I am going to be in Bandon this summer and would like to take a day go play one of the great courses at Bandon.  Which one of these courses would you suggest to play?  I am about a 15 handicapper.  

Huck, does that mean a single can't realistically ever get in at the last second?

Cory, whatever you play, please share your thoughts.

You should be able to get on as a single, even as a walk-on, if you coordinate through the Bandon Dunes pro shop for all three courses. But how do you just happen to be in Bandon?

Assuming it is only one round, well it's hard to believe you wouldn't have the most fun at Pacific Dunes.  It's also the highest rated by every ranking, so it will impress the friends back home the most.

Sorry, but that is not true.  Me, Brad Klein and John Kirk just to name a few have said in print that we think Bandon Trails is the best course.  My advice though for a 15 handicap would be to play Bandon Dunes first if it is your only round.  A tee time for a single is easy to get.

John:

I have no doubt that many people find other courses superior to Pacific Dunes.  I have several friends who swear by Bandon Dunes.

I guess I should have inserted the word "magazine."  That is, every magazine ranking has Pacific as better.  If one is into impressing the boys back home, I have to believe those are more valid than the thoughts of any individual, even one so mighty as you.

And are you sure a tee time for a single is easy to get?  I am not making up what I posted already... they did tell me all summer was fully booked at all three courses quite awhile ago....

In any case, outside of our sniping - which is getting boring, btw - why do you think BD would be better for a 15?  My feeling is he'd have more fun at PD, as it is a shorter course with generally less trouble....

TH

You guys really think PD is easier than BD?

I'd do Pacific Dunes, Bandon Dunes, and Trails in that order.

When I was there in August of '05, afternoon tee times were readily available.  Of course, it gets darn windy in the summer afternoons.

Cory,
The challenge is to get on any of them without a reservation.
Checking the previous day may either get you a time, or give you the best insight on how to proceed for your play date.

Not all fifteens are alike, I've played with some who are short and straight, others long and wild, some good with no touch.
Go to theor website and look at hole descriptions and you'll have a feeling for which course and which tees.

Tom,
Bandon Dunes is a lot more open as they widened corridors to speed play. On #10 you can even play right of the foregreen hillock without fear.

Peter:

Thankfully I'll see for myself and/or get to refresh my memory in about a month.  

And I could well have it wrong.  In any case it's pretty darn close and this ought not to be the determining factor; I sure didn't intend it as such.

I do think the 15 will definitely have more fun on PD.   I wouldn't say that for all low handicappers - I know too many who find it "tricked up", "unfair", "rinky dink", "mickey mouse", etc.  Most 15s don't tend to care about such things.

But of course these are huge generalizations and you're right, the man ought to go on the website and review and see for himself.  He just did ask for opinions here.

 

Thats an interesting observation Tom,

I'm not sure which holes would be considered tricked up or mickey mouse?  Or are you just saying that would be thier assertion/blowing-it-off because they aren't able to score well? While the course does require a ton of thought process as you go around, I would think that low handicappers have indeed mastered the process of thinking thier way around the course and using "strategery"  

Call 20-21 days before you want to go.  With the cancellation policy for golf being 21 days prior, you will find plenty of tee-time squatters relinquishing their times at the last possible moment.  (Guilty)

In any case, outside of our sniping - which is getting boring, btw - why do you think BD would be better for a 15?  My feeling is he'd have more fun at PD, as it is a shorter course with generally less trouble....

TH

Huck,

You have made 46 posts so far today and you say I'm getting boring.  

I simply think that given the location of Bandon Dunes to the main lodge it is a more pleasant experience for the drive up golfer. I also think the bunkering and setting is more attractive than Pacific Dunes.  Plus when you are done it is easier to get a bite to eat, maybe a trinket or two and be on your way.   I love the atmostphere around the Bandon Dunes clubhouse...I do hear though that they are improving that situation at Pacific.

JK:

I never said YOU were boring - oh good lord you could never be that - I said our sniping was getting boring.  And it is, to me.  The fact you are now counting my posts kinda proves this.

In any case I still think the golfer will generally have more fun at PD, especially the 15 handicap.  I find the setting to be a wash between the two - they're both pretty great and hell they're adjacent, so it's kinda hard to separate them.  Re the clubhouses, heck they're 1/2 mile apart so it's not like he can't stop into the bigger Bandon version either before or after a round at Pacific if that's what he wants; and depending on one's tastes, one might prefer the informal "porch" at Pacific to the formal lodge at Bandon... I know you've come out against this, but your view might not be universal.  As for the bunkering, it would depend on what one is into; for a typical US golfer both courses are very different than their normal fare.  I just do believe the hazards are a little more prevalent and difficult to escape on BD (for the 15), thus he might have a little more fun playing the PD course.  The rest to me is a wash, especially given he's just there for one round.

TH

Kalen - I never said I was from a 0-6; Jordan said that.  

Getting harder and harder to tell you two apart. Easy mistake at this point..