Old MacDonald or "Old Mac", as it is known, is a fantastic golf course unlike anything else at America's Finest Golf Resort, Bandon Dunes. The first time I played it, I didn't love it. The weather was terrible and I was exhausted from playing 36 holes a day for the 3rd day in a row. However, the more I have played it, the more I love it and have been able to appreciate it's true brilliance. Architects Tom Doak and Jim Urbina teamed up to built the course as a tribute to Charles Blair MacDonald, the famous golf course architect who, along with Seth Raynor essentially developed template holes for golf course architecture. CB McDonald is considered the father of American golf course architecture and his masterpiece, National Golf Links of America, is considered by many golf architecture nuts as America's best golf course ( https://www.ngla.us/ ). It does not copy any of CB's classic holes but implements several of these famous templates into his this design. Old Mac is grand in scale and an excellent golf course. Massivly huge greens and open sightlines are the name of the game here. Drone Photo of Old Mac Some may disagree, but in my mind the strongest opening hole at Bandon Dunes resort is number 1 at Old Mac. Tom Doak himself has said it's the best opener of all his designs. Wide open and an easy drive can play long when it’s into the wind. The middle is always fine, but the green is a CB MacDonald classic double plateau with a principle nose bunker fronting the green may make it difficule to see the pin. Based on pin location the best shot may be up the right side or wide left. If the The famous “ghost tree” can be seen in the distance Hole number three, a classic Sahara hole, which requires a golfer to hit a bling shot over a large dune. This is my favorite hole at Old Mac. The iconic ghost tree is in play, but not just for kicks, it provides you a line for the blind tee shot. You must hit your First shot over the 40 foot dune while aiming just right of the ghost tree. Find that line, and your ball will take the hill down near the green. Hit the tree and your and your dead, too far right the hole will play much longer than the yardage Once you summit the large dune this is a view of the landing area down to the green below. As you can see from the slope a shot on a straight line will bounce toward the hole, while shots that land too far right will be deflected further right. The view from the green back toward the fairway and ghost tree. The 5th hole short, has the many claim to be the biggest green in America. I'm sure it's the biggest par 3 green in America. Because of the sheer size of this green it has never played the same for me, there are endless pin placement opportunities on this hole. The hardest, front right with a false front next to that nasty bunker, the easiest, probably the one in the photo wear good shots will feed toward the hole. The 6th hole is a par 5 with only one main goal, hit your second over Hell bunker. It's probably 50 feet wide and 10-12 feet tall. The 7th hole is the longest 345 yard par 3 you will ever play. It is impossible to get it close to the hole on your tee shot. The scale of this hole is almost impossible to show in a photo. These are views from the front and the back of the 7th green. From the front you can see the fairway approximately 40 feet below the elevated green. You don’t wanna come up short on this whole as anything short of the green (even a few feet) will role back down to the fairway, leaving a good 50-60 yards for your third. This is easier said than done. Regrettably, I have done this every time I played old Mac! And overly aggressive shot can roll over the green and down to the Pacific ocean as illustrated by the second photo. Here’s a good example of the greens at old Mac, the par 4, 11th. This hole is a tribute to the road hole at Saint Andrews, But you can notice the undulation on the side of the green. This is typical at Mac, You can play those undulations to your advantage to get close to the hole, or they can knock a ball slightly off course into trouble. The eighth known as Biarritz, is my favorite par 3 at old Mac. You’re on a considerably elevated tee with Biarritz green, which means the front and back of the green are separated by a swale in the middle. This swale likes to direct balls into that right bunker, which is deep and nasty, especially if you are up against the railroad ties. One member of my group was forced to use his putter to putt to the other side of the bunker so that he could hit his third shot out onto the green. Another example of the green undulation at old Mac. Anything left or long of the hole on this 13th green will funnel the ball back near the hole. However, anything right of the green will send the ball off the green and into a bunker or down a hill. This stretch of the back 9 has some great golf holes. The 15th is my favorite par 5 at old Mac, I just love the scale this hole, if you’re laying up avoid one of the largest bunkers you’ll ever see down the right side of the fairway. View of The setting sun from near 17th Green, overlooking the ghost tree in the distance.