It was Mike Keiser’s intention to provide a visitor to Bandon the full monty of the British Isles links experience.  In the designs of Bandon Dunes and Old Macdonald the Scottish flavor of links golf is well served.  At Pacific Dunes Tom Doak has composed a more Irish feel with bold topographical holes accented with dramatic bunkering of Royal Country Down and more subtle craggy wind-affected holes like Ballybunion.  Doak is a true student of the links tradition and brought the full force of his knowledge and talent to the creation of Pacific Dunes.  It stands by itself as an original collection of imaginative links challenges specifically suited to the seaside tract he had to work with at Bandon.

The links formula of high tees set in the dunes hitting to low landing valleys and then back up to greens perched on ridges of the dunes makes each hole a defined envelope, almost a world of it’s own.  This is not a cloistered feeling of playing in alcoves like at Waterville, Portrush, or Lahinch just holes visually defined where the strategic options are right in front of you.  Tall dunes faced in gorse, sea grass, and trees fill the canvas, firm bouncy turf allow roll out under the wind, harrowing blow-out bunkers define playing lines, and large contoured greens facilitate effective ground management of approach shots.  The firm turf and wind effect, probably the most pronounced of the courses of Bandon, put a premium on managing your trajectory and roll out to get around with your scorecard in tact.  If the wind is up I would go for the 133 slope for the day-the challenge will be sufficient I can assure you.

Bunkers on Par 3 11th are a fearsome thing to behold.

Besides the wind the most talked about feature at Pacific Dunes has to be the fierce bunkering.  It may seem hard to believe but the depth and severity of the bunkering you see now is not what was originally intended.  As Doak operatives will tell you, once the bunkering is done on a seaside venue like this with battering winds almost every day, nature will have it’s way and the bunkering contours will take on the natural shape and severity of the dunes around them.  Best advice is plan to play the gaps between the bunkers and be cognizant of the prevailing roll out which may feed a ball without firm intent into their grasp.

Full links elements on display on the opening hole.

Much like all the courses at Bandon, the use of fescue grasses in high concentration on fairways and greens makes it extremely difficult to make the visual distinction of where the fairway ends and the green begins.  But this facilitates the use of low running pitches and the Irish wedge, putting from well off the green, which will be valuable tools in your arsenal out here.  Familiar to those who have played links courses across the Atlantic, the large and flowing contours of these greens help the green staff set up the course for the prevailing wind of the day.  If the hole is downwind they will tend to give you a deep pin and plenty of green to temper your approach.  In the upwind condition front pins and interior backstops in the green are useful.  The most important is to listen to your caddie on how to use the ground contours to your advantage. It is often the case that a diversionary line is the best way to get it close to your target.

The coolest part of this design has to be the unusual balance of holes and the hole sequencing, Doak was not bound to any normal formula we are used to.  The par is 36 on the front with just one par three and one par five.  The par 35 on the back nine starts with back-to-back three pars and then followed by two more par threes and three par fives in the next seven holes.  There are only two par fours on the inward nine so without a normal hole balance you are jumping from pillar to post the whole way home.

The views can be downright distracting as you can see behind the third.

The opening holes are a quick introduction to the strategic genius of this design.  The first three holes make it clear that you will get no slow build up to the challenge-you have choices of playing lines that require confident decisions and competent execution right out of the gate.  As you climb the hill to the third green the imminence of the effects of the sea are cascading from over the back edge.  Walking to the back of this green the panoramic view of coast of Oregon is unveiled and it is nothing short of overwhelming.  Full coastal distractions affect the play on four as you tight rope walk the cliffs on one of the hardest par fours of the day.  The short fifth has Royal County Down written all over it with a hidden landing area and deep greenside bunkers with eyebrows.

Links and North Carolina collide on the approach to the 7th.

The ensuing inland holes might be considered a wee bit of a rest if they weren’t so hard.  You are in for  a bit of North Carolina with a tree lined hallway fairway on seven and a crowned green on eight.  After a blind tee shot over the dune ridge at the ninth what unfolds is the dramatic walk back to the edge of the world.  The hint is evident standing on the ninth green that things are about to change again.

First of back-to-back seaside par 3s that start the inward nine.

He must have had a bit of Cypress Point in mind as the back side begins with two very difficult seaside par threes.  Carding a total of eight strokes between them is no embarrassment.  Ten through thirteen you will need to be lashed to the mast to survive.  An alcove wind greets you on the tenth tee and will have it’s way with your tee ball if you don’t control your trajectory and turn it into the breeze.  The eleventh is one of the most rigorous short pitch three pars you will ever play-a teenie putting surface surrounded by furry looking mounds and sand pits full of disaster.  A brief respite on twelve but thirteen is probably as fierce a seaside par four as you will ever play, especially into the prevailing breeze.  The scale of the dunes to the right of this green dwarf the playing area-it is hard to focus on the task at hand with that looking over your shoulder.

The target on #16 is a sliver of green hanging perilously over a chasm.

As you traverse the dune ridge to the fourteenth tee you are afforded some protection from the breezes but the inland finish is very strong all the way to the house and will test your patience until the last putt falls.  On fifteen and sixteen he used the topography to throw you off balance.  The sixteenth is played over a fairway with heaves and plunges that will make you think you are in a Herman Melville novel.  The green sits like a plank jutting off the bow of the ship, getting it on there and keeping it there is a tall order.  If you are lucky enough to play in the spring an amphitheater of blooming gorse awaits you on the Redan style seventeenth.  Don’t be too distracted by the floral backdrop because the golf challenge is once again very real.

Much like the opening holes the finishing hole speaks to the genius of the Doak design team.  What should be a manageable serpentine five par is fraught with sand pitfalls and gnarly vegetation.  Picking good lines and hitting articulate shots make it a routine three-shot hole but any wayward sway of the ball can bring a bad aftertaste to the beer awaiting above the 18^th green.

In a place where every element of the golf inventory is first rate this one probably has the hallowed place at the top of the pile.  As with all of these links courses the medal score is tertiary to sporting a good match and enjoying the glorious surroundings that Doak has enhanced with his clever design.

Bandon, Oregon

Architect:  Tom Doak (2001)

Tee                  Par     Rating     Slope   Yardage

Black               71        73           142       6633

Green              71        70.7        133       6142

Orange            71        69.8        128       5088

(Click here to review Pacific Dunes Golf Course hole-by-hole descriptions)

For more Pacific Dunes images click to see Postcard From Pacific Dunes-Day 4

As the fourth course built at Bandon Dunes Tom Doak and Jim Urbina had probably the hardest task yet because of the fact they were being asked to add to a family of courses all in the top 100 in the country and they had to do it on the least desirable piece of the really desirable land for links courses.  Bandon Dunes and Pacific Dunes had used up just about all of the available seaside land so there was no way to build holes with the tactical drama and adrenaline rush of the shoreline holes that give those two tracks their character.

This piece of ground is a sprawling tract wedged between two massive dune ridges-there is only one corner with a clear view of the shoreline-so the holes they would construct would have to find a character value in another way.  The good news is they had the sand based soil for links golf and the proximity to the ocean just over one of the ridges so wind influence would be there to facilitate creation of a more sublime but equally interesting links golf challenge.

There is mystery in the valley that contains Old Macdonald

After serious consideration Mike Keiser came upon the idea of creating a course that celebrates the best of the British Isle influence on links golf.  Something that is a bit of St. Andrews, a bit of Prestwick, a bit of North Berwick and Lundin Links and Littlestone and many others from Scotland and Ireland.  They then reached further and decided to celebrate a formula used by the father of American golf course architecture, C.B. Macdonald, and build holes that did not replicate the great holes of courses like these but used characteristics of those holes to create unique holes that shared the unique character and playability.  In doing so they did the double mitzvah of creating a testimony to Scottish links golf and a homage to C.B. Macdonald’s genius at the same time.

#13 Leven is a short Par 4 with a shelf green jutting out of the side of an office building dune

Once settled on the Macdonald approach Keiser hired the only man other than C.B. Macdonald who was suited for the task.  Tom Doak is the most recognized American expert of links course design having studied it first hand in Scotland and Ireland, built a photographic catalog and knowledge base second to none of the original holes, and studied in detail the careers of guys like Mackenzie and Macdonald and their approach to course design.  With the trusted hand of Jim Urbina at his side, someone who has helped Doak build some of the most memorable links courses of our generation around the world, they set out to build a little bit of Scotland in Oregon.

#14 Maiden is a CB Classic-this version is very snarky if you drive out of position for the day’s pin

As you can read in the book “Dream Golf-The Making of Bandon Dunes” or see in the DVD “Creating Old Macdonald”  these guys had a huge task in trying to meld into 18 holes a seamless presentation of many of the great holes C.B. Macdonald emulated repeatedly in the 12 courses he built.  The granddaddy of them all for C.B. was the National Golf Links he built on Long Island in 1910 that remains in the top 10 of just about everyone’s list. The National has representations of the Eden (St. Andrews), Sahara (Royal St. Georges),  Alps (Prestwick), Redan (North Berwick), Road Hole (St. Andrews), and many others with less familiar lineage.   It was Doak and Urbina’s aim to use many of the characteristics that Macdonald used for his versions at The National as templates in fashioning what we see at Old Macdonald.

Your tee shot must circumvent the “Strath Bunker” on Eden (#2)

The result is a wonderfully playable walking course with the full panoply of Scottish links elements presented in a seamless flow of holes meandering across hollows and hummocks set against a backdrop of tall gorse covered dunes.  Unlike at the other courses at Bandon the gorse and the tall grasses are well off the playing area so you will find plenty of room to play your shots and a very easy time finding your result.  You can likely play the entire round with the same ball which reduces anxiety considerably.  It may lack the visual drama of it’s flashy neighbors across the dunes but they integrated all the mystery and intrigue of Macdonald’s work to create a challenging links experience that the discriminating golfer will savor and enjoy every time they play it.

Of the four courses at Bandon this is the one with 100% fescue grasses throughout-tees, fairways, and greens.  This is the tightest grass and most appropriate for links golf.  Because of the flowing contours they created and the fact the grass does not vary throughout it is almost impossible to distinguish where fairway ends and greens begin.  The exposure to constant wind from the nearby Pacific helps the turf plays dry and fast and balls roll forever following the contour of the ground on what seems to be an almost existential path.  As a result the full collection of trajectory controlled shots that use the ground and slopes as an ally are the way to get the best results around here.

Hell Bunker on #6 is no place for the timid.

The bunkering is similar to the Bandon and Pacific, mostly scabby jagged blow-out bunkers that look like they are more the creation of nature than the hand of man or machine.  Doak threw in a few punitive sod wall pots on his versions of Eden and the Road Hole along with a generous helping elsewhere of very intimidating bunkers with vertical railroad sleepers shoring their faces.  They paid special attention to the slopes around the bunkers that will feed insufficiently enthusiastic approaches into them.   Just as the Eden hole feeds the Strath Bunker or the Road Hole feeds the notorious Road Bunker at St. Andrews,  these holes at Old Mac will make you plan and execute with intent to avoid anxiety.  It is safe to say that if you want to score well here it is key to navigate your way about Old Mac without spending much time getting sand in your shoes.

Probably the most authentic Scottish feature at Old Macdonald is massive greens with imaginative contours.  This is a result of trying to make many of the green complexes similar to their originals.  The green at the Short Hole (#5) with three distinct segments and a huge wall at the back to play off is something you will find at 6^th at The National.  The slope on Eden (#2) will feed a shot back toward the front of the green to pins set above the Strath Bunker just like it does at St. Andrews.  The contouring of the green on Long (#6) replicates precisely the imaginative green on the 14^th at St. Andrews and it dictates a low pitch and run approach from the left .  The long and narrow ribbon of a green on their version of the Road Hole makes for the familiar agonizing possibilities playing delicate pitch shots to save par.  The scale of these green complexes puts a huge premium on keeping your focus on the 25 feet of green between you and the hole and ignoring the acre and a half of green around you.  If your mind wanders three putts will invade your scorecard.

First hole is open and expansive..but choose your path wisely.

The expansiveness of the course presents itself on the first tee where the driving area seems to invite you to hit it anywhere.  But as it is on links courses across the pond there is a precise angle of advantage depending on the pin location of the day on this massive putting surface.  The green is over 50 yards deep and just seems to emanate out of the fairway-the lack of definition of target is something you better get used to.  After a technical interlude of the Eden and the fearsome Strath Bunker on the second hole, Doak will jump you over the dune ridge on number three with a blind tee shot past a haunting Port Oxford Cedar from which the bulk of the course will spill out below you.  From here the scale of the challenge for the day becomes apparent.

A severe climb to the perched green overlooking the Ocean on #7

The holes meander about this valley but they are far from lacking distinguishing topography.  Holes like Ocean (#7) will abruptly wisk you off of the valley floor straight up the face of a dune to a green perched staring out over the Pacific Ocean.  This is a good example of the subtlety of Old Mac-the shot up to this green needs to be of measured trajectory to manage the strong wind influence you cannot feel from the ocean side of the dune.  With a low shot of intensity required you must use the high back contour of the green to contain your shot and remain on the green.  On the Cape (#9) you are playing a long second shot downwind into a green sitting slightly above you with unfettered access.  Here the green is over 40 yards long to accommodate the roll our of a low running approach.  Great links holes give you the tools to deal with fast turf and windy conditions, you just have to use your head and your hands to play shots to be successful.

18th is the Punchbowl..green gathers everything once you pass through Dolly’s Gate

There are eighteen chapters of delight on this course, many of which will seem very familiar to you from your own experiences in Scotland or images you have retained from watch the Open Championship on television.  The devil, and the delight, is in the details which you will find attached.  To fully enjoy Old Macdonald get yourself a good caddy, check your ego at the starter’s hut, and be prepared for an invigorating walk through a museum of C.B. Macdonald treasures.

Bandon, Oregon

Architect:  Tom Doak/Jim Urbina (2010)

Tee                  Par     Rating      Slope    Yardage

Black               71        74.1        133       6978

Green               71        71.3        127       6352

Orange             71        70.4        118       5044

(Click to read complete Old Macdonald hole-by-hole descriptions)

For more Old Macdonald images click to see Postcard From Old Macdonald-Day 3