I just returned from a three-day trip to Bandon Dunes with a group of 60 Western Golf Association (WGA) Directors. We were accompanied by Mike Keiser and all of us played Old Macdonald on our final day. When we had finished, a poll was taken and Old Macdonald was voted the Best of Bandon by a 2-1 margin. Yes, Virginia, it's great, not just good and we just may have an instant classic on our hands.
Before I get to a brief description of the course based on my one round, I have to mention some other aspects of the trip. First off, we raised over $200,000 for the Evans Scholars Foundation which sends needy caddies to college. We currently have nearly nine hundred kids in college on full-ride scholarships. Mike Keiser is a Director of the WGA and Bandon Dunes Resort generously donated all accommodations for our group for the trip.
Mike also organized a panel discussion after our dinner on Wednesday night which was filmed for later use in a short film about the making of Old MacDonald. Ron Whitten of Golf Digest was the moderator, with Bill Coore and Tom Doak responding to questions about the many pleasures of designing golf courses at the spectacular Bandon Dunes Resort. There was a lot of discussion with Bill Coore about the routing of Bandon Trails, with the controversial 14th hole figuring prominently in the discussion. While Coore understands the frustration that many have with the margin of error on that hole's green, he believes that the continuing discussion is some proof that the hole is a good one. Tom Doak spent a fair amount of time explaining the difference between paying homage to Charles Blair Macdonald and making replica holes. Both praised Keiser for his long leash during the design and construction process.
Now the new golf course.
Old Macdonald stands as the most prominent example of a public access, 18 hole playing seminar on the history and traditions of golf course architecture. Its link to National Golf Links is absolutely inescapable. With the National, Macdonald sought to create a great golf links that would expose America to some of the greatest golf holes from across the pond. He didn't seek to make replicas of these holes, but rather, he built his own interpretation of them, utilizing his rather soulful approach to golf course architecture to create holes that were very reminiscent of the original models, yet still containing new features that were designed to get people to understand the many mysteries of good architecture.
Tom Doak and his crew of collaborators (Jim Urbina, George Bahto, Brad Klein and Karl Olson) have borrowed from the spirit of Macdonald's educational efforts at the National in their work at Old Macdonald, which has a number of holes that were inspired by holes at National and a handful of others that were built in a style that Macdonald would likely have enjoyed. In fact, Doak and Coore both mentioned in the interview that Charles Blair Macdonald might not recognize or understand some of the more modern golf courses being built in America these days, but they both thought that Macdonald would enthusiastically endorse the loving homage to his work that is Old Macdonald. Reading The Evangelist of Golf, Bahto's fabulous study of Macdonald, one is left with the feeling that Macdonald's passion to educate Americans drove his architecture, to our decided benefit. The same can surely be said of Tom Doak, a design genius whose dirty fingernail approach to the job tends to sublimate his artistry.
The Facts and Figures: Old Macdonald plays to a par of 34 on the front nine and 37 on the back nine. This odd calculus should come as no surprise to anybody who follows Doak's work. One need look no further than the back nine at Pacific Dunes which has four par 3's. This is a man who works with the land and is not overly focused on making sure that there is a predetermined combination of par 3, 4 and 5 holes. The yardage total is somewhere around 6900 yards, but the most gob-smacking number of all is the acreage of the greens, which is reported to be over 6 acres. Having just putted those greens, I can tell you firsthand that they are the biggest set that I've ever seen, with a bunch of fun humps, hillocks and internal contours. This is a 9 on the fun scale, even if it will surely contribute to some three, four and five putts!
Kevin Pallier posted a terrific photographic thread a month or so ago, so I won't go through all of the holes, but I'll spout a bit about some of my favorites.
#1 Double Plateau. Tom Doak calls this the best opening hole that he's ever built and its definitely one of the best I've ever played. The first thing that hits you is the overwhelming majesty of the meadow setting, interrupted by enormous sand dunes, with the specter of the ocean in the distance. The bunkering offers several lines of attack into the huge double plateau green. This isn't the hardest opening hole, but you can get in some trouble if you hit a fairway bunker or pick the wrong line into the green.
#3 Sahara. Tom Doak made good use of the huge dune to create a spectacular Sahara hole, with an imposing tee shot that offers an aggressive line to the left of a huge dead tree or a safer line to the right. The approach shot to the green at the bottom of the valley is beautiful and imposing. Spectacular golf hole.
#4 Hog's Back. This might be the best green on the Bandon Dunes property and it played like one of the toughest as well, at a 500 yard par 4.
#8 Biarritz. Whoa Nellie, this is one monster green. With the ocean at your back, you might be tempted to look away from the green, but it is one imposing site. We played into an east wind and I hit driver to thirty feet. Very memorable golf hole.
#9 Cape. An exciting "dry" version of the Cape hole, with brilliantly placed and ominous looking bunkers right and left.
#11 Road. An inspired version of the Road hole with what looks like a xerox copy of the Road bunker.
#12 Redan. Perhaps the most copied hole out of Scotland. This version is simply murderously hard. Played with the prevailing wind at the player's back, this long par 3 features an extremely difficult green that seems designed to accept a Jack Nicklaus high, hard fade. Sorry, don't have one!
#13 Leven. Talk about inspired: this delightful little hole features an enormous hillside that was constructed just to the left of the green. It looks like it's been there for centuries, but they just built it two years ago. The presence of the hill does not really influence the putting surface, leading to some "overread" putts. Magic.
#14 Maiden. This is a terrific short par 4 hole, with a tee shot that is quite deceptive and a second shot straight up the hill to a testing green.
#16 Alps. This surely will be a favorite hole for many. The bunkering and the circuitous fairway eventually lead to a well hidden green. Ring the bell when you're done, because nobody will see you from the fairway unless they took an aggressive line off the tee.
#18 Punchbowl. This is a perfect finishing hole for what is pretty much a perfect day of golf, if you ask me. A long par four that gives the player two routes in between mounds for a running shot into the punchbowl green.
A day at Old Macdonald feeds all the senses. It also stimulates discussion about architecture and golf history. It promotes a respect for the game and the men who helped bring the game from Scotland over to the United States. The fact that an everyday golfer like Mike Keiser was able to envision and create this four golf course masterpiece is truly staggering.
The vote of the WGA Directors is purely anecdotal, but I do believe that Old Macdonald has every chance to be viewed (and rated) as the best golf course at Bandon Dunes. This is an amazing possibility. Just think about it. You buy a couple of parcels of oceanside property. Nobody in his right mind thinks that even one golf course will be a success. So what do you do? Most would think that the developer and architect would cherry-pick the best land for the first course, to the detriment of the others that might follow. Somehow, Mike Keiser and his band of minimalist architects, David Kidd, Tom Doak, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw have managed to continually up the ante. The last example that I can think of that is remotely similar is Olympia Fields Country Club, which built its fourth golf course for the 1928 U.S. Open. That course was an instant classic and is still widely regarded as one of the best courses in America.
The same will likely be true in 100 years about Old Macdonald. An instant classic with every mark of an enduring legend.