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When
Mike Keiser decided to go ahead with his dream of
developing Bandon Dunes on the southern Oregon coast,
he started a renaissance in golf by tackling the
unknown with impassioned ambition. There was nothing
ordinary about this project, from the architect that
Kaiser enlisted, to the dynamic qualities of the
property and the resort he envisioned.
Keiser's
search for the appropriate land ended on a remote
stretch of coastline in Southern Oregon, five hours to
the south of Portland and just 90 miles from the California border.
In addition to the dramatic landscape and vistas, the
rugged maritime climate of the region lends itself to
a unique golf challenge, with a
moderate year-around temperature and the difficult and
ever-changing ocean winds.
The
choice of David McLay Kidd to Bandon Dunes was surprising in many
respects, as many developers would have relied on an
established big-name architect to drum up interest in
an out-of-the-way resort complex. As it turns out,
Keiser's prescient assumption that Kidd's Scottish
heritage and upbringing would marry well with the
landscape has thrust both the architect and the resort
into stardom. The young architect's father has been
the head greenskeeper at Gleneagles Hotel for decades,
and the senior Kidd also served
as an
agronomy consultant at Bandon Dunes. Together, their
links-inspired expertise fit perfectly with the
dramatic oceanside setting. Guests
teeing off on a foggy morning can be fooled into
believing they have been transported to a peninsula on
the Irish Sea, as the tall bluffs, choppy seas,
and pot bunkers that dot the Bandon landscape invoke
the spirit of the Emerald Isle. Also, the firm conditions of
the sandy subsoil created the opportunity for
Kidd to enhance elements of the ground game and allow
golfers to use running shots as an alternative to the aerial route.
Golfers
get an early sense of the course of the adventure ahead in the first two holes, which
ease the
golfer into the round. While both are modest in
distance, the two elevated greens still punish those
golfers who may fall asleep with the short to mid-iron
approach. This is especially true of the 189-yard, par-three
second hole, where the false front will reject
approaches and leave golfers with a difficult birdie
pitch from the bottom of
the slope.
The
spectacular nature of the third hole highlights the
combination of challenge and scenery that makes Bandon
Dunes such a unique resort course. Measuring 543 yards, the hole
plays shorter due to the downhill tee shot but seasonal winds
may keep the golfer from having a
chance at this green in two shots. Should the golfer
attempt this play, the severe green acts as the main
defense. Finding the appropriate section of the green
can be a difficult task -- even with a wedge in hand
-- so aggressive plays at eagle or birdie can quickly
turn into difficult up-and-down par saves
The
fourth hole may be the best on the course, a 410-yard
understated gem that features some imaginative
characteristics often lacking
in straightaway par fours. The tee shot is blind, and
the driver should be passed over in favour of smart
position play. Tee shots should be kept to the right
side, leaving an approach that can be played around the
two menacing
bunkers short and left of the green. Bearing down from
the corner of the dogleg is not an easy task, as
climbing over the crest to the landing area one is
afforded their first glance of the Pacific, beginning
a seaside stretch that highlights the two nines.
As
wonderful as the fourth is, the 428-yard fifth is an
admirable follow-up, both for its coastal beauty and
challenging design. The
oft-photographed hole boasts a seaside tee, from where
one can gaze out to the horizon or down the embankment
of the cliffs to the shore below. Clusters of dunes
that dot the fairway provide the ideal target line
from the tee, so while the bailout right
may be more appetizing, it leaves the golfer with
a blind approach to one of the deepest greens on the
course. A strong driver will carry the dunes and
can leave a favourable angle from which to approach the plateau
green.
Two
holes later at the eighth, golfers stare down from a
plateau tee in a grassland meadow at an ominous
undertaking. Seven tiny, steep pot bunkers cross the
fairway in half-moon fashion, and require a strong tee
shot to carry them and find the wide fairway beyond. A
more conservative tee shot to the left leaves a very
difficult approach, but a chance at birdie is
realistic, as the green is deep enough to hold most
iron shots.
Coming
off the turn, and a clever little 10th hole, golfers
make their return to the ocean setting at the awesome
199-yard 12th. A very threatening bunker guards the front left portion of the green, which
runs diagonally around it. A large rugged mound will
snare shots that leak right, and while the ocean
backdrop is not in play, it can be a distraction on an
already difficult hole.
After
a long and dynamic par-five 13th, 14 features design
characteristics similar those found at 10. The green
complex is among the best on the course, tucked
neatly into a shelter of gorse that creeps right down
to the back fringe. The tee shot here must carry a set
of bunkers, and the approach must fly bunkers as well,
without carrying beyond into the scrub. Club selection
on the approach is critical.
Number
15 is a par three that should evoke comparisons to the
wonderful sixth hole at Turnberry. The Bandon Dunes
version, while significantly at just 163
yards, the view from the tee is no less daunting. A
steep, broad fall-off in the front is flanked by a
cavernous bunker short and right of the green.
Anything better than a bogey from there is miraculous.
Nothing less than a crisp mid-iron to the left side of
the green will do here.
For
sheer beauty, the 16th hole wins out over the fifth in our
minds. A point in the round where the experience is
drawing to a close, it's fitting that often times a
blanket of mist will begin to close in around the
player here. Perched right on the edge of the ocean,
the approach appears to be into a green that literally
falls into the Pacific behind it. Late birdies can be
had, but delicate touch is favoured here over brute
force.
The
emergence of Bandon Dunes into the spotlight bodes
well for all those who cherish the game. The resort,
which initially pondered the possibility of surviving on
10,000 rounds a year, now boasts 40,000 on Bandon
Dunes alone. The fact that golfers have become
enamoured with a resort that offers great golf
without carts and asphalt paths holds promise that
Bandon Dunes will become a trend-setter rather than an
anomaly. |
