To pretend that I followed any golf news this week would be a joke. I spent the week on the Oregon coast soaking in all the Bandon Dunes goodness. So this issue is dedicated to those who enjoy living vicariously through others, have a trip coming up themselves, and the three dozen or so of you who enjoy hearing my personal anecdotes.
Honestly, maybe we can imagine it's the 1960s and I'm having you over to my shag carpeted living room. I mix up some Manhattans as I dim the lights and roll through a photo projector of the trip like Don and Megan Draper from Mad Men.
MY COURSE RANKINGS:
As a non single digit handicap, I think what most of the "approved lists" miss is the experience of playing the course. For my taste, they focus too heavily on the playability and fairness of holes. As someone who only break 90 once, I was fighting for my life out there so at least let me enjoy getting my @$% handed to me.
And as I reflected on the holes I remembered most vividly, here is where I fell on the courses.
- Bandon Trails
- Old Macdonald
- Pacific Dunes
- Bandon Dunes
- Sheep Ranch
Trails and Old Mac had me grinning ear to ear. Super fun courses that I could find nowhere else. I'm probably lower on the Dunes courses because Torrey Pines is my local muni so the ocean views, while impressive, don't hit quite as hard. Poor Sheep, someone had to come last. Still a top notch course anywhere else, but it's got little brother syndrome to the fullest as it competes every day with Top 10 courses in the country.
MY IDEAL ITINERARY:
I don't know who we held the door for or tipped at a coffee shop or let merge onto the highway to earn this amount of good fortune on the weather so I'll caveat the following itinerary... assume you have great weather for all rounds...
DAY ONE
AM - Sheep Ranch - It's the easiest course and a nice way to introduce yourself to the property.
PM - Shorty's - Super fun 19 hole short course they just opened. We played as an 8-some and nobody batted an eye. Peak vibes at sunset, too.
DAY TWO
AM - Pacific Dunes - Really tough if the wind cranks up in afternoon, so play it in the morning and soak in the epic scenery.
PM - Punchbowl - Putting course that shares a clubhouse with Pacific Dunes. You can walk around barefoot with a beer if you want. Come as you are.
DAY THREE
AM - Bandon Trails - Deserves it's own day as an 18 hole course. So unique, nice palate cleanser.
PM - Bandon Preserve - Shares a clubhouse with Bandon Trails and it's a 13 hole short course kind of like Shorty's.
DAY FOUR
AM - Old Macdonald
PM - Bandon Dunes
Identical closing day to what we played and I had no notes. Old Macdonald would go from very hard to impossible for me if there was afternoon 30 mph+ gusts plus closing the trip on the OG course as the sun sets is an impeccable finish.
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A FINAL EDITOR'S NOTE:
Behind every insane destination golf trip, for those of us with families, is a partner who stayed home to watch the kids. A massive shout out to my wife, Kaitlin, who chased a 2.5 year old Jack around town for six days—while seven months pregnant. Love you!
