Even if you couldn't pass, the first 300 miles on Route 1 out of San Francisco, hugging the coast, is the best drive in North America. You cross the Golden Gate Bridge in the mist, then climb a series of switch-backs before shooting out into the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. There, you can gape at the ocean on your left while plastering your passenger's face against his window with hairpin-induced centrifugal force.
Cruising through coastal Sonoma County, the route cuts inland on 101 north of Mendocino, into the last remaining group of redwood forests in the world. The 31-mile Avenue of Giants byway runs parallel to the main road and weaves through columns of trees so tall they look pretend -- and you're playing with a Matchbox car.
About an hour into southern Oregon, Bandon is an old lumber town that used to be the place where people asked for directions back to the interstate. Now, hundreds of private jets buzz in and out of the Bend airport 20 miles away, and the resort does more than 120,000 rounds a year.
Everything here is designed around the golf -- there's no spa or even a swimming pool -- and shuttles carry you between the courses, restaurants and the Lodge, which is pure golf-guy nirvana. It has 17 single rooms, three four-bedroom suites, a bar and a restaurant -- all of which are a stumble from the original Bandon Dunes course's first tee.
The only stress on the trip comes when trying to pick which course to play. Pacific Dunes is second on our list of America's 100 Greatest Public Courses, the original Bandon Dunes course is seventh, and the new, inland Bandon Trails is No. 21.
I love Turnberry, so I picked the wind-swept Bandon Dunes links. Four hours later, grinning and wind-whipped, I pulled my birdie putt out of the cup at 18 and high-fived my caddie. It felt like Scotland. Until I got to McKee's Pub and there was ice in my glass.
Sometimes you can improve on the original.
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