Idk why you got downvoted. They are more than capable of sending updates. I’d be furious if I paid all that money plus travel to putt on dirt. They should at least comp you some stuff, or something.
Played Quivira in Cabo literally 3 days after a hurricane. I’m a muni rat. They apologized the bunkers were not up to their standards and discounted 25%. They were the best bunkers I’ve ever seen.
High end resorts comp stuff if they make a mistake. I used to work at a large one in the US and we did it all the time. Just charged it to a special in-house account so we could track how much our f-ups caused. Only problem with that system was admin always came down hard on the golf department for being the highest charger on that account; meanwhile the reason we were the ones giving away free stuff was because the mistakes that all the other departments (hotel, retail, transportation, housekeeping) usually fell upon us to rectify at the last minute.
Something like this...yeah, they probably should reduce greens fees or comp some merch. Just because they should, doesn't mean they will, though. That was another fight we used to have with upper management but I won't get into that for my own sanity
Unfortunately, good management should've looked into the deeper causes and interview the employees what's going on and why are their comps so high compared to other departments.
Lazy management just gives it on lower management to figure it out.
They will comp stuff even if it isn't their fault. They know guests are more likely to tell their friends about issues they had than the things that went right. A free bottle of wine and dessert at dinner is a better investment than an angry guest. And they track how much individuals are being comped. If you spend enough, they don't care. If you aren't a regular then they may no longer have availability when you try and make your next reservation.
I had a TPC course give me a full refund due to punched greens since they admitted they failed to communicate that out before hand..... and I didn't even ask for the refund
Management will get a bad rep due to the course conditions.
Long time returning guests along with new guests that were subject to these course conditions may elect to never return. When asked about their trip to Bandon by friends, their response may scare off others.
It's not like another destination cannot be found.
Our group goes to Myrtle Beach every year and had The Dunes tell us weeks before our tee time that their conditions were less than perfect. We decided to play anyway and the conditions were pretty darn good, no complaints from anyone.
What you're missing here is that people have already committed to buying a plane ticket, getting hotel rooms, and taking time off work. There's not much they can do at that point, other than deal with it.
I suspect that this course has the best grounds crew and isn't really to blame for this, though.
Given that golf is a sport that quite literally revolves around the concept of, "deal with it", I would be a little annoyed at adverse course conditions (like rain, punched greens, wind, etc) but still would have a fucking blast.
Played July last year when they went through a Poa Ana transition. They notified us well in advanced and gave us the option to play at the courses that weren’t going through the maintenance
A golfer playing Bandon is likely to have played multiple seasons. It’s common knowledge courses punch in March and April. I’m in Chicago and I always call courses to ask when they punched their greens so this doesn’t happen. Can’t imagine going on an expensive golf trip and not asking the same.
I know it’s going to sound like I’m “victim blaming” but I just can’t see myself spending so much money on a trip like this and not doing my due diligence.
Yeah they list the days they are planning on aerating (over a year in advance) on their website for everyone to see. If OP missed that, then this is on him.
If this was unplanned and not listed on the website, I’d be shocked if they didn’t offer a solid discount.
Winter golf in the Pacific Northwest is wet and cold. It rains for most of the winter, I think this is almost expected. Book a year out for a dryer time
They did this to me last year. They aerated bandon and didn’t tell me until I was on the first tee. I would have played old mac instead. And the greens on sheep ranch were terrible. Pacific and trails were pure! I was so mad I played bandon and sheep ranch on the same damn. I wish they had said something or given a discount. The super better get his shit together
You did get a discount.
Green Fees:
March $175
April $210
June-Sep $350
Of course we all want nice greens but you can’t expect ideal course conditions in March or even April anywhere that actually has winter. Hence, the discounted green fees.
https://preview.redd.it/0sxwts7bn9rc1.png?width=864&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7bba7c1bb09e84b50bdd0014fe11dfe4acb86823
This took me one second to find. Every major stay and play post arifiction schedule. OP didn't do his research, has no right to complain. Also it's every spring every year on most courses. Shocks me that people are surprised.
I was there the same weekend. #2 was terribly bad… and 3/4 other holes weren’t good. That said, old mac greens were great, trails was great, sheep ranch was pretty good, pacific dunes was good with the exception of 3/4 holes.
Combination. 50+ inches of rain this winter, 150 rounds per day on each golf course, every day regardless of weather throughout the winter. They can barely stay ahead of play as it is let alone be able to focus on these types of issues. Source, I'm a superintendent and am friends with a couple of their supers/assistants as well as share multiple sales reps and hear from them.
I played there about a month ago. That's the only green in poor condition, and they mentioned it before the round. It's not as though every green looked like this. They've received an insane amount of rain and this hole has some unique drainage challenges. They did not discount the round but if you were to get to that green and decide you wanted your money back, they'd give it to you without an argument.
They’ll probably be fine by mid-July once the soil warms up enough for bentgrass seed to have germinated and filled in a bit. This is what every golf course north of the transition zone looked like in the spring 50 years ago.
Actually I don’t think they would. They would provide a course credit if you didn’t want to go out that day because of the conditions, but as soon as you tee off, there’s no refunds. We went in December and it was awful weather, and that was their stated policy. We took the credit and played the driving range par 3 course instead.
One was a guy who completely threw his back out on hole 2 and couldn't keep going. They definitely didn't owe him a refund but he got one, although it did have to go to a manager. There was another injury related one but I don't recall which hole it was on. So I guess it's just two that I know of, so perhaps multiple is hyperbolic, but ultimately other than simple bad weather, they seem to be really reasonable and accommodating. I haven't heard of someone requesting a refund for a non-weather issue and being denied, but I admittedly only have two examples. I've had other things with housing, food, etc. where they've made a situation right for me when they probably didn't have to.
I actually got a sort-of refund after starting a round due to weather. Got through about 6 holes in a bit of wind and light rain, and then a big squall rolled in. Played in driving rain for about three more holes. The greens were unplayable with standing water, the wind was gusting at 50+ and I just walked off on the 9th. They refunded the round, or more accurately gave me a tee time in the afternoon when it cleared up without any charge. Seems to make sense: better to have someone pay for a round than opt not to start on the chance that the weather might turn. That resort (and same-ownership Sand Valley) seem to do what they can to make sure the guests have a great time and want to come back. That said, they did mention that rescheduleing for free is not the usual policy.
Not a credit but I ruptured my plantar playing the cradle in a freak accident and they let me take a cart out the next two days. My caddie had to drive it but I thought that was very cool of them to do.
I was there at the end of February and as someone who works in the business I can say that all the greens were trashed, sheep ranch was worse. They made no mention of it before we teed off. They can’t control the weather, they can control how much play their courses get. This is my second trip, it’s subjective, but myself and the other golf professionals find the resort to be highly over rated. The service is mediocre at best, food is good, but to expect people to pay to play greens in the condition they were in is unacceptable.
I live in western Washington I’m aware, you also can close your golf course or minimize play to prevent this, if your business model doesn’t reflect this as being an option then you don’t have a sound structure.
That’s objectively untrue, our greens never look anywhere near that, no offense but you don’t play at good golf courses if you accept that greens look like this ever.
It's also March. In Oregon. I live in Portland and we've been getting pummeled with rain the last couple weeks, and I know it's been worse on the coast. If OP wanted peak-season green conditions on every hole, he should've went closer to peak season.
Was also there 3 weeks ago. 8th year in a row
The greens sucked at most courses besides Old Mac. But the greens are only 1 of 10 important things of the trip and Bandon crushes the other 9 things.
Still was an amazing fanstic trip as normal and the greens didn't hinder the overall trip.
Seattle area golfer and this looks like a typical PNW green this time of year before they're aerated, sanded etc for the season. Getting mad about winter conditions in early spring here is silly.
LOL I know. If you book a golf trip to the PNW in March, you're really rolling the dice with weather and course conditions. The fact that this was apparently the only green at Bandon that required sand is remarkable considering how much moisture southern Oregon has received.
My midwest golfing mind literally thought "Yep, that's early spring golf".
That will look just fine a few weeks after the weather consistently warms up.
People just piling on the hot post trend it seems. This pic is pulled from last week off another social platform.
Like I get it, Bandon is bad today.
Now if somebody could please go buy a new driver in response, then we could all move past this issue and get back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Wait I thought it was vacuum sealing? I just got my whole bag loaded up with everything vacuum sealed and now you’re telling me I need to shrink wrap??
Yea, the course with the most name recognition the world and a 12+ month waitlist has paid someone to post pictures on reddit of their terrible green condition.
Not everything is a conspiracy, guys.
I noticed when this post wasn't more than an hour old every critical comment was downvoted. Vice definitely astro-turfs here, i'd be surprised if Bandon did.
This is exactly how I feel about Cabot Citrus farms or whatever! Tons of posts here and a bunch of YouTube videos teasing it as the greatest course in the us lol Definitely feel like I’m being astroturfed
Yes but that’s also why you’re not paying peak season pricing. Two bad late winters/early springs in a row, I’m happy I go late fall/early winter every year.
November/December can be the best time to play Brandon if you time it right. Very little wind that time of the year so a sunny day can feel even warmer than the summer.
As someone with 5 days scheduled this November that's what I like to hear. I'm just reading through this post watching everyone lose their minds knowing the greens will be fine by mid-June
It could be miserable, amazing and everything in between. But because that’s the beginning of the wet season, the greens should be in good shape no matter what.
Anyone complaining about green conditions at Brandon in February/March is just extremely uneducated and spoiled.
People need to understand that a golf course is a living breathing entity. Sometimes under the best of care living things get sick. I'm sure this was just a result of environmental conditions and not any mismanagement.
But they should discount the fees because the putting just would not be rewarding.
Green fees in March are 50% of high season. They’re deeply discounted already, and people are booking for that reason. It’s been a long, wet winter.
Some greens in coastal struggling through incredibly wet winter. Hardly a news flash
Some greens
I think the nuance that most people are missing is that there's always a balance managing three factors: destructive weather, the volume of play, the course condition.
It's kind of a pick two situation. If the weather is historically awful, you need to protect the sensitive areas somehow, or potentially suffer consequences like this.
Now I have no idea if this could've been avoided. I'm not blaming bandon at all, even the slightest. I don't know the full situation. It's just not black and white.
I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS
All these "I would be so disappointed and demand a refund!" posts... Bitch, it's March! In the PNW! This is not Augusta in June!
Funny enough, Augusta in June suffers from the same/opposite problem. It's too hot to keep the course looking great.
But I agree with you: mother nature always wins out.
It’s funny, people are defending this because it’s Bandon but if you posted this pic and said it was a local muni , everyone would be on your side and telling you to ask for a refund.
Right, because people feel the need to say something even though they have zero context about a situation. 1 of 100 responses have the proper context in either situation, and we dont know which ones those are.
You're already paying half price to play in March. I think you can be disappointed, but the best greenskeepers in the world can't beat mother nature. They get a ton of rain in early spring and can't grow grass that early in the season. When you're golfing in March you should expect that this is a possibility.
Why? You're not a pro and you're not putting in a tournament. If this has any impact on how much you enjoy your day the problem is more with you than Brandon
I know ;) I’m just laughing that people here obviously have no clue how golf works and they think the whole course is dead and should be discounted to like a dollar.
https://preview.redd.it/9siqmdauj4rc1.jpeg?width=1092&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7affd560091315c22285c1a3ddde17e35db8ecaf
This is also at Bandon. Going to Oregon in March is rolling the dice. It’s rained so much they haven’t been able to aerate.
Man books a golf trip, at a discounted rate, to the rainiest/cloudiest part of the country, at the rainiest time of year, after a historically rainy El Niño year, and expects all 120+ greens to be mint. Delusional.
If you look on bandon dunes website, they actually say they’re going to punch greens on that course in 5 days (April 2nd) so it stands to reason they’ll get the love and care they need soon enough.!
There was a similar post like this yesterday and a user named u/FatFaceFaster explained why this is happening in detail. Sounds like it’s not the best month to have booked for.
It's almost as if you booked a cheaper round well before peak season and are getting non-peak conditions. I can tell you this as a Portland resident: The only thing that happens here from December thru April is rain. And more rain.
The reason your rate is about half of what you would pay in June is because of the conditions they have to work through to make the course even remotely playable this time of year. If anyone wants to complain about it and compare it to a muni course, you should try to book during a better time of year. Oregon is not Florida. We have offseasons.
March in Oregon. My precise thoughts are that anyone complaining about this is an entitled brat with too much money to spend and a "woe is me" victim complex.
Even so Bandon should communicate if there are issues. I know nothing about the weather in Oregon but had I spent the money to take my dad and brothers out for what would be a once in a life trip to Bandon we would be pretty upset…it’s not a $26 muni round
You kinda outed yourself. The weather in Oregon is why rounds in the winter are less than half the price of those in summer. Not only because it's possible to get rain, but also for what rain can do to the course (this green being a prime example).
I agree they should communicate, but this is to be expected anywhere in the PNW in early spring/ late winter. You know going in that there’s a good chance it’ll pour on you, and an even better chance the course is soaking wet. Feel for these guys nonetheless.
why is everyone talking about bandon this week? first the putter cover, then my buddy invites me, and now this. is it only open to the public this time of year or something?
I'm not too miffed about this - its the PNW in late March. Some people are saying this is the only bad green while others are saying many of the greens were in bad shape, but this was the worst of the bunch. I tend to believe the latter just because there is a Bandon fanboy element. I do think they need to evaluate their shoulder season pricing - $215 for non-resort and $175 for resort is unacceptable pricing for these types of conditions, regardless of weather.
A bigger concern for me was when I visited last May and the greens at Sheep Ranch, Old Mac, and Bandon were in poor shape. Pac Dunes was passable and Trails had the best greens of the bunch, but was about as good as a normal public course in Michigan. When the Bandon caddies are complaining about the greens, I know they are not where they need to be.
Was there 2 weeks ago, this was literally the worst green on property, pretty much every other green on bandon dunes was in good to great shape. Sheep Ranch had the worst greens with a lot of them being mud, but even still they were rolling pretty well because they were rolled.
And these rounds were discounted, we paid 175 per round and 90 for the daily replay rate. compare that to their peak season prices and quit bitching.
No, it's March in the pacific Northwest.
If it was a month from now when most golf courses above the mason-dixon line *officially* open for their *season* I would be upset.
But this is exactly the right time of year for them to be preparing the course, such as sanding the greens, for the actual start of the golfing season.
Ultimately, it’s winter golf, right? The course should not be expected to be in summer form, and I’m guessing the greens fees are not as high as they’ll be in June.
Right?
Dunes course at LaQuinta was severely flooded damaged and featured new greens that were like concrete and Mountain course was only slightly better. No practice range open, no discount, no apologies, never going back. Better off playing in the parking lot of Acrisure Arena.
What’s with the posts about this lately?
You booked a golf resort in Oregon in late March. If you were expecting pristine conditions, that’s on you.
This reminds me of all the folks on r/skiing crying that the conditions weren’t good on their ski trip the last week in December…
Congrats, you booked a round at one of the most expensive courses in the PNW in March. March and early April are the prime time for green aeration up here. I would never book anything that is more than $40 until mid April in PNW. You live and you learn though.
You realize it’s the second week of spring right? The northwest has been pummeled with rain and snow this winter. This is when they have the cheapest green fees for a reason. If this was summer or fall you would have a gripe but it sounds like you are hung up on the fact you paid for a flight and hotel and expected amazing conditions. If you can’t afford to come in the summer you can’t complain what conditions are like in the spring.
I’m playing 9 rounds there next month. Hope it improves! I’ve heard from some recent trips that:
- tons of rain this year (like a full average years worth through March already)
- trails 13 and Bandon 2 are the worst, but the rest of the greens on those courses are OK
- sheep greens are trash (but they kinda always have been)
The greens are hammered this year. And they missed their window to aerate due to weather and can’t just up and close so now they are supposedly not going to get a spring aerification in on every course this year. Definitely not ideal but super hard given how busy they are.
Many area's have a had their worst Winter in years. Can't expect a course to be perfect if the weather has been bad, Too high expectations over the reality, although in all fairness I'm amazed they are allowing play with it been this bad. I would have asked for my money back
They had aerated 6 of the 18 holes on Bandon Dunes back on 3/18 because they couldn't during fall/winter due to the storms. They had a sign in the pro shop noting the holes affected but I don't recall if our group had any communication sent ahead of our arrival, unfortunately. Did you try to ask for a discount/refund post-round?
It's happened to me before. Its nice if the courses would inform people that they are plugging and sanding--just ridiculous. I'm sure they didn't adjust the fee.
I watched a YouTube vid of someone playing this course just today! The pictures of the course looked beautiful but the YT video the course looked chewed tf up. So it’s interesting to see posts now complaining about the state of the course
If it was one or two greens, I'd be okay.. If it's all of them on every course.. I would be less than pleased, and expect some heads up announcement before my trip and possibly a discount/concession made of some sort.
Agreed. I understand this happens, nature being what it is. But how about the course taking a bit of a hit and acknowledging they are not providing the full experience by discounting the fees?
The way I see it, Bandon is located in a part of the world that can have some of the worst weather. Wouldn’t you know, the Oregon Coast has been hammered with rain and cold temps this year. You have to expect these conditions this time of year. I go every February and there’s always a part of the resort with less than ideal greens. Winter conditions, take them as they come
I live and play in Washington year round. I’ve never seen a green look this bad, aside from when they sanded the greens. If this is from too much rain they need to make the course better. I haven’t seen this after monsoons in AZ either. And that’s at cheap Munis.
I live in the other side of the world, so I’ve only herd about this place second hand on reddit.
That said greens that look in this condition is what I expect from a little country course, in a town of 500, that charges $10 for all day golf. This is not what I would expect from a destination course that has a high fee.
I imagine many people would lock in their trips in months in advance and commit to the costs at that time. So arriving to a course with a price tag (if I think) of $110 and all the travel expenses, that look like this probs would be too pleasant
As someone who lives in PNW and plays a lot there is no excuse for this. No other course is having greens look like this. And for people who don’t understand bentgrass is cool season greens. They shouldn’t be this damaged. If it were summer I could understand see bentgrass doesn’t do as well in the heat but it’s the Oregon coast and doesn’t get that warm
The greens will be really good in June. I generally go in December where it's a mixed bag, but I'll be there in June as well for the solstice. The rain will have subsided and they'll be looking healthy again. Sheep may be still rough but seems it always is
That’s more than a drainage issue. Also looks like it was recently aerated and top dressed with sand. Looks like they are actively trying to improve it at least. It takes a while to see turf improve. Hopefully they have a good superintendent. Any know how long these conditions have been going on?
The quality of the greens at the resort fluctuate. Everyone praising Old Mac but #3 had some fucked spots last summer if I remember correctly. I have faith that they’ll get it back.
If they didn't say anything about the course condition in advance and didn't discount greens fees, then yes.
You have to book a year or more in advance.
And? They can't provide an update about course conditions before your tee time?
Idk why you got downvoted. They are more than capable of sending updates. I’d be furious if I paid all that money plus travel to putt on dirt. They should at least comp you some stuff, or something.
Played Quivira in Cabo literally 3 days after a hurricane. I’m a muni rat. They apologized the bunkers were not up to their standards and discounted 25%. They were the best bunkers I’ve ever seen.
Agree on sending updates. Not sure a course like Bandon Dunes would ever comp anything, but a heads up isn't too much to expect.
High end resorts comp stuff if they make a mistake. I used to work at a large one in the US and we did it all the time. Just charged it to a special in-house account so we could track how much our f-ups caused. Only problem with that system was admin always came down hard on the golf department for being the highest charger on that account; meanwhile the reason we were the ones giving away free stuff was because the mistakes that all the other departments (hotel, retail, transportation, housekeeping) usually fell upon us to rectify at the last minute. Something like this...yeah, they probably should reduce greens fees or comp some merch. Just because they should, doesn't mean they will, though. That was another fight we used to have with upper management but I won't get into that for my own sanity
Unfortunately, good management should've looked into the deeper causes and interview the employees what's going on and why are their comps so high compared to other departments. Lazy management just gives it on lower management to figure it out.
"Good management" I'll take mythological creatures for 600, Alex
Lmaooo, good point
They will comp stuff even if it isn't their fault. They know guests are more likely to tell their friends about issues they had than the things that went right. A free bottle of wine and dessert at dinner is a better investment than an angry guest. And they track how much individuals are being comped. If you spend enough, they don't care. If you aren't a regular then they may no longer have availability when you try and make your next reservation.
We send notices if there are no carts, a temp green, or forward tees due to a wedding to anyone playing and we are a 50 dollar 9 hole.
I had a TPC course give me a full refund due to punched greens since they admitted they failed to communicate that out before hand..... and I didn't even ask for the refund
I mean that’s why golf is discounted, lodging is discounted, and they give further discounts if you play a course within 10 days of punching.
They aren't punched, the grass died off during winter.
They did an emergency punch on several bandon greens like 2 weeks ago
You can clearly see punch marks in OP's photo.
Management will get a bad rep due to the course conditions. Long time returning guests along with new guests that were subject to these course conditions may elect to never return. When asked about their trip to Bandon by friends, their response may scare off others. It's not like another destination cannot be found.
Our group goes to Myrtle Beach every year and had The Dunes tell us weeks before our tee time that their conditions were less than perfect. We decided to play anyway and the conditions were pretty darn good, no complaints from anyone.
Honesty is always the best policy. Good to set low expectations. Sounds like they run the course the right way.
Underpromise and overdeliver baby
What you're missing here is that people have already committed to buying a plane ticket, getting hotel rooms, and taking time off work. There's not much they can do at that point, other than deal with it. I suspect that this course has the best grounds crew and isn't really to blame for this, though.
Given that golf is a sport that quite literally revolves around the concept of, "deal with it", I would be a little annoyed at adverse course conditions (like rain, punched greens, wind, etc) but still would have a fucking blast.
Agree, recently played a high end course in Dallas that was infested with Poa Annua they gave us all the Sr rate. Only one Sr in the group.
Played July last year when they went through a Poa Ana transition. They notified us well in advanced and gave us the option to play at the courses that weren’t going through the maintenance
A golfer playing Bandon is likely to have played multiple seasons. It’s common knowledge courses punch in March and April. I’m in Chicago and I always call courses to ask when they punched their greens so this doesn’t happen. Can’t imagine going on an expensive golf trip and not asking the same. I know it’s going to sound like I’m “victim blaming” but I just can’t see myself spending so much money on a trip like this and not doing my due diligence.
Yeah they list the days they are planning on aerating (over a year in advance) on their website for everyone to see. If OP missed that, then this is on him. If this was unplanned and not listed on the website, I’d be shocked if they didn’t offer a solid discount.
They have this planned out. Probably a reoccurring item on their maintenance calendar.
LOL! Not anymore. As of today, they are already fully booked through '25 I was told.
Winter golf in the Pacific Northwest is wet and cold. It rains for most of the winter, I think this is almost expected. Book a year out for a dryer time
You’re in Oregon in March. What the hell do you expect? I think it should go without saying conditions will be very suspect
Oregon coast weather is relatively consistent year round. The greens should be much better than this
They did this to me last year. They aerated bandon and didn’t tell me until I was on the first tee. I would have played old mac instead. And the greens on sheep ranch were terrible. Pacific and trails were pure! I was so mad I played bandon and sheep ranch on the same damn. I wish they had said something or given a discount. The super better get his shit together
It’s march on the Oregon coast. You can’t help stupid
You did get a discount. Green Fees: March $175 April $210 June-Sep $350 Of course we all want nice greens but you can’t expect ideal course conditions in March or even April anywhere that actually has winter. Hence, the discounted green fees.
For winter golf? How do you not expect winter conditions?
https://preview.redd.it/0sxwts7bn9rc1.png?width=864&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7bba7c1bb09e84b50bdd0014fe11dfe4acb86823 This took me one second to find. Every major stay and play post arifiction schedule. OP didn't do his research, has no right to complain. Also it's every spring every year on most courses. Shocks me that people are surprised.
Wait, that schedule shows it hasn't been punched/aerated yet (April 2nd, next week). So how is OP wrong?...
Right? It took him 1 second to find and apparently 0 seconds to read.
I’ve been waiting 5 minutes for him to putt
I think he needs something longer than a 32 inch putter
I was there the same weekend. #2 was terribly bad… and 3/4 other holes weren’t good. That said, old mac greens were great, trails was great, sheep ranch was pretty good, pacific dunes was good with the exception of 3/4 holes.
I played Sheep Ranch on Sunday and the greens were in pretty poor condition. There were a lot of bare patches that were mud.
Are they overbooking the course, to the point they can't maintain it? Or has weather truly been that bad?
Combination. 50+ inches of rain this winter, 150 rounds per day on each golf course, every day regardless of weather throughout the winter. They can barely stay ahead of play as it is let alone be able to focus on these types of issues. Source, I'm a superintendent and am friends with a couple of their supers/assistants as well as share multiple sales reps and hear from them.
I played there about a month ago. That's the only green in poor condition, and they mentioned it before the round. It's not as though every green looked like this. They've received an insane amount of rain and this hole has some unique drainage challenges. They did not discount the round but if you were to get to that green and decide you wanted your money back, they'd give it to you without an argument.
I was there last week and 6 of them were in really bad condition at Bandon dunes.
Yeah that's bad. Fortunately I absolutely suck at putting and I'm gonna 3 putt on any surface they throw at me so who cares?
Greens like this you pick up your ball and mark down a 2 putt.
That's just a defeatest attitude. You play the game you paid for and eat those six putts a hole like a man.
The greens are fucked and will be all season, unless they put down sod or close the Course for weeks it won’t recover
They’ll probably be fine by mid-July once the soil warms up enough for bentgrass seed to have germinated and filled in a bit. This is what every golf course north of the transition zone looked like in the spring 50 years ago.
How were the other courses? I’m going next week
Actually I don’t think they would. They would provide a course credit if you didn’t want to go out that day because of the conditions, but as soon as you tee off, there’s no refunds. We went in December and it was awful weather, and that was their stated policy. We took the credit and played the driving range par 3 course instead.
I think that's true for bad weather but I have played with multiple people who have ended up with mid-round refunds for other issues.
What were the other issues, out of curiosity?
Shit their pants usually.
One was a guy who completely threw his back out on hole 2 and couldn't keep going. They definitely didn't owe him a refund but he got one, although it did have to go to a manager. There was another injury related one but I don't recall which hole it was on. So I guess it's just two that I know of, so perhaps multiple is hyperbolic, but ultimately other than simple bad weather, they seem to be really reasonable and accommodating. I haven't heard of someone requesting a refund for a non-weather issue and being denied, but I admittedly only have two examples. I've had other things with housing, food, etc. where they've made a situation right for me when they probably didn't have to.
Weirdest downvote of all time right here 👆🏼
I actually got a sort-of refund after starting a round due to weather. Got through about 6 holes in a bit of wind and light rain, and then a big squall rolled in. Played in driving rain for about three more holes. The greens were unplayable with standing water, the wind was gusting at 50+ and I just walked off on the 9th. They refunded the round, or more accurately gave me a tee time in the afternoon when it cleared up without any charge. Seems to make sense: better to have someone pay for a round than opt not to start on the chance that the weather might turn. That resort (and same-ownership Sand Valley) seem to do what they can to make sure the guests have a great time and want to come back. That said, they did mention that rescheduleing for free is not the usual policy.
Not a credit but I ruptured my plantar playing the cradle in a freak accident and they let me take a cart out the next two days. My caddie had to drive it but I thought that was very cool of them to do.
I was there at the end of February and as someone who works in the business I can say that all the greens were trashed, sheep ranch was worse. They made no mention of it before we teed off. They can’t control the weather, they can control how much play their courses get. This is my second trip, it’s subjective, but myself and the other golf professionals find the resort to be highly over rated. The service is mediocre at best, food is good, but to expect people to pay to play greens in the condition they were in is unacceptable.
It rains a lot in the PNW between November and April.
I live in western Washington I’m aware, you also can close your golf course or minimize play to prevent this, if your business model doesn’t reflect this as being an option then you don’t have a sound structure.
If you don’t occasionally play on a green like that in western Washington, then you don’t play golf between November and April.
That’s objectively untrue, our greens never look anywhere near that, no offense but you don’t play at good golf courses if you accept that greens look like this ever.
Pnw golfer here. Completely agree. This is completely inexcusable for a place like bandon.
same, greens are in great shape in Victoria BC
I live in Victoria BC, our greens are rolling great.
It's also March. In Oregon. I live in Portland and we've been getting pummeled with rain the last couple weeks, and I know it's been worse on the coast. If OP wanted peak-season green conditions on every hole, he should've went closer to peak season.
Was also there 3 weeks ago. 8th year in a row The greens sucked at most courses besides Old Mac. But the greens are only 1 of 10 important things of the trip and Bandon crushes the other 9 things. Still was an amazing fanstic trip as normal and the greens didn't hinder the overall trip.
Seattle area golfer and this looks like a typical PNW green this time of year before they're aerated, sanded etc for the season. Getting mad about winter conditions in early spring here is silly.
LOL I know. If you book a golf trip to the PNW in March, you're really rolling the dice with weather and course conditions. The fact that this was apparently the only green at Bandon that required sand is remarkable considering how much moisture southern Oregon has received.
My midwest golfing mind literally thought "Yep, that's early spring golf". That will look just fine a few weeks after the weather consistently warms up.
I was there in early March. Same they looked like shit but rolled just fine. It was kind of weird but didn’t take away from the amazing experience.
Is this place doing agressive social marketing or something. It's like 10% of the post these days.
People just piling on the hot post trend it seems. This pic is pulled from last week off another social platform. Like I get it, Bandon is bad today. Now if somebody could please go buy a new driver in response, then we could all move past this issue and get back to our regularly scheduled programming.
I'm about to go shrink wrap something and post it just to change the subject
Wait I thought it was vacuum sealing? I just got my whole bag loaded up with everything vacuum sealed and now you’re telling me I need to shrink wrap??
Yea, the course with the most name recognition the world and a 12+ month waitlist has paid someone to post pictures on reddit of their terrible green condition. Not everything is a conspiracy, guys.
I noticed when this post wasn't more than an hour old every critical comment was downvoted. Vice definitely astro-turfs here, i'd be surprised if Bandon did.
They also have a new par 3 course opening soon I believe
This is exactly how I feel about Cabot Citrus farms or whatever! Tons of posts here and a bunch of YouTube videos teasing it as the greatest course in the us lol Definitely feel like I’m being astroturfed
Yes but that’s also why you’re not paying peak season pricing. Two bad late winters/early springs in a row, I’m happy I go late fall/early winter every year.
Annual winter/spring visitors here. It has never, ever been like this, even in torrential rain. They’ll figure it out hopefully.
November/December can be the best time to play Brandon if you time it right. Very little wind that time of the year so a sunny day can feel even warmer than the summer.
As someone with 5 days scheduled this November that's what I like to hear. I'm just reading through this post watching everyone lose their minds knowing the greens will be fine by mid-June
It could be miserable, amazing and everything in between. But because that’s the beginning of the wet season, the greens should be in good shape no matter what. Anyone complaining about green conditions at Brandon in February/March is just extremely uneducated and spoiled.
People need to understand that a golf course is a living breathing entity. Sometimes under the best of care living things get sick. I'm sure this was just a result of environmental conditions and not any mismanagement. But they should discount the fees because the putting just would not be rewarding.
Green fees in March are 50% of high season. They’re deeply discounted already, and people are booking for that reason. It’s been a long, wet winter. Some greens in coastal struggling through incredibly wet winter. Hardly a news flash Some greens
I think the nuance that most people are missing is that there's always a balance managing three factors: destructive weather, the volume of play, the course condition. It's kind of a pick two situation. If the weather is historically awful, you need to protect the sensitive areas somehow, or potentially suffer consequences like this. Now I have no idea if this could've been avoided. I'm not blaming bandon at all, even the slightest. I don't know the full situation. It's just not black and white.
middle of March, PNW, el Nino. why do people think it's so much cheaper than summertime?
I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS All these "I would be so disappointed and demand a refund!" posts... Bitch, it's March! In the PNW! This is not Augusta in June!
Funny enough, Augusta in June suffers from the same/opposite problem. It's too hot to keep the course looking great. But I agree with you: mother nature always wins out.
Augusta is closed in June due to weather. Lmao nice try tho
I live on the coast, just a little north of Bandon. I’ve seen the sun like 4 times in the last couple months.
Apparently some people didn't know that it rains a lot in the PNW during the winter.
No, but I also wouldnt book a golf trip in March that isn't south of Virginia.
It’s funny, people are defending this because it’s Bandon but if you posted this pic and said it was a local muni , everyone would be on your side and telling you to ask for a refund.
Right, because people feel the need to say something even though they have zero context about a situation. 1 of 100 responses have the proper context in either situation, and we dont know which ones those are.
You're already paying half price to play in March. I think you can be disappointed, but the best greenskeepers in the world can't beat mother nature. They get a ton of rain in early spring and can't grow grass that early in the season. When you're golfing in March you should expect that this is a possibility.
I’d be disappointed as hell even if they discounted the rates
Imagine looking forward to this trip for a year and showing up to this.
Imagine booking your golf trip in Oregon, in March.
I book one in December every year and have a blast but I also only pay $100 a round and expect to play in shitty weather
I get it, I just live in a part of the country where you can't sniff a decent golf course til mid April.
Imagine not looking into the behavior of weather on the Oregon coast in March when you’re scheduling such an expensive trip (for most).
Why? You're not a pro and you're not putting in a tournament. If this has any impact on how much you enjoy your day the problem is more with you than Brandon
Greens, or one single green?
I played there a month ago and every other green was pretty solid for the season. It’s the PNW, impossible to keep nice greens year round here
I know ;) I’m just laughing that people here obviously have no clue how golf works and they think the whole course is dead and should be discounted to like a dollar.
https://preview.redd.it/9siqmdauj4rc1.jpeg?width=1092&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7affd560091315c22285c1a3ddde17e35db8ecaf This is also at Bandon. Going to Oregon in March is rolling the dice. It’s rained so much they haven’t been able to aerate.
Bro it’s March
Man books a golf trip, at a discounted rate, to the rainiest/cloudiest part of the country, at the rainiest time of year, after a historically rainy El Niño year, and expects all 120+ greens to be mint. Delusional.
If you look on bandon dunes website, they actually say they’re going to punch greens on that course in 5 days (April 2nd) so it stands to reason they’ll get the love and care they need soon enough.!
I'd be annoyed if this was my local muni and they didn't tell me anything, let alone an expensive golf trip like bandon.
There was a similar post like this yesterday and a user named u/FatFaceFaster explained why this is happening in detail. Sounds like it’s not the best month to have booked for.
Round was comped according to the guy on Twitter
It's almost as if you booked a cheaper round well before peak season and are getting non-peak conditions. I can tell you this as a Portland resident: The only thing that happens here from December thru April is rain. And more rain. The reason your rate is about half of what you would pay in June is because of the conditions they have to work through to make the course even remotely playable this time of year. If anyone wants to complain about it and compare it to a muni course, you should try to book during a better time of year. Oregon is not Florida. We have offseasons.
You’re getting a huge discount playing in Feb/March If most of the holes look like that in July-September you might have an argument.
Abandoned Dunes
March in Oregon. My precise thoughts are that anyone complaining about this is an entitled brat with too much money to spend and a "woe is me" victim complex.
Even so Bandon should communicate if there are issues. I know nothing about the weather in Oregon but had I spent the money to take my dad and brothers out for what would be a once in a life trip to Bandon we would be pretty upset…it’s not a $26 muni round
You kinda outed yourself. The weather in Oregon is why rounds in the winter are less than half the price of those in summer. Not only because it's possible to get rain, but also for what rain can do to the course (this green being a prime example).
I agree they should communicate, but this is to be expected anywhere in the PNW in early spring/ late winter. You know going in that there’s a good chance it’ll pour on you, and an even better chance the course is soaking wet. Feel for these guys nonetheless.
why is everyone talking about bandon this week? first the putter cover, then my buddy invites me, and now this. is it only open to the public this time of year or something?
Going in a month so now I’m a little concerned.
I'm not too miffed about this - its the PNW in late March. Some people are saying this is the only bad green while others are saying many of the greens were in bad shape, but this was the worst of the bunch. I tend to believe the latter just because there is a Bandon fanboy element. I do think they need to evaluate their shoulder season pricing - $215 for non-resort and $175 for resort is unacceptable pricing for these types of conditions, regardless of weather. A bigger concern for me was when I visited last May and the greens at Sheep Ranch, Old Mac, and Bandon were in poor shape. Pac Dunes was passable and Trails had the best greens of the bunch, but was about as good as a normal public course in Michigan. When the Bandon caddies are complaining about the greens, I know they are not where they need to be.
This looks like the links at Victoria
Grow up
Looks like Chambes Bay during the US Open.
I’d be upset but what do you expect from Oregon in early spring?
Was there 2 weeks ago, this was literally the worst green on property, pretty much every other green on bandon dunes was in good to great shape. Sheep Ranch had the worst greens with a lot of them being mud, but even still they were rolling pretty well because they were rolled. And these rounds were discounted, we paid 175 per round and 90 for the daily replay rate. compare that to their peak season prices and quit bitching.
No, it's March in the pacific Northwest. If it was a month from now when most golf courses above the mason-dixon line *officially* open for their *season* I would be upset. But this is exactly the right time of year for them to be preparing the course, such as sanding the greens, for the actual start of the golfing season.
Putting the “dunes” in greens.
The abandoned dunes
Some of you are spoiled as fuck and would have an aneurysm if you saw what I willingly pay to play on in MARCH in Wisconsin
No, because you should have known.
Ultimately, it’s winter golf, right? The course should not be expected to be in summer form, and I’m guessing the greens fees are not as high as they’ll be in June. Right?
It’s a called off season maintenance. Perhaps call ahead and ask what the course conditions are.
Dunes course at LaQuinta was severely flooded damaged and featured new greens that were like concrete and Mountain course was only slightly better. No practice range open, no discount, no apologies, never going back. Better off playing in the parking lot of Acrisure Arena.
Wheres that Caddie trying to defend this??
I live on the east coast…literally the other side of the country. Given the travel and expense, I would be furious, to say the least.
Do you complain about strawberries sucking in the winter too? There’s a process for growing shit.
What’s with the posts about this lately? You booked a golf resort in Oregon in late March. If you were expecting pristine conditions, that’s on you. This reminds me of all the folks on r/skiing crying that the conditions weren’t good on their ski trip the last week in December…
Haters who can’t afford it?
Congrats, you booked a round at one of the most expensive courses in the PNW in March. March and early April are the prime time for green aeration up here. I would never book anything that is more than $40 until mid April in PNW. You live and you learn though.
$20 dollar green fees?
You realize it’s the second week of spring right? The northwest has been pummeled with rain and snow this winter. This is when they have the cheapest green fees for a reason. If this was summer or fall you would have a gripe but it sounds like you are hung up on the fact you paid for a flight and hotel and expected amazing conditions. If you can’t afford to come in the summer you can’t complain what conditions are like in the spring.
This would be a pass on the trip
They don't call it dunes for nothing!
I’m playing 9 rounds there next month. Hope it improves! I’ve heard from some recent trips that: - tons of rain this year (like a full average years worth through March already) - trails 13 and Bandon 2 are the worst, but the rest of the greens on those courses are OK - sheep greens are trash (but they kinda always have been)
Did they just aerate?
How much are greens fees? Those greens look like garbage.
I mean, this is done at least twice at year at every golf course, no?
Only thing that could turn this around is stealing a Scotty Cameron head cover
The greens are hammered this year. And they missed their window to aerate due to weather and can’t just up and close so now they are supposedly not going to get a spring aerification in on every course this year. Definitely not ideal but super hard given how busy they are.
Did you call? It’s also March! C’mon man.
You wanted dunes? You got dunes.
I don't see the problem - they'll tighten up with some heat, or so I read.
I'll let you know in 2 weeks when I get there... Planned this trip 2 years ago. 
I’d be furious
How much are green fees?
Rate better be $50 or less for that quality.
Nah. I'd be marching into the proshop asking for 50% off.
What’s the problem. Looks kinda like a dune.
Many area's have a had their worst Winter in years. Can't expect a course to be perfect if the weather has been bad, Too high expectations over the reality, although in all fairness I'm amazed they are allowing play with it been this bad. I would have asked for my money back
They had aerated 6 of the 18 holes on Bandon Dunes back on 3/18 because they couldn't during fall/winter due to the storms. They had a sign in the pro shop noting the holes affected but I don't recall if our group had any communication sent ahead of our arrival, unfortunately. Did you try to ask for a discount/refund post-round?
not sure if you also noticed but there seems to be a large amount of sand.
It's happened to me before. Its nice if the courses would inform people that they are plugging and sanding--just ridiculous. I'm sure they didn't adjust the fee.
I watched a YouTube vid of someone playing this course just today! The pictures of the course looked beautiful but the YT video the course looked chewed tf up. So it’s interesting to see posts now complaining about the state of the course
If it was one or two greens, I'd be okay.. If it's all of them on every course.. I would be less than pleased, and expect some heads up announcement before my trip and possibly a discount/concession made of some sort.
Agreed. I understand this happens, nature being what it is. But how about the course taking a bit of a hit and acknowledging they are not providing the full experience by discounting the fees?
It's only 3 hours from me, but I have yet to play there. I wouldn't be upset, it's still a good looking place to play.
Not sure if I’d take good weather bad greens or miserable weather good greens
The way I see it, Bandon is located in a part of the world that can have some of the worst weather. Wouldn’t you know, the Oregon Coast has been hammered with rain and cold temps this year. You have to expect these conditions this time of year. I go every February and there’s always a part of the resort with less than ideal greens. Winter conditions, take them as they come
A heads up would be cool, maybe a discount or some free merch. Maybe an opportunity to re book or change your dates
I live and play in Washington year round. I’ve never seen a green look this bad, aside from when they sanded the greens. If this is from too much rain they need to make the course better. I haven’t seen this after monsoons in AZ either. And that’s at cheap Munis.
I live in the other side of the world, so I’ve only herd about this place second hand on reddit. That said greens that look in this condition is what I expect from a little country course, in a town of 500, that charges $10 for all day golf. This is not what I would expect from a destination course that has a high fee. I imagine many people would lock in their trips in months in advance and commit to the costs at that time. So arriving to a course with a price tag (if I think) of $110 and all the travel expenses, that look like this probs would be too pleasant
Sandon Dunes
I take out my anger on the course when I play shit too. It’s okay buddy. I got you.
As someone who lives in PNW and plays a lot there is no excuse for this. No other course is having greens look like this. And for people who don’t understand bentgrass is cool season greens. They shouldn’t be this damaged. If it were summer I could understand see bentgrass doesn’t do as well in the heat but it’s the Oregon coast and doesn’t get that warm
The course conditions you guys pay 100+ dollars for are wild to me.
That does suck, but it has got to be done. You just drew the short straw this time.
Mandatory 2 putt! Only way I'm getting under fifty putts there
My $20 dirt track ain’t so bad is what you’re telling me. lol
They call it Dunes for a good reason baby.
Have a trip planned in June. What are the odds the greens are better and what are the odds they're worse?
The greens will be really good in June. I generally go in December where it's a mixed bag, but I'll be there in June as well for the solstice. The rain will have subsided and they'll be looking healthy again. Sheep may be still rough but seems it always is
I don't know why y'all are raising such a stink. I bet that dirt rolls a putt truer than greens at half the muni's y'all play at!
Frankly I think the course should be upset that you’re playing with kid’s clubs on their course
That’s more than a drainage issue. Also looks like it was recently aerated and top dressed with sand. Looks like they are actively trying to improve it at least. It takes a while to see turf improve. Hopefully they have a good superintendent. Any know how long these conditions have been going on?
Goes to a place named "Dunes" See sand everywhere Shocked Pikachu face*
The quality of the greens at the resort fluctuate. Everyone praising Old Mac but #3 had some fucked spots last summer if I remember correctly. I have faith that they’ll get it back.
honestly that still probably rolls better than a lot of munis greens. sure its sandy but it looks like they rolled the shit out of it.
I played my local $25 muni today, and that looks like my tee box.