Revisiting Bandon Dunes

I incorporated a short stopover at Bandon Dunes as we completed our nearly 4 week journey from Keuka Lake to Napa.

Julie at Bandon Preserve

Without requiring a resort stay and with some course flexibility, it wasn’t hard to get tee times. October is still heavy season at the resort (and the prices reflect that) but I was able to get a Sunday afternoon time on Bandon Dunes and a Monday morning time on Sheep Ranch. About a week prior to our visit I added on a Sunday morning play at Bandon Preserve with Julie, our second time playing those 13 holes together.

Julie was much more comfortable playing the Preserve than her last adventure there, and her play was much better. The weather was perfect, the greens rolled true, and we were never rushed by players behind us.

Ocean landscape on Bandon Dunes

That afternoon I played Bandon Dunes, the original Bandon golf course that I hadn’t played since 2007. I think Bandon gets a bit lost in the shuffle with all the newness at the resort, but this course is still so good. The only downside was recently aerated greens creating some bumpiness. I played with two men from Corvallis that made for nice company. The wind was blowing pretty hard but the sun was shining.

The dramatic tee shot at Sheep Ranch

The next morning I returned to Sheep Ranch, the newest 18 hole course. I last played Sheep Ranch on our Thanksgiving outing about 2 years ago. I was paired up with a family: a mother, daughter, and son. Daughter just finished her collegiate golfing career at Tulsa, and son is a scratch player or close to it. Enjoyed seeing them compete and play nearly error-free rounds. Mine was not error-free, but still so much fun.