As Bandon Dunes Resort wraps up its 25th year in golf, I am reminded of the magic of what many consider to be the most iconic golf resort in America.
Golf Mecca on the Southern Oregon Coast. Yes, you read that right.
Chances are you’ve heard of the golf holy land, known as Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. Known by many as the Disneyland of golf, due to its seven courses on the Southern half of the Oregon coast, Mike Keiser’s bold experiment, Bandon Dunes, features five of the top 15 courses in America. Yes, one-third of the top 15 golf courses in America reside within a few par-5s of each other. Where do the sixth and seventh courses rank, you ask? Well, they don’t. They are stunning 13-hole and 19-hole (not a misprint) par-3 layouts or “short courses” known as the Preserve and Shorty’s. They opened in 2024. Either course can be a warm-up or a cool-down or offer several days of great golf. They possess several of the most amazing par-3s you’ll ever play.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
An adventure, but not a pilgrimage
After my 14th visit and spending over a month of my life on the property, I contemplated the same thing I wondered after my first trip. Is part of what makes Bandon Dunes so special that you have to put in some work to get there? Unlike the consistently No. 1-ranked Pebble Beach and many of America’s great courses, Bandon Dunes is remote, but not so remote that you are exhausted by the time you get there. You have several airport choices like Portland (a bit of a drive), Eugene (less of a drive) or the seasonal flight schedule to North Bend, about 20 minutes away. From Coos Bay to Bandon, count on passing several minivans packed with clubs carrying grown men clearly on the same journey down U.S. Route 101’s two lanes.
Don’t expect a giant LED billboard or lighted signage letting you know you have arrived in the magic kingdom of golf. You would surely miss the understated entrance if you hadn’t already been counting the minutes and miles to your arrival. You’ll spend the first half a mile wondering if you missed the turn until you arrive at an unmanned gate confirming you are not lost. You spend the final half mile winding up to the main lodge and a clubhouse that, like everything else, feels familiar and exactly what you’d hoped for — perfection.
Accommodations fit for a king who loves golf
Filled with excitement, I don’t quite remember what I expected the first time I checked in at the resort. However, picture a summer camp layout surrounding the main lodge, but instead of tent sites and tiny cabins, you’ll find cottages, cabins and an Inn filled with high-quality beds, linens, privacy, plenty of space and great showers. Yes this matters! Resort lodging continues to be one of the biggest challenges for those booking due to the demand and inventory. While some rooms are beginning to show their age in furniture, they have started to solve that problem with remodels and the addition of the Round Lake lodge. Round Lake continues the theme of quality and comfort, now mixed with a modern, and as the Bandon website states, “minimalist” approach.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
JB Linder, St. George News
The audition of a lifetime
What must have felt like uncertainty back in the late 90s now feels like a reality that was never in question. The resort shares the name of the property’s first links-style 18-hole track, designed not by Pete Dye, Robert Trent Jones or Tom Doak, but by an unknown Scotsman, David McLay Kidd (Mammoth Dunes, Graybull, Gamble Sands and many more). On my first visit to Bandon Dunes, I made my way to the 12th hole, a par-3 that looks like something out of every golf magazine you have ever held. Yet when you stand on the tee and pull your phone out to take a picture, you will look down at the snapshot and be disappointed that it didn’t capture the mastery of one of golf’s great shots. I can still hear my caddie breathe life into the story of the 12th hole’s inception.
Picture the creepy old sailor at the end of the dock telling the story of the monster in the sea. Only this version depicts how McLay Kidd was assigned to design a hole to win the architect job for Kieser’s first course. “The Audition Hole,” as it has been referred to, tells of the assignment that … I’m not sure what I love more; the first time I heard the story or that every caddie since has told me the same story when I stood on the tee box.
Even after 14 trips, I never stop the caddie to tell them I have heard it all before. To me, it is the ultimate reminder of what makes Bandon so special. It was a gamble that was born from the love of golf. If you ever get to reach for an 8 iron on the 12th hole, you will know what I mean when I say there is something special about the par-3 in front of you. Of course, the Pacific Ocean in the background makes it easy on the eyes, but the true lover of the game will see how well the hole can stand up against the greatest golfer and how one small error can be punished. There are certainly more scenic par-3s in the world, but when you factor wind, weather, scenery and fun, this hole certainly plays the cool guy that doesn’t look like he is trying.
A walk in the park, with some help.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
JB Linder, St. George News
In an age where convenience and comfort sit in the front seat in our lives, Bandon requires golfers to enjoy golf in its purest form — walking. It’s funny when you tell people you walk and they quickly appreciate and understand that walking a course instead of driving from shot to shot is the best way to play. If you are playing Bandon for the first time, you’ll want a guide, and those guides come in the form of a caddie. Bandon features a large caddie team. All of my visits have included one, and not just someone to carry my bag. From green reading to storytelling, I always recommend a caddie. Bandon aims to make the experience great, so I do suggest a call to the caddie shack (yes, that is a real thing, not just a Bill Murray movie) and making a request based on your skill and attitude. For example, I have told them I am competitive, but like to keep the mood light and fun and I encourage joking. I always ask for someone who has been there for more than two to three years and is skilled at reading the greens.
It’s hard not to rattle off your love for Bandon to any unsuspecting golfer who asks, “What was it like?” Before too long, you find yourself pulling out your phone, sharing pictures and rehearsing a few of your caddie’s best stories. Your caddie is an important ingredient to a great Bandon experience. If you’ve never had a caddie, this is a must; if you have had plenty of caddies, a Bandon caddie is still a must, even if for just one day of your trip. Can you go without a caddie? Yes, and if you do, I suggest a rickshaw (think three-wheeled push cart like you’ve seen everywhere else). Simply put, I always lean caddie because it allows one to take in the entire property and fully enjoy the experience. Mileage may vary.
Insider’s Tip: Most caddies prefer to carry two bags. Yes, you can get your own caddie, but most prefer to “two-bag it.” You can also get a forecaddie who assists on shot selection, green reading, etc., but doesn’t carry your clubs.
I should point out that I think the greens at Bandon’s newest course, Sheep Ranch, are difficult for even the most experienced caddies to read, as the greens are still new and in the early stages of the hard-to-stop transition to poa annua. Strangely, this makes me love the greens at Bandon Dunes and Pacific Dunes even more. You get a chance to see into the future of what the greens at the newer courses at Bandon will look like from their near-perfect state at Bandon and Pacific. Yes, there are many articles out there about poa vs other grass greens and most golfers can still recall Tiger Woods’ complaints about the poa at Pebble years ago, but I believe a few holes at Bandon or Pacific or Trails will leave you taking back all of the bad comments about poa.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
JB Linder, St. George News
Bandon Dunes is the first and frankly my favorite of the five 18-hole layouts. There is something deeply authentic about McLay Kidd’s design. You can sense his love for the game and his desire to build something special. With an impressive portfolio to his name, including another of my top courses, Mammoth Dunes (Nekoosa, Wisconsin), Gamble Sands (Brewster, Washington), and his latest, Graybull (Nebraska), you leave Bandon admiring how well the hole layouts blend land, the sea and golf. Play Bandon Dunes multiple times, and you appreciate a younger course designer’s ambition and eagerness not to necessarily prove he belongs but to be worthy of the selection.
Hole No. 1 is only a few yards from the pro shop and compared to many of the standard American tee boxes, it is flat and hard to discern from the fairway if not for the subtle tee markers. Standing on the tee, you will at times have a small gallery of those waiting for their chance to start their round. This is the magic of this starting hole, the tee shot could be topped or pured and you can still make par. With usually no more than a hybrid, 3-wood or a 5-wood, your first shot depending on prevailing wind, McLay Kidd understands you want to get off to a good start. From the fairway, you’ll face a dogleg right uphill short iron.
The routing takes you uphill again with an elevated par-3 green, which I believe is one of the highest points on the course. From there, you work your way back toward the ocean with a solid par-5 that inches you closer to your first glimpse of the ocean, with the par-4 fourth hole that gives you the first chance to see how magical the boundaries of the course really are. From holes 5-8, you flirt with ocean views mixed with dunes until you arrive at the par-5 9th hole, wondering how you are already halfway home.
Insider’s tip: Grab a sleeve of Protein Balls at the turn. You’ll thank me and enjoy the packaging meant to mimic a sleeve of actual golf balls.
Hole 10 allows for you to swing about any club in your bag, and the better the swing, the closer or friendlier the angle will be. You’ll want it as I find this green structure to be challenging to visualize a shot into. There are many ways to play the tee shot and approach, which feels very much by design. From here, your back nine has begun, and after the par-4 11th, you find yourself at the “Audition Hole” 12th, mentioned above.
To me, this hole is where you buckle up, put the sunglasses on and enjoy every minute of the final seven holes as everything starts to happen fast now. Making your way over to the par-5 13th, you are given a fair shot at a birdie to get some momentum. From there, you jog back across the terrain to Bandon’s final par-3, where anything on the green will leave you grateful. Side note, this is the same hole that during the 2020 U.S. Amateurs semifinal, two of the best nonprofessional golfers slugged it out, including a triple-bogey-6 from the eventual winner, Tyler Strafaci, who was bested by a double-bogey-5. Think about that!
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
JB Linder, St. George News
Hole 16 is visually one of the most stunning on the property. The hole is drivable (wind allowing) or you can play it safe and still have a chance to stick something close. The Pacific Ocean, sand and gorse all remind you not to go right. But the green you do see in front of you after a small optical illusion of a valley is peppered with small bunkers that, yes, can turn a near-perfect shot into a test of your sand game. Depending on the time of day and fog, this green can feel as if it sits on the edge of the world, you will most certainly take your phone out a few times on this breathtaking hole. I would bet that at least 90% of groups take a picture on hole 16’s tee box. Yep, it’s that special.
You have reached the penultimate of your Bandon Dunes round and you are left with two holes to take inasmuch as you can until the next round. Hole No. 17 is a challenging, but fair par-4 where I am generally always happy with a par. A small valley to your right separates you from the Preserve’s 13 par-3 holes. You are headed directly back to the Bandon lodge, but not before you are given one more chance to make birdie and dream of what could have been.
The 18th hole at Bandon Dunes lands softly instead of bringing your round to an abrupt halt. After all, you don’t want to drop out of the sky on such a great round of golf. This is another time where, by design, it feels like McKay Kidd wants you to enjoy your round. Generally, wind will come from your left (north) or right (south) and not directly into your face on the final drive. Land it in front of the wall of fairway bunkers and you are left with a chance to get home in two, or an array of lay-up zones. The green rises from front to back, but even the green structure is inviting for the majority of short or long approaches, with only a green side bunker left to make you think twice.
As you place the flagstick back in the hole, shake hands and walk off the 18th green at Bandon Dunes, your short walk back to the clubhouse will no doubt leave you instantly nostalgic. Regardless of whether this was a bucket list or a new annual golf destination, I am confident you will leave the Bandon Dunes Resort dreaming of another chance to enjoy one of golf’s most complete, fair, fun and scenic versions of links golf.
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Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Oregon, April 2024.
