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.

Otherwise, Bandon Crossings couldn't be more different from the mighty layouts at Bandon Dunes, and that's exactly how owner Rex Smith wanted it. Smith, a Eugene, Ore., podiatrist and Bandon vacation home owner, envisioned a quality, mid-priced, 18-hole course that permitted the use of golf carts, unlike the walking-only Bandon Dunes.

So, he brought in Portland-based golf architect Dan Hixson to transform a 340-acre cattle and sheep ranch into a nearly 7,000-yard golf course, "complementing" the other offerings available on a Bandon Dunes golf vacation, "but not competing directly with the other courses."

Indeed, because it's located about a mile from the ocean, it's terrain is flatter and, overall, more heavily forested than all three of Bandon Dunes' courses, even the inland Bandon Trails.

Bandon Crossings opens for limited preview rounds on July 18, 2007. Interested parties can request tee times via email: teetimes@bandoncrossings.com. The green fee is $70 in summer, $38 in winter. It's surprising, however, that for all of Smith's support of the use of golf carts, his prices do not include one. That's another $28 for two people.

Truth be told, I have not played the course yet as the grass was just coming in this spring. If you have, or plan to, share your comments and let me know if you think it's worth a trip off campus during a Bandon Dunes golf vacation. Few things are.

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