Bandon Oregon Dateline: 2010

Why 2010? Simple, really. That’s when Old MacDonald opens for play. I’ve never been a fan of simpleton course names, so the Brookwoods, Brookfields, and Tall Grass of the world leave me numb. Old MacDonald is the homage piece of Bandon Dunes golf resort to Charles Blair MacDonald, architect and caretaker of The National Golf Links on Long Island, NY, USA.

You’ve read a funny opening to a golf piece, but Bandon, Oregon is a funny place to find golf. It’s not located near anywhere metropolitan and couldn’t care less. Bandon is a wild place, accustomed to the occasional devastating fire. The town has burned to the ground twice, and the original course at the golf resort nearly made it a trifecta. During the construction of the second course at Bandon Dunes, a wildfire raged out of control, burning to the edge of ditches dug to protect the initial layout. The ditches held and the fire abated, but what a scare. It is stories of this ilk, beyond anecdotes, that truly season the recipe that is Bandon. Knowing that you might only get there once in a lifetime, I encourage you to wait for 2010.

In 1999 the golf world was introduced to the south Oregon coastline when literally-unknown designer David McClay Kidd and property owner Mike Keiser opened a course called Bandon Dunes. Constructed on sandy cliffs above the pacific, Bandon Dunes was hailed as the triumph of a return to a simpler time. Gone were the big-machine, earth-moving courses of the 1950s-1970s. Golf had truly returned to a time when the ball contacted the ground with tremendous frequency. Courses sheltered from the elements demanded high approaches over treacherous hazards. Bandon Dunes forced the wind upon the golfer, demanding that the golfer control her and his trajectory. How novel!

Bandon Dunes was followed soon after by the Pacific Dunes course of Tom Doak. The lead man at Renaissance Golf, Doak was something of an enfant terrible in his earlier days, yet was on the cusp of greatness. Pacific Dunes cemented his place as one of two truly unique designers of the new millennium, the other being the late Mike Strantz. Had Strantz not died an early and untimely death, I like to think that Keiser would have brought him on board for the fourth course at Bandon. Back to Doak: the Michiganer had the audacity to back paired par fives up with paired par threes, to build two holes in one (the ninth has an upper and lower green, depending on the superintendent’s fancy), and to accept enormously blown-out dunes as bunkers, as they were.

In 2005, the third course at Bandon Dunes opened for play. Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw were given the most diverse piece of property yet, upon which to construct a masterpiece. They did, although many writers have yet to understand its complexity. Bandon Trails begins and ends in the dunes, although the ocean never comes into sight nor play. After the dunes, the course winds its way through a meadow before entering a forest of incredible elevation changes. Bandon Trails is the most creative, the most visually stimulating, and the most memorable of the three courses yet open at the resort. Unlike the two Dunes courses, where linksland holes tend to merge together in the memories of the uninitiated, Trails holes stand separate for time immemorial. With no apologies to the traditionalists, until you play a links five times, you do not separate the holes. With a course of such distinct alleys as Bandon Trails, you cannot help but do so.

In 2007, flying well under the radar, a new course unconnected to Bandon Dunes opened up in the environs, south of Bandon (the resort is located five miles north.) Bandon Crossings is the brainchild of Dan Hixon, a golf lifer who built many bunkers at the resort. Bandon Crossings is closest in spirit to Bandon Trails, winding its way through meadow, moor and forest, with nary an ocean view. Bandon Crossings is an economical option if you’re staying off-resort, with green fees that hardly top $70. The Crossings exhibits all the inspiration of its better-known neighbor, yet does so in a more low-key atmosphere. That said, the funding poured into the resort courses ensures that they are prepared for top-quality golf from the get-go; a visit to the Bandon Crossings website reveals a course that certainly will benefit from a few-years growing in and settling.

What can we expect from Old MacDonald? Look at Older MacDonald for a hint. C.B. MacDonald drew great inspiration from the courses of Scotland and continental Europe. He believed that a blueprint existed for golf courses and that certain hole styles should be found on nearly every course. He utilized the Redan, the Cape, the Channel, the Biarritz, the Short among many, working with Seth Raynor to create these holes on courses from Long Island Sound to Georgia. Old MacDonald came about when Keiser asked Doak the simple question, “What would MacDonald do if he were alive today?” We’ll know their interpretation in a few years’ time.

In terms of lodging, there is plenty. Many hotels and bed/breakfasts are found in Bandon-By-The-Sea, a west coast New England town of marshes and sea stacks. You can stay at the resort if you plan to play hard-core golf (36 a day or more) and wish to seldom stray from your purpose. The resort is home to a variety of accommodation styles, from a traditional inn to hidden bungalows. Each of the three courses has its own shop and grill, and there’s no reason to assume that the fourth course will not follow suit. Dining in town and at the resort is varied and affordable, and spa options are available at Bandon Dunes.

If you’re wondering why I’ve not gone to the trouble to give you individual golf hole breakdowns or course descriptions, consider their usefulness. How well can you paint a verbal picture of the most beautiful sunset you’ve ever witnessed? Neither can I. I imagine that you’re savvy enough to visit the Bandon Dunes and Bandon Crossing websites, since you found this article. What I can tell you is that I was never bored over the course of 54 holes at Bandon Dunes in August of 2005. Personally, I’ll wait until 2011, to give the Crossings one more year of maturation and the Old MacDonald course a bit of time to shake off the remains of the golfing paparazzi.