Bandon Dunes Trip

The sabbatical is off to a great start. Barbara, Stevie, Dad and I spent the weekend in Bandon where we got in three rounds of golf in beautiful Oregon spring weather. We drove down on Friday morning and made it to Bandon in plenty of time for our 12:50 tee time. We started out on Bandon Dunes, the easiest of the three courses, and thanks to the wind it was still a challenge. After a nice dinner in the main lodge we made an early night of it. Saturday morning was quite painless as we didn't tee off until 11:30. However, the pain began soon thereafter. Pacific Dunes was playing very hard and the greens were extremely fast. Barbara was playing well, otherwise none of us had the greens or our approach shots figured out. It was also quite hot out there and three people walked off the last green tired and defeated. A good dinner at the pub revived everyone's spirits and we were ready for our early call the next day at Bandon Trails. While Trails is considered by some to be the hardest course, the greens were in good shape and it was much more forgiving than Pacific this weekend. Also, it was quite a bit cooler, which made it more comfortable to play. Considering how bad my first two rounds were on this course last year, I thought we all played well. Barbara started with pars on three of the first four holes. While there were some rough spots, we had a great time and I think everyone looks forward to a return visit when the greens at Pacific Dunes have some grass on them.