Bandon Crossings Golf Course — Local services in Coos Bay

I cannot imagine how anyone other than those responsible for marketing this course could rate this track over a score over a "2."

Taking the gravel cart path over to the driving range, one has to dodge at least a dozen water-filled potholes to avoid and early mud bath. After disembarking from the cart, a 40-50 yard walk through the saturated grass was required to reach the divot filled practice area. Adding a bit of mystery to the range was the fact there were no distances marked to any of the flags found downrange.

The fairways were in found to be in decent shape and the greens were similar. However, the pace of play and the lack of a marshal was unacceptable. Our 10:30 tee time (a twosome) was booked 2 days before we played. At the time of booking, there were three open tee times prior to ours. We caught the foursome in front of us by the 3rd hole. They never offered to let us play through and by the 6th hole, the group behind us skipped 2 groups to get past us and this human roadblock. Still, no marshal. This continued until we quit playing after 13 holes and 4 hours and 5 minutes of timing killing frustration.

Also, please be advised the course does not loop you back by the clubhouse until the end of the round. This is not a problem if you knew this however, when checking in and letting them know this was my first time at the course, I was advised there is a snack shack after the 6th or 7th. This is information is technically correct but it would have been nice to know the snack shop was not open today. With only one water cooler found on the course, we would have purchased additional items to drink while checking in at the clubhouse.

If you try this course, I hope you experience was...

The experience as a whole was breathtaking for me. Although the course is very new, and there are some areas where the grass is still immature I thought it was well managed and a beautiful course. I went in the late summer when the fairway grass was a beautiful deep green and there was local coastal long grass that was golden and waving in the breeze. The contrasting colors were amazing. Of course, so was the number of balls I lost in that long grass. But that was a small price to pay. The layout of each hole was actually very interesting throughout. It seemed like a lot of effort went into making sure there were no boring run-of-the-mill areas. I remember there being only two holes didn't immediately jump out as being a unique and remarkable new challenge. And they weren't by any means poor. That impressed me. The place seems to be very well maintained, also. Perhaps not quite as well as the Dunes, but memorable enough to make up for it. Plus, you pay for that maintenance at the Dunes with their enormous green fees.

All in all I thought it was impressive enough to spend my time writing this review to recommend it to people. If you're anywhere near there, I think it would definitely be well worth your time to stop in. When I go back to Oregon this summer I plan on paying...

Honestly, here's the deal.....not only is this the best kept secret in Bandon, it is absolutely on par with any of the courses on the Bandon Dunes Resort. I have played several top public golf courses across the country including Wolf Creek, Sand Hollow, We-Ko-Pa, Arrowhead CC, Castle Pines, every Bandon Dunes course (with the exception of Old Macdonald), etc. and this course easily stacks up with the best around. Of course this place isn't Bandon Dunes, but it isn't try to be at all. The course is beautiful. Absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. The greens are some of the absolute purest I have ever played - and this was in February of last year AND March of this year. This course provides a thrilling amount of variety and difficulty. The staff is more than accommodating and an absolute pleasure. I'm not sure what this one-star rater below me is talking about. I'm afraid he may have played another course. I cannot state it enough, this course has it all and it is my absolute favorite in the area. PLEASE do yourself a favor and run this track before you leave town. It is truly an...