The 11th Holes at Bandon
We're heading down the back nine, and it's good times.
I’ve been breaking down the best hole across Bandon Dunes Resort - the best first hole, the best second, etc. Below is the first installment, where I wrapped up the first ten holes if you’d like to catch up.
The 1st Holes at Bandon
My first few posts on this Substack were copying The Fried Egg’s conceit of a “Dream 18” at Bandon. That is, taking the best first hole, the best second hole, etc. across the five 18-hole courses. For reference, those are these posts: One of the things that kept sticking out to me was that certain numbered holes were
Additionally, you can just go here to find all my posts about Bandon on this Substack.
The 11th holes across the property are - mostly - legit bangers. It’s not necessarily the placement on a routing you’d expect such great holes, but here we are. Let’s dive in.
The Best 11th Hole
Despite my notation above, this isn’t really a question for me - it’s the 11th hole at Bandon Trails. It’s one of my favorite holes on the entire property, which is - at first blush - a total shock because it’s the ONLY hole on property with a water hazard. If you know me, you know I don’t much love water hazards (certainly not as much as they love me), but bear with me.
Off the tee, you can’t see the water, but you can see a slew of bunkers down the right hand side. Your caddie will likely point you so far left you wonder just how high he might possibly be. (Like, see the tall trees down the left side in the distance? Those are good lines to take.)
You’ll realize once you get to your golf ball - if you took that advice - that once again, your caddie knows more than you. Because not only does the entire fairway slant left to right (which you can see above), which funnels decent shots into those bunkers, but you don’t want any part of the water hazard. This is the view from the green looking back up at the fairway. That water really isn’t - or shouldn’t be - in play, which is maybe why I don’t mind it so much. But when you are just a mild fade away from rinsing it in there…no likey. Oh, and that green is MASSIVE, which makes it quite receptive but brings three putts well into play.
When you get home from Bandon Dunes, you end up going over some of your favorite holes repeatedly. The 11th at Trails has been one of those holes for me for each trip I’ve taken. Anything from a birdie to a triple bogey is in play.
Worst 11th Hole
We are still in that stretch at Old Macdonald that is the weakest part of that course, and its version of the Road Hole is the worst of the 11th holes on property. It’s achingly long and often directly into the wind. It has the road hole bunker like its namesake (I spent some time in there last visit) and that hole on The Old Course might be one of the greatest holes in the world. But this one not only pales in comparison, it’s almost hard for hards sake. It’s not a bad hole, but as far as the 11th go across property, it’s my least favorite.
Most Underrated 11th Hole
But that’s not super underrated as it gets discussed quite a bit. I really like the 11th at Pacific Dunes - the second par-3 to start the back nine - and have made all sorts of scores on that, from good to bad. I actually think the 11th at Bandon Dunes is a great hole that I always forget about - like, literally I forget how the hole goes, almost until I play it again.
So for me, it’s the 11th at Sheep Ranch, known as the Volcano hole - owner Mike Keiser liked it so much he wanted to make it the finishing hole, but the routing would have necessitated bridges, and as he said in the NLU video about Sheep Ranch, “I’m not really a bridge guy.” (Which made me laugh at the time, but honestly a huge walking bridge at Bandon would feel a bit out of place…but also maybe awesome?) I’m taking a bit of liberty calling this hole underrated, because folks talk about it a lot, but there are also folks who hate it. I’m not really sure why - it’s a shorter par-5, so if you hit a good tee shot you have a chance to get home in two, even if it’s an uphill shot to a blind green.
That uphill chute is guarded by rocks, and if you don’t watch out, you can find yourself with a truly unusual lie.
It’s a super fun hole, and one you’ll remember long after the round.
Rounding up what we’ve gotten so far, here’s the count:
Best Holes: Sheep Ranch (2), Bandon Trails (2), Old Macdonald (3), Pacific Dunes (2), Bandon Dunes (2)
Worst Holes: Bandon Dunes (4), Bandon Trails (1), Old Macdonald (3), Sheep Ranch (3)
Most Underrated Holes: Sheep Ranch (3), Bandon Trails (3), Bandon Dunes (1), Pacific Dunes (3), Old Macdonald (1)
What’s your favorite and least favorite 11th hole at Bandon?