All courses at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, explained

Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this month, has expanded into five 18-hole courses, two short courses — one of which is now officially open — and a learning course.

Here's a look at Bandon Dunes 25 years later – which appeared in the latest issue of GOLF magazine – but scroll below for a quick overview of the courses and what makes each course unique.

BANDON DUNES

David McLay Kidd, 1999; by 72 / 6,732 yds

The original course at Bandon remains an anchor, its first hole lighting up the back of the main clubhouse on a thrilling course, up into the dunes and down the coast. With wide fairways and large, mellowly contoured greens, McLay Kidd's design can be forgiving, but it also holds its own against the USGA's elite tournaments.

PACIFIC DUNES

Tom Doak, 2001; with 71 / 6,633 yds

When it opened in 2001, this unusual Doak design, with a back nine starting with consecutive par 3s, transformed its builder from a cult favorite to a modern star. It also proved Keiser's words — “One course is a curiosity, two courses are a destination” — true, providing the resort with a one-two punch that has increased its presence on the map.

BANDON TRAILS

Bill Coore / Ben Crenshaw, 2005; with 71 / 6,788yds

The only 18-hole course in the resort that doesn't kiss the ocean, this Coore-Crenshaw design makes up for its lack of coastline with an interesting tour of its inland location. From dunes to pines to meadows, the backcountry is as varied and interesting as the shot needs to be, nowhere more so than the 4th 14th, one of Bandon's most compelling – and polarizing – holes.

OLD MACDONALD

Tom Doak / Jim Urbina, 2010; with 71 / 6,944 yds

A tribute in both word and form, this Doak-Urbina collaboration draws on the portfolio of iconic holes made famous in this country by Golden Age giant Charles Blair Macdonald. Redan. Long. Short. Eden. There's even a hat tip to Road Hole in St. Andrews on a course that plays, in true links fashion, on firm, fast fescue turf.

SHEEP PLACE

Bill Coore / Ben Crenshaw, 2020; by 72 / 6,636 yds

The smallest 18-hole course at the resort also has the longest coastline, nearly a mile of ocean bluffs. In this site, which is also the most windy in the area and, in part for that reason, does not have sand shelters, Bill Coore's creative methods suppress all the drama in the sea, making it played out in a few shots and visible in all 18.

BANDON KEEP

Bill Coore / Ben Crenshaw, 2012; by 3 / 1,609 yds

Like many trends in the modern game, the short-course craze traces back to Bandon. Built in 2012, this 13-hole par-3 design by Coore and Crenshaw captures the beauty of the area in miniature, with tee shots over 150 yards and ground game options that include the local tradition of playing the last hole with a putter only. .

PUnchBOW

Tom Doak / Jim Urbina, 2014; 18 hole putting course

Call for a showing, putt free. It's free to play this 100,000-square-foot nod to the Himalayas that sets the scene in St. Andrews, located to the left of the first tee at Pacific Dunes. Designed by Doak and Urbina and open from dawn to dusk, it is full of humps and tricky holes, and its route never gets old because the crew changes it every day.

SHORTY'S

Dave Axland, Keith Cutten, Rod Whitman, 2024; by 3 / 1,997 yds

On a site with tall, tightly packed dunes, Whitman, Axland and Cutten first laid out a 12-hole course, only to find that the canvas was heavily encouraged. Their final design stitched 19 holes, ranging from 60 to 160 yards, into the edges. With the arrival of this course, the original Shorty's, a pitch-and-putt adjacent to the area's practice area, has been renamed Charlotte's Par 3.

Josh Sens

Golf.com Editor

Golf, food and travel writer, Josh Sens has been a contributor to GOLF Magazine since 2004 and now contributes to all aspects of GOLF. His work has been honored in The Best American Sportswriting. He is also the author, with Sammy Hagar, of Are We Having Any Fun Yet: The Cooking and Partying Handbook.