(Photos courtesy of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort)

The hardest thing to explain about Bandon is how you feel when you’re there.

You’re isolated in the middle of nowhere – and make no mistake, it’s not an easy place to get to – but that isolation brings with it a sense of calm and serves as the best reminder we’ve seen of how infrequently you actually feel carefree, on the golf course or otherwise.

That feeling is only possible because of the restraint of Mike Keiser and the entire group that shaped the resort into what it is. They are confident in never taking anything to its excess. The golf courses carry that mantra; they let the spectacular land do all the talking instead of letting egos get in the way. The lodging feels that way; at the end of a day, you don’t have much more than good food and a comfortable bed and there’s nothing else you could possibly want.

It’s a feeling you have to experience for yourself, but until you do, we wanted to spell out what our trip was like, course by course. If you’ve already been, hopefully some of these write-ups will bring back some good memories.

You can also hear the breakdown of our trip on the NLU Podcast, Part I and Part II.

CLICK BELOW TO READ MORE ON EACH COURSE