to recall. Old Macdonald has my number, and it’s usually a double- bogey.
I want to love the course. I full-
heartedly endorse the philosophy behind the expansive and low-lying links design, which fi nds beauty in wrapping a tee shot around a spooky ghost tree, or by rebuilding a true Road Hole, despite no road or Old Course Hotel in sight. The ocean only comes into focus once— after your terrifying approach up to the volcano-like seventh green— but Old Macdonald always has your attention. That’s because one of Keiser’s
favorite courses is National Golf Links of America, which was brilliantly built in 1911 by C.B. Macdonald, a St. Andrews Univer- sity scholar who imported some of Britain’s greatest holes to America. Keiser essentially hired the ghost
of Macdonald to design his fourth course. He commissioned Doak and Jim Urbina to crawl deep into the recesses of Macdonald’s brain and create a course that would capture his spirit. Only that spirit is a bit haunted. The mountainous greens are by far the largest in the country (they average 14,600 square feet), yet
they’re simultaneously some of the most diffi cult to hit. You probably won’t lose a ball, but you might lose you mind watching the sadistic slopes sweep your ball 50 yards away from the hole into grave-like pits or booby- trapped bunkers. “Finding a different character for
the fourth course at the resort meant building the largest greens we’ve ever designed, and deep hazards at a scale that would make Macdonald proud,” Doak wrote. I’ll say this—it’s a really fun course
if you don’t keep score. Play a match, play a game, anything but a stroke- play marathon. Commiserate with someone, laugh off the kooky kicks and reset on the next tee box. There’s a tantrum lurking on every hole. But what I respect and admire most about Old Macdonald is it doubles as a fascinating golf course architecture tour that has personally sparked a growing interest in clas- sic designs and strategy. Doak and Urbina sculpted modern-day interpre- tations of the penal Strath, Hell and Road Hole bunkers at St. Andrews; conceived challenging adaptations of Biarritz, Redan and Punchbowl greens; and fl uidly introduced stun- ning Sahara and Alps holes. There are hidden meanings, refer- ences and borrowed touches on every hole. Old Macdonald is part allegory, part satire, part Da Vinci code. It’s clandestine, clever and complex. And one of these years, I’m going
to fi gure it out. But right now, it’s toy- ing with me, nonchalantly batting me back whenever a hint of confi dence creeps into my head.
+
The Short Courses We usually arrive at Bandon an
hour before dusk, which gives us just enough time to grab a couple of awe- some Oregon microbrews and dash out to the practice facility, where we can acclimate to the chilly air, thump- ing greens, those thin and sandy lies, and even a pot bunker or two. But instead of beating balls, we hop out onto the south-facing Shorty’s driving range, which won-
NORTH BEND
SOUTHWEST OREGON REGIONAL AIRPORT
PORTLAND EUGENE
4 HOURS 3 HOURS
CALIFORNIA BORDER Bandon Dunes
2 HOURS
Where is Bandon Dunes?
drously routes into a free nine-hole par-3 course designed by Kidd. You can even reinvent the purposely vague routing of the Scottish-style holes yourself. It’s the perfect introduction to
Bandon. And yet another example of Bandon’s golfer-centric universe. Keiser also unleashed Coore-
Crenshaw on a sloping parcel that fl ows down to the ocean between Bandon Dunes and Bandon Trails. Coore-Crenshaw dreamed up as many unique par 3s as they could, ul- timately discovering 13 distinct holes, complete with their alluring bunkers, rolling and rhythmic greens (there’s even a double green) and drop shots to the sea. No tee shot is longer than 150 yards, although my favorite is a cute 63-yard mini-dell hole to a blind and sunken green. “Par 3s allow you to create some- thing the golfer might never be able to experience elsewhere,” Coore told Golf when Bandon Preserve opened in 2012. You are even encouraged to go off
as a herd of golfers. Our last game, full of side bets and alternate tee shots, involved an eight-some. “I’d like to think Bandon Preserve
could become a trendsetter,” Coore penned in an essay for Golf. “It is a timely reminder that golf encom- passes many experiences, and golf that’s only par 3 holes isn’t by defi ni- tion inferior. “By my math, par 3s require about
one quarter of the time of a regulation course, with 90% or more of the fun.” Keiser also chased faster fun when he approached Doak and Urbina
FALL 2015 /
NCGA.ORG / 33
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