Bandon Dunes Golf Resort (Bandon Trails)

The inland course at Bandon Dunes: Coore and Crenshaw route it from open sand dunes into meadow and coastal forest, with no hole on the ocean.

Bandon Trails opened in June 2005 as the third course at Mike Keiser's resort on the southern Oregon coast. Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw drew the inland parcel, a site that starts in a large dune field, crosses a meadow, and then climbs into a forest of spruce and fir. Every other 18-hole course at the resort chases Pacific views; Trails does not have a single hole along the water, and it still holds its ranking among them.

The routing is the main event. The opening holes play through big, open sand before the course turns into the trees, and the round finishes by dropping back out toward the dunes. Holes 3 through 5 are a strong run of par 5, par 4 and par 3. Coore and Crenshaw kept the bunkering rough-edged and let the ground movement do much of the work, so approach shots are often decided by slope and angle rather than forced carries.

The best-known hole is the short par-4 14th, which can be driven but has a green that rejects poorly judged shots from the valley below. Because it sits in trees, Trails is often the calmer, more sheltered round of a Bandon trip when coastal wind picks up. It is walking-only, like the rest of the resort, and has served as a stroke-play co-host for USGA championships held on property.

Holes to know

14

Par 4

A drivable short par 4 with a tricky, elevated green; an overcooked driver can run over the back, while a lay-up leaves an awkward pitch from the valley floor.

5

Par 3

Closes the three-hole stretch of par 5, par 4 and par 3 (holes 3–5) that reviewers single out as the best inland run on the property.

17

Par 3

The last par 3, played as the routing begins working back out of the forest toward the finish.

Championships

• U.S. Amateur Public Links / U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links 2011
• U.S. Mid-Amateur (stroke-play co-host) 2007
• U.S. Amateur (stroke-play co-host) 2020
• U.S. Junior Amateur (stroke-play co-host) 2022