Bandon Dunes Golf Resort: Pacific Dunes
Pacific Dunes
Round Lake Drive, Bandon, OR 97411
6,633-yards/Par-72/Slope 129/Rating 71.9
Ranked #2 in Golf Digest’s list of the Top 100 Public Golf Courses, Pacific Dunes is often mentioned in the same breath as venerable Pebble Beach. And deservedly so. Pacific Dunes is a golf experience, one of those ‘play-it-before-you-die’ kind of deals, like Pebble, only the experience actually lives up to the hype at Pacific Dunes, where every hole is signature. The one’s located on the ocean are a bonus, a five star feature on a four-star rating scale.
When the sun breaks through the clouds, as it did for us, Pacific Dunes becomes a magical environment of drifting sea mist, dark-green gorse covered cliffs, and fescue grasses in every color of green, plus some blue, red, orange and yellow. The drifting mist and sunshine even created miniature rainbows in the long fescue grasses.
Even Pacific Dunes’ hazards were beautiful. A Titliest lost to the sandy beach below on the awe-inspiring tee shot on the 463-yard, par-4, 4th hole seemed nothing to cry over — just show me where to drop, so long as it is close to the ocean.
Charming and cozy, the green at the 304-yard, par-4 1st hole is the entrance to Pacific Dunes' wonders.
The pot bunkers, strewn throughout the fairway landing zones, were wonderfully dark aiming points from the tee boxes and really provided that Scottish/Irish charm, complete with an old wooden rake, especially when they required sideways, or backwards exits.
With some inspired play and a creative short game, however, good scores were possible at Pacific Dunes, especially on the back nine, where players encounter four dramatic par-3′s on holes 10, 11, 14 and 17. plus three par-5′s on holes 12, 15 and 18. There’s only two par-4′s on the entire back nine! From the 10th through the 18th we were firing at flags and birdie hunting!
That being said, by the end of the round the golf scores seemed much less important than the actual golfing experience, which was unforgettable.
Signature Holes: there are simply too many to choose from at Pacific Dunes. The easy choices were the ocean-fronting holes.
#4– 463-yard, par-4: think Pacific Dunes is easy, and short? Think again. The 4th will have you shaking in your booties on the tee box. Even if you ‘nut’ one with the driver, you still face a long-iron approach into a green perched on a cliff.
#11 — 148-yard, par-3: probably one of the most photographed holes at Pacific Dunes, the 11th plays longer than its yardage and features a difficult putting surface.
#13 — 444-yard, par-4: the 13th is like the 4th, but plays the opposite direction, which means the prevailing winds are at your back, and the ocean on your left. How much difference does the wind make? I hit a nice 3-wood from the tee, followed by a pitching wedge approach, which drifted far enough left that my ball was left hanging two inches from the cliff edge — routine up and down!
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