This isn’t a paid endorsement. I just love Bandon. If you wanna see why… check out the series on The Good Miss YouTube. If anyone from Bandon is reading and wants to make it a paid endorsement… I’ll entertain it. 🤣

I’ve never been to Scotland or Ireland, but I have played a lot of great golf. Through playing on the Golf Channel and now US Am Tours, I’ve played some of the best public tracks in the US. Top 100 stalwarts like TPC Sawgrass, Pinehurst, and Chambers Bay… and yet… Bandon Dunes tops them all for me. But it’s not any one course. Bandon Dunes is better because of the sum of its parts. 

To explain why I think Bandon is the best, I’ve got to explain what I love about golf. There is a reason the app is called TANGENT. Golf is one of life’s greatest tangents. Think about it. Most days you are off making a living, spending time with family / friends, and doing things to make ends meet. But on the golf course that all melts away. You’re in nature, hopefully not thinking about those deadlines and obligations. Challenging yourself to get a little white ball into a hole that’s too small. Forgetting about life’s complications. That’s the beauty of a good tangent. It’s related, but it’s a new path. A separate path. It’ll often come back around but for now… it’s okay to be off on a tangent. 

In a world that makes it harder and harder to be present, to be content with what’s right in front of you, golf is the solution. At least that’s the role it plays for me. 

But of course… it starts with the courses.

5 top 100 tracks in one spot

Bandon wouldn’t be what it is if the courses weren’t great… and they are. All 5 of the 18 hole courses have graced Golf Digests Top 100 public tracks. They are all so good, it’s hard to properly rank them and depending who you ask, you’re likely to get a different answer. 

My current ranking is:

1. Pacific Dunes

2. Bandon Dunes

3. Trails

4. Sheep Ranch

5. Old Macdonald

But due to weather and darkness… I still haven’t played all 18 at Trails. Are they the best courses ranked by agronomy? No…. Ragged around the edges with natural terrain, they aren’t trying to be Augusta National. There is character in the imperfection. 

What makes Bandon so great isn’t the strength of any one of the courses, it’s the fact that there isn’t a dud in the bunch. You’re going to play 5 courses that will drop your jaw at some point. 

And best of all… they don’t price gouge you. Even in peak season you’re paying around $375 to play. And your second 18 of the day is half off! There aren’t many courses on the top 100 list that you can play two of for around $500. Much less 5 of them at the same resort. It’s strength in numbers. There is a reason the resort has maintained a steady waiting list to get out there. 

A good walk spoiled

And at Bandon, they’ve got this down to a science. The courses are walking only. Which means instead of rushing to your ball and waiting for your turn to hit where you might be tempted to pull out your phone and doom scroll social media… or emails… you walk. You tell stories. You laugh. You enjoy the company of the people around you, whether it’s good friends, or good caddies. 

A good caddie

Bandon has a caddie program. They are easy to procure and they enhance the experience. For one, a good caddie knows the course and can help you navigate the challenge. They learn how you play and can leverage that knowledge to choose the right shots at the right time. Golf is better with a great caddie. Which is exactly the role we aim for TANGENT to play in your golf. Just like a real caddie it learns your distances and dispersions. It knows the course and will guide you to lower scores. But unlike a real caddie, TANGENT can’t tell you stories. Can’t make you laugh. Can’t clean your clubs… or at least not yet. Playing with a caddie is the best way to play golf. TANGENT is the next best thing. 

By the end of the trip, you’ll bond with your caddie. I’ve got several caddies that message me on a regular basis. I had so much fun with Matt this last time that we actually played two matches against each other when he wasn’t on the clock. YouTube can watch those on YouTube here and here. 

Great food

The restaurants at Bandon are also great and the beauty of it is that they are fairly affordable. They’ve got you stuck at the resort. They could go the route of many and extort you with overpriced food and beverage to squeeze every dime out of you… but they don’t. The food is great and it’s fairly priced. The Ghost Tree grill was so awesome we ate there twice this last trip. 

Convenience

Once you are on property, everything is easy. Getting to the property is another story… the shuttle system is great. A quick call and within minutes you’re on your way from your room to the course or restaurant. 

Everything is in close proximity. 5 courses and 2 par 3s. The restaurants. It’s all close together. So you don’t have to waste a lot of time each day in transit. 

The Par 3 Courses

Don’t sleep on the par 3s either. In addition to the 18 hole tracks, Bandon has two phenomenal par 3 courses. The Preserve has some of the best views on the property. In fact, some of my favorite memories at Bandon happened on the par 3s, whether it was the epic race:

Carlos’ hole in 1.

Carlos’ cramp while taking a picture:

Or an epic hole in 1 speech by a group of guys from Canada that bought a round for the bar. 

The par 3s are a great way to decompress, settle bets, or just squeeze in more golf. 

The place is special. Special enough that I’m going back in June and taking my dad to make sure he gets the experience while he’s still able to walk the courses. 

If you can’t make it out there, you can live vicariously through me by checking out the YouTube series where I capture every shot with TANGENT at my side. 

If you’ve found some place better than Bandon, let me know. I’d love to go. 

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