Bandon Dunes Golf Resort facts for kids
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| Club information | |
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 Location in the United States
Location in Oregon
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| Coordinates | 43°11′17″N 124°23′24″W / 43.188°N 124.39°W |
| Location | Coos County, Oregon, U.S., near Bandon |
| Established | May 19, 1999 |
| Owned by | Mike Keiser |
| Total holes | 121 90 regular holes 13 par-3 holes 18 putting holes |
| Website | bandondunesgolf.com |
| Bandon Dunes | |
| Designed by | David McLay Kidd |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 7,212 yards (6,595 m) |
| Course rating | 76.8 |
| Slope rating | 150 |
| Pacific Dunes | |
| Designed by | Tom Doak |
| Par | 71 |
| Length | 6,633 yards (6,065 m) |
| Course rating | 73.2 |
| Slope rating | 143 |
| Bandon Trails | |
| Designed by | Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw |
| Par | 71 |
| Length | 6,788 yards (6,207 m) |
| Course rating | 73.6 |
| Slope rating | 130 |
| Old Macdonald | |
| Designed by | Tom Doak, Jim Urbina |
| Par | 71 |
| Length | 6,944 yards (6,350 m) |
| Course rating | 74.4 |
| Slope rating | 131 |
| Sheep Ranch | |
| Designed by | Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 6,636 yards (6,068 m) |
| Course rating | 72.1 |
| Slope rating | 122 |
The Bandon Dunes Golf Resort is a famous place for playing golf. It has five main golf courses and a special short course. This resort is located on the West Coast of the United States, right next to the Pacific Ocean in southwest Oregon. It's just north of the city of Bandon.
Golf courses here are called "links courses." This means they are built on sandy land near the sea. They often have rolling hills and are affected by the wind.
Contents
The Golf Courses
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort has several amazing golf courses. Each one offers a different challenge and experience.
Bandon Dunes Course
The first course at the resort is called Bandon Dunes. It opened on May 19, 1999. A designer from Scotland named David McLay Kidd created it. People loved this course right away. It was one of Kidd's first big golf course designs.
Over time, some small changes were made to the course. For example, some thorny bushes called gorse were removed. Also, the second hole, which is a short "par 3" hole, was changed a bit. Golfers often get their lowest scores on Bandon Dunes. This is because the areas where your ball lands are quite wide. Also, the putting greens are not too bumpy.
Pacific Dunes Course
The resort's second course, Pacific Dunes, opened on July 1, 2001. Tom Doak, an architect from Michigan, designed it. His company, Renaissance Design, Inc., helped shape the course. Pacific Dunes also received great reviews when it opened. It quickly became known as the best course at the resort.
In 2005, Golfweek magazine named Pacific Dunes the number one resort golf course in the country. It was even ranked higher than the famous Pebble Beach. In 2014, Golf Magazine ranked it 8th among the best links courses.
Bandon Trails Course
The third course at the resort is Bandon Trails. It was designed by a team named Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. Bandon Trails opened on June 1, 2005. This course is different from the others. It does not have any holes right along the Pacific Ocean. Instead, it winds its way through sandy hills, open fields, and thick forest land.
When it first opened, a special golf travel newsletter called Golf Odyssey gave Bandon Dunes a huge compliment. It called the resort "The Best Place on the Planet for Golf."
Old Macdonald Course
The fourth course is named Old Macdonald. It honors a famous golf course designer named Charles Blair Macdonald. This course was designed by a team led by Tom Doak and Jim Urbina. It opened in June 2010.
Bandon Preserve Course
The fifth course, Bandon Preserve, is a special short course. It has 13 holes, and they are all "par-3" holes. This means they are shorter than regular holes. Coore and Crenshaw also designed this course. It opened on May 1, 2012.
The Punchbowl Putting Course
A newer addition to the resort is The Punchbowl. This is a huge putting course, about 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2) in size. Tom Doak and Jim Urbina designed it. It opened in 2014 and is right next to the first tee of the Pacific Dunes course. It has 18 holes and usually takes about an hour to play. The Punchbowl is a fun area with natural dips and hollows. This "Punchbowl" design is a classic idea used by golf course architects. The 18th hole at the Old Macdonald course also uses this idea and is called "Punchbowl."
Sheep Ranch Course
The sixth and newest course is Sheep Ranch. It opened on June 1, 2020. This course is located north of the Old Macdonald course. It has about a mile of oceanfront land. Many holes feature shots over water and cliffs, making them very exciting.
The land where Sheep Ranch is now used to be a wind farm in the 1970s. But the winds were too strong for the old wind turbines, so it was left empty. The resort owner, Mike Keiser, bought the land in 2000 with his business partner, Phil Friedmann. They first planned for it to be a private course. After designing Pacific Dunes, Doak and Urbina started working on it. They had built 13 greens before they stopped construction. This was because local people worried the project might cause problems for the resort.
For more than 15 years, the land was mostly empty. The greens were not watered, and only a few special guests were allowed to play on the unfinished course. Eventually, Keiser and Friedmann decided to make it part of the main resort. They asked Coore and Crenshaw to design a full course. On Sheep Ranch, some holes share teeing areas, meaning you can start different holes from the same spot.
Important Rules
At Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, you are usually not allowed to use golf carts. You can only use one if you need it for medical reasons. This helps keep the natural feel of the courses.
In 2009, Golf Magazine listed the three courses that existed then among the 50 best courses built in the last 50 years. Pacific Dunes was ranked second, Bandon Dunes twelfth, and Bandon Trails thirty-third. In 2013, Golf Digest ranked Bandon Dunes (Old Macdonald) fifth in its list of the Top 50 Golf Courses for Women.
Golf Tournaments Held Here
The United States Golf Association (USGA) has hosted many important amateur golf tournaments at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. An amateur tournament is for players who do not play golf professionally for money.
- 2006 Curtis Cup: The USGA first came to Bandon Dunes in 2006. They held the Curtis Cup, which is a team competition for amateur women golfers. Teams from the United States play against teams from Great Britain and Ireland. The matches were played on the Pacific Dunes course. The U.S. team won the competition.
- 2007 U.S. Mid-Amateur: The next year, in 2007, the resort hosted the U.S. Mid-Amateur Golf Championship. This tournament is for amateur golfers who are at least 25 years old. Bandon Dunes was the main course, and Bandon Trails was also used for part of the event.
- 2011 U.S. Public Links: Bandon Dunes hosted both the men's U.S. Amateur Public Links and women's U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links championships in 2011. This was the first time the USGA held both events together. The tournaments were played on the Old Macdonald and Bandon Trails courses.
- 2015 U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball: In 2015, the resort hosted the first-ever U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball. This is a new event created by the USGA. It was held on the Pacific Dunes course.
- 2019 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball: Bandon Dunes was also the site of the 2019 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball for men. Old Macdonald was the main course used, and Pacific Dunes was also part of the event.
- 2020 U.S. Amateur Championship: In 2020, the resort hosted the U.S. Amateur Championship for the first time. This is one of the oldest and most important amateur golf tournaments. Bandon Dunes was the main course, with Bandon Trails used as the second course. Tyler Strafaci won the tournament. He played against Ollie Osborne in the final match, even through thick fog.
- Future Tournaments: In 2021, the USGA announced that 12 more championships will be held at Bandon Dunes through 2045. These include the 2025 U.S. Women's Amateur and the 2029 Walker Cup.
- 2022 U.S. Junior Amateur: In 2022, the resort hosted the U.S. Junior Amateur for the first time. This tournament is for young golfers. Bandon Dunes was the main course, with Bandon Trails used as the second course.
Images for kids
