In Bandon's Shadow

Edited By Matt Ginella
Photos by Joey Terrill October 2009

Central Oregon's resort and golf-course owners must envy Mike Keiser. He has monopolized the golf buzz ever since he opened Bandon Dunes in 1999, then Pacific Dunes in 2001 and Bandon Trails in '05. And for the past two years, all anyone with a set of clubs can talk about is Old Macdonald, the fourth course at Bandon, set to open next June. No one drinks more Bandon Dunes Kool-Aid than I do. The place is perfect. Well, except for a few shortcomings: Bandon is on the southwest coast, where it rains an average of 60 inches a year. The resort is so remote you have to leave a trail of tees behind to make sure you find your way home.

There's little night life. Other than great golf, "dancing with the ones who brung you" is your only option after the sun goes down. Finally, a room and a round aren't cheap (nearly $500 during the May-October high season).

Central Oregon, on the other hand, is like the loyal old Lab in a family that keeps getting puppies. What does a good dog have to do to get a little attention around here? Chew a shoe?

It's really Central Oregon that's perfect. The weather is better than Bandon's, the average rainfall is only 12 inches a year and the ball goes farther at 3,500 feet. It's easier to reach, too. At the Bend Municipal Airport (not to be confused with North Bend airport near Bandon) you can land something larger than a 12-passenger plane carrying six sets of clubs. Plus, there's much more than golf. Locals love to brag about the Central Oregon hat trick: skiing, fishing and golf in the same day. Why? Because they can. Ski Mount Bachelor, fish one of several lakes or rivers and play golf at one of the 27 courses within an hour of downtown Bend.

Map: Kagan McLeod & Jonathon Rivait

I drank a few beers with David McLay Kidd and found a pint of irony in the fact that the Scot, who designed Bandon Dunes for Keiser, lives in Central Oregon. "I can live anywhere on the planet," says McLay Kidd. "I have a house in Bandon, but I can't live there." The next day I played Tetherow, his most recent Central Oregon course that, before the recession, was supposed to be private. I put Tetherow up there with Pacific Dunes, my favorite of the Keiser courses (and one of my top five in the country). Tetherow is more interesting to play than Bandon Dunes. It was built on 25 fewer acres, so there's less room to make a mistake off the tee. The look and feel of the courses is similar, but that's likely to change when houses start going up in the area. For now, Tetherow is as scenic as a supermodel. That's sort of how McLay Kidd described Tetherow's 17th, a bowled-out, 172-yard swing exam that might make or break a good round. "I don't like referring to things as 'signature holes,' " he says. "It's more like the centerfold."