Bandon Dunes had already been firmly established as one of the best golf destinations in the world, boasting four courses on Golf Digest’s America’s 100 Greatest ranking, before the addition of another glorious links course on Oregon’s coast.
Sheep Ranch, the second 18-hole routing by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw at the resort, opened in May, and is already established as one of its best. Formerly an untouched meadow where Tom Doak and Jim Urbina had routed holes years ago, Bandon Dunes owner Mike Keiser developed the land and hired Coore and Crenshaw to build a new course on this 140-acre plot. Nine green complexes were built directly on the Pacific Ocean, highlighting the Sheep Ranch’s proximity to the water (Sheep Ranch boasts a mile of ocean acreage, compared to a combined two miles of combined ocean acreage on all four of Bandon’s other courses.).