Just got back from my Bandon debut. These courses have been discussed at length obviously on many great threads. I won't pretend to offer anything new here, but will share my first impressions after playing each course for the first time.
At the outset, allow me to hedge my bets and state up front that I loved every course. The entire experience totally lived up to the hype (which was considerable) and I can't wait to get back. On my own scale of rating courses, they are all a 10. Any one of them would be an elite destination club on their own in my opinion.
If forced to rank them, I would go with the following:
(1) Old Mac
(2) Bandon
(3) Trails
(4) Pac Dunes
I'd also add that the Preserve is an unbelievable par 3 course, certainly the best I've ever played, and for me more enjoyable than many full length 18 hole courses.
Other macro-level observations:
*** I think the original course has been hugely underrated following all the hype that accompanied the newer courses at the resort -- I played the original last (and best) so perhaps this is influencing my opinion, but I don't think so. #4 through #6 was my favorite sequence of holes at the entire resort, and I found the tee shot at #16 to be the best single shot opportunity on any of the courses.
*** With the opportunity to play Old Mac twice, I realized my initial impression of not enjoying the holes on the other side of the hill (#1, #2, #17, #18) as much as the bulk of the course was wrong. Upon a second round, really impressed with how the first two holes slowly build up the anticipation for the tee shot at #3, and like how the final two holes wind down the round following #15 and #16, which I felt were taxing but rewarding holes to play.
*** Old Mac for me offered the two best views I've ever experienced on a golf course. First when you walk over the hill at the top of the #3 fairway and see the entire course spread out before you. Second, when you reach the top of the hill at #7 and look out over the ocean and back down at the rest of the course. Both holes provided a great reward for trudging up the hills.
*** Is there a better snack shop location in the world than the stand between #7 and #8 at Old Mac? I honestly think I want to quit my job and go work there all day.
*** Really don't understand why Trails is maligned by some. Loved the short but diabolical par 4s, loved the par 3s, and thought it was a great "break" from the ocean courses. It also reminded me of the woodsy and hilly midwestern courses that I grew up playing on, so perhaps I'm biased. I didn't think this course was as strong as places like Kingsley or Forest Dunes or Wolf Run, but it's all relative -- I still loved this course.
*** I need to play Pac Dunes again. I feel like I'm severely underrating this course. It was the first course I played upon arriving at the resort, and maybe I was so blown away by everything that I couldn't settle in and truly appreciate it. To be clear, I thought it was a great course, but between the two Doak courses on the property I'd vote for Old Mac, which might be my all time favorite golf experience as the memory of playing it twice continues to sink in.
Overall, my primary takeaway is that I left the resort thinking that I need to make more money to facilitate trips there every year. Can't wait to get back.