Pacific Dunes

Overview: Pacific Dunes is a raw, uninhibited expression of links golf that feels as though it was discovered rather than built. Located at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort on the rugged Oregon coast, the course is a masterpiece of minimalist architecture by Tom Doak. It features a wild, irregular routing that weaves through towering sand dunes and along jagged ocean cliffs, offering some of the most spectacular coastal encounters in the sport. The fairways ripple and fold following the natural terrain, and the "blowout" bunkers look like natural features of the landscape. It is a course of immense character and unconventional beauty, where the intense Pacific wind is a constant and defining presence.

History: Opened in 2001 as the second course at Mike Keiser’s Bandon Dunes resort, Pacific Dunes was the project that established the resort as a global phenomenon and catapulted Tom Doak into the front rank of modern architects. Doak was given the most spectacular piece of land on the property and responded with a design that broke all the rules of modern resort golf, including an unusual par sequence and a total reliance on the natural sandy waste areas. It has since become a fixture at the top of world rankings, often cited as the greatest public-access course in the United States.

Did You Know? Unlike traditional "out-and-back" links, Pacific Dunes loops toward the ocean several times, most notably on the back nine, which features back-to-back par-3s (the 10th and 11th) that play directly toward the sea. The 11th is particularly famous for its tiny green nestled among the dunes, offering a "hit-it-or-lose-it" challenge that is one of the most photographed moments in golf.