Old Macdonald first time - Bandon's weird one worth it?

[DoglegDave]

Got back from four days at Bandon last week, third trip down there, and I finally played Old Macdonald for the first time. Kept putting it off because everyone I know says the same thing. "It's the weird one, play Pacific twice instead." Wrong. So wrong.

Quick context: 55 degrees, drizzle, wind out of the south at a steady 20 with gusts that made my stand bag lean like it wanted to leave. Paid $290 for the peak rate and another $140 for the replay the next morning, which is the only way the Bandon math works out. Caddie was worth every dollar just for the greens.

And the greens are the whole story. I've played big putting surfaces before (Pinehurst #2, Streamsong) but nothing like this. I had one on the front nine that was legitimately 45 yards. Not a chip, not a bump and run, a putt. Three-putted from 12 feet twice. My caddie told me to aim 8 feet left of the hole on a 6-footer because of the internal slope, and he was right.

The template holes are the part people either love or hate. Biarritz, Redan, Alps, Eden, and a Road hole green that looks like somebody tipped a parking lot sideways. I expected it to feel like a museum, a bunch of copies of famous holes glued together. It doesn't. The scale is so big and the wind so constant that it plays like its own golf course. And the Ghost Tree sitting out there by itself is the best single image on the whole property, don't @ me.

Shot 91 with two balls in the fescue and a lost sleeve. Felt like 105.

Hot take: I'd rather play Old Mac than Pacific Dunes and I know that's a hanging offense around here. Pacific is prettier. Old Mac is more fun, and for me it isn't close. Plenty of Bandon takes in read course reviews if you want the counterpoint.

Anyone else think Old Mac is the most fun track up there, or am I the only guy who enjoys putting from the next time zone?