Now On The Tee
Golf Magazine Top 100 Golf Courses in the U.S. There is certainly some irony in the fact that the newest full-length course at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort shares its name with a famous children's song. It's another stroke of genius from developer Mike Keiser and Old Macdonald, his homage to famous architect C.B. Macdonald, is a whimsical masterpiece. Keiser enlisted the services of Renaissance Golf, the team behind Pacific Dunes, with one small twist - Tom Doak was asked to share design credit for this new course with his right hand man, Jim Urbina. Doak and Urbina exceeded all expectations with Old Macdonald, creating a course of great variety, with width to spare and greens large enough to land a plane on. The famous templates are all here but some of the best holes on the course are originals. There are a number of highlights throughout the round. The 3rd hole, named "Sahara" is a 375 yard par four that features a blind tee shot up and over a huge sand dune that must also avoid the distinctive dead cedar tree on the hillside.
The view once you reach the crest of the hill will make your jaw drop, as the whole course reveals itself in all its glory. 5, a 175 yard par three to a diabolical green with some of the wildest undulations you can imagine. Appropriately, the 6th is the "Long" hole, a 555 yard par five that features its own version of Hell Bunker and a very interesting green where three putts are commonplace. The 7th is an original called "Ocean" and perhaps one of the more unique holes on the property. The green, at Mike Keiser's urging, was moved way up to the top of the hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean after the original routing was completed and the result is a touch of brilliance. The green may be the most diabolical on the course to hit and features one of the more stunning vistas at the resort. A true stunner and worth the price of admission all by itself.
The 8th is the "Biarritz" and features a downhill tee shot to a long green with a huge swale in the middle portion. The 12th hole is the "Redan", perhaps the most famous template in all of golf. It's a long par three with a green that flows from front right to back left, necessitating a right to left ball flight if you want any chance of hitting the green. It's a severe hole at Old Macdonald, much more difficult than its namesake at NGLA but not all holes are meant to be birdie opportunities! The 14th is the "Maiden" hole and has one of the more distinctive greensites on the golf course and is followed by the wonderful par five 15th called "Westward Ho", an original that brings you close to the waterfront. The 16th is the "Alps" hole which requires a precise and long tee shot in order to provide the player with an open look at the green, as it's obscured by the huge sand dune in front. This is a brilliant rendition of the Alps and one of my favourite holes on the entire property.
The course finishes with the "Punchbowl" and as expected, the green's bowl shaped design will help funnel slightly wayward shots back onto the putting surface. Old Mac, as it's affectionately known, is a true wonder but it might not be for everyone. Those who admire links golf will love this course, with incredibly wide fairways, firm and fast conditions and immense greens with plenty of contour and interest. It's also, without question, a course that requires numerous visits before you can consider yourself an expert on all the options available to best play each hole, a trait it shares with great links courses like St. Andrews. The out and back routing is inspired and Doak, as noted in "Dream Golf", operated a bit differently at Old Mac than he did at his other designs. Instead of looking at the landforms to see what sort of holes they might suggest, he actively searched for contours that would lend themselves to holes in the Macdonald repertory, like a natural Alps or a natural redan.
