Here’s my Bandon trip summary from this past weekend:
I teed off on Bandon Dunes Friday at 4pm – in 30mph winds (with three guys who had flown in from Boston for a few days). The front nine was a disaster. I played better from 9-18, but my short game kept letting me down. A disappointing start to the weekend. That was the second time I’ve played Bandon Dunes, both times badly and in a stiff wind so I have yet to warm to it.
Also – the wife, who just started to play, took a lesson with the head pro and played Shorty’s by herself – and she had a blast. So much that she booked a tee time for us on the Preserve on Saturday afternoon. We had a late dinner at McKee’s Pub. They did a good job having the tables spaced out, and the servers had masks – very few on the customers. But overall about as good as you can hope for indoors.
Saturday morning I teed off at Sheep Ranch at 7.20, with three other singles. As we were waiting on the tee, the starter tells us, “look over there, you have one of the course designers in the group behind you – Ben Crenshaw.” So that made my first tee shot a little nerve-wracking, but I kept it in the fairway. The wind was a little lighter – though still 2-3 clubs – and I played much better. Two ugly holes and one caddie mis-club prevented me from having a really good score, but I still finished with an 82, which I was pretty happy with, especially given the day before.
The funniest moment of the round came when Crenshaw and his group were teeing off #7 - a par 3. Another group was teeing off #10 next to #7, and a left-handed player totally shanked his drive right into Crenshaw and his group - they all had to duck. They guy that shanked the ball didn’t seem to care too much, but we were walking down #8 at the time, so we went up to him and said “you don’t know what you just did, you just shanked it into Ben Crenshaw.” That gave us a good laugh.
As for the course, the above sentiments are right on – it’s definitely the easiest there, but also the most enjoyable to walk. The views are stunning. No bunkers is a change from the other courses, and it has a few non-descript holes, but I had such a great time making that walk. I had a beer and watched Crenshaw come up 18. He took some photos, but I didn’t want to hassle him.
The wife and I then played Bandon Preserve – a few holes behind Crenshaw. She did pretty good, all things considered – even parring #13 with her putter. So that was a fun way to end the day.
Sunday I teed off Old MacDonald at 8.20 by myself – just with my caddie. Not many on the course at all – it was great. The weather turned out good and I played the best I’ve played in a while. I drove about as well as I ever had. It took me a few holes to get the speed on the greens, but I had an 80, while still missing 5-6 very makeable putts, including a 10-footer on 18 for birdie that I knew was for the 79 (downhill, hit it too hard, and took the break out - ugh). Of course it helped to play well, but I liked Old Mac much more than I was expecting.
Overall, it was a great trip. We stayed down in Bandon overlooking Face Rock, so that was a nice place to relax in the evening and watch the sunset. Not a lot of social distancing in the town, but we did find an outside spot at the Irish pub that was OK. Another day to play Trails would have been ideal, but we needed to get back.