On day four our group made the decision to rest in the morning, rather than pushing ourselves for another day of 36 holes. We have been pushing it hard, as guests at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort often do. Rather than a morning 18, we opted for a casual breakfast and enjoying some of Bandon Dunes’s other offerings.
The courses at Bandon are hilly, and the ground can be pretty hard. I needed to recuperate so I scheduled a massage at the on-site massage center.
The massage was fantastic and rejuvenated my very sore and stiff back, and shins which were sore from climbing all the hills.
Surprisingly I felt so refreshed after the massage that I decided to check out some of the hiking trails. There are miles of trails that wind through the dunes, the forest, and the beach areas at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. Below is a panorama of the main lodge area I captured from one of the trails.
Bandon Dunes Lodge
The hiking trails are quite different than my trails at home in Utah. The vegetation is much more dense and green due to the high amount of precipitation and humidity. Check out this trail below, with an amazing log covered with moss.
And nearby is the “Labyrinth” as seen below. The Labyrinth is a neat feature for guests to enjoy and find their zen happy place. I spent some time there contemplating my short game.
Bandon Dunes Labyrinth
Following the morning massage and hiking, I was physically and mentally prepared to take on the afternoon 18 holes on the tremendous Pacific Dunes course, a Tom Doak design.
Pacific Dunes
Day four at Bandon Dunes was a day I will not forget.
Hurting now. It’s a good kind of pain. After playing 76 holes of golf in very windy conditions, on hard ground with tons of elevation changes… I’m hammered.
Today was another spectacular day, as it seems all days are at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. The 7am tee time was our first round on Pacific Dunes. Pacific Dunes is a Tom Doak design. Doak is one of my favorites.
Pacific Dunes
Following the round at Pacific Dunes, we had a great lunch in the Pacific Dunes clubhouse.
The afternoon round was a repeat of Old MacDonald Golf Links. “Old Mac” played a little less crazy today, vs the non-stop 30-40mph winds we had a couple of days ago. An enjoyable and challenging walk with a ton of elevation changes.
Old MacDonald – 18th Hole
It was hard to keep concentration up and hit good golf shots as the day progressed. It is easy to push it hard here at Bandon Dunes.
This evening hit “The Punchbowl” for a friendly putting competition. The Punchbowl is a huge putting area with severe sloping, and 18 actual holes to play. Think the Himalayas at the Old Course in St Andrews.
The Punchbowl
Tomorrow our group decided to take some time to rest in the morning and not play a full 36 holes. We will play Pacific Dunes in the afternoon after recuperating in the morning. I’ve decided to do some “research” on the spa here, and get a massage to work out a lot of my stiff back and leg muscles.
Too tired and too late to post much today, and likely the rest of this week. As part of the #GolfBlogWorldTour, the HOG World Tour visited Bandon Dunes for the first time today. I played Old MacDonald and the par-3 13-hole Bandon Preserve.
Old Macdonald
Bandon Preserve
I will try to do a few social posts per day and more blog posts following the trip. With 36 walking holes each day, time is short and when I’m not playing I need to either be sleeping or eating.
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