Bandon Trails at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort is a masterful Coore and Crenshaw design routed through woodlands, hills and dunes along the Oregon Coast. While visually it looks more akin to a Northern Michigan course, it plays like its sister courses at Bandon Dunes golf resort: hard-and-fast, with regular input from the wind.
The first hole cuts across the crestline of a grassy dune, which also is where the second begins. By the third hole, however, players are fully immersed in forests of cedar and spruce. Bandon Trails lives up to its name, winding through the Oregon coastal woodlands, over dunes, and past some marsh and ponds. It is a beautiful and peaceful walk through the woods. In Bandon Trails, Coore and Crenshaw created a course that looks entirely unforced and natural.
This view (sans golf course), from a spot near the 14th hole is reportedly what Mike Keiser was shown by Shorty and Charlotte Dow when he was looking for land to build a course. The rest is history.
A highlight of the round is the view from the fourteenth hole. As you exit the thirteenth, a cart is waiting to drive you a short distance up a steep hill to the thirteenth tee. There, on the western edge, lies a marker which designates the spot where Mike Keiser was first shown the property which would become Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. It is a spectacular view, and even with the golf course now showing its fairways, it is easy to imagine what inspired Keiser.
The fourteenth at Bandon Trails is a 325 yard downhill par 4.
After taking in the view, it is a lot of fun to send the ball careening far downhill to the massive green.
A photo tour of Bandon Trails golf course at Bandon Dunes Golf resort follows.
Bandon Trails Photo Gallery
The first at Bandon Trails is a 392 yard par 4
Bandon Trails’ second is a 214 yard par 3.
The third at Bandon Trails is a 549 yard par 5.
Bandon Trails’ fourth is a 408 yard par 4.
The fifth at Bandon Trails is a 133 yard par 3.
A path leading from the par 3 fifth at Bandon Trails. I really like the fences.
Bandon Trails’ sixth is a 395 yard par 4.
The seventh at Bandon Trails i sa 440 yard par 4.
Bandon Trails’ eighth is a 321 yard par 4.
A deer on the eighth at Bandon Trails.
Nine at Bandon Trails is a 567 yard par 5.
A view from the fairway on Bandon Trails’ ninth.
The tenth at Bandon Trails is a 418 yard par 4.
The eleventh at Bandon Trails is a 445 yard par 4.
A view of the green on Bandon Trails’ eleventh.
The twelfth at Bandon Trails is a 242 yard par 3.
Bandon Trails thirteenth is a 401 yard par 4.
The fourteenth at Bandon Trails is a 325 yard downhill par 4.
This view (sans golf course), from a spot near the 14th hole is reportedly what Mike Keiser was shown by Shorty and Charlotte Dow when he was looking for land to build a course. The rest is history.
A plaque near the spot where Mike Keiser first saw the Bandon Dunes property.
The fifteenth at Bandon Trails is a 406 yard par 4.
A view from the fairway on Bandon Trails 15th
Bandon Trails’ sixteenth is a 530 yard par 5.
A bad lie for my ball on Bandon Trails’ 16th
My bag on a path between Bandon Trails’ 16th and 17th hole.
The seventeenth at Bandon Trails is a 182 yard par 3
Bandon Trails’ eighteenth is a 420 yard par 4.
A view of the practice green from Bandon Trails’ clubhouse
One of the ubiquitous ground squirrels at Bandon Trails.
