier.
Personally, I don't agree with their assessment, but I'm not going to tell anyone what to think.
If you were to ask 10 guests, you'd probably get 10 different rankings. Some people are smitten by the Ocean, some like the isolation and definition of Trails. Some folks like firing at pins and having the greens hold, others prefer the firm turf of Old Mac.
The courses change daily. This time of year you might play Pac on a north wind day where the course is set up for that wind with pins in approachable and puttable spots. The next day you might get a gale from the south without the tees being adjusted, and the grounds crew may have put the holes in the high and dry locations. You're going to get vastly different opinions on the course depending on which day the course was played.
We have a starter out here who goes a bit overboard on his pre-round description of "his" course. Most talked about, most photographed, blah, blah, blah... My preference would be to send people on their way without the hyperbole and let them make up their own minds on the qualities of the course without the unnecessary guidance as to what they should think.
On back to back jobs a couple of years ago, at the same spot on Old Mac (the 16th fairway with the group having to take on the Alps), I had two completely different reactions:
A. The first group, faced with what for them was an impossible shot to get to the green in 2, let their frustrations boil over with statements that Old Mac was the dumbest course they had ever played. Didn't help anything that they were playing the wrong tees for their games.
B. Second group, seemingly befuddled for a bit as to where the green was, completely got and embraced the hole once they figured out what was being asked of them. The general reaction was that they couldn't wait to play the course again.
In short, I won't begrudge any guest's opinion that doesn't match my own, as there are a ton of factors that can go into how that opinion was formulated. I do have an issue with anyone with a platform telling others what to think, whether it be our starter or a group of vloggers.
Sven