On Wednesday, January 27, I met Ben, Mike and Pete for an early flight out of Seattle.  Everything went perfectly smoothly and we arrived in Eugene to pick up our HUGE van.

 

It was huge, but amazing and perfect for the drive to Bandon Dunes.  By the time we arrived at Old MacDonald, the weather had become fine, with only a slight wind.  The course was looking great for January and we were feeling really good.

We all played fairly well and the views reminded us why we travelled so far in January.

 

After the round we drove down to the clubhouse and checked in.  We then headed to McKee’s for dinner.  It was pretty great, like usual.  We were all pretty tired, so we headed to our rooms and got some sleep.

We woke up the next morning to rain.  We had expected it, so we were dressed appropriately.  None of us had ever played Bandon Preserve, so after breakfast we headed out for a new experience- 13 par 3 holes.

It rained for the first hole or two, but the clouds soon parted, the sun came out, and it was BEAUTIFUL!  It was really fun playing those par 3 holes and a good way to warm up for that afternoon’s round.

After lunch, we headed out to Bandon Dunes.  My favorite is Pacific Dunes, but it was all booked up for the timeframe that we were there, but Bandon Dunes is pretty great, too.

Although the weather looks pretty gnarly at the start, it was actually quite a beautiful day.  As you can see, we were all having a great time.  The best part about this trip is the guys, and playing with Pete, Ben and Mike is always a blast.  Such great guys!

As Ben would say here, he was on the edge of wetness after his tee shot.  But he was also almost on the green and probably got pretty close to making this putt!

I love taking photos down here.  Although I was only using my iPhone 6, some of these shots came out really great.

After the round, we went to the Tufted Puffin for dinner. Every meal was great, especially mine.  I had scallops.  It was so good.

After dinner we sat around the fire.  It was pretty fun.

 

We were pretty mellow after the fire and the next morning consisted of packing up, grabbing a great breakfast and playing Bandon Trails.  There was no one in front of us (like normal at Bandon) and the rain held off.  None of us set any course records, but we all had a great time.

The trip home went very smoothly and I’d like to thank Pete, Mike and Ben for making this a great trip.  Can’t wait until next time.