Day 2 at Bandon Dunes came EARLY. We were up at about 5:00 and were on the first tee at Bandon at 7:30 am PST.

This day was different though, and you could feel it from the start. The round started on the back 9 as there was some renovation being done on the front in the morning. We teed it on #10 and launched drives over a series of pot bunkers and realized the difference between yesterday and today. There was no wind!

In fact, there was sunshine. I was clicking photos at a pace that would certainly cause a blister when I realized I was about 7 over par. I was about to chide myself and kick it into gear when I reached 16.

16 is the signature hole of the resort. With an upper and a lower fairway and the surf pounding to the right, this short par 4 is a beautiful hole to look at and a beauty to play.

I cut a driver to the upper fairway and had 60 yards in. A spinner LW later and I 2 putted for a par. I took five times as many photos as I had strokes on that hole and we pressed on.

Dad had a 45 yard putt, yes a PUTT on the next hole. He 2 putted!

We made the turn and the sun was still out. In fact, the sun was out the whole round. We finished up and decided to head to the room for a quick lunch before we headed back out for the second of two rounds.

The weather blew back in while we were out on Pacific Dunes and the rain started in almost the same fashion as the day before. I didn’t bring the camera so it is no real surprise that I played better in the afternoon than the morning round.

We both started to tire, even though we weren’t carrying our bags. Bandon Dunes has no carts so it is a walking only course. We discovered later that carts are available for golfers that have medical conditions that do not allow them to walk 18 holes, but if not, you are hoofing it.

They do rent Rickshaw pull carts for $5.00 and you are encouraged to roll them right up on the greens, as long as you do not park them on the greens. It is amazing how different fescue grasses are compared to bent or poa that I usually play. It is a strange grass that reminds me of a combination of poa and bermuda.

It is tough to tell where greens start and fairways end which lends itself to a variety of shots around the greens. Like all links golf, the game is played more along the ground than it is in the air. Shots played around the greens are best played to run off of humps or undulations in the greens. I found myself hitting hybrid around the green an awful lot where putter just felt like it would not have enough punch.

We finished the afternoon round in almost total darkness and headed to the room to total the scores and get some much needed sleep. We still had one round and a 5 hour drive back to Portland ahead of us.

It seems we didn’t dream of enough birdies as the morning rounds found us tied at 82. The afternoon round was another 71 for me and an 83 for Dad.

One more round to go on the best place in the world for the game of golf to go!
Lucky us!

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