Bandon Area Question (now with pictures on page 2!)

[Roger Tufts]

This may have been posted before...

I am off to Bandon for the first time this weekend. I will be arriving Saturday afternoon and leaving Tuesday night.

I already have tee times for Sunday (On Bandon Dunes and Pacific Dunes) and Monday (On Bandon Trails and Old MacDonald). I am also planning to play a 9 hole round with the 1880 hickory sticks at Old Bandon Golf Links for fun the day I land, as time did not permit a full 18 hole round and I think it will be a blast.

My question more pertains to my schedule on Tuesday. Origionally, I was going to have to fly out of Eugene or somewhere far away, but I found a flight out at 8pm out of North Bend. Based on the original travel plans, I was going to play Bandon Crossings in the morning to save a little money and drive to the airport afterwards, and I currently hold a tee time there. However now, with my new travel plans, I am pondering trying to play 36 at the Resort again.

Would anyone care to offer a 10 round analysis between Bandon Trails, Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes, Old MacDonald, and Bandon Crossings?

Keep in mind this is my first trip to the area, and I have not played any of the courses. My original intent was to play all 5 once each, but now I may be able to fit in 2 of them for a second time and skip Bandon Crossings. I also realize Crossings is not at the direct resort, but that is not an issue. What I expect to see is something along the lines of 3 PD, 3 OM, 2 BD, 1 BT, 1 BC... But I am curious. I also tend to be the type to explore what there is instead of playing something twice, but my brother Brad who has been out there before seemed to believe BC was worth skipping for a 2nd tour around PD and OM. I also realize this depends on availability, but I am curious..........

[Tim Bert]

Listen to your brother. I can't provide a fair and balanced opinion since I haven't been to Bandon Crossings but I've played over 25 rounds at the resort now on four trips and I can't recall once being slightly concerned that I had missed out on Crossings.

2nd round at OM and PD would be a no brainer for me but I tend to be more of a guy that values repeated plays at my favorites as opposed to a guy intent on playing a new course just for the sake of variety. If you are more of a "quantity of courses" guy then go for Crossings, or better yet try to get on Sheep Ranch. 

[Alex Miller]

I haven't played OM, but I think my advice is still worthy because  I did play Bandon Crossings one afternoon during my visit.

With time for 10 rounds assuming it's my first visit I would personally go with 3 OM, 3 PD, 2 BT, 2 BD. If I did want to save money or my legs one afternoon (Bandon Crossings has carts, as well they should for some parts of that course) I would take a round at BD away. I think once you play the courses you'll see that BD while a great course, has perhaps less interest architecturally than the other 3 and a second play there may not be as illuminating as other replays will be. Also know that I love to try different courses as much as I can and Bandon Crossings is a good course and without the resort down the road worth a look anyways.

Also, if you're like me, being able to play greenside wedges without the fear of chunks is nice sometimes too

Something tells me you'll end up playing OM twice though. I would.

[Ronald Montesano]

Why not play the Crossings?  Does every round of golf have to be magical?  Why not play the Crossings!

[Will MacEwen]

You could consider the Sheep Ranch.

[Tim Bert]

Why not play the Crossings?  Does every round of golf have to be magical?  Why not play the Crossings!

I am leaning more and more to the model that each round should be magical.  I get to play a limited number of days per year, and that number is decreasing.  This will be the first year I've played more than 75% of my rounds of golf outside of my home town. 

On those rare days when golf is on the agenda, I want to play as many rounds as possible and I not only want every round to be magical, I want every moment of every round to be magical.  I guess I'm greedy. 

[C. Sturges]

Bandon Crossing is a nice course, but not worth traveling for.  Something to think about, your third round is FREE!  I would play my first two rounds and then play your hickory round at Bandon, that comes back to the club house.  Are you also flying into Coos Bay?  If you are flying into Eugene, I would play Ocean Dunes in Florence.  It is on the way and a course like no other.  I play the resort and Ocean Dunes when I am in the area.  Some of the other courses are fine, Bandon Crossing, Sandpines, and a few others, but they are no different than a course you can find at home.
Just my two cents, and have a great time,
Chris

[Roger Tufts]

CS~ I am flying in and out of North Bend.

[Kevin Pallier]

Roger

Since you itinerary is 3 days - I'd limit my stay to the resort.

I'd play OMx2 & PDx2 and one each on BT and BD + your hickory round.

[Pete_Pittock]

Roger,
Do you plan on returning to Bandon in the future? If you're dfinite;y returning I'd brnch ou this trip to see all that's available. returningI'd keep the Bandon Crossings tee time open until the last minute depending on your constitution and the weather.
Is any aeration scheduled? We are doing it in Portland this week and next.
The Sheep Ranch is a really good suggestion, contact Bandon Golf Supply which handles the traffic.
Pass on Sandpines. It's at least an hour out of the way one-way.

[Carl Nichols]

Ronald:
Life's too short for mediocre beer or golf courses. (In fairness, haven't played Crossings, but I've never heard anyone say it's in the same league as the courses at the resort.)

[Roger Tufts]

My debate over golf on Tuesday just got even more interesting, as there are no openings on Pacific Dunes at all on Tuesday. Old MacDonald is open in the afternoon, and Bandon Trails is open in the morning.

So now I could possibly try to play Bandon Crossings early in the morning and play Old Mac in the afternoon, or play Trails and Old Mac...

And theres always Sheep Ranch...

Seeing as Crossings is about $60 and I would be paying $330 anyways to play 36 at the resort, theres not a very big difference price-wise.

As of right now, I took the Old MacDonald tee time in the afternoon, and am just debating between Bandon Crossings, Bandon Trails, and Sheep Ranch in the morning on Tuesday. Any thoughts (other than what we have so far)?

[PThomas]

I haven't played OM, but I think my advice is still worthy because  I did play Bandon Crossings one afternoon during my visit.

With time for 10 rounds assuming it's my first visit I would personally go with 3 OM, 3 PD, 2 BT, 2 BD.

i agree with Alex's split

[Alex Miller]

I haven't played OM, but I think my advice is still worthy because  I did play Bandon Crossings one afternoon during my visit.

With time for 10 rounds assuming it's my first visit I would personally go with 3 OM, 3 PD, 2 BT, 2 BD.

i agree with Alex's split

Well thank you.

Roger, do you still have a play on PD? I sure hope so because that would be a shame otherwise...
As for that morning round, I think you should take a break from the resort and checkout Crossings. I think we have the same level of interest in new courses and while not as good as BT PD or OM (it's closer to BD IMO, though much different), it's a good break.

Another reason I think you should play Crossings is that going back to OM for your last round might feel a bit more special after Crossings than playing BD, BT, or Sheeps. Completely different experiences and you'll probably be able to appreciate the wonderful links golf that OM offers (again I haven't played it, but we all know it to be true). In my visit to Bandon we played BD/BT, PD/Crossings, and BT before leaving. I actually think PD and BT are much closer than everyone here says and would split them evenly by my own tastes. We only played Crossings because our caddy invited us to join him and it was very fun. A pleasant surprise that was well worth it.

No matter what you do, try to let it all soak in so you can remember everything as vividly as possible until your next visit!

[Dan Herrmann]

You know...  There are nice trails out there that go through the dunesland.  Many start from the hotels on property.

I've never used them, but I'll bet they give unique views of the courses.

If you want a complete change of pace, try Old Bandon Golf Links/ Face Rock Golf Course.  

[Mark Kinney]

Roger,

You may want to ask Crossings about there greens.  I heard just yesterday at the caddie shack that BC had aerified their greens recently.

[Yancey_Beamer]

Only play at the resort.
Always fly to North Bend.
Always play 36
Enjoy

[Steve Lang]

  We drove around Bandon Crossings to check it out and thought it had some nice holes and settings, but its just not what you're travelling all that way to experience at the resort, by a long shot..

..but two caddies we met thought it was a great place to have fun carrying beer in a cart and relaxing the hoofs..

try shorty's the par three at the range if its open

[William_G]

Love to help, I live in Eugene and love Bandon, played there a ton.

The golf at the four courses at the resort are all great, you will not be disappointed. Most of my friends say that we under-exaggerate how wonderful Bandon golf is and will continue to be. The resort is only 11 years old!

Smart flying in and out of North Bend for times sake, otherwise fly to Eugene and play Eugene Country Club.

Having played both Old Bandon Links (9 holes) and Crossings, I would recommend you play them both if you had the time, just 1.5 hours for Old Bandon, otherwise skip them both until another time. Both are nice layouts and the Hickory Sticks are a nice idea as Old Bandon was built in 1927...but......

And it should be said that Troy russell and his wife Kim have done an outstanding job over the last few years renovating a long neglected facility at Old Bandon! 

Play the 9 hole course at the range...Shorty's, usually open Saturday afternoons. A great par three course on the south side of the range.

Definitely have dinner in town at Alloro Wine Bar..ph.541.347.1850. And if you get into town check out the beach at Face Rock...its pretty incredible that we just recently evicted the Native Americans from this area around 1855.

Definitely check out the Labyrinth at the resort...a tribute to Howard Mckee based on the Labyrinth at Chartes, France.

And most definitely read (Dream Golf the 2nd edition 2010) before you leave!

By the time its Monday PM you can probably decide where you want to play and adjust your tee times according to your preferences.

Caddie request yet?

If you like red/white wine, UPS it there before you leave to save money on the wine list.

Hope you have shorts weather!

[Roger Tufts]

Roger,

You may want to ask Crossings about there greens.  I heard just yesterday at the caddie shack that BC had aerified their greens recently.

Found an article online that says they were aerated at the beginning of last week. Probably will be OK by next Tuesday I think.

Thanks for the input, AM~ I do still have a round on PD. I have one round on all 4, and currently have a 2nd tee time on OM. I have a tee time at BC as well, but that morning there are open times on BT too.

Getting excited

[Adam Lawrence]

Jeff Wallach has a nice piece about Old Bandon on his blog - see http://jeffwallach.com/golf/1209/golf-as-it-really-was

[Dan Herrmann]

Adam - thanks for that article.

I'm telling you - Old Bandon is really not to be missed.  No - it's not great, and it's not in anybody's Top 500 list, but it's worth a visit - even if you don't play.  Plus the beach at Face Rock is amazing - agates everywhere and it'll clear your head to get you ready to tackle another BD course.

To quote from Jeff's piece:
"The motto of Bandon Dunes Resort in Southern Oregon– my favorite golf resort on the planet– is “Golf as it was meant to be.”  But now a humble, earnest nine-holer just down the road could claim to offer “Golf as it actually was.”  The Old Bandon Golf  Links is the only public course in the US offering rentals of pre-1900 and 1920s equipment, including authentic hand-made gutta percha golf balls.  Anybody serious enough about golf to visit the Bandon Dunes Resort should carve out two hours to play Old Bandon Links.  It’s the golfers version of a writer appreciating that Shakespeare wrote his plays with a sharpened bird feather and a pot of ink on parchment—and all the more remarkable when you try it yourself.

[William_G]

To quote from Jeff's piece:
"The motto of Bandon Dunes Resort in Southern Oregon– my favorite golf resort on the planet– is “Golf as it was meant to be.”  But now a humble, earnest nine-holer just down the road could claim to offer “Golf as it actually was.”  The Old Bandon Golf  Links is the only public course in the US offering rentals of pre-1900 and 1920s equipment, including authentic hand-made gutta percha golf balls.  Anybody serious enough about golf to visit the Bandon Dunes Resort should carve out two hours to play Old Bandon Links.  It’s the golfers version of a writer appreciating that Shakespeare wrote his plays with a sharpened bird feather and a pot of ink on parchment—and all the more remarkable when you try it yourself.
[/quote]

+1

Old Bandon is quite unique, and again kudos to Troy and Kim for the great job with a course built in 1927 that was long neglected.

[Doug Wright]

I just returned from Bandon. It was a return visit for me but my last visit was before Bandon Trails and Old MacDonald opened. Two others with me were first time visitors. We played Old Mac 3 times, Pacific Dunes and Bandon Dunes 2 times each and Bandon Trails once. We were scheduled to play Bandon Trails a second time but we were so blown away by Old Mac that we played a third round at Old Mac instead. Bandon Trails is a really fine course for 13 holes, but we started losing interest after playing the controversial 14th and slogging up 16. I think our group thought the allocation for the 8 rounds was just right.

I haven't played Old Bandon or Bandon Crossings so can't comment on them.

[Ronald Montesano]

Tim and Carl...I'm sorry that you fellows feel that way.  There is much good in all that is human...I'm not saying that "absolute suck" should be on someone's list, but I find it hard to believe that non-resort courses should be avoided.  I sometimes get the sense that folks on this forum kow-tow to the resort in the same way the do to the esteemed Mr. Doak. 

I remember a quote from D.A. Weibring on religion that went something like this:  "I was raised Catholic and we didn't talk about our religion, we just practiced it."  The quote referenced the zealots on tour who were equally bent on soul and birdie conversion.  I love that many on this forum are over-the-top ga ga over BD Resort and that I get to play devil's advocate/contrarian.

The resort is a wonderful place; if I get there again, I'll certainly see all four courses, but I'll make an effort to see baaahhh, Crossings and Old Bandon.