Tag: Bandon Trails

My year in golf travel: Big resorts, short munis and a competitive dream that lives on for 2023

Our travel writer has played 79 golf courses so far in 2022. Here’s what stood out.

I have one of the best jobs in the world, but don’t tell my boss that I acknowledged such. Truth is, plenty of people would line up to do this travel job for free. Play golf around the world and write about it – just about a perfect gig.

There are some downsides. The 3 a.m. wakeup calls, the flight delays, the time away from family, the late nights staring at the keyboard, not to mention all the bogeys. But these are niggles, easily dismissed.

I played 79 golf courses so far in 2022, and I am likely to add at least one or two more before the calendar flips. There were affordable munis, high-end private clubs and plenty of top-dollar resorts. I see the full spectrum of golf in my travels, from dirt fairways to perfect putting surfaces. They all were among the 250-plus stories I filed in 2022, and I remember just about every shot from each round – my wife calls this ability to recall and fret about shots I struck months ago a major character flaw.

The author hits a tee shot on the Castle Stuart Course at Cabot Highlands on his trip around Scotland in October. (Courtesy of Cabot Highlands)

With the year wrapping up soon, it’s time to take a look back at several of my favorite experiences of 2022. I played from California to Scotland, and some days, courses and golf holes just stood out.

Golfweek’s Best 2022: Top public and private courses in Oregon

One resort dominates the rankings of best public-access golf courses in Oregon.

Bandon Dunes Golf Resort dominates the top of the Golfweek’s Best public-access course rankings in Oregon, with layouts designed by Tom Doak (Pacific Dunes, Old Macdonald), Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw (Bandon Trails, Sheep Ranch) and David McLay Kidd (Bandon Dunes). No other destination in the United States offers so many highly ranked layouts as Bandon Dunes.

Golfweek’s Best offers many lists of course rankings, with that of top public-access courses in each state among the most popular. All the courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time.

Also popular are the Golfweek’s Best rankings of top private courses in each state, and that list for Oregon’s private offerings is likewise included below.

MORE: Best Modern | Best Classic | Top 200 Resort | Top 200 Residential | Top 100 Best You Can Play

(m): Modern course, built in or after 1960
(c): Classic course, built before 1960

Note: If there is a number in the parenthesis with the m or c, that indicates where that course ranks among Golfweek’s Best top 200 modern or classic courses. 

* New to or returning to list

Take a look at the iconic venues hosting USGA events in 2022

Here are all the events and corresponding venues the USGA will put on in 2022.

In 2022, the USGA is holding championships at some of the most historic venues in the world, highlighted by the U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. The U.S. Mid-Amateur is headed to the Midwest, where Erin Hills will pose an enormous challenge for the men who qualify.

On the women’s side, the USGA will welcome players to Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina, for the U.S. Women’s Open. And for the U.S. Women’s Amateur, qualifiers will head to Chambers Bay, University Place, Washington, home of Jordan Spieth’s 2015 U.S. Open victory.

Listed below are all the events the USGA will put on in 2022, accompanied by the corresponding venue.

McClure Meissner breezes to top of U.S. Amateur stroke-play leaderboard

McClure Meissner closed with birdies on 14, 16, 17 and 18 to post an 8-under 64 at Bandon Dunes in the first round of stroke play to hold the lead at the 120th U.S. Amateur.

Texas is known for producing great wind players, and two of the three leaders after the first round of stroke-play qualifying for the 120th U.S. Amateur at breezy Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon are from the Lone Star State.

McClure Meissner of San Antonio finished with a flurry of birdies on Nos. 14, 16, 17 and 18 to post an 8-under 64 Monday at Bandon Dunes to lead the 36-hole stroke-play qualifying. Travis McInroe of McKinney, Texas, shot 65 on Bandon Dunes and was in third place at 7 under. The Baylor junior birdied every other hole on the front nine.

Aman Gupta of Concord, N.C., also opened with a 64 and was 7 under on Bandon Trails, the second course used in qualifying. He did all his damage on the front nine, posting seven birdies and making the turn in 29. He parred all nine holes on the back, and the USGA reported his 64 broke the competitive record on Trails – formerly held by Chris Williams and Kevin Lim – by two shots.

Both Meissner took advantage of their early tee times before afternoon gusts made scoring more difficult.

Gupta, who plays at Oklahoma State, was added to the field after Florida’s Ricky Castillo, who would have been the highest-ranked player in the U.S. Amateur, withdrew, telling GolfChannel.com that he has experienced extreme fatigue leading up to the week. According to the report, Castillo tested negative for COVID-19 twice but wanted to protect the field just in case.

Meissner plays at SMU in Dallas. He won the Southern Amateur in July for the biggest win of his career to date.

Defending champ Andy Ogletree shot a 3-over 74 on Bandon Trails and was T-101 after one day.

Sights and sounds of Day 1 | Leaderboard

The U.S. Amateur features 18 more holes of stroke play Tuesday. The 264-player field will then be cut down to the low 64 (there will be a playoff if needed to determine the final spots among the 64), setting up the match-play portion of the championship.

Match Play will be exclusively on Bandon Dunes on Wednesday through Sunday.

How to watch

Wednesday Aug. 5 (Round of 64 matches): 6-7 p.m., Peacock (streaming); 7-9 p.m., Golf Channel

Thursday, Aug. 6 (Round of 16 matches): 6-7 p.m., Peacock; 7-9 p.m., Golf Channel

Friday, Aug. 7 (Quarterfinals matches): 6-7 p.m., Peacock; 7-9 p.m., Golf Channel

Saturday, Aug. 8 (Semifinal matches): 7-10 p.m., Golf Channel

Sunday, Aug. 9 (Championship match): 7-10 p.m., Golf Channel

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