Bandon Crossings' initial report card is a good one.
To be perfectly honest, when I first wrote about Bandon Crossings golf course last year, I wasn’t convinced the seasonal and remote Bandon market could support an upscale golf course unaffiliated with the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort.
However, Southern Oregon’s daily newspaper, The World, recently reported that Bandon Crossings, so far, is doing quite well in terms of traffic and course conditioning.
“The course has enjoyed a busy first six months, and throughout the winter received a lot of play from people who were coming to spend several days at Bandon Dunes,” the paper wrote, paraphrasing head professional Mark Fiore. Read more →
Old Macdonald, may have sandy, tree-less terrain similar to this section of Pacific Dunes, but without the sweeping ocean views.
One of our field operatives recently dropped in on the Bandon Dunes Resort and came across an interesting foursome, though they were not there to play golf.
Bandon Dunes Resort owner Mike Keiser, Pacific Dunes architect Tom Doak, and Doak’s two principal colleagues, Jim Urbina and Bruce Hepner, were exploring the potential routing plan for the fourth, 18-hole course, called Old Macdonald.
As has been widely reported, the course will take its cue from the work of America’s first great golf course architect, Charles Blair Macdonald, best known for creating National Golf Links of America, Yale University’s golf course, the Mid Ocean Club in Bermuda, and others. Read more →
Q: Are airport rental cars available to drive to Bandon Dunes Resort? Norman G.
A: That’s a great question, Norman, as most travelers who fly to their Bandon Dunes golf vacation use North Bend’s Southern Oregon Regional Airport (airport code: OTH), which is quite small.
However, two rental car companies have desks there: Enterprise (local telephone number: 541-266-7100) and Hertz (local telephone numer: 541-756-4416). As you would imagine, because of the demand, especially in summer, it’s a good idea to reserve a car well in advance of your Bandon Dunes golf vacation.
If you can’t get a rental car, you can always hire one of the many taxi, limousine and shuttle services to drive you to the resort. Bandon Dunes’ preferred provider is Connoisseurs Golf Transportation but there are many others, such as: Read more →
Horizon Air passengers bound for Bandon fly on Bombardier Q200 turbo-prop airplanes.
If you’re planning on flying to your Bandon Dunes golf vacation, chances are you’ll be connecting to one of Horizon Air’s non-stop flights from Portland (airport code: PDX) to North Bend’s Southwest Oregon Regional Airport (airport code: OTH).
That’s because, unless you’re taking a private or chartered plane, there just aren’t many, if any, other options for getting to the remote Bandon Dunes Resort. (Horizon had offered a non-stop flight from Seattle to North Bend in 2006, but has since canceled it.)
With only four Bandon-bound flights per day (six in the prime summer months), it’s particularly important to schedule your flight from your departure city so it syncs up, especially if you want to get in some golf on the day you arrive.
Horizon’s timetable changes throughout the year, but in general, its daily flights from Portland leave at: Read more →
Bandon Crossings will be an inland and inexpensive alternative on a Bandon Dunes golf vacation.
Less than a month from today, there will be a new golf course to play on a Bandon Dunes golf vacation, but it’s not located at the Bandon Dunes Resort.
In fact, the only thing Bandon Crossings has in common with Bandon Dunes, besides its proximity to the center of town (it is five miles south, whereas the resort is slightly north), is its builder, Tony Russell, who was part of the crew that worked on all three of the resort’s courses. Read more →
Our Bandon Dunes golf vacation book contains tips from owner Mike Keiser (center) and architects Bill Coore (left), David McLay Kidd (right) and Tom Doak.
Even before the opening of Bandon Trails, we felt that a Bandon Dunes golf vacation was something every serious golfer should experience. Now that there are three courses to choose from (and a fourth on the way), understanding the main differences between them is more important than ever.
Who is better to explain these subtleties than the architects themselves? Included in our recently published insider’s guide, called Planning the Ultimate Bandon Dunes Golf Vacation, are never-before-published interviews with the architects of all three of Bandon Dunes Resort’s courses. Here’s an excerpt from Bill Coore, co-architect (with Ben Crenshaw) of Bandon Trails: Read more →
Bandon's caddies know where the "Keiser" tees are.
If helpful advice, swing tips and fatigue reduction aren’t reasons enough to take a caddy on a Bandon Dunes golf vacation, here’s another one: they can tip you off about where to find the course’s secret tees that you’d never know were there.
As part of our recently published insider’s guide, called Planning the Ultimate Bandon Dunes Golf Vacation we conducted exclusive interviews with the architects of all three of Bandon Dunes Resort’s courses.
In the one with Bandon Dunes architect David McLay Kidd, he reveals that Bandon Dunes owner Mike Keiser had him construct a few extra, strategically placed tees for his personal enjoyment of the course.
The following is an excerpt: Read more →
