Saevel25’s Bandon Dunes 2025 Trip

[saevel25]

First day of a trip to Bandon Dunes. We played Sheep Ranch today. A Coore/Crenshaw designed course. A par 34 on the front and 38 on the back. With 8 holes with either a green, tee box, or the hole runs along the edge of the bluffs at the pacific. It has amazing vistas. With wide fairways and intermixed gorse bushes. The defense of the course are its large, undulated greens and the daily winds from the north. Many times you need to take 3-4 clubs more, if you even barely cross the wind, your ball can be taken offline or come up half to a full club short.

A fantastic layout. 
 

here are some photos. 

[iacas]

You could make this a whole thread for your Bandon stuff. LMK if you want it renamed.

Looking forward to seeing the photos and reading!

[saevel25]

32 minutes ago, iacas said:

You could make this a whole thread for your Bandon stuff. LMK if you want it renamed.

Looking forward to seeing the photos and reading!

Sure, go ahead. That is a good idea. Thanks! 

[iacas]

17 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

Sure, go ahead. That is a good idea. Thanks! 

To what? 🙂 

[saevel25]

16 minutes ago, iacas said:

To what? 🙂 

Saevel25’s Bandon Dunes 2025 Trip

[mdl]

So excited you made it out! I live in Portland and go most springs. If you liked Sheep's Ranch you ain't seen nothing yet. It's incredibly picturesque and with a 2 club wind it's not a cake walk. But as far as the quality of the course in terms of challenge and interest, in my opinion it's easily the worst on the property!

Also, Old Mac started as my least favorite (this was before Sheep's Ranch opened). But I listened to the fried egg podcast about it and read through Doak's descriptions and it totally changed my perspective. Now it's fighting for top spot. So excited for you!

Tom Doak’s Hole-By-Hole Description Of Old Macdonald, Back Nine - Bandon Dunes Golf

---

Doak's Back Nine of #OldMacdonald

[saevel25]

Finished Bandon Trail today. Man what a course. Big upgrade over Sheep Ranch. I am giving Sheep Ranch a  7/10. Mostly views, course was good, and fun. 

I am giving Bandon Trails 8.25/10. It's up there with Sand Valley in my opinion. Much more demanding of the course. With the wind it just gets brutal. 

The first two holes are fully exposed to the wind, since they sit on the western edge of the course, open to the pacific. Even though it is tree lined, the wind has a big impact as it rolls over the hills and dunes. You can be surrounded by trees and feel the 20 mph wind at the tee box or fairway. I recommend using the yardage book, as it contains the course layout with a compass rose showing the prevailing wind (almost always from the north in the summer). It's easier to judge which direction the wind is going. 

I played halfway decent. I hate when the shank gets loaded into the gun. Short game is on point, putting is good. I just need to make better swigs. My shot is definitely not built for wind. 😭

Here are some photos...

 

 

[saevel25]

Day 3 down. Today was Pacific Dunes, #2 public course in the USA.

I will have to say it lives up to the hype. A fantastic course and layout. Very difficult, where you need to be precise on most all the shots you hit. A thoughtful routing with regards to the two prevailing wind directions, from the north in the summer and from the south in the winter. In some regards, some of the holes I was glad to have the northerly winds, but other holes it made them absolute monsters. Especially the par 3's on the back nine, which all generally go into the wind, except for 14. Hole's 10, 11, 12 and 13 all into the wind. 

Hole 18, a fantastic par 5, is much easier with the wind. It demands a precise tee shot, and a precise 2nd shot to get in a good spot near the green in two. It would be very hard to hit the green in two. Into the winter southerly wind, it would be a beast of a par 5. Instead of 255 yards into the green, you would probably have 270 yards, and it I would be uphill, and the hole constricts as you get closer to the green. 

The front nine is mostly back and forth with the wind. Like 1-2-3 into, and 4-5 with. 7-9 really alternate back and forth. The back nine really is a stretch of holes, where holes 10 thru 13 are heading north, and 14 thru 18 are heading generally south. Except for 17. 

Overall, I would give it like a 9.25/10. 

Some photo's...

The punchbowl green, where you have a putt putt course...

[saevel25]

Day 4 - Bandon Dune's. 

Man, what a fantastic course, this is going to be tough against Pacific Dunes. I think the comparison works here because the architect of Bandon Dunes did Mammoth Dunes. Bandon Dunes is more similar to Mammoth Dunes, and Pacific Dunes is more like Sand Valley. Just in terms of difficulty, but how similar the two courses are also to each other. 

I think Pacific Dunes is the more test of a golfers ability, a deserves to be up there in the public course rankings. I think Bandon is right up there with it. 

Visually, Bandon offers better views, but Pacific Dunes is the better golf course from a course routing and layout perspective. Bandon is close. 

I give it a 9.0/10

Time for the photos...

[saevel25]

Day 5 - Old Macdonald

Of all the courses, this one to me, played the most like a link course should play. Huge greens, plenty of room to play the ball down. This one was super fun to play. 

Hole 3 is super cool, you tee off up and over this big dune, and at the top you get view of the nearly the entire course. It's like, here you go, enjoy. 

I would rate this one 8.5/10

I think every one should play Pacific Dunes, but if I had to say which ones I think people would enjoy the most. 

1. Bandon Dunes
2. Bandon Trail
3. Old MacDonald
4. Pacific Dunes. 

Pacific Dunes is so demanding. For me, I enjoyed Old MacDonald and Bandon Dunes the most, but I think Pacific Dunes is the best course out there. 

Some photos...

 

[mdl]

Interesting take on Pacific versus Bandon Dunes. I tend to prefer Pacific but it's a little splitting hairs. All four are great courses and really fun to play! My order is:

1. Old Mac
2. Bandon Trails
3. Pacific Dunes
4. Bandon Dunes

Though if a little cheating is allowed I'd give Trails a T1.

Anyway, thanks for sharing!