Very interesting, Jason!
I was quite surprised by your report on the relative difficulty of Pacific and Bandon. I have only made the trip once, three years ago, and haven't played Trails. I had a very different experience.
There were four of us playing:
- me, a five handicap at the time: fairly long, tend to hit a string of good shots followed by a very bad shot, inconsistent short game, good putter
- a friend of mine, also a five handicap: not quite as long but more consistent, very good mid-iron player, so-so long putter but good short putter
- his father, a fourteen handicap: consistent fade/slice, maxing out at around 230; very good wedge player, except out of sand, where he's only so-so; pretty good putter
- my father, who hardly ever plays: never hits woods, but gets pretty good distance on irons; very inconsistent - a mix of solid shots and shots that go five feet; poor long putter but good short putter.
The two fathers only played one round a day, while my friend and I played two or, in one case, three. After reading your posts, I dug up the old scorecards (which, amazingly, I still had).
Day 1: Pacific
Round 1 - moderate wind, black tees: 83, 80
Round 2 - moderate wind, green tees: 76, 76, 93, (1 par, 7 bogeys, 5 doubles or worse, 5 Xs)
Day 2: Bandon
Round 1 - moderate wind, black tees: 81, 87
Round 2 - moderate to high wind, green tees: 79, 80, 101, (2 pars, 4 bogeys, 4 doubles or worse, 8 Xs)
Day 3: Bandon
Round 1 - not much wind, black tees: 78, 78
Round 2 - moderate wind, green tees: 86, 76, 99, (2 pars, 4 bogeys, 8 doubles or worse, 4 Xs)
Day 4: Pacific
Round 1 - not much wind, black tees: 72, 78
Round 2 - moderate wind, green tees: 75, 74, 85, (2 birdies, 4 pars, 5 bogeys, 5 doubles or worse, 2 Xs)
Round 3 - a heck of a lot of wind, mixed tees (we moved up on some of the holes into the wind to give ourselves a fighting chance): 89, 86