They
had really started to annoy me. As innocent and well-meaning as they were, they
were also relentless—and so emphatic, so damned sure of themselves. For the
better part of three years I had suffered their gushing pronouncements and smug
sermons, nodding patiently and feigning enthrallment with a series of politely
timed “Wow!”s, “Really?”s and “No kidding!”s. By last spring, however, I had
heard enough.
I’m
referring, of course, to golf’s fastest-growing cult: the Bandonistas, that
fraternity of fanatics conjoined and consumed by the conviction that true golf
Nirvana can be achieved only on a dreary stretch of coastline in southern
Oregon.
Ever
since the official opening of the Bandon Dunes golf course in 1999—an opening I
was unfortunately unable to attend—the reports had been streaming back.
“You
have to see this place,” said one of my colleagues. “It’s unlike anything in the
U.S.”
“Pure
golf at its finest,” said another.
“More
Scottish than Scotland,” said a third, in a particularly irksome tone. I
was intrigued, but also busy, so all I could do was sit and listen as the
breathless raves continued, not just from golf insiders but regular hacks as
well—friends of mine who took delight in regaling me on the charm and challenge
of a course they had seen but I hadn’t. Then, in 2001, just when I thought the
torrent of platitudes might end, it spewed forth again, worse than ever, with
the opening of a second course on the same spot—Pacific Dunes.
“I
didn’t think Bandon could be topped, but this one did it.”
“It’s
brutal but bewitching—Ballybunion with better views.”
“I
needed three days just to lift my lower jaw and restore my eyes back to their
sockets.”
“I’ve
just booked the 18th tee for my wedding—and my funeral.”
At
the end of that year, when Golf magazine’s biennial course rankings appeared,
there was Bandon Dunes as 70th in the world and Pacific Dunes, in its debut, an
astonishing 26th. Word had spread among the cognoscenti that, once this layout
matured a bit—and more people got to see it—Pacific Dunes might actually become
regarded as the No. 1 course on the planet.
