The 15th Holes at Bandon
We are heading back in and have some great candidates here.
As readers may be sick of hearing, I’m going through each numbered hole at Bandon Dunes Resort and deciding which is the best 1st hole, 2nd hole, etc. This all started here 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
For now, we move on to the 15th holes at Bandon.
The Best 15th Hole
While there are some great alternate candidates (covered in the “Most Underrated” section below), for me this is a no-brainer, and it’s the 15th hole on Bandon Trails. It’s a medium length par-4 (about 367 yards from the green tees, but playing uphill) that dog legs sharply to the right. You really can’t see the green from the tee.
What you also can’t really see are the fairway bunkers, but even if you avoid those, there’s a massive greenside bunker that runs along the right side of the fairway as well. If you don’t start your approach out far enough to the left AND you have a wipey fade (why, HELLO), you’re gonna find yourself in this massive bunker.
But also, look at that green. Sloping from back to front, there are so many fun putts out there. It’s honestly a top-10 hole on property (and for sure top-18, as this exercise shows!)
Somehow, I feel like this hole gets lost in the shuffle as so many people are still grumbling about the 14th hole just prior, and it’s a shame because this is a true gem.
The Worst 15th Hole
This is a true example of how our selection here isn’t a bad hole, because on many courses this might be the signature hole … but we have excess spoils here and we have to choose one, so I’m taking the 15th at Sheep Ranch. It’s a short par-4 with a fun green and it runs along the ocean! How and why is this hole not good? Well, it IS good. It’s just the weakest of the five for me. There’s nothing particularly memorable here, and in some ways this hole is a victim of Sheep having SO many oceanside holes. It’s also sandwiched between two absolute bangers.
Most Underrated 15th Hole
It’s hard to ignore the great par-3 on Bandon Dunes but it’s in such close proximity to the 12th hole for me that it kind of gets blurry. I am also a huge fan of any gettable par-5’s and the one at Pacific Dunes is a great one. In fact, I planned on selecting that here until I realized that the par-5 at Old Macdonald is even more my favorite, and likely more underrated. Called “Westward Ho,” the hole goes back towards the sea, and as such in parts of it can be dead into the wind. I say in parts, because most of the hole sits below the 7th green (and the halfway house) which shield the wind a bit as you get closer.
The bunkering around the hole is severe, and the one up just below the green is hot death.
The green is also really cool with a trench in the back that catches overeager approaches and the view from that green shows off most of the course. It’s a tremendous hole that is often overlooked.
Let’s check in and find our new tallies:
Best Holes: Sheep Ranch (2), Bandon Trails (3), Old Macdonald (4), Pacific Dunes (3), Bandon Dunes (3)
Worst Holes: Bandon Dunes (4), Bandon Trails (2), Old Macdonald (4), Sheep Ranch (5), Pacific Dunes (0.5*)
Most Underrated Holes: Sheep Ranch (4), Bandon Trails (4), Bandon Dunes (1), Pacific Dunes (4), Old Macdonald (2)
What’s your favorite 15th hole at Bandon Dunes Resort?