How Can I Play Bandon Dunes?

In southwest Oregon to the north of the city of Bandon and overlooking the Pacific is Bandon Dunes, a relatively new golf resort with no fewer than seven courses.

However, despite only being established in 1999, its original course is widely regarded as one of the best public courses in the US, and has achieved global recognition.

That first course, Bandon Dunes, was designed by David McLay Kidd, who had been given the job by the land owner, Mike Keiser.

He certainly went about his work meticulously, spending up to 18 hours a day studying the terrain to produce the finest links course possible.

Keiser had been inspired to create a course with the feel of Scotland, having visited Dornoch, and the result didn't disappoint, with comparisons to Carnoustie soon forthcoming, with its fescue fairways, huge sand dunes and awe-inspiring sea views.

Keiser wasn’t done there, though, and just two years later opened the resort’s second course, Pacific Dunes, to further acclaim.

The course was designed by Tom Doak, and he crafted a layout with undulating fairways and holes traversing its many dunes. The 13th, in particular, is incredible, while spectacular ocean views to the left and a dune sitting to the right of the green.

The third course, Bandon Trails, opened in 2005 and is the resort’s outlier. That's because it isn’t built beside the ocean, but is more inland. It was designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore.

The course takes you through meadows and forest before finishing on some imposing and spectacular dunes.

The fourth course, Old MacDonald, opened five years later and is inspired by legendary designer Charles Blair MacDonald.

The design of the course, again overseen by Doak, has huge greens and challenging bunkers.

The Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw-designed Bandon Preserve opened in 2012 and is a 13-hole par 3. Eight years later, Sheep Ranch, also designed by Coore and Crenshaw, opened and features challenging shots over water and cliffs.

In 2024 came the seventh and latest Bandon Dunes course, Shorty's, a 19-hole par-3 course designed by Rod Whitman, Dave Axland and Keith Cutten.

Despite the resort's relative youth, it has already hosted several prestigious events, including the 2006 Curtis Cup, 2020 US Amateur and 2025 US Women's Amateur.

Several of the resort's layouts have been utilized for those tournaments, too, including Bandon Dunes, Bandon Trails, Old MacDonald and Pacific Dunes.

Meanwhile, many more big USGA events are in the pipeline, including the 2028 Walker Cup, and the US Amateur and the US Women's Amateur in 2032 and 2041.

All seven layouts are open to the public, and green fees range between $120 and $370 for resort guests and Oregon residents for the main five courses, depending on the season.

For day guests, the green fees range between $170 and $420.

If you decide to play a second round on the same day, it's around half price.

Rounds at the two short courses each range between $60 and $125 depending on the season.

Bandon Dunes Green Fees

Bandon Dunes Location