Bandon Dunes: 18 things you must know before planning your trip

A golf trip to Bandon Dunes is nirvana. It’s the only resort with five 18-hole courses ranked among our 100 Greatest Public Courses, and getting here is so coveted, Bandon Dunes recently instituted a lottery system just for the chance to make reservations.

Once you do secure time at one of golf’s greatest locales, what do you need to know? We’ve collected some of our best advice to help you fully enjoy your time in paradise. Enjoy this list of dos and don’ts for traveling to Bandon Dunes.

RELATED: The 10 mistakes you’re making at a private course, according to country club snobs

1. Learn about Bandon Dunes’ new lottery system.

If you’re reading this with the hopes of booking a trip to the Oregon resort, you’ll need to understand the lottery. Bandon officials instituted a new system to offer an even playing field when it comes to booking trips. There are now windows in which interested travelers can apply for the right to reserve their spots. That’s how popular the resort is. Learn more about the booking windows with our full breakdown here.

2. Schedule a late-afternoon round at Bandon Dunes.

Playing the par-4 16th hole as the sun sets is one of the most memorable things you’ll ever do on any golf course.

RELATED: 11 of the best spring golf trips you can take

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Wood Sabold/Courtesy of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort

Previous Next Pause Play Public Bandon Dunes Bandon, OR 4.6 51 Panelists

• 100 Greatest Public
• Best In State
• 100 Greatest

Chicago recycled-products mogul Mike Keiser took a gamble when he chose then-tenderfoot architect David McLay Kidd to design a destination daily fee on the remote southwestern coastline of Oregon. But the design Kidd produced, faithful to the links-golf tenets of his native Scotland, proved so popular that today Keiser has a multiple-course resort at Bandon Dunes that rivals Pinehurst and the Monterey Peninsula—or perhaps exceeds them given that all five Bandon courses are ranked on our 200 Greatest, four in the top 100. None of that would have happened if McLay Kidd hadn’t produced a great first design that drew golfers into its orbit. Explore our full review 3. Play The Preserve or Shorty’s before anything else.

Enjoying one of Bandon’s par-3 courses is a great primer for links golf, and it’s the perfect way to cap off a travel day. Shorty’s, a 19-hole par-3 course, opened in 2024, joining The Preserve, widely regarded as one of the best short courses in the world.

4. Request caddies.

You’ll have the same caddie during the entire length of your stay, and you can use your credit card in the pro shop to withdraw cash. All the caddies are great, but you might ask other golfers who have been to Bandon to make recommendations on which loopers to request. We couldn’t recommend Craig Gall and Tony Shuster higher. But there are hundreds of other great caddies. If you don’t want to splurge on taking a caddie for every round, know that caddies are most essential at Old Macdonald.

5. Bandon offers a replay rate.

Your second round during any given day is half-price. If you play two rounds in a day, the third round will be free. And Bandon will pay you $100 if you play a fourth round in one day.

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Previous Next Pause Play Public Pacific Dunes Bandon, OR 4.9 56 Panelists

• Best In State
• 100 Greatest Public
• 100 Greatest

This was the second course constructed at Bandon Dunes Resort and the highest ranked among the resort’s five 18s. To best utilize ocean frontage, Tom Doak came up with an unorthodox routing that includes four par 3s on the back nine. Holes seem to emerge from the landscape rather than being superimposed onto it with rolling greens and rumpled fairways framed by rugged sand dunes and marvelously grotesque bunkers. The secret is that Doak moved a lot of earth in some places to make it look like he moved very little, but the result is a course with sensual movements, like a tango that steps toward the coast and back again, dipping in and out of different playing arenas from the secluded sand blowouts to the exposed bluffs and all variations in between. Explore our full review 6. Take a group Links Lesson.

All of the instruction at Bandon Dunes is very reasonable with half-hour rates at $75 and an hour at $150. The Links Lesson is a great opportunity to enjoy group instruction at $75 a player (or $50 if you have more than 12 people in your party). The lessons led by the team of Kevin Phillips and Grant Rogers is invaluable and a perfect chance to learn how to play different shots than you’re used to on the firm and fast turf.

7. Picturesque views.

Dom Furore

Out of the first four 18-hole courses, Pacific Dunes and Bandon Dunes offer the most stunning views of the Pacific Ocean. Old Macdonald is, by far, the most wide open. And Bandon Trails (pictured) presents the most intricate mix of risk-reward holes but is played entirely inland. And Sheep Ranch, which opened in 2020, boasts nine green complexes along the Pacific Ocean. Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw designed Sheep Ranch, which was previously an unkept 13-hole routing done by Tom Doak and Jim Urbina in the early 2000s. Sheep Ranch might be the most fun course at Bandon.

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Previous Next Pause Play Public Sheep Ranch Bandon, OR 4.3 30 Panelists

• 100 Greatest Public
• Second 100 Greatest
• Best In State

Sheep Ranch began life as a different Sheep Ranch in the early 2000s, a rag-tag, cross-country, 13-hole course with no irrigation built by Tom Doak on a bluff just north of what would later become Old Macdonald. It was a little-used recreation that only insiders knew about. Mike Keiser tapped Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw to convert it into Bandon Dunes’ fifth regulation 18-hole course and Coore and Crenshaw’s second. Spread across an open, windswept plateau, using many of the same greensites, Coore managed to triangulate the holes in such a way that nine now touch the cliff edge along the Pacific Ocean. Extremely wide fairways, large putting surfaces and sandless bunkers allow the exposed course to be playable in extreme winds. Though it’s slipped behind its Bandon brethren in the rankings, Sheep Ranch nevertheless accomplishes the most difficult of feats for resort courses—distinction among equals. Explore our full review 8. Book a massage after one of your 36-hole days.

You’ll thank us for this later. The turf is tough on your feet and lower body, and walking upwards of 30,000 steps a day for three days straight will make the most fit golfers achy. If you have three days of 36 holes in a row, we’d recommend booking a massage for the afternoon after your second 36-hole day. You’ll feel as rejuvenated as can be for that final marathon day.

9. How to maximize your day.

Thirty-six holes a day is a very popular game plan if you can handle it. Playing 18 holes plus the 12-hole Preserve, or 18 holes plus the Punchbowl is an excellent alternative.

10. One possible downside…

Stephen Szurlej

One knock against Bandon Dunes, if you want to nitpick, is that there’s not much in the way of non-golf activities. The town of Bandon has a couple of bars and restaurants, but if you’re looking to build a trip around cultural activities, this might not be your spot.

BandonDunes.com

There’s a labyrinth on property, but nobody will ever tell you where it is, since it’s fun to try to find it. It’s a marble maze located in a wooded area—super peaceful.

12. Avoid the wind by playing in the morning.

Unless you want to play one of the windiest rounds of your life, stick to a morning tee time at Old Macdonald—it’s the course that’s most open to all the elements.

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Previous Next Pause Play Public Old Macdonald Bandon, OR 4.6 50 Panelists

• 100 Greatest
• 100 Greatest Public
• Best In State

Old Mike Keiser had a course. Name of Bandon Dunes. Hugged the cliffs of Oregon gorse. It made golfers swoon. So he added one more, then a third next door. Here a lodge, there a hut, even built a pitch & putt. Now it’s America’s top resort. Name of Bandon Dunes. But Old Mike Keiser wanted more. Down at Bandon Dunes. An ode to an architect he adored. Cut from heather and broom. So Old Macdonald came to be. In spite of a bad economy. Here it’s big, there it’s bold. Everywhere it looks real old. A Road Hole here, a Cape Hole there. Bottle Hole, Biarritz, ocean winds that’ll give you fits. Short and Eden fit the scenes. Especially with enormous greens. Old Macdonald is part of the lore. Now at Bandon Dunes. Explore our full review 13. There are multiple restaurants on property.

BandonDunes.com

The restaurants range from the no-frills McKee’s Pub, to a selection of higher-end fare. You’ll probably never have better fish tacos than those served at Bandon Trails’ Trails End.

14. Read “Dream Golf: The Making of Bandon Dunes.”

Before you hit your first shot, this’ll give you a better appreciation for the entire resort.

The halfway house at Old Macdonald might be the most beautifully scenic halfway house you’ll ever see.

17. Show up prepared for all the elements.

You’ll be playing lots of golf, and weather forecasts can change in an instant. Bring at least two pairs of golf shoes, stuff for chafing, a rain suit, chapstick, sunblock, cream, etc.

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Previous Next Pause Play Public Bandon Trails Bandon, OR 4.6 49 Panelists

• Best In State
• 100 Greatest Public
• 100 Greatest

The only one of Bandon Dunes’ five 18-hole courses that isn’t immediately adjacent to the Pacific coastline, Bandon Trails scores points other ways, taking players on a fantastic journey through three distinct ecosytems. The course starts in serious sand dunes then turns inward toward meadows and dense Oregon rainforest, climbing toward an upper section at holes nine through 13. Fourteen is a love-it or-hate-it par 4 to a thumb of a green personally fashioned by Crenshaw that can be driven with an unerring tee shot off a high bluff, dropping the holes back to the meadows and ultimately to the dunes at 17 and 18. Bump-and-run is the name of the game, but the structure of each hole requires thoughtful bumps and targeted runs. Bandon Trails is the favorite course of many Bandon Dunes frequenters, and for the first time in our rankings, it sits ahead of Old Macdonald, passing its neighbor to sit in its highest spot on our list in its history. Explore our full review 18. Utilize the shuttles.

Shuttles take you everywhere, and you’ll never have to wait more than five minutes to get one. Once you drive in from the airport, you can park your car and forget about it until it’s time to leave the resort.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com