Why would you want to rush through this?

People often ask us how long their Bandon Dunes golf vacation should be, and our immediate answer is always, "as long as possible." Unlike other golf resorts, you could literally spend weeks playing Bandon Dunes’ three spectacular golf courses (plus some of its secret holes) without a hint of boredom creeping in.

The unfortunate reality for most of us is that we have a limited window for our golf getaways. The good news, however, is that a proper Bandon Dunes golf vacation can be experienced in days, not weeks, although you do need to budget a minimum amount of time to avoid missing any of its many charms, or worse, rushing through them.

When planning your Bandon Dunes golf vacation, keep in mind that the earliest possible flight arrival time into North Bend (the closest public airport; a 30-minute drive) is 11:30 a.m. So, at best, you can get in 18 holes on the first day, although nine or none is more likely if you arrive via this route.

The most common itinerary (Thursday to Sunday) has people playing 36 holes on their second and third days and 18 on their departure day. However, if you can swing it, we recommend adding another day, for a total of five as a minimum.

Most importantly, this will give you three solid days of golf unfettered by the stress of traveling. Plus, for those who prefer to play only one round per day, it means none of the courses need to be skipped (an unforgivable transgression) and, for die hards, each course could theoretically be played twice. Of course, the extra time is also useful for checking out some of the non-golf activities the resort and the town of Bandon have to offer.

So, there you have it. Five days minimum for a fun, relaxing, nothing-sacrificed Bandon Dunes golf vacation. Could you do it in four or three? Of course, but it might be a blur and what a shame it would be to hastily plow through some of the most spectacular golf on the planet.

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