In all the discussions around which golf course is #1, Bandon Trails often gets left out. It quietly exists in the dunes and the pine trees, just south of the resort’s famous golf courses, and rarely gets played. It’s a shame too. This Ben Crenshaw/Bill Coore design, which opened in 2005, incorporates elements of links golf that mirror the playing conditions at Bandon and Pacific Dunes, and extends those hard and fast conditions into a forested environment.

Our crew played Bandon Trails the afternoon after playing Bandon Dunes. The morning round had ended in a tie, which had made paying for lunch awkward, and after a few beers the game was back on. The morning fog had lifted and the sun had come out (somewhat) by the time we hit the 1^st tee, giving us a round free of our rain gear.

The starter told us to watch out for Trails’ slick greens, pointed out the fairway on the 1^st hole, and we were off. The transition that took place from the tree-less, Bandon-like 1^st hole to the cowboy-fenced, and suddenly forested 2^nd hole was dramatic. After crossing a wooden bridge exiting the 2^nd green we were amongst the pine trees for good until coming back into the dunes via another sweet transition from the 17th to the 18^th hole.

Bandon Trails' signature par-3, the 180-yard 17th

Trails does not get enough attention from the media, or from the guests at Bandon Dunes. It is a championship golf course in every sense of the word, is extremely fun to play, and is in the best condition of the resort’s four golf courses. There are no dramatic ocean holes, which proves Trails’ downfall, but the golf is dramatic nonetheless.

Trails runs circles around nearby Bandon Crossings, which advertises itself as links golf and as a Top-10-ranked Oregon golf course. Trails is true links golf, located in a forested setting, whereas Crossings is parkland golf, located in a forested setting. The difference between the two is as glaring as the fact that Trails is listed #14 in Golf Digests’ Top 100 public golf courses, whereas Crossings is not listed at all.

Signature Holes: granted, these are not the most difficult, or exciting holes on the golf course, but they represents the design skill of Coore/Crenshaw. Given the same terrain to work with on the 1st as at Bandon Dunes, the Coore/Crenshaw team created an opening hole that could easily fit in at Bandon or Pacific Dunes. The 2nd is a great par-3, and the 14th is a potential birdie, or eagle hole.

#1 — 392-yard, par-4:
  

#2 — 214-yards, par-3
  

#14: 325-yard, par-4:
  

-end-