Bandon Dunes #16

Bandon Dunes GC

Jeff Simonds Shares His Thoughts On The Closing Holes

By Brian Weis

Jeff Simonds, Director of Golf at Bandon Dunes shares his thoughts on holes 15 through 17, one of the best stretches on the property.

Simonds, shared the following, "The 15th hole is a terrific par three that can play from a number of different yardages. Golfers hit to a slightly elevated green that appears to be perched on the edge of the coast. The dilemma player's face is what club to hit. If you go long, you may lose your ball onto the beach. If you leave it short, there is a bunker that sits below the green, which requires a high soft lob to save par.

The 16th hole is a short par 4 that is all about risk and reward. During the summer months you are hitting a tee shot with the wind blowing at your back. The hole is 321 yards and very reachable with a good tee shot. The hole is visually intimidating however and the usual miss is a ball that is fading left to right, ending up down on the beach and leaving the player out of position for a drop. In match play, this hole can be your turning point or your downfall.

The 17th hole is another great par four. Standing on the tee you have panoramic views up and down the coast. You can see out onto Bandon Dunes and now you have the best view of our 5th golf course, Bandon Preserve. The hole itself is very straightforward but requires a solid drive to the fairway. Most players leave driver in the bag because of Cut Creek and its natural surround protects the green. Once in the fairway you must now hit a mid to short iron approximately 140 yards to the hole location. If you are unsure you can bale out left and try to get up and down. Club selection is very important as the green is 60 yards deep."

Revised: 03/18/2013 - Article Viewed 32,859 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.