Some of you may remember jnolan from the old FGI days. Baaab used to play with him a lot when he lived in Salt Lake City. During that time I went out there with him, his cousin, persimmon, and a few others (gammapi, fuzzy, and others who I cannot recall their handles).
Well, I got a return invite to fill out the foursome with his cousin's dad was visiting from Ireland (jnolan's uncle). It had been five years since I had been there and its grown a bit. A new par 3 course, an extremely large putting green (the punchbowl), and it was busier than ever.
The golf is as fantastic as you may have heard. Ocean courses, traditional turf grasses, and no carts (you're walking). What an enjoyable weekend (other than my putting). Got to play Pacific Dunes twice, Old MacDonald twice, and Bandon Dunes once. We were just too tired to play the par 3 course, Bandon Preserve, nor did we bother with Bandon Trails - a fine course, but just not the reason we go there.
Dermot even brought us some etched ('Bandon Dunes 2016') Galway crystal glasses straight from Ireland to remember our trip by. A fantastic gesture.
And I think I've found out its true - you can play too much golf. I went straight here after Desert Storm and my hip is barking at me right now. 15 days of golf with 4 days of 36 holes - yesterday's 36 is what did my hip in (a nerve issue I believe, as Aleve and Jameson had no affect 😃 ).
My opinion though - if you want to go, I'd go at times other than the peak season. Its extremely expensive right now, but they wanted to treat their dad/uncle to a trip. The weather is more of a risk in November/December, or February/March, or whenever its cheaper - but its really not that bad as long as its not a downpour.