Bandon Dunes—the resort sits on an ocean view with links-style courses known to be treacherous. We are going to dive into why this specific resort usually seems to hold its unique gloss and has reached bucket status across the board for a player of any level. From world-class courses to a mellow atmosphere, something about teeing off at Bandon Dunes is magical.
Mike Keiser: His Vision for Bandon Dunes
Actually, it was the dream of a very successful businessman and avid golfer by the name of Mike Keiser that truly shaped the landscape in American golf. He modeled Bandon Dunes after the classic links courses in Scotland and Ireland but made the U.S. version completely authentic.
Keiser was unconventional, and he believed in:
- First-class golf facilities put quality in the lead.
- Classes open for all strides to experience nature again.
- Identification of remote sites at which to create a golfers’ destination.
We have talked about how Keiser’s dream has turned a piece of the Oregon coast into nothing less than a golfer’s heaven; he has joined hands with brilliant architects, first David McLay Kidd and later Tom Doak, who can work with the land, not vice versa.
Keiser added to his vision not just great courses but an entire golfing experience in which:
- Players could play many rounds on several courses
- It left only on the golf and nothing else.
- They were highly valued in their experience.
But Keiser’s persistence with that ideal created a singular atmosphere in golf, one replicated by other destinations. From Bandon Dunes, similar projects have spawned around the country, so Keiser’s influence on how modern golf courses are built is well established.
The Layouts at Bandon Dunes
As noted, the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort features a premier collection of golf courses, where all visitors are defined under the links-style play tradition. Each one presents its own special brand of difficulty and views of the Oregon coastline. Here is a closer look at those four fine courses every golfer should play that create a golfer’s paradise.
Bandon Dunes
Bandon Dunes was the first course to open in the resort, in 1999, and it’s a links-style track designed by David McLay Kidd. It runs directly along the coastline, so hole after hole looks out over the ocean. The views of the Pacific, the breezes, wide fairways, huge greens, and natural bunkers working in concert with the sprawling rugged landscape make it almost hard to believe.
Pacific Dunes
Tom Doak’s masterpiece Pacific Dunes was a literal instant classic when it debuted early in 2001—spectacular views, but brutal layout. The course meanders its way through enormous dunes and along clifftops, so there is a great deal of depth found in the terms of feel-like-someplace-different-every-time factor. We love how ever-changing winds add yet more complexity to our game.
Bandon Trails
Bandon Trails is a Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw design and opened in 2005. This course meanders through property unlike its coastal siblings over meadowlands, woodlands, and dunes. Quite an attribute to the versatility of Bandon Dunes. We seem to like how each hole presents a challenge in a different manner so we are never bored.
Old MacDonald
Our homage to golf course architect C.B. Macdonald, Old Macdonald opened in 2010. Big fairways and big greens are featured on this Tom Doak and Jim Urbina layout. A links layout, Old Macdonald took classic design features from great holes around the world and made them their own. We really appreciate how the course sparks creativity in shot-making.
Bandon Preserve
Opened in 2012, Bandon Preserve is a 13-hole par-3 course. Designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, it’s an excellent place for either a short game or a quick round of golf. The scenic beauty of the holes and their individual challenges give way to outstanding ocean views. This course is excellent for warming up before playing on one of the full-length courses.
Sheep Ranch
The latest addition at Bandon Dunes was in 2020: Sheep Ranch. Designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, the course sprawls with a mile of frontage to the ocean, offering nine greens perched over the edge of the cliff. The Sheep Ranch is infamous as a layout without formal bunkers, but playing the course can’t help but make one ponder the endless ways to be tested while visually capturing the incredible beauty of the ocean.
Each course at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort possesses a unique character and leaves a lasting impression. The strict, true coastal links. The challenges inland. A sense of anticipation each and every time we set foot on these courses.
The Bandon Dunes Experience
What unfolds is a golf experience at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort unlike anything any of us have experienced. We are repeatedly shown, with all aspects of our visit from the time of our arrival, that this is all about links-style golf — with little, relatively speaking, to distract us.
Walking the Articles
One of the guiding ideologies at Bandon Dunes is a belief that golf is best enjoyed while walking. Slip on some comfortable shoes, walk, and—in an instant—you’re lost within a tapestry of rich coastal landscape. There are no golf carts to separate guests from the courses, leaving them fully able to appreciate the stunning natural beauty around them.
Caddies and Their Knowledge
While not necessary, caddies are an integral part of the whole complete Bandon Dunes experience. They bring great insight to the course—strategy and reading greens—among more-often-than-not difficult wind conditions. Camaraderie from a storytelling caddie adds immensely to our round of fun.
Weather and Playtime Weather
Bandon’s on the coast, so we play at the whim of the elements. Mornings often start off in mist that gives way to brilliant sunshine and chippie afternoons; otherwise, the winds will gust across the links in blustery gusts. And that is the great unknown; hence, playing here is so much fun. We adjust our games to really let the weather in.
Of-Course Amen
And after our rounds, we retire to accommodations situated in dozens of locations around the property. Nothing luxurious-just cozy, and more than adequate for the golf clientele. We go about the business of exchanging stories of our day’s glory and woe in the Bunker Bar or McKee’s Pub, and thusly round into the camaraderie of fellow golfers.
Practice Facilities
We use the superb practice facilities here at Bandon to hone our skills. The two-tiered range, the huge short game areas, and the practice putting greens all prepare the challenges ahead on the courses.
But it’s when we completely yield and give in to the Bandon Dunes experience that this place is about so much more than world-class golf; it’s actually a pilgrimage back to the roots of the game and reminds us why we fell in love with golfing in the first place.
At Bandon Dunes, we don’t play golf; we play it right on the edge of the earth. The aesthetic air on a jagged coastline in Oregon provides a wholly unparalleled experience in golf resort living. As passionate golfers we have teed it up from the most diverse collection of course shapes and sizes, but truly nothing like Bandon Dunes raw unmitigated beauty and challenge. Whipping off the cooling Pacific is the wind that will shape a shot and test us in ways we have never before encountered-exhilarating and humbling at the same time.
The courses here are a master link to golf: fescue fairway that rolls and tumbles like the ocean waves, bunkers that seem to have a magnetic pull on our balls, and greens smoother than a fresher pint of Guinness. This is golf as it was meant to be played.
How it does each terrain is what makes Bandon unique. Take for example the Bandon Dunes: it has the location on the coast where nearly every hole gives a view of the ocean. Then there’s the Scotty links style of Pacific Dunes, with its wild and windswept dunes, making us feel like we’re playing on another planet altogether.
But what really makes the trip is the fact that the weather is always totally in flux: one moment you’re basking in the warm sun, and the next you’re starting a fight with the lashing sideways rain. It keeps you on your toes, which means it’s an absolute adventure.
The realization we came to: If we were ever going to really embrace Bandon, it would be to really try to embrace this walking-only policy. The land contours around the foot, and it’s so drastically different to really immerse oneself into the game.
