Golf Digest 2017/2018
#14 Bandon Trails
What do you do when the first two courses you built are instantly rated top 100, and you decide to build a third? That was a very real question for Mike Keiser and Bandon Dunes Resort. They went with a duo whose work arguably rejuvenated the entire minimalist movement in golf architecture, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. 
(The 408 yard fourth plays over a large diagonal ridge. If you can get over it, then the ball will be above your feet and help hit a draw that will perfectly feed down onto the green.)
Coore n Crenshaw were just coming off their design at Friar's Head to rave reviews, and Trails had many similar features, namely the transition from one environment to another. The final result was three holes in the dunes (1,2,18), five holes in the forest (9-13), and eleven in the meadows (3-8 14-17). 
(The 133 yard fifth has one of the wildest greens you've seen. The front and rear tiers are separated by a deep swale that forms a "bathtub" feature on the left.)
(The 395 yard sixth features a drive over a large hill. A sand trap is right where a good drive lands. A poke down the left leaves this view.)
(The seventh is a 440 yard uphill par four. The meadow holes have been favorably compared to the heathland courses in Great Britain.)
Coore n Crenshaw have a knack for finding solid golf holes. They understand principles, and more importantly, flow, both emotionally and intrinsically. Bandon Trails starts and ends in the dunes, but the course really takes off when you reach the par five third and play in the meadow. The meadow holes are great! I think the native vegetation along with rolling topography gives the player a much different feel than being on the ocean. In fact, a friend of mine had gone to Bandon in April, and several players in his group liked Trails the best. 
(The forest holes play tween thick stands of firs, pines, and spruces. It's quiet in this part of the course.)
(The 406 par four fifteenth shows off it's beautiful setting. The bunkering is visually striking, and the green is perfectly set at the base of the hill.)
(The sixteenth is 530 yards uphill. Anything on the right will basically turn left and come down. It's a slog but the reward will be at seventeen tee.)
(The gorgeous 182 yard seventeenth is downhill over native scrub to a green placed atop a ridge.)
Bandon Trails is a great compliment to Pacific Dunes and Bandon Dunes. By going inland, Coore n Crenshaw gives the resort a change of pace and different look, and on windy days, a much needed respite. I feel with subsequent plays, Trails becomes a better course, and reveals itself more. I thought the meadow holes were so good, I wish they would've started and finished there. The dune holes look out of place, and in my opinion, are a bit of a letdown after playing in such beautiful land. I give Bandon Trails a 8 (excellent)(worth spending a long weekend).
(The uphill approach to the eighteenth.)
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