Bandon Dunes, the Original Course

The verdict

Bandon Dunes is the course that built a legend. When the young Scottish architect David McLay Kidd laid it out along the gorse covered bluffs of the southern Oregon coast and it opened in 1999, it proved that a remote, walking only, true links could draw golfers from around the world to a working stretch of nowhere. Everything that followed at the resort, the four courses, the world ranking, the pilgrimage, traces back to this first par 72 of about 7,212 yards on its firm, fescue turf high above the Pacific.

It plays as a links should: wide off the tee but demanding the right angle in, the ground game alive on every approach, the wind off the ocean the constant variable. The stretch along the cliff edge is the postcard, but the cleverness is in the small things, the kicker slopes, the run offs, the greens that feed and reject. It is the most classically links of the resort's courses and, for many, the most loved. Combined with its siblings it makes Bandon the finest links resort in the country, and it is publicly bookable, so plan a stay and play and walk it as Kidd intended.

The holes worth the trip

Bandon Dunes opens inland and climbs toward the ocean, so the round builds, the gorse tightening the lines and the fescue running fast underfoot. Kidd gave the fairways genuine width, but the smart player hunts the correct side for the angle into greens that are full of subtle movement and ringed by closely mown run offs that punish the lazy approach. This is golf to be played along the ground as much as through the air, and the wind decides how much of each.

The glory is the run along the cliff top, where holes track the very edge of the bluff with the Pacific crashing below and nothing between the player and the horizon. The short par 4s ask whether to take on the corner or play safe; the par 3s are exposed to the full force of the wind; and the closing stretch back toward the lodge rewards control and nerve over raw length. It is the most overtly links of the five courses, the one that feels most like a transplanted slice of Scotland or Ireland.

Take a caddie if you can. On a course this dependent on angles, slopes and the ground game, a looper who knows where the wind sits and where the greens feed turns a beautiful walk into a properly playable round, and earns the fee many times over. Bandon Dunes gives back most to the golfer who plots a route and controls the ball, exactly as its designer intended a quarter of a century ago.

Where to stay nearby

The obvious and best base is the resort itself. Staying on property at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort unlocks the lowest green fee across all five courses, gives priority access to the tee sheet, and puts the practice facility, the dining and the shuttle at your door, so you can walk the original course, then play Pacific Dunes or Sheep Ranch the next day without driving. For a links pilgrimage, that on site convenience is worth a great deal.

Build the trip around several rounds rather than one. The original Bandon Dunes pairs naturally with the other four courses for a two to four day stay, and a second round in a single day at the replay rate is one of the best deals in American golf. It is an ideal centerpiece for an Oregon coast golf week.

Looking for a base? See our recommended lodging at and around Bandon Dunes.