Bandon Dunes is not as highly ranked as the courses built at the resort since it's

opening in 1999.Pacific Dunes, Old Mac and even Bandon Trails are certainly more

acclaimed and perhaps rightly so, B.D is not as tough and demanding as Pacific or

Trails and it's green complexes don't rival those at Old Mac, but collectively Kidd's 18

is as visually stunning and enjoyable to play as any layout I've played.The 4th

(pictured above) and 5th along with the 16th are very special holes . . . many

players who travel to the mecca of golf will chose B.D as their fave layout on the

South Oregon Coast .

The clubhouse overlooks the original course at Bandon by David McLay Kidd.

Everything at Bandon Resort is in close proximity.

The approach at the 386 yard first.

The 189 yard par 3 second

The par 5 third is reachable with your two best knocks, but the opening to the

putting surface is not very wide . . . if you look close you can see my ball just short

of the green.

On the stunning dogleg right fourth, you finally come face to face with the ocean,

and when you combine great golf design with the shoreline there isn't much to do

but observe and admire.The fourth and fifth are the best par 4's on Bandon Dunes, a

plaque on the tee lets you know the pedigree of what you're experiencing.

No disrepect to the plaque (pictured above) but the fifth is every bit the design

marvel of the fourth.

The green on the fifth is nestled into the dunes that surround the putting surface.

Although a big tee shot leaves you a short iron, this tucked pin was no cupcake.

The 161 yard sixth, check the pot bunker on the short side of the left pin . . . I

wanted no part of that bunker (notice my ball on the right center portion of the

green).

The short 359 yard par 4 eighth

The 558 yard ninth takes you back to the clubhouse.

The approach to the par 4 eleventh, notice the nasty well placed sod bunker . . . an

ode to the road hole bunker at St.Andrews?After hitting a mediocre approach onto

the green, I couldn't resist the urge . . . just had to climb into that bunker and test

the sand game .

Bandon Dunes heads back to the shoreline at the 199 yard twelfth, one of McLay

Kidd's gems for sure.This green complex is not deep, but certainly is wide enough to

handle any lateral miss that the ocean breeze might affect accuracy on.Choose your

club wisely.

The land really rolls at the par 5 thirteenth

The green at the fourteenth is well protected, bunkers short and dunes long.

The windswept 163 yard fifteenth is another image that doesn't need much

hyperbole, this elevated green is perhaps the toughest to hit on the course.

The 363 yard sixteenth at Bandon Dunes is the jewel of the back nine, the fairway is

separated from the teeing ground by a large deep chasm filled with gorse, left center

leaves a better angle into another green that is exposed to the elements.

view from 16th tee

The approach to the 16th green

The 16th green overlooks the pacific, don't overlook the tiny pot bunker . . . anything short will

funnel into it.

Here's the view you see as you stroll from the 16th green to the 17th tee, luckily there was no group

behind me, so I took 5 minutes and soaked it in.

The 389 yard seventeenth at Bandon Dunes, avoid the fairway bunker and you'll

have a short iron approach, but stay clear of the ravine filled with gorse short right

of the green.

The par 5 eighteenth gives you one last chance for glory.

Most likely your round at Bandon Dunes will be your best score at Bandon Resort

(it was mine), and probably will be the most fun.When Mike Keiser hired a relative

unknown named David McLay Kidd to carry out his vision for links golf in America, he

nailed it, and 13 years after being introduced to the golf world, the flagship still leaves

linksters with smiles when they walk off the eighteenth green of Bandon Dunes.

For more info: http://www.bandondunesgolf.com/