My trip to Bandon Dunes

wadesworld

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I played Bandon Dunes a few days ago and wanted to share my experience.

First, logistics. We were not staying on property. I brought my clubs with me on the plane, but as we're staying in Oregon for another week or more without the opportunity for more golf, I decided to ship my clubs home using ShipSticks. The folks at Bandon made that extremely easy. I had my shipping label pre-printed, and I simply dropped my clubs off in their travel bag to Guest Services after my golf. I was also there as a foursome walked up and collected their clubs, all of which had been shipped. In short, the folks at Bandon know what they're doing, so you should have no qualms about shipping to, from, or both.

On the day of golf, I arrived a bit later than I wanted, and enjoyed an excellent breakfast in the lodge with my wife. I then caught the shuttle over to the practice facility. I had planned to warmup and then head over to "Shorty's" the little short-game course they have by the range, but as I was running out of time, I simply did some putting before hopping back onto the shuttle and back over to Bandon Dunes.

I checked in with the starter and was assigned my caddy. He was a nice young man of 15-years named Carter. There are no motorized carts at Bandon. You either walk or you don't play. You can hire a caddy, rent one of their pull carts, or carry. They do have an option for a cart I believe if you can document a medical limitation which would prevent you from walking, but it's not just "here's a cart, have fun." They assign you a driver who decides where you will be driven.

My tee time was a 10:30, so there was no fog, and happily enough, almost no wind. I was paired up with a father and his two twenty-something sons. The sons played the tips, and the father and I played the more sensible green tees, at about 6300 yards.

I had a really enjoyable round at Bandon Dunes. It's a great course with some beautiful holes and lots of history. The holes right along the Pacific are breathtaking. It has a bit of a links feel to it, but not so much you'd call it a links course. The greens are fast and significantly undulating.

Carter did a good job giving me the right lines and keeping me out of trouble. He was really good at quickly learning my distances and would often have the correct club pulled before I'd made my decision. I played pretty well on the front, not quite as well on the back. I do think I could have been slightly better on putting. I don't think Carter's reads and my own were quite matching up, which lead to a bit of indecision. Normally I'd just ask the caddy to let me read my own putts, but since he was such a young guy, I didn't want him to think I was displeased, so I just let it go.

We finished just before 3 pm, so the round was just over 4 hours.

I went and had lunch in McKee's pub (awesome). Then I agonized over what to do next. It was 4 pm and it doesn't get dark until 9 pm. My family was meeting me for dinner at 9.

Option A: Play Pacific Dunes

Option B: Play the 13-hole par-3 course called "The Preserve" and then head over "The Punchbowl" their 18-hole putting course.

Both fortunately and unfortunately, given that I'm not sure when I'll be back at Bandon, I chose option A.

Fortunate because Pacific Dunes is a gorgeous course. In fact, I think I liked it more than Bandon. It has more holes on the ocean and is just plain awesome.

Unfortunate because as those of you who have met me can attest, I'm way too overweight and certainly would never be described as athletic. About hole 5 I decided, "this might have been a mistake." Pacific Dunes is not an easy walk. And here I am dragging my clubs on a pull cart, absolutely dead tired. Oh, and guess what? It doesn't go back to the clubhouse after 9.

Still, it was beautiful and I was determined to finish. There were 3 foursomes in front of me, and at one point when they were going the other way, one of the caddies came over and said, "We're not sure about the groups ahead of us, but if you want to play through, just let us know." I assured him that I had absolutely no intention of playing through, and had I tried, I as a single, would certainly hold their foursome up. No, bringing up the rear was just fine with me.

At one point the fog rolled in, which was very eery as it blew across the holes and had me guessing on where my shots might land. Fortunately it only lasted about 2 holes before it lifted again.

It did occur to me, what if I have a heart attack out here? I'd have been a goner. For 90% of the round, it was just me and the golf course and there was nobody behind me. They do put GPS trackers on your pull cart, so hopefully when someone noticed one hadn't moved in an hour, they'd have come to investigate.

Well, I dragged my fat butt through all 18 holes. When I arrived back at the lodge, I packed up my clubs and my family arrived just as I was finishing. My wife was not feeling well, so we decided to skip dinner which was just fine with me. I went back and showered. I briefly considered writing this post, but I just didn't have the energy so I collapsed instead. Two days later I'm still feeling the after effects. I later added up my scores and was surprised to find I'd shot 89 on both courses.

I would not recommend walking 36 holes to anyone but the most fit of individuals. Like, you're competing in the IronMan triathlon and find Crossfit too easy.

I would recommend that if you're coming to Bandon, you try to schedule enough time to stay 3-4 days to play at least 2-3 courses. It's worth it.

Many thanks to tequila4kapp, aka Frank, who gave me outstanding advice, whether I listened or not.

A few pictures follow. Most are of Bandon as unfortunately my phone died on about hole 4 of Pacific.

My caddy on number 1 (the guy on the right. The girl to the left was only a couple years older but dwarfed him):
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I think the ones that follow are of Pacific:
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Apologies. That picture size just doesn't do it justice. I'll redo the links tomorrow with larger size shots.

Update: Fixed
 
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Brilliant! What an awesome experience, even if it took 2 days for recovery! So happy you had a good time - and fabbo scores too!

Good tip about the shipping of clubs too. I’d’ve never thought of it!
 
Nice review. My favorite place I've ever played golf. Looks like you had great weather which is a huge bonus. Glad it worked out for you.
 
Apologies. That picture size just doesn't do it justice. I'll redo the links tomorrow with larger size shots.

Nothing can do that course justice. My fav or the bunch. Glad you had a great time.
 
I think a small group of my friends are going to plan a trip out there in 2020 when a couple of us turn 40. I really cannot wait.
 
Welcome to Oregon. Although it’s out of the way for most, Bandonis is a special place
 
I was wondering how your trip went. So glad you got to come out and that you had a great time and got to play two courses. Thanks for sharing!
 
Lots of great memories on those courses. Looked like you had an almost perfect day out there weather wise. Glad you got to participate in the greatness of what is Bandon Dunes.
 
Glad you got the chance to play there. I'm so jealous.
 
looks and sounds like an amazing time! Glad you had the chance to play there!
 
A group of us keep talking about making a trip out there, it’s such a beautiful place. I think that trip has to happen! Thanks for rundown of your trip Wade!
 
Bandon is my goal for 2020!
 
Man it sounds like a blast.....I can’t wait til a few more weeks and get to play up there while we’re on vacation. Pictures are making me itching to get there!
 
Awesome experience!!! Great pics.
 
Apologies. That picture size just doesn't do it justice. I'll redo the links tomorrow with larger size shots.

Update: Fixed

none needed, gorgeous courses, and great place to play!!!

I too LOVED Pacific Dunes, was in my opinion, the best of the courses...

We played the Par3 each day after our rounds, and we played 36 a day...so we actually played 49 holes every day...

Trails is AMAZING, an just overlooked because it is not on Ocean...but on its own is an AMAZING course....
 
Awesome pics! My father has played there and really wants to return while he can still walk 18 holes each day.

This place is very high up the bucket list
 
Guy I play with locally here just came from there. I havnt got to talk to him about it yet but from those pics it would be a fun trip no doubt

Thanks for sharing
 
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