A surprisingly polar set of courses for golfers, one cannot have a consensus. More people have different #1's and #4's for more reasons ....
One View:
Bandon Dunes - most pleasure for most people. Shooting 36 on the front nine was my first Bandon experience before going over to play Pacific Dunes.
Old Macdonald - best education - many new takes on old faves, but what C.B. himself intended N.G.L.A. to be
Pacific Dunes - most interesting architectural exercise, not at all perfect, in fact Old Macdonald is more cohesive, but breaks more ground
Bandon Trails - most uneven from best hole to worst hole very good to very banal, still MUCH better than you can probably play at home
Not enough have played it
:
Sheep Ranch - a class of one - what I would probably want if I had a "Personal Course", toughest "on".
I have no playing experience with the Par 3 course and frankly, I like par 4's best of all. Par 3 holes are a tee and a green with beauty, obstacles, distractions, deception, photo opportunities and the best chance for an ace. Par 4's run the gamut from less than a driver to reach to Driver-Driver pitch holes. Par 5's of quality and interest day in and out are really challenging to build.
I would like to see prices drop, that's about all I can say, American Golf is too expensive on most all levels. Demand for agronomy is probably to blame.
One will never see me write a word about the Pebble Beach Golf Company.
