Pacific Dunes
Went to Bandon in 2017. Pacific Dunes was my favorite of the four courses (they’ve since added the Sheep Ranch). So, where to begin with Pacific Dunes? From my ranking criteria, PD is one of the best. The entire resort is all about Wow factor. The courses are fun to play and though my true links experiences are limited for now (heading to Scotland in 2022), this is what I assume they are and love this style of golf.
I don’t remember a favorite hole here like I do with some of the other top courses I’ve played, Obviously the 4th, 11th and 13th hug the coast and are the most dramatic, but the inland holes here have such great character to them as well. I’ve really come to like Tom Doak courses.
PD is walking only as are all of the courses at Bandon. I like walking a course and having a caddie. However, I also like drinking beer and listening to music while playing and having a golf cart makes that easier. So I like carts, too. I neither give nor take points away from a course for having or not having carts. I do appreciate the aesthetics of courses like those at Bandon that don’t have blacktop crisscrossing the fairways, but I think courses that have integrated cart paths into the landscape (where I can have a cooler and speaker but not stare at the equivalent of I-95 running down the side of the hole) are every bit as good as the walking-only courses. Traditionalists cringe at such blasphemy, I know.
All that said, our caddie volunteered to carry my Bluetooth speaker for me and keep cold Miller Lites in the bag (that’s how you earn the big tips, boys)! A lasting memory for me was walking down the 18th fairway listening to Fairies Wear Boots by Sabbath and slurping down my last Miller Lite (of the round). What could be better in this world!
Golf Scrapbook 