So many things have been written about Bandon Dunes, it's difficult to come up with any unique perspectives. But alas... here are my takes on our 2022 group trip... with every attempt made to avoid bias based on how I played, or the weather we experienced:
Bandon Dunes
The original course built on property — designed by unknown-at-the-time architect David McLay Kid. I thoroughly enjoyed this layout, and probably place it 2nd on my personal list of Bandon courses. Bandon Dunes and Sheep Ranch feel like the two most "natural" routings, but Bandon has more memorable holes.
While you get a glimpse of the ocean throughout the entire round, only 6 holes play right up to the cliff edge. To me this was a good thing, as it didn't feel like McLay Kid forced the maximum number of ocean holes in his routing. The fairways are very wide, but thick gorse bushes await any stray ball.
A big part of what I like about any course is the playability for mid to high handicappers. Bandon Dunes is the 2nd "easiest" course out there. While each hole presented a challenge — there are some hidden trouble spots — none of the shots felt too daunting. This is not a course that should keep you up at night before your round. It's fun, enjoyable, and felt like the most authentic Scottish links at the resort.
Pacific Dunes
A Tom Doak design, Pacific Dunes is the "highest rated" course on property... if you put any weight in the completely subjective, fraudulent, and somewhat criminal course rankings published each year by golf websites/magazines.
This is a big-boy test of golf, as most of Tom Doak's layouts tend to be. I've currently only played three of his tracks: Pacific Dunes, Streamsong (Blue), and Old Macdonald. The first two are absolute ball-busters... while Old Mac, which I'll discuss below, shouldn't even be considered a "Tom Doak course."
Not to say Pac Dunes isn't amazing. Almost half the course touches the Pacific Ocean, and the other "inland" holes are still visually stimulating. But while views may be the most important thing to vacationing golfers, Doak isn't here to entertain you. He goes out of his way to make every hole a chess match... and Pacific Dunes is a Grandmaster.
Take for example the
4th along the cliffs. You have ample room to hit your tee shot left away from the ocean. But from that angle you now have to hit back toward the cliffs — over a deep bunker and dune — to a green that slopes away from you. It's near impossible to stop your ball on the green depending on the wind direction. The better play is to hit it up the right side off the tee, bringing in the real possibility of spraying it off North America. If you can successfully hit that tee shot, your approach is somewhat manageable.
Imagine this for 4.5 hours. Every hole, even the short ones, have a "milk carton bunker" (one where you'll never be seen again) or a green-side runoff that makes getting up-and-down nearly impossible. It's not unfair... it's just unrelenting.
Each individual hole on Pacific Dunes is strong. And what they're asking you to accomplish is obvious. But that becomes painfully obvious when you fail to execute the correct shot.
Great course... no chill.
Old Macdonald
Old Mac is the least played course at Bandon, which is a shame as it's my favorite. It was created as an homage to C.B. Macdonald, a renown golf architect from the early 1900's. Macdonald was known for identifying 21 "template" holes in Great Britain... which he felt tested the best players while still allowing poor players to score.
Sixteen of the holes at Old Mac are based on these templates. Most are done well — a few maybe miss the mark — but the strategy is still present. What resort guests don't like is the more inland property (ie: "lack of ocean views") with giant contrived greens.
Personally, I think ocean views are overrated. It can be a gimmick that takes away from the golf itself, and masks a bad hole. Scottish golf wasn't near the ocean because it looked cool. It was there because that's where the sandy soil was located — unusable for farming — which produced firm and fast conditions for the game to be played (mostly on the ground).
Old Macdonald has these conditions, which make the templates true to their purpose. The super-wide fairways, rolling mounds, and deep bunkering feels authentic. The pushed-up greens sometimes do not — but are true to the style of C.B. Macdonald, as seen with his famous designs: Chicago GC, National Golf Links of America, Shinnecock, Sleepy Hollow, etc. Back in the day they had to build giant, undulating, raised greens to keep water from pooling on them. Especially in America which lacked the Scottish sandy soils that promotes drainage.
Old Macdonald is unique, and endlessly playable thanks to the wide variety of angles you can attack each green. It's definitely not what most Americans are used to, but that's why we travel to destination resorts.
Bandon Trails
Trails is the most "normal" American course at Bandon. It's a Coore & Crenshaw design (for you Tampa people they created Streamsong Red) that starts in the dunes and loops through the inland forest.
It's absolutely stunning to look it, especially in terms of scale. The fairways are wide and framed by giant pine trees. You won't feel the wind, but it's up there and definitely affects your ball... so you must always be aware of what direction you're facing without many visual cues.
Coore & Crenshaw are known for large flowing layouts that utilize the natural land. Even if they move a ton of dirt, their goal is to create a course that looks like they didn't. They don't always get this right —
the fairway moguls on #16 come to mind as egregiously unnatural — but the overall product is a beautiful walk. Also a very difficult one due to the elevation changes.
Most of our 18 players ranked Bandon Trails as their favorite. If you put this course anywhere else in the country it would sink into the Earth due to the overwhelmingly amount of praise heaped upon it. It's that good.
But at Bandon... Trails just seems like a nice detour away from the coastline. After a few rounds getting blown out to sea, you'll enjoy the break and probably also rank it as your favorite.
Sheep Ranch
Another Coore & Crenshaw design, located on the best piece of coastal land at the resort. It's by far the easiest course to play and walk, with the most spectacular ocean views. The routing is particularly genius, weaving in and out of corners of the condensed footprint, creating a par-72 course that doesn't feel crowded. You'll only notice it in a few spots where multiple holes share the same tee-boxes.
There is absolutely nothing polarizing about Sheep Ranch. It's just 100% fun, picturesque golf. The
stretch of 15, 16 and 17 is top notch. If you catch those holes on a clear sunny day, and it'll be one of your lasting memories.
The Resort
Lodging was well thought out for buddies trips. It was easy to get around, and if you don't want to drive you can call a shuttle any time. Each course has its own clubhouse with a unique menu. The food was the absolute best I've ever had at any resort.
Caddies were hit-or-miss. I'm told a few of them were great. A couple of them were beyond terrible. While I don't really need someone to misread putts for me... I also don't want to carry or pull my bag 15+ miles per day. So you're kinda stuck requesting something that might not be worth the price, just to physically save your legs and back.
Overall, Bandon Dunes has the best collection of courses in one physical location I've ever seen. It's impossible to beat a Scotland golf trip... but this is the closest you'll get in America.
