It was with a lot of anticipation I went into my first round at Bandon Crossings the day after Thanksgiving. I have followed the project closely from the beginning. I monitored their website during the construction process. I knew Dan Hixson was the designer and many of the same fellas who built the three Bandon Dunes Resort courses were also a part of this construction crew.
I knew GCA's own Slag Bandoon had toured the course with Dan and gave it a solid review. I have been drawing attention to the project on this very website for months, sort of shocked to read some people claim they would never play the course in lieu of another round at the Resort courses.
So the question was whether or not it was going to live up to the lofty billing I had created in my own biased mind.
I am happy to report Bandon Crossings is fabulous, it is going to knock your socks off if you take the time to give it a whirl.
Strengths:
* great routing, fits the land exceedinly well
* wonderful set of one shotters (5 total)
* nice variety of holes (reachable par 5, short par 4, etc.)
* excellent conditioning
* Truly "hazardous" hazards
* interesting greens complexes
* fun to play! (this one's for you, John Kav!)
Weaknesses: (IMHO)
* 3rd tee/4th green junction quite noisy
* lack of yardage on sprinkler heads to par 4 green on hole #5
* loop of nine holes nearest the clubhouse does not include any of the best holes
* transition area at #5 & #14 green creates a long walk
* closing stretch fairly easy, #15 and #16 are pretty short par 4's.
Pulling into the parking lot you are greeted with a huge swath of Cypress trees. Hell, maybe they aren't Cypress, I'm not a tree expert. Immediately, however, you recognize this is golf country!
The practice chipping green bunker is straight out of a Coore and Crenshaw course, giving you a solid taste of things to come. Hit balls on the simple range, putt a couple to check out the speed of these Bent grass greens. (unlike the Resort Fescue) The turf was reasonably firm for all the rain they saw in the ensuing weeks. Conditioning looks fabulous.
Head to the first tee.
The first hole, a par 4, runs from the huge line of Cypress trees (which make up the Bandon Crossings logo) straight across the parking lot/clubhouse/driving range junction and right out into the grassy hills. It's a good opener, a little bit of a pressure cooker because of how exposed to everything it is. Your knees could knock a little! I liked it though because it took you right out onto the course.
#1 approach
The 2nd is one of the weaker holes, a rather uninteresting par 4. Oh well, can't win 'em all.
The 3rd cranks up the heat with the threat of a wicked deep greenside bunker. A good hole, although I thought the tee was awfully close to the 4th green. A bunch of loudmouths disturbed all of us when hitting tee balls here.
3rd green
The 4th is a dogleg left par 5 bending uphill and around the 3rd hole. You have some power lines framing the tee shot, not my favorite view in the world. It is probably a lay up 2nd shot for most. The approach crosses a ravine. This corner of the property is not a strength of the golf course, but surely it's better than average golf course architecture. The good player needs to eat up these holes because they only get tougher.
The 5th is an alternate green hole playing as either a par 4 or par 5. The par 5 green is located at the bottom of a mini canyon which bisects the property in some kinda lowland marshy gunk.
5th tee
5th green (par 5 configuration)
We played it as a par 4 to the green by the corral. I was annoyed to not find any yardages on the nearby sprinkler heads, as well. Where was Tommy N. and his skycaddie? I hope they fix that. I gotta figure it's a better hole as a par 5 because the "corral green" was forgetable.
5th green (par 4 configuration)
The disjointed property guided Hixson's routing, which is unique, creative and well thought out. You play the first five and last four holes on one side of the marshy area, #6 - #13 to the south, and #14 serves as a "bridge" between the two.
I think it's pretty cool a golfer can get out and play 9 at Crossings, although this 9 does not include any of the best holes, IMHO, which I consider to be #6 - #13 (most agree 6 - 13 is epic, including T. Russell, I was told) So yes, the course is an out and back, and playing to the par 4 "corral green" at #5 brings you closest to the 15th tee for 9 hole play, which comes in at 37 (4,4,4,5,4,4,4,3,5)
I'm going to rush through the rest of the holes, eventually you are going to stop reading and focus on the images anyways.
#6 is a rather brutish par 3, beautiful bunkering. Great hole.
#7 is a very cool par 4, perhaps the signature hole. It gets very narrow in the fairway so pucker up.
#8 is a long gorgeous par 4. You earn your par here, great hole!
#9 is a semi blind par 3. Slag loves this hole. Only half the flagstick is visable. Hixson put a very big roll in the green. None of us found ourselves on the wrong side of the green, thus I have no idea how it affects play. Two thumbs up though!
#10 is a cool par 4. It's a weird tee shot, blind up over a hill with bunkers everywhere, but it's a novel hole. I've never seen anything quite like it; you probably come to love it after learning how to "crack it open" which is a concept I dig.
#11 was my favorite hole. A way cool green, very unique. A Doak !! A very deep bunker guards the left and a wild downhill power shoot kinda roll fronts the green.
#12 and #13 are both par 5's. You don't even notice, you don't even care. Beautiful trees all over the place, long grass and artful bunkers. By now you are loving this course!
#12 tee shot
#13 tee shot
#14 is a drop shot par 3. Who doesn't love a drop shot par 3?
#15 takes us back to the other side of the property. It's a straight away par 4 up over a small crest to a tricky green. In hindsight, I would like to see more teeth here, but maybe I'm biased because I scored an easy bird. I figure since the 16th-18th closing stretch is relatively short, more length here would stiffen up the inward march home.
#16 is a tricky short par 4, and I loved it even though I scored a triple bogey. Heed local advice and stay right with this tee ball. I snap hooked one left and learned, like with the 6th at Pacific Dunes, you will probably not be able to hold the green from this location. The greenside bunker...the way the green is shaped, angled and contoured. You really want to come at it from the right. This is a way cool hole, uber strategic. I liked it a lot.
View from drive hit left on #16
#17 is a do or die par 3 over some scenic wetland gunk. Good drama here. Nice hole.
and finally...#18 runs left of #1 and sort of cruises down and around, crosses a small ravine, finishing at a green below the practice putting green, 1st tees and clubhouse. It is a great setting, you have a lovely view back up the mini canyon bisecting the property where portions of the #6 - 13 stretch of holes poke out from high in the hills. The routing sets very well with the golfer, nothing about it is bizarre or as Jordan Wall would say, "contrived." (love ya Jordan!) You do see the neighboring Hwy 101, but in this part of Bandon, OR there is not a lot of traffic to ruin the moment.
In summation, Bandon Crossings convinced my group that we'll never set foot in Florence again on the way to Bandon Dunes! This will be a permanent fixture in our future golf outings.
My favorite thing in the golfing world is seeing another example of the artform. Anyone travelling to Bandon to play the resort courses will never regret passing up another round at the resort for a crack at Crossings, IMHO. The locals must be utterly pumped; as your $50 local muni, this place totally rocks! I saw a fella roll into the parking lot in his new 911 Porsche. Two days later I saw his car in the parking lot at Pacific Dunes. This guy gets it. Good golf is good golf.
To everyone involved with the project, take a bow. Take a bow Dan Hixson. Take a bow Russell Bros.....etc. Bandon Crossing is for real, do not pass up a chance to play this course, everyone. It's that good.
(a la Friars Head imagery, I went black and white)