Bandon Trails - bulldoze and start over...

[Garland Bayley]

Again, my friend's biggest complaint is that wayward drives and good drives end up in the same place so the good golfer is not rewarded. I did not find this to be true when I have played the course.

Can't say this is true, as my foursome all hit good drives all day, or at least we all ended up in the same place.

Seriously, with my lefty fade and high handicap, I ended up in the best place on 14 compared to those low 'cappers.

Other many other holes, I found really bad places while they found nice safe short grass.

[Sven Nilsen]

Again, my friend's biggest complaint is that wayward drives and good drives end up in the same place so the good golfer is not rewarded. I did not find this to be true when I have played the course.

Jim:

This sounds like the excuse of a guy who had a bad day on the course.  There are four holes  (6, 8, 9 and 16) for which there's the possibility that this could be the case.  In general, if you're spraying the ball at Trails, you're in for a long round.  If you're striking it with a modicum of control, the course opens up and rewards those shots.

There's a breed of courses out there that you might call counter-intuitive.  For the low-handicapper that relies on snap judgments to figure out a course, Trails may present some problems.  These are generally the guys who don't talk to their caddies, do little pre-round research and expect every center cut tee ball to end up in the middle of the fairway.  Trails is one of a group courses (and I'd throw PD and OM in the same category) that is the foil of this type of player.  Start with a sense of arrogance and entitlement, throw in a mix of lack of imagination and a quick trigger on frustration.  I've got to hand it to Ben and Bill, they probably saw these guys coming from a mile away.

[John Kirk]

The key to #14 is having that sand wedge in, and hitting it to the best of your lobility, and making 4 or 5.

[Don_Mahaffey]

The key to #14 is having that sand wedge in, and hitting it to the best of your lobility, and making 4 or 5.

John, I prefer putter in and making 2 or 3

[Jud_T]

Again, my friend's biggest complaint is that wayward drives and good drives end up in the same place so the good golfer is not rewarded. I did not find this to be true when I have played the course.

Jim:

This sounds like the excuse of a guy who had a bad day on the course.  There are four holes  (6, 8, 9 and 16) for which there's the possibility that this could be the case.  In general, if you're spraying the ball at Trails, you're in for a long round.  If you're striking it with a modicum of control, the course opens up and rewards those shots.

There's a breed of courses out there that you might call counter-intuitive.  For the low-handicapper that relies on snap judgments to figure out a course, Trails may present some problems.  These are generally the guys who don't talk to their caddies, do little pre-round research and expect every center cut tee ball to end up in the middle of the fairway.  Trails is one of a group courses (and I'd throw PD and OM in the same category) that is the foil of this type of player.  Start with a sense of arrogance and entitlement, throw in a mix of lack of imagination and a quick trigger on frustration.  I've got to hand it to Ben and Bill, they probably saw these guys coming from a mile away.

Sven,

Funny, I don't recall you ever being quite so eloquent in person.  Are you sure this is you?  

[William_G]

The key to #14 is having that sand wedge in, and hitting it to the best of your lobility, and making 4 or 5.

John,

I like anything along ridge line straight into the green on 14, chipping with a 8 or 9 iron can be ideal.

Can't tell you how few sandwedges I hit at Bandon. 

Thanks

Gray

[Jud_T]

The key to #14 is having that sand wedge in, and hitting it to the best of your lobility, and making 4 or 5.

Can't tell you how few sandwedges I hit at Bandon.  

I can, easily.  Off turf the answer is zero.  

[William_G]

The key to #14 is having that sand wedge in, and hitting it to the best of your lobility, and making 4 or 5.

Can't tell you how few sandwedges I hit at Bandon.  

I can, easily.  Off turf the answer is zero.  

So true, LOL.

But John does bring a good point about #14 in that the shot from the right and below is nearly an impossible shot to hold on the green unless perfectly struck etc...

[John Kirk]

Well, at least recently, what I try to do is have a good distance to hit a full wedge, as high and soft as I can.  The second to last time I played the hole, I hit 56 degree wedge from 85 or so (steeply uphill) that landed just over the bunker and rolled a full 7-8 yards off the back and down into the primary rough.

I just want a full shot I can high with spin, and hope for the best.  I'm going to try that strategy for a while and see how it goes.

One time I made 4 there by blowing my first drive into the trees, followed by a provisional drive to 3 feet.  I quickly decided not to try and find my first ball.  I then made the 3 footer for par.  It was playing about 10 mph downwind that day.

[Pete_Pittock]

My brother just left me a message that he heard Bandon Trails was going to closed next winter for renovation.  He called to make some winter reservations next year, but no one at the reservations desk or the Trails clubhouse knew anything about the closing.  Any one here know what's up with this?  10, 14, 18 and maybe 16 seem like the most likely changes. 

Eric,
Is it possible he misheard? Each course is closed at least once a week for rest and maintenance during the winter months, but at least three courses remain open each day. I will check when I am down next weekend.

[Eric Olsen]

Pete

He heard from someone who makes regular group outings in the late fall to bandon, who told my brother that he had been told they would not be able to play trails because it would be closed as it was going to be, and I am pretty sure he said "blown up".....

[Doug Wright]

My brother just left me a message that he heard Bandon Trails was going to closed next winter for renovation.  He called to make some winter reservations next year, but no one at the reservations desk or the Trails clubhouse knew anything about the closing.  Any one here know what's up with this?  10, 14, 18 and maybe 16 seem like the most likely changes. 

Eric,
Is it possible he misheard? Each course is closed at least once a week for rest and maintenance during the winter months, but at least three courses remain open each day. I will check when I am down next weekend.

I was at Bandon this week and heard from someone who should be a reliable source that Bandon Trails will be closed (I think he said next winter) to rework holes 14-18.

[Terry Lavin]

This makes sense to me.  They tend to listen to their customers at Bandon and there have been some complaints about 14, 16 and 18, that's for sure.

[John Kirk]

#14 gets a lot of publicity, but #16 and #18 are both very difficult.  It seems every three foot putt requires a lot of concentration.  Still, it's a little sad to hear.

[George Freeman]

Anyone in the "know" know what kind of changes are being contemplated??

[Tom_Doak]

One time I made 4 there by blowing my first drive into the trees, followed by a provisional drive to 3 feet.  I quickly decided not to try and find my first ball.  I then made the 3 footer for par.  It was playing about 10 mph downwind that day.

John:

The last time I played the hole, we had a similar experience.  I was playing with a couple of guys who are USGA rules officials, and one of them hit his provisional ball onto the green, after yanking his first drive into the trees.  He had about a six-footer for his four.  But, in looking for my own ball up in the woods, I found my friend's ball, too ... so he couldn't use the provisional.  He had a clear shot to the green from about 40 yards away, lying clean, playing downhill over the little swale on the left of the green to a front pin.  And he proceeded to make 8.  I felt so bad for finding his ball, and I compared it to taking 3 points off the board in a football game; but he reminded me that once he'd declared he was hitting a provisional on the tee, he didn't have a choice of whether or not to use the first ball if it was found.  

[Howard Riefs]

Anyone in the "know" know what kind of changes are being contemplated??

I'm not in the "know," but according to a recent blog post by Ginella...

Coore/Crenshaw have also increased the size of Bandon Trails' 14th green, as well as eliminated some of the fairway bunkers on the 18th hole.


http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-courses/blogs/wheres-matty-g/2012/01/notes-best-of-booth-babes-from.html

[Garland Bayley]

One time I made 4 there by blowing my first drive into the trees, followed by a provisional drive to 3 feet.  I quickly decided not to try and find my first ball.  I then made the 3 footer for par.  It was playing about 10 mph downwind that day.

John:

The last time I played the hole, we had a similar experience.  I was playing with a couple of guys who are USGA rules officials, and one of them hit his provisional ball onto the green, after yanking his first drive into the trees.  He had about a six-footer for his four.  But, in looking for my own ball up in the woods, I found my friend's ball, too ... so he couldn't use the provisional.  He had a clear shot to the green from about 40 yards away, lying clean, playing downhill over the little swale on the left of the green to a front pin.  And he proceeded to make 8.  I felt so bad for finding his ball, and I compared it to taking 3 points off the board in a football game; but he reminded me that once he'd declared he was hitting a provisional on the tee, he didn't have a choice of whether or not to use the first ball if it was found.  

How did you know he wasn't going to make 8 on the provisional?

I have a saying. No good drive goes unpunished.

I guess what you are saying is that he got greedy trying to match his provisional, and ended up with an 8. Even a high capper like me can make 4 under the circumstances you describe.

I guess I don't see the need to modify these holes.

[John Kirk]

Howard, I think they widened the #14 green by six feet about 3-4 years ago.

#14 is so hard.  It may the only example I know, of a 320 yard hole being the 1st or 2nd most difficult hole (versus par) on a full-size course.

[Jud_T]

I think 14 is perfect as it is.  They probably needed the initial widening as many simply went back and forth around the green and picked up for X.  Now there's still significant pucker factor but it's doable. 

[John Kirk]

I think I said this earlier in this post:

#18 is a tough driving hole. Most tee shots that land right of center kick hard right, usually into bunkers, sometimes worse.  The bunkers generally do not yield a shot at the green.  There's a big mound in the landing area which is too severe in this respect.  They'll probably melt that thing down a bit.

Melt.  Funny GCA term, that one.

[Garland Bayley]

Howard, I think they widened the #14 green by six feet about 3-4 years ago.

#14 is so hard.  It may the only example I know, of a 320 yard hole being the 1st or 2nd most difficult hole (versus par) on a full-size course.

That's the thing with you low 'cappers. As soon as they make a hole that plays as hard for you as it does for us high 'cappers, you start saying it should be changed.

[Tom_Doak]

Garland:

I didn't think my friend got greedy on #14 at all.  He fluffed his second shot a bit and wound up in the swale left of the green, which would have been the safe play, anyway.  Then he hit his one bad shot ... putted up the bank too strongly, and went over the green into the bunker on the other side.  After that, it was very predictable; left one or two in the bunker, went back across the green again, etc.  It is just a very hard hole once you've missed the green to either side.  But, I hope the changes are Bill and Ben's idea and not just the consensus of others.

The last time I saw Bill in Florida, he told me he thought our little par-3 5th at Streamsong would be "my 14th at Bandon Trails".  I am not 100% sure what he meant by that ... it certainly does offer the potential for disaster, but I don't think it will be anywhere near as controversial.  Can't wait to find out.

[Terry Lavin]

The last time I saw Bill in Florida, he told me he thought our little par-3 5th at Streamsong would be "my 14th at Bandon Trails".  I am not 100% sure what he meant by that ... it certainly does offer the potential for disaster, but I don't think it will be anywhere near as controversial.  Can't wait to find out.

Offering the potential for disaster could be a lot of fun, as long as the chances for disaster don't greatly outweigh the chances for success.

[George Pazin]

In my experience, it's a lot easier for golfers to accept a difficult par 3 than a difficult short par 4. It's the short part that kills most. Short = birdie-able, not double-able.