Best par 3: Pebble’s 7th.

Best par 4: Pacific’s 13th.

Best par 5: Pebble’s glorious 18th.

Best for pure golf: Pacific. The resort’s slogan is “golf as it was meant to be,” and everyone involved works hard to make good on that promise. Best example: At each place, I played with the director of golf. My partner at Pebble wore cashmere and hired a caddie whose fee was $105; the fellow at Pacific played in frayed khakis and shouldered his own bag.

Most enjoyable for all levels: Pebble. Room to swing from the heels, options into the greens, few onerous carries, and unless you hit a ball into the surf, you’re unlikely to lose it. But Pac Dunes’ steep slopes, blowout bunkers, gorse and wind can wreak havoc with high handicappers.

If you want to play the sister course: Pacific. David McLay Kidd’s design at Bandon Dunes is every bit as impressive as Pacific, and yet entirely different—flattish, Scottish, along-the-ground golf as opposed to the more dramatic, Irish-bluffs look of Pacific—and it may be even more fun to play. In any case, it beats the heck out of Spanish Bay.

Ease of walking: Pebble. Ironically, although Bandon Dunes prides itself on being a walking-only resort, some of its paths are both circuitous and downright treacherous, especially when wet. At dear old Pebble, nearly all the tees are within a pitch shot of the greens. As for carts, they come at no charge—once you’ve paid that silly green fee.