In honor of Ran's 2012 post, everyone is entitled to his opinion and certainly he has seen more golf courses than me. Further, I respect his knowledge on golf course architecture. However, I could not disagree more on each of his points.
First, I question the reason for his post. Egos obviously come into play with people in his position. To my knowledge, he has never been consulted on anything Bandon. Did he get upset that Brad Klein was consulted on Old MacDonald and not him? I have no idea, but it certainly appears that he has an agenda with this article.
Now with respect to his reviews of the courses, what is the problem with the wetland on #13 at Bandon Dunes or #17 at Old Macdonald? I simply don't understand why having a water hazard is a problem? No strategy at Pacific Dunes? What would he call #6 and #16? You have tons of options on both holes. As I have said before, I think #14 at Bandon Trails is a litmus test for people - if you don't like it, you are a "fair" or "test" guy and if you do like it , you are a "fun" or "options" guy - it is my favorite hole on that course. Being that Golf Digest has always rated difficult courses higher than fun courses, I assume Ron is a "test" guy. Lastly, if he says an opportunity was missed at Old Mac, tell us where he would have done it and what holes would have to be changed. If he would change #7 or #15, then I think he is wrong. I am sure that Tom would have loved the hole he mentions, but the routing has to work together and he has to give up something.
Re: the accomdations, I stayed at the Lily Pond, the cheapest rooms they have and I thought they were much nicer than the reviews. In addition, Bandon has never sold itself as a spa. It is about the golf. I don't need flowers or bath robes in my room.
Same with the food and food service. The food is good, especially the breakfasts and the service was fine. However, again, Bandon does not try to be a 5 star restaurant with ala carte service. Also, I don't know if he ever ate at Pacific Dunes, which has a great and diverse menu. Their food is everything I need without fluff that just costs more.
Lastly, he may have a point on the caddies. Our group of 28 had 3-4 great caddies - Harry Lusk, Pat Fox, Adam Araneo - and many ok caddies. However, a couple of the caddies had real attitudes and almost seemed to think that they were doing us a favor by carrying the bag. Unfortunately, I was unable to use Joe for my trip.
In sum, I just don't think Ron understands the purest appeal to Bandon. Maybe he has been pampored too long on visits to other places. Kind of like the choice between country clubs. Do you want the place with a great golf course and laid back approach with a modest clubhouse or do you want the blue blood club which the huge clubhouse and "social be seen" atmosphere. I wonder what he would say about the club I play at where they leave large steaks in a cooler and you have to cook it yourself on the grille.