Q School — The Inner Game

Ollie Dunn returns as guest writer, this time describing his experience at the Canadian Tour Fall Qualifying School, played at Hidden Lake GC, in Burlington, Ontario, on September 19-22.  This was the major event on Ollie's 2011 schedule, and he provides rare insight into the mental state and conflicting emotions of a golf pro trying to earn his place on a bigger stage. I sat stunned in a Russian-owned Laundromat in Burlington, Ontario, following the first round of the Canadian Tour qualifier. I’d just shot an 81 in what felt like a monsoon.  Outside it was raining hard.  I could think of many ... Full Story

Jim Urbina and the Power Spots at Old Macdonald

Jim Urbina is a co-designer of Old Macdonald, a billing he shares with Tom Doak.  The two worked together on many previous projects, including Pacific Dunes, where Tom was listed as the architect and Jim was the project supervisor -- though he often pushed Tom with design ideas.  Resort owner Mike Keiser describesJ im Urbina as “one of those dirt guys who can do anything – and he’s also a natural showman and storyteller.”  Dark-eyed, olive-skinned, and animated, Jim is passionate in his beliefs about golf course design, and he was into Old Mac all the way, blood, guts, and feathers.   He basically lived on-site while the construction was underway, working closely with Ken N... Full Story

Old Macdonald, Age One

Old Mac #1 -- Double Plateau

Old Macdonald, the fourth course at Bandon Dunes, opened on June 1, 2010.   To mark the first anniversary, I'm posting an excerpt from Dream Golf that provides a glimpse into the dynamics of the design team -- the relationship between Mike Keiser, owner of the Bandon Dunes Resort, and co-designers Tom Doak and Jim Urbina, with cameo roles for design consultant Brad Klein and some of Mike's friends, or "retail golfers."  The morning described is November 5, 2008, the day after the presidential election, and Mike had flown that morning from Chicago to ... Full Story

13 Ways of Looking at the Short Course at Bandon

No. 9 on the The Preserve Photo by Wood Sabold

If the short course that Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw are building at Bandon Dunes doesn't create a sensation, I'll eat my hat.  And my putter. Last week I got to walk the 13 hole course, called The Preserve.  The construction is still in progress, and the grassing has only just begun; the course won't open until next spring.  Nevertheless, the effect is stunning.  From the 18th hole of the Bandon Dunes course, the shapes of the course are visible, rising up the slope like a golfing version of a terraced Mediterranean landscape.   Instead of olive trees and vineyards, The Preserve is dotted with the dark green of shore pines and gorse, and fringed with tawny beach grass.  The d... Full Story

Is A Golfer A Gentleman?

Sir Alan Patrick Herbert

On the eve of the Open Championship, we could do worse than consider the question posed in the case "Rex V. Haddock" brought before a magistrate in Cornwall many years ago.  It seems that one Alfred Haddock been charged under the Profane Oaths Act, 1745, with swearing and cursing on a Cornish golf course.  Haddock  appeared before the magistrate to protest the exorbitant amount of the the fine, more than 100 pounds sterling, that had been imposed. Why was the fine so onerous?  The Act of 1745 assessed a fine of only one shilli... Full Story

Golf in the Kingdom — a report from the film site

A scene from "Golf in the Kingdom," a movie based on the classic golf novel by Michael Murphy

The movie of "Golf in the Kingdom" is being released this week in selected markets.   In late April 2009, I happened to be at Bandon Dunes during the filming the movie, and to observe what a different vibe the cast and crew   brought to the resort.  In the lobby of the Lodge, for instance, one could overhear recognizable actors discussing the nuances of the kind of accent they were planning to use and bouncing lines off one another.  They all knew they were working on a tight schedule, and that sense of urgency -- or maybe it was just dharma -- gave the the few days that the whole cast was assembled a charge of high energy.  Following is an excerpt from the revised edition... Full Story

Architect Richard Mandell, Digging it out of the Dirt

Richard Mandell

On a hot August afternoon at the Army Navy CC in Fairfax, VA, Richard Mandell is doing what golf architects love to d0; he is actually designing something.  After all the planning, the meetings, the red tape, the renderings, and the rough shaping, he is out there in the sun with a marking gun, spraying paint on the dirt.  Dressed in shorts, striped polo, and well-worn, ankle-high, leather boots, he's moving with energy and confidence, laying down a dashed orange line for the shaper to work with. "You're feeling it today," says Carmen Giannini, the superintendent of the course.  "You got a little swag going.  Last week you were stuck." "That's because I can see it ... Full Story
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Places
13 Ways of Looking at the Short Course at Bandon

If the short course that Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw are building at Bandon Dunes doesn't create a sensation, I'll eat my hat.  And my putter. Last week I got to walk the 13 hole course, called The Preserve.  The construction is still in progress, and the grassing has only just begun; the course won Full Story

  • The Lure of the Deschutes
    Lately, whenever I start fretting about politicians and deficits and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to,
  • Old Macdonald, Age One
    Old Macdonald, the fourth course at Bandon Dunes, opened on June 1, 2010.   To mark the first anniversary, I'm postin
  • Buyer’s Remorse, Lack of
    The difference between an owner of a golf course and a part owner (with a small percentage) is like the difference
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Architecture Column
Architect Richard Mandell, Digging it out of the Dirt

On a hot August afternoon at the Army Navy CC in Fairfax, VA, Richard Mandell is doing what golf architects love to d0; he is actually designing something.  After all the planning, the meetings, the red tape, the renderings, and the rough shaping, he is out there in the sun with a marking gun, spraying p Full Story

  • The Publinx on a True Links
    The finals of the Publinx, played yesterday on Old Macdonald, at Bandon Dunes, in Oregon, were classic match play nail-
  • Consider the Gimmick Hole
    With the Players Championship now upon us,  somebody is going to drop the g-word when talking about the 17th at TPC Sa
  • Review: GeoffShackelford.com
    Geoff Shackelford is the Daniel Boone of golf bloggers, the pioneer who blazed a trail into the dot.com wilderness.  
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Courses and Travel
A Bandonista’s Guide to Kohler

I am ridiculously spoiled.  Over the last several years I've played almost as many rounds at Bandon Dunes as I have on my home course, and I can't pretend to be objective when it comes to other golf resorts.  I've tried,I really have, but I am a deep-dyed Bandonista and cannot write about another resort wi Full Story