Bandon Dunes

So many words have been written and read about Bandon Dunes that it's hard to pile on. However, everything you've read is true. There's no resort like it in the world let alone the USA. The original course by DMK might be the best on the property and is the perfect introduction to the ideals of the resort.

Highly recommend this being the first course you play if it's your first trip. Sets the stage for the others perfectly. Inland holes, coastal holes, beautiful par 3s, short par 4s, et al.

This course is a must for any avid golfer who wants the challenge of a true links style course. Weather was great but the wind added to the challenge. Not cheap but worth it. Staff go out of there way to please you.

Really tough to pick the better course, original Bandon or Pacific. Pacific is a fun walk and a bit quirky with 4xpar 3 and 3x par 5s on the back. The views are spectacular. It was almost disappointing to play with virtually no wind the second time we played it. But heck I'll take one good score while there.

Don't forget to grab breakfast -- terrific breakfast sandwiches in the restaurant or to go. Don't forget a double order of peppered bacon!

First, get to the course early and try the breakfast sandwiches -- I ordered a chicken and rice breakfast wrap that was unbeatable. The next day a different breakfast sandwich but just as winning. And they make them to go! Just what you need before walking 18 on Bandon's hilliest walk. Loved the core-Crenshaw layout, particularly the picturesque par 3s. If it's a windy day at Bandon, your best bet is sheltered Trails. You'll run into caddies playing Trails-- it's many of their favorites, too.

Yeah, the 11th hole is funky and unfair in that no matter where you drive the ball it is near impossible to hold the green but it's a fun conversation except when you walk off with an unwelcome 5 or 6. Take a mental snapshot at 14.... looks like a lakeside hole in the mountains.

I finally got to Bandon. My husband had been telling me it's mystical and magical. And it is. The question is whether Bandon Dunes is the best course of 4 18-hole layouts. You have to play the original and if you get a late afternoon tee time and see 16 around sunset...it makes it even though you'll battle the winds. Don't forget to check for the irrigation box underneath the tree near 10 tee. Open it up, sign the book, leave a memento and take a slug of whiskey. Little traditions like this make Bandon Dunes as a resort unbeatable for the golf purist. If you can play each course twice plus Punchbowl plus par - 3 preserve you will have an animated conversations among guests and caddies about their favorite course. I'm going with the original.

Seriously, charging this much money to hit a golf ball in 18 cow pastures just doesn't make any sense.

Here's an idea, plant some trees and think about leveling out the fairways. No idea why you'd have a course with uneven lies all over the place, no trees whatsoever, and you can't even take carts on it. I'm a +1 and yet I couldn't break 102 on this course. That proves the place is garbage.

Everything you think it would be including the views .For great golf on the ocean it rivals the Monteray , Cabo Kiawah and puerto Penasco courses.

It's hard for me to say publicly that this is my third favorite course at the resort, because it's just so darn good.

It's the most fair of the three linksy courses (except for the bunker on the par-3 15th hole) and arguably the most fun. There's great variety and character in the holes and on the site itself. Several of the fairways look like moonscapes with endless humps and bumps. The wall of six bunkers in the eighth fairway is a cruel but amusing trick. The coastal holes (4-6 and 16) all have unique characteristics that make them memorable.

It's a course I could play every day and never tire of its challenges.

Old Mac wasn't kind to me in any way. The course had water on certain greens and fairways as a result of the wettest, coldest winter in decades on the Oregon coast. The sub-50-degree day I played it, stinging hail pelted my group.

Needless to say, I didn't play well and get a good feel for what could be an interesting course. Walking off with at least eight three-putts, I thought 'How anyone could enjoy such a punishing putting test on huge greens'?

That said, there are other subtleties to appreciate - the blind tee shot near the 'ghost tree' on no. 3 and the biarritz green on the downhill par-3 fifth hole. Old Mac will never be my favorite at Bandon Dunes, but maybe a second helping will give me a better understanding of its merits and help me overlook its weaknesses.

Bandon Trails doesn't have the ocean that Bandon Dunes and Pacific Dunes offer, but boy is it a stellar routing from Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. I had the most fun playing this course of any at the resort. It's not as hard as the others, and it's scenic in its own right. The first two holes romp through the dunes like you're at Enniscrone in Ireland. From there, until the last hole back through the dunes to the clubhouse, the forest setting is pure Pacific Northwest.

The collection of par 3s rule the day - the 166-yard (green tees) second hole in the dunes, the biarritz green at no. 5, the driver/wood tee shot at the 235-yard 12th and the downhill 17th.

Be sure to stop at the plaque behind the elevated 14th tee, a demanding but short par 4. This is the view that prompted Mike Keiser to buy the land and eventually develop the resort. It's ground zero for all things Bandon Dunes.

Anybody who doesn't give Pacific Dunes five stars on GA is a lunatic. It is the class of the resort and a true thrill to walk. I played it on an overcast day in 40 mph winds where balls were blowing around on the greens and sand was flying out of bunkers. We still had a great time. I can't wait to see it in its full glory in the sunshine.

There are a couple severe green complexes I could quibble about, but the way it plays like a pure links on the coastal cliffs is the reason the hashtag #whyIlovethisgame was created in the first place. It's every bit the bucket-list experience at one-third off the price of a round at Pebble Beach or Shadow Creek.

My Bandon Preserve experience was a wet one, playing the first several holes in a steady mist. That rain clouded over the ocean views, but even then, this was a wonderful, relaxing way to play golf, even if you've already played 18 holes. It's a nice way to unwind after battling the tougher, bigger courses at the resort.

The longest shot is an uphill 160-yard par 3 that might require a 175- to 180-yard poke, depending upon the wind. The shortest is a wee 80-yard flip over a dune to a punch bowl green. Grab a couple clubs, a couple brews and play a skins game with your buddies for a really good time.

Pacific Dunes is without a doubt one of my favorite courses ever. With spectacular ocean views combined with first class design, you can't help but feel like you are experiencing a little bit of heaven. 10 and 11, back to back par 3s, are two of the best holes ever designed from a visual standpoint.

One of the best walks you'll ever take, and be sure to take a caddy as the guys are all phenomenal.

There is just something so special about this place. We had a group of 8 come in, and played it in January when it is a bit of a roll of the dice on weather. The trade off is the rates are incredible, and we ended up with sun, 50 degree weather, and an incredible rate!

The golf is just superb. You feel like you are across the pond all in the comforts of home. From start to finish it can't be beat. Also, the caddies are phenomenal and know exactly how to treat high and low handicap golfers.

If you haven't been, you have to go.

Pacific Dunes was my favorite of the courses we played at Bandon Dunes. The layout, scenery, and overall experience was truly one of a kind.

The entire Bandon Dunes Golf Experience will be the best golf experience of your life, whether you are a traveling PGA Tour professional or a 25-handicap that enjoys playing when possible, you need to put Bandon on your bucket list. My advice is to give yourself enough time to enjoy all their courses, if you are going all that way to get to Bandon, don't cut yourself short on the experience as you will miss out on something special. Pacific is certainly their signature course, as every hole brings a new experience. When you are done playing Pacific, you will have 18 unique golf stories to tell your friends about when you get home. The views are breathtaking, course condition outstanding, and service terrific. The caddies are great - and you will want to listen to them! It's amazing what the ball will do once it hits the green if you aren't familiar with the course! Do yourself a favor and get to Bandon!

WOW! When first planning this trip and the logistics of getting there from Kentucky, I remember thinking how much of a challenge it was going to be in order to get to Bandon, OR - and ever since playing for the first time, I would hitchhike across the country just to get back for one more hole! Bandon was our first 18 of the trip and we arrived in a light mist/rain. The service was 1st class, welcomed us to the resort, got us all checked in and ready to play. We ended up buying rain gear based on the forecast for the day, and the pro-shops had all we needed and were actually very reasonably priced. From the 1st hole, our caddies were fantastic, and they got better from there (as a matter of fact, to be fair to our caddies we only ended up playing 9 holes this day). About the 3rd hole, the mist turned into a monsoon with 40mph winds and heavy rain blowing sideways. The rain was blowing so hard that we couldn't see the Pacific Ocean on Hole 5 (hole 5 is ON the Pacific Ocean)! The caddies were real troopers, never said a word about calling it quits and were actually enlightened at the fact that we were almost enjoying the experience of golfing in the Pacific Northwest in November in a monsoon. The caddies mentioned it was a top 5 rainstorm ever that they have been out in, but the course was holding up surprisingly good and was still playable through hole 9 (when we went in). The course is very tough but fair, rewarding your taken risks. Beautiful tract of land, every hole is an adventure and is one that you will forever cherish in your memory. Lots of Bald Eagles and Deer all around you, everyone is very welcoming. A once-in-a-lifetime experience that every golfer needs to experience twice in their lives! The resort is fantastic as well, with several lodging options, good places to eat, well-stocked pro-shops, excellent practice facility, easy transportation around the resort, and a very, very awesome running/hiking/walking trail system! I found Bandon Dunes the most playable of the courses (we did not play the Preserve), while Pacific was the most awe-inspiring for sure. You also don't want to miss the Punchbowl (a crazy large putting green!), we stayed out until after dark and the poor waitress continued to run drinks back and forth to us for as long as we wanted to stay out (she was great!).

I have wanted to visit Bandon since I started playing golf. I was al little nervous at first as I'd never play at a course quite this nice. I went to the practice center in the morning and saw plenty of people hacking it up so that made me less nervous. My caddy was a young guy who looked a bit like the love child of Chaning Tatum and Christian Slater, Mason, a super cool dude. I didn't care how well I played but besides a few three putts I played OK. At one point I was so into the scenery and just taking everything in I forgot what hole we were playing and Mason said, "that's how its supposed to be." The course was immaculate. I mean just perfect. I did however see a few weeds in the fairways and was disgusted but Mason apologized so I let it go. Long story short I had an awesome time and will most definitely make the trip back to play the other courses, but with a few buddies next time.

Love it, like it, hate it, loathe it, or just skip it!!!!!

Old Mac is a great conversation piece because it is so divisive among people who have played it. Its the one course that is going to have friends arguing all the way home about where it ranks on the list of "Bandons Best".

On my personal 8 man buddies trip 3 guys had it as their favorite, 1 guy had it at 3rd, 3 guys had it 4th and the other guy hated it so much he had it 7th behind Shortys, The Punchbowl and The Preserve. HE REALLY HATES OLD MAC, granted he shot 91 and is 5 handicap.

I by no means have a love affair with Old Mac, but it offers a totally different experience compared to the other courses at Bandon. Giving credit where it is due, the goal of Old Mac is to pay homage to CB Macdonald and the heritage of the game of golf in the United States, and in that regard it exceeds at the highest of levels. Shots and greens, and visuals, and lines have the most distinct feel of Scotland that CB tried to bring to the American game, and with Old Mac they expand on that dream.

Saying that, where I think I fall out of love with Old Mac is that in an effort to make the course "fun" and "more playable", which I totally understand as Bandon is a resort, they have set the course up to be beaten by a player who only needs to be able to hit 2 or 3 types of shots all round to post a good score. It doesnt particularly pressure any parts of your game, and I feel like I hit the same drawing driver tee shot 10 times.

Is it unique, with some of the craziest greens you will ever see? You bet!! Would I ever skip it?? Not a chance. Is it number 4 and holding on my personal favorite list? Yep.

I know a lot of groups who leave Trails off their rotation at Bandon in favor of an extra round at Pacific Dunes or Bandon Dunes. That is a huge mistake!!!!

To me Trails is the most complete golf course at the Bandon resort, yes it isnt on the ocean, but everything else at Trails is exceptional and the ocean is still in view on plenty of holes. No course at the resort is as tough and exacting a test of every part of your game as Trails is. It puts pressure on every club in your bag during the round and requires a plethora of different shots to truly score well. You cant beat it with two types of shots like, say Old Mac can be. The beauty of the walk is second to none perfectly combining dunes, rolling meadows and hill side golf.

We caught it on particularly windy afternoon, playing from the back tees and its as tough of test of golf as there is in Bandon.