bandon dunes

[BrunoThePug]

I'm going with my Dad for a "good ol' times" golf vacation at the end of August. I played there with him about 5 years ago.

It's a fantastic course(s). We stayed in the summer, maybe june/july, and it was raining off and on, but nothing major. We did not stay at the resort the last time but we are going to this time, the lodging looks great.

My dad's played all over the UK and other famous courses in the US and he says from a pure "Golf" experience the courses in Bandon are right up there with Scottish/Irish courses.

IIRC accuracy and good course management are rewarded, they're not especially wide courses and the areas around the fairway are thick so you can't exactly afford to hit errant drives and expect to find your ball easily.

While caddies are recommended we're just getting one (for my dad's bag) while I'll be carrying (and pulling on the day we play 36). They're good for advice and helping you place your shots when you can't see or the landing area is deceiving.

[nsj]

We went this April, and Wally pretty much summed up the basics.

Getting there is a bit of a pain. We connected through Portland (Via Toronto/Chicago) and then took a little prop plane to North Bend/Coos Bay. From there it's about a 30-minute drive.

Once at the resort, there is very little except for the golf, but it is fantastic. Dress for unpredictable weather, take a caddy, and don't worry so much about what you shoot. The golf is as good as you will find anywhere on the planet, and I personally believe that Trails and Pacific are far superior to the original Bandon course.

Food and drink is great. So is service, and all without being pretentious. Someone mentioned Pebble Beach in this thread. I've been to both, and it's nice to be able to grab a $7 club sandwich and a $4 Oregon microbrew pint at the turn instead of some overpriced food-art and an $8 bottle of Stella Artois. Point being, this place is built for golf and doesn't pretend to be anything else.

Also of note is that there is a casino in North Bend/Coos Bay with a poker room. Pretty small, when I was there they had two 1/2NL 200max tables running and nothing else. Game was deep with regulars, though. Table I was seated at had about 7-8k in play.

Have an amazing trip.