I go up there almost every year. However, the first time I ever went I was actually all by myself. I randomly had some work I had to handle up in Medford. When I found out about it, I had my assistant make sure to book it on either a Friday or Monday. Sure enough, the best I could get was a Tuesday. I flew up on Sunday to Medford, rented a car, and took a very quite and beautiful drive through the trees to Bandon. For such a last minute trip, I got super lucky there was one single room left on the property for Sunday evening. I got in, went to the Punch Bowl and got some putting in and then went and ate dinner at McKees. The next morning, I lucked out on getting a morning round spot on Bandon and then an afternoon on Pacific.
The morning round was literally 68 degrees, sunny and NO wind. I was put in with a threesome of guys who ended up being from Los Angeles as well. They were fine, but my caddie was awesome and we enjoyed a beautiful round of golf. I cruised in with an 82 which was a hell'uve a score for me back then. As we got to 18, I made this comment "Man, I feel almost short changed of the Bandon experience, it's too pretty out and no wind or rain." My caddie looked at me, and said, "oh, just wait for this afternoon's round."
Sure enough, by the time my afternoon tee time on Pacific Dunes, the rain was coming in sideways due to the wind. It was insane. I end up getting paired with an older gentleman (probably in his 60s/70s) and his adult daughter. First tee box, all of us walk up to the blue tees and I'm beyond confused...until I saw them both hit. Same swing, and they were both beautiful. I started off birdie/par/par/birdie on the first four and the older gentleman went par/birdie/birdie/par. I jokingly say to my caddie at this point "I better get going if I want to beat Old Man River." Caddie without batting an eye says "You have no shot of beating that guy." Ends up, the older gentleman's caddie (who was a load of fun) had told my guy that earlier that day the older guy shot a 68 on Old Mac with no issues. Sure enough, that guy NEVER missed a fairway and had one of the prettiest swings I've seen to this day. I also found out his daughter played college golf in Colorado. Needless to say, I'll never forget that round due to 1) getting my a** handed to me by the NICEST older guy ever; 2) Almost getting my a** handed to me by his daughter as well; 3) clubbing up/down 2-3 clubs at a time; and, 4) just such an EPIC experience for a day.
That night I drove back to Medford and did my work the next morning while barely being able to walk because my legs were on fire. However, it cemented Bandon as one of my favorite golf experiences/places ever.