Stay & Play: Bandon Dunes Golf Resort

Old Macdonald

• A few meters from Pacific Dunes, it seems to be located in another country. Firmer and faster fairways, from a grayer green tending to yellow and emulating the golf of the east of Scotland (St. Andrews, Carnoustie, Muirfield) with replicas and similarities of the North Berwick Redan, the Spectacles de Carnoustie, the green of the 14 from the Old Course, the Eden Hole also from the Old Course, and much more.
• It is a kind of tribute to golf: it is the course that most attracts the attention of those most interested in golf architecture.
   

Pacific Dunes

Designed by Tom Doak and opened in 2001, Pacific Dunes is remarkably different in character and shot making requirements than the other courses. Pacific Dunes doesn't feel like it was built as much as it was discovered. Rippling fairways remain just as they were found and natural bunkers line the landscape as they have for centuries. The course emerges from shore pines to spectacular 60-foot sand dunes. When the wind blows, precise approach shots are a necessity.

Sheep Ranch

Renovated by Coore & Crenshaw and co-founded by Phil Friedmann and Mike Keiser, the Sheep Ranch was for many years a mysterious golf landscape just north of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. Now with one mile of ocean frontage, nine green sites right along the edge of the continent, and stunning Pacific Ocean views on every hole, Sheep Ranch continues the legacy of “Golf As It Was Meant to Be” on the Pacific Coast.

Bandon Dunes Golf Course

• It was created by McLay Kidd and has the “look & feel” of northern Scotland (Royal Dornoch, Royal Aberdeen, Cruden Bay)
• It has several holes bordering the sea and very pronounced elevation changes with greens with a lot of movement.
• It has several memorable holes, including par 4 of 4 with a commemorative plaque that identifies it as one of the best 1000 holes in the world and the short par 4 of the 16, where long hitters can reach the green with the tee shot.
   

Bandon Trails Golf Course

When Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw began working in the sand to uncover our third course, they faced the challenge of following Bandon Dunes and Pacific Dunes. Opened in 2005, Bandon Trails begins atop a massive sand dune, then quickly opens into a sprawling meadow. The routing then works higher into the coastal forest, before finally returning to finish in the dunes. The course is enjoyable to walk and is a constant reminder of how the game was originally created among inland rolling dunes with dramatic ocean vistas.