BANDON, OREGON | In 1991, when legendary golf course developer Mike Keiser first laid eyes on the 1,215-acre property along the Pacific Ocean just north of Bandon, he knew that he’d found what he was looking for. A huge fan of links-style golf in Scotland and Ireland, Keiser determined that this was his ideal canvas to bring true links golf to the United States.
“My bet was always if we brought Ballybunion or Royal Dornoch to America, and the site was good enough, we could overcome the remoteness of it with the quality of links golf,” Keiser said. “Ballybunion, Royal Dornoch, and not to mention the Old Course are all extremely popular and, lo and behold, the links golf course of Bandon Dunes is just as popular.”
Now, Bandon Dunes Golf Resort includes seven unique courses covering 2,525 acres. Five of those courses – Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes, Old Macdonald, Bandon Trails and Sheep Ranch – appear in the upper tier of multiple top-100 rankings of public-access courses.
Last week, Bandon Dunes hosted its ninth USGA championship and first U.S. Women’s Amateur. After the resort plays host to the 2035 U.S. Girls’ Junior, Bandon Dunes will have held 11 different USGA championships, the most of any venue. The resort’s support of the USGA and amateur golf – as further evidenced by the 11 more USGA championships it will play host to over the next two decades – is simply remarkable.
“In the next 15 to 20 years, we’re hosting every [amateur] championship the USGA has to offer, which is pretty darn good and pretty darn impressive,” Keiser said. “I will do anything for amateur golf.”
Bandon Dunes caught the eye of the USGA as soon as it opened in 1999. In 2006, the course held its first USGA event, the Curtis Cup.
“Very early on the USGA was interested in this links course on the ocean, albeit in the middle of nowhere, and have been supportive ever since,” Keiser said.
Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA since 2021, had never been to Bandon Dunes before last week. He quickly realized once he arrived on property how special the place is and why it’s such a great championship venue.
“I may not have gotten it until I arrived yesterday, but for my team, if Bandon comes up as an option the answer is yes,” he said. “I always thought that was strange but when you get here you sort of get it. It’s pure golf. This is golf the way it’s meant to be.”
Whan also loves how accommodating Bandon is to championships such as the U.S. Women’s Amateur. The resort offered discounted rates to USGA staff, players and their guests. According to director of reservations Alexia Gederos, almost 100 USGA executives, staff, and rules officials stayed on site.
Of the 156 players in the field, close to 100 stayed on site and 100 more were guardians, caddies, coaches and other companions. Starting Wednesday last week, every competitor and one guest received a complimentary round of golf at any course on property, even if they’d been eliminated from the championship.
“The leadership and the ownership is fully committed to amateur golf,” Whan said. “Most courses when they come to us, they all just want to talk about the U.S. Open or the U.S. Women’s Open. I’m not sure where Bandon would be on hosting something like that but Bandon really wants to bring the elite amateurs to this place.”
Crucially, the players who competed in the championship enjoyed their experiences at Bandon Dunes. Asia Young won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball earlier this year with Natalie Yen and made it to the round of 32 last week. She’s a resident of Bend, Oregon, which is about a five-hour drive inland from Bandon.
“I was gasping. It’s my first time playing beside the beach, so I took a lot of photos because I liked it. It’s so pretty.”
Pinky Chaisilprungruang
Because there are Oregon junior golf tournaments at the resort in the winter, Young had experience at the course. Compared to the relatively calm weather last week, Young says in the winter rain is common with “winds at like 50 miles per hour.” With the always-changing conditions and picturesque scenery, the course never gets old.
“It’s one of a kind,” Young said. “I don’t think you see courses like this unless you go overseas, but to have it in my home state and all these holes you have a picture-perfect view of the ocean, it’s just spectacular.”
Playing in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bandon made the event, and the course, that much more special for Young.
“I think having such a giant event with the best amateurs in the world in your home state is amazing,” she said. “USGA events in general are always the best of the best.”
Unlike Young, Pinky Chaisilprungruang, who advanced to the round of 32, had never seen Bandon Dunes before last week. A rising sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte who hails from Thailand, she said Bandon Dunes was unlike any course she’d ever seen before.
“I was gasping,” she said. “It’s my first time playing beside the beach, so I took a lot of photos because I liked it. It’s so pretty.”
Emilia Doran (née Migliaccio) was the only mid-amateur to make match play at the U.S. Women’s Amateur, advancing to the round of 32. As an on-course reporter for Golf Channel, Doran also covered the event in the afternoons. For her and her husband, Charlie, playing at Bandon Dunes created long-term family memories.
“Pretty much every single tee you can stand out and see a wonderful view in front of you,” Doran said. “My husband Charlie and I were just truly feeling grateful on every hole that we get to experience this.”
It will be three more years before Bandon Dunes plays host to another USGA championship, its 10th, but it will be a big one. In 2028, the course will hold the Walker Cup for the first time, a tournament some consider the pinnacle of amateur golf.
E-MAIL EVERETT
Top: Asterisk Talley hits her tee shot at the sixth hole at Bandon Dunes during the second round of stroke play at the U.S. Women's Amateur.
Darren Carroll, USGA