BANDON TRAILS – A COURSE TOUR & APPRECIATION
Bandon Dunes Resort, Bandon, OR – Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw
Among the four full courses at Bandon Dunes Resort, Bandon Trails stands out as the most different from the group. Though the course starts just south of the Bandon Dunes course and plays through dunes for its first two holes, the course quickly leaves the shoreline dunes for the wooded areas inland.
The uniqueness of Bandon Trails among the courses at Bandon Dunes, coupled with the beautiful terrain and the outstanding Coore/Crenshaw design, make this golf course a favorite among many Bandon visitors. Within our group of 8 players, fully half listed Bandon Trails as their favorite of the Bandon courses.
One notable difference to consider is that Bandon Trails has more elevation change than the other courses at the resort. It is not a brutal walk by any stretch, but since many players are cramming in 36 or more holes, it bears mentioning that Bandon Trails can make for a more difficult walk at the end of a long day. The back nine climbs to the fourteenth tee, plunges back into the valley, and then climbs again to the sixteenth green.
Variety is one of the attributes that makes Bandon Dunes so special, and Bandon Trails provides more variety than any other course at the resort.
Hole 1 – 356 yards – Par 4
Playing southward through dunes, the first hole plays as a slight dogleg right to an elevated green.
The fairway is wide, but level lies are rare.
The view to the west after ascending the first green is one of the best on the property.
The writhing first fairway, as seen from behind the green.
Hole 2- 166 yards – Par 3
The massive landing area short of this green is largely obscured by the large surrounding dunes.
More room than appears from the tee . . .
…though missing left presents difficulties.
The first of a fantastic set of one shot holes at Trails.
Hole 3 – 532 yards – Par 5
This gorgeous par-5 begins the course’s transition from dunes to hilly woodlands.
The centerline bunkers provide additional challenge and interest for the second shot.
Interestingly, none of the bunkers at the third actually touch the green.
A beautiful setting.
Hole 4 – 363 yards – Par 4
A lovely hole, the fourth plays out to a diagonal ridge bisecting the fairway.
Drives that carry this ridge or play to the left will have a view of the green. Drives that miss right will leave a blind approach.
Three bunkers wait long right to gobble overly aggressive approaches.
This view from behind the green reveals the scale of the fairway ridgeline.
Hole 5 – 124 yards – Par 3
A beautiful short par-3. Trees have been removed over the years to open up gorgeous views in this area of the course.
Incorporation of the surrounding features into the greens adds great interest to Bandon Trails. On a different day, this ball may have ended up as a tap-in.
The wonderfully contoured fifth green.
Hole 6 – 359 yards – Par 4
Amazing what a small, well placed bunker can do to an otherwise simple drive.
Playing to the high right of that bunker provides a view of the green but a crooked lie.
Note the seamless transition from wide fairway to green.
Hole 7 – 406 yards – Par 4
A terrific and difficult par-4, the seventh plays up a long and well bunkered fairway to an elevated and sloped green.
The green is open in front, allowing players to work long approaches in along the ground while using the green’s contours to get close to the pin.
The huge seventh green slopes significantly from back to front. Putting back to a pin from the rear of the green is slippery.
Hole 8 – 299 yards – Par 4
After the long par 4 seventh awaits the short par-4 eighth. A fantastic risk/reward hole.
Though this green is reachable for many players, missing comes with a high cost. Anything left is likely lost.
The entire hole is designed to encourage players to take on the green, perhaps foolishly.
Hole 9 – 522 yards – Par 5
The ninth is a classic par five which provides a bit of a breather for the golfer.
The wide fairway is bunkered, but not oppressively so, and the hole continues to provide width through the green.
Even the green complex is wide, with fairway ringing the putting surface for yards in all directions.
The serene ninth hole.
Hole 10 – 393 yards – Par 4
The tenth presents a very wide fairway, but the closer the player hugs the left, the better the angle and the shorter the approach.
The large tenth green may lull players into a false sense of security on the approach.
Hole 11 – 429 yards – Par 4
This lengthy par four presents the only internal water hazard at Bandon Dunes. A rolling dogleg right around a waste area and a greenside pond.
Having played several rounds without so much as thinking about a pond, the impact of the water hazard hugging the right of the green is large . . .
. . . though it is quite pretty.
While the eleventh is one of the longest two shot holes at Trails, the terrain and the open front of the green allows most players to hit the green in regulation.
One of the longest par-3s on the property, the twelfth gives the player a massive amount of room to miss with the tee shot, particularly to the right . . .
. . . but this large greenside knob makes recovery from misses right very difficult.
From the rear, the player sees that short is the best place to miss this large green.
Hole 13 – 374 yards – Par 4
Accuracy is critical for both shots on this rumpled two shot hole.
Left is better off the tee, as it allows the approach to be played up the center of this narrow green, which falls off substantially on both sides.
Approaches missed left will run up to twenty yards down this steep sideslope.
And chipping from the sides of this green is no easy task.
Hole 14 – 306 yards – Par 4
The first thing the player notices on this controversial short par four is the sheer beauty of the view. The ocean and dunes to the right and rear, mountains in the distance straight ahead, the fourteenth tee is one of the prettiest spots at Bandon Dunes Resort.
Tee shots short right will leave a steeply uphill, blind approach. The left leaves a better angle.
The green is small and treacherous. Anything missing right or long will roll forever, and anything left leaves a delicate chip from a small depression to the narrowest part of this green. 2 or 20 – both are in play here.
Hole 15 – 367 yards – Par 4
The ideal line off this tee is at or right of the cross bunker . . .
. . . which will allow an approach up the mouth of the green.
This beautifully bunkered green is one of the prettiest on the course.
In fact, the stretch of holes from 14 to 17 is uniformly gorgeous.
Hole 16 – 494 yards – Par 5
A short par-5 on the card, the sixteenth plays like it’s 100 yards longer. It’s into the summer wind, and it’s drastically uphill.
The slope in this wild fairway is STEEP and can add distance to a tee shot up the right.
The green is well bunkered and contoured, as this view from the left side shows.
The toughest walk at Bandon, but undeniably a standout par-5.
Hole 17 – 159 yards – Par 3
The last of the one shot holes, the seventeenth presents a narrow green with a false front that must be carried.
Distance control is at a premium.
There is not much room to miss here, and no great spot to do so.
Spectators add to the pressure.
Hole 18 – 363 yards – Par 4
The final hole at Trails plays back through the dunes and up to the clubhouse.
The fairway is riddled with mounds and lumps, making level lies rare.
The large final green provides one last challenge.
As noted above, Trails is different from the other three courses at Bandon. As a result, opinions on Trails vary more widely than those of the other courses. Some consider it the best course at Bandon. Others consider it their least favorite among the four. But there can be little reasonable debate that Bandon Trails is an exceptional golf course in its own right, and that few who play it will place it anywhere but at or near the very top of the resort courses they have played.
MORE LINKSGEMS TOURS
- Bandon Preserve
- Boston Golf Club
- Eastward Ho!
- Fishers Island
- Garden City
- Maidstone
- Myopia Hunt Club
- NGLA
- Old Macdonald
- Old Sandwich
- Old Town
- Pacific Dunes
- Shoreacres
- Sleepy Hollow
- Somerset Hills
Copyright 2015 – Jason Way, GeekedOnGolf
Jon – Great photos and great write-up. Hole-for-hole Trails was my favorite at the resort. I think if you could “shut off” the views at the other courses and only focus on how the course plays, a lot more people would rank Trails as their favorite. Just my opinion though.
Cheers
Josh
My favorite as well. No contest really.