www.oldbandongolflinks.com
Before Bandon Dunes was a gleam in Mike Kaiser’s eye, there was the Old Bandon Golf Links. Built in 1926 by Lee Smith, it was then known as Westmost Golf Course. The little 9-holer has been refurbished for play by Troy Russell, a man who knows a thing or two about course construction and maintenance.
The course had gone through a succession of owners in its many years, until it came under the ownership of Margaret Miller and Jerry Brown, who wanted the course returned to playable condition. The old course retains its original design in which a creek comes into play on seven holes. It plays to 2,222 from the tips with no par 5’s and a 350-yard second hole as the longest. As at Oakhurst Golf Links, sheep can be found grazing the fairways.
Old Bandon is one of the few public golf facilities in the country to offer hickories for play. Teaming with California’s “Mr. Hickory”, Chris McIntyre, the course offers rentals for both pre-1900 and 1920s-era play. Buckets of sand are available on the tees for gutty play, using McIntyre’s modern gutty balls. Groups are encouraged to give it a go, leaving aside concerns of handicaps to enjoy a bit of match play fun.
Even before you come to the course, Old Bandon’s website has set up a page with advice on playing hickory clubs. Called “Waggle and Feel” it has suggestions for everything from the woods (“torque and twist”) to niblicks (“a little tricky off a thin lie”) and putters.
You get the feeling that here is a course where the owners “get it.” Here the history of golf, the playing of golf and the feel of golf are paramount. There is a connectedness to the game and its play that is refreshing, placing the player closer to the spirit of the game than will ever be possible with oversized modern clubs and space-aged metals.
As one plays, the sound and smells of the nearby ocean are ever present. The course plays through a lowland nestled between hills and forest. One visiting writer said it reminded him of the opening holes at Dornoch.
Russell, who leases the course with his wife, Kim, is well known in golf circles. He has been on construction teams for Bandon Dune, and Pacific Dunes and has been a volunteer on tournament maintenance for such majors as the Masters, PGA championships and the U.S. Open. Old Bandon is in the hands of someone who is a trusted maintenance staffer at Augusta National. Plus, he loves playing with hickories himself. It was his idea to contact McIntyre and set up the hickory playing experience for visiting golfers.
After a round at Old Bandon, as the first-time hickory player sits in the clubhouse sipping a lager and taking in the various sights and sounds, it may occur to him that he has just played a round of golf.
Finally.
Old Bandon Golf Links
3235 Beach Loop Drive SW
Bandon, OR 97411
Phone – 541-329-1927; toll-free at 866-469-9738
golfshop@oldbandongolflinks.com
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