Old Macdonald

Favorite Hole

No. 16, par 4, 270-455 yards

The Alps hole to end all Alps holes.

You tee off from an oceanside ridge to a big, tumbling fairway. Up ahead, you can see the hole’s main obstacle: a massive dune. Behind that, the green sits in a notch in the inland ridge that separates the first, second, 17th, and 18th holes from the rest of the course.

A concentration of fairway bunkers on the right side of the 16th fairway suggest that aiming there is the high-risk, high-reward play. Indeed, if you carry the right-of-center bunker 230 from the tee and maybe skirt past the one 275 out, you’ll have a partial view of the green around the dune. But if you’re lucky enough to play Old Mac more than once, you’ll find that the fully blind left route is fine, too. From there, you can hit your approach over the left half of the dune, and a 35-yard-wide ramp of fairway on the other side will guide your ball toward the putting surface.

It’s strategic golf architecture’s version of the Vince McMahon meme.

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Overall Thoughts

The writer and academic Harold Bloom often talked about what he called “the anxiety of influence.” His theory was that the relationship between authors and their literary predecessors—between, for example, William Wordsworth and the poet who most influenced him, William Shakespeare—isn’t always happy and nourishing. In fact, that relationship is frequently marked by struggle and hostility. This is because authors who want to write something significant can’t just imitate what came before. Instead, they have to argue with their favorite works, even misinterpret them, in order to clear space for themselves to create new, non-derivative art. They have to both embrace and resist their forebears.

I don’t have much insight into Tom Doak and Jim Urbina’s personal feelings about C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor, but Old Macdonald strikes me as a product of the anxiety of influence.

On the one hand, it’s a tribute. Doak and Urbina re-create Macdonald and Raynor’s green concepts and strategic ideas with a reasonable degree of fidelity. They also follow the duo’s preference for building the boldest templates on the quietest parts of the property. Old Macdonald doesn’t just imitate the surface-level characteristics of National Golf Links and Chicago Golf Club; it absorbs the deeper structures of those designs into its DNA.

Yet Old Mac also pushes back against its influences. Its shaping responds to the dunesy ruggedness of the surrounding landscape, making little attempt to emulate Macdonald and Raynor’s clean, organized style. Several holes deviate sharply from their templates. The fifth looks nothing like any Short that Macdonald and Raynor built, and the third (Sahara), 14th (Maiden), and 15th (Westward Ho!) bear only vague resemblances to their namesakes. The Eden (second) and Long (sixth) holes draw more from the originals at St. Andrews than from Macdonald and Raynor’s stateside interpretations, as if to say, “Hey guys, this is how you should have done these.”

The anxiety of influence has generated a lot of great literature, film, and music. In the case of Old Macdonald, it has produced a great golf course—a unique, provocative contribution to the artform.

But art isn’t always popular. When The Fried Egg team was at Bandon Dunes in November 2021, we learned that Old Mac gets the least play of any 18-hole course at the resort.

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One reason for this, I think, is that the design and presentation of Old Macdonald violate golfers’ expectations. At most resort courses, you can expect to have a good chance at two-putting if you hit the green. No so at Old Mac; the greens are so big and wild that walking away with a three-putt after a mediocre approach is a decent outcome. Also, most American courses use maintenance practices to show players where to aim their shots. The fairway is visually distinct from the rough—that’s a target. The green is visually distinct from the fairway—that’s another target. Old Mac, conversely, has what Jim Urbina calls a “seamless look.” While there’s some sandy rough and gorse between the holes, fescue short grass dominates the player’s view. Fairways transition seamlessly into greens; often it’s hard to tell where one starts and the other ends. This can be disorienting to golfers accustomed to looking for directional cues in the contrasts between different types of turf.

In fact, the first time I played Old Mac, I was one of those golfers. I was a little confused and overwhelmed by the course. At times, especially in the middle of the round, I became bored.

I’ve been fortunate, though, to play Old Mac two more times. With each round, I came to appreciate its unconventional characteristics more. It has the firmest turf of any course at Bandon Dunes, opening up a multitude of ground-game options. Once you pick up on the subtle contours that can guide your ball to the right positions, you start having a lot of fun. It’s not about stock shots; it’s about trying a mid-iron from 100 yards or a putter from 50.

The trouble is, most golfers won’t get to play Old Macdonald more than once. It’s “Dream Golf,” not everyday golf. And perhaps that’s the major reason it gets less love than Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes, and Bandon Trails. If a course makes its impression slowly, it will always be an awkward fit with the destination-resort model.

Long live this particular awkward fit. -GM

2 Eggs

(How We Rate Courses)

Old Macdonald earns a full Egg for its bouncy, all-fescue, genuinely linksy presentation. Kudos to superintendent Marcus Lakey and his staff. It wouldn’t be hard to argue that Doak and Urbina’s design should get another Egg, but holes 12 (Redan) and 15 (Westward Ho!)—and maybe one or two others mid-round—don’t quite work, in our opinion. (Happy to expand on that take, and some related disagreements between TFE staff members, in the comments.) But between the design and the undulating land, Old Mac comfortably merits second Egg. No doubt some will argue that it deserves a third, so have at it below.

Additional Content

Old Macdonald photos for sale

Course tour

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