Photo by Wood Sabold

If you’ve never been on a Bandon Dunes golf vacation—or even if you have—you’d be wise to allocate some time to a pre-round primer on its recently expanded and upgraded practice facility and par-3 course.

The widened and lengthened driving range can now accommodate the hottest of the hot drivers, and the new, course-sized greens provide ideal target practice using the all-important knockdown shot amid the winds whipping off the Pacific.

Where you’ll really shave strokes off your score, however, is in the chipping area. Complete with gnarled rough, prodigious mounding and knee-high fescue, the chipping area does a great job of emulating many of the shots—or recovery shots—you’ll encounter on any of Bandon’s three spectacular courses.

From there, take a spin around the nine-hole, par-3 practice course, designed by Bandon Dunes’ Scottish designer David McLay Kidd. With several holes topping 200 yards and a replica of the Redan hole from North Berwick, it is anything but a pitch-and-putt and a great way to start your Bandon Dunes golf vacation off with a birdie on your scorecard and a smile on your face.

Not already a subscriber to Golf Vacation Insider? Click here to receive our free newsletter filled with insider travel tips on the world's finest golf courses and resorts. As a bonus, we will send you a free copy of Planning the Ultimate Golf Vacation, a 40-page book filled with insider tips from the editors of Golf Odyssey.