Sheep Ranch is cool. Sheep Ranch is, in fact, really cool. Sheep Ranch has so many greens that are perched on the edge of the cliffs overlooking the ocean that it's almost hard to keep count, which is pretty amazing when you take a second to think about that. But Sheep Ranch is not my favorite course on the property at Bandon Dunes. That's not a knock, its just a matter of preference.
In my opinion, Sheep Ranch maximizes the plot of land on which it sits for what it should be without trying to be anything more, and for that, Coore and Crenshaw should be commended. By that I mean, Coore and Crenshaw maximized the experience by routing holes to cliffside greens and used the dramatic contours to define their routing but steared clear of adding bunkers or dunes given how much wind the property gets. I guess that is inherently where I felt like it came up a little lacking. The property gets its dramatic flair from the cliffside views but some of the holes feel a little lacking of visual splendor as there's just a lot of grass out there. Maybe I like the framing of bunkers and dunes more than I realized. Nonetheless, Coore and Crenshaw definitively made the right choice to abstain from adding unnecessary features to the Sheep Ranch. It's simply too windy. The maintenance crew would have a hard time keeping sand in the bunkers and the experience would have suffered as a result.
There's way better content out there to give you a hole by hole breakdown so I'm just going to hit a few of my highlights and add a few of the pics I snapped along the way.
The Views
The views are Sheep Ranch's most awe inspiring aspect. No other course on Bandon has close to the same amount of sweeping, ocean front views as you'll find at Sheep Ranch.
The Greens
The greens, like most Coore and Crenshaw courses are nuanced and tricky. In addition to the wind, they are one of the great defenses that this course presents.
Grades (where 1 is significantly below average and 5 is significantly above)
Scenery: 5 stars
Design: 5 stars
Condition: 4 stars
Practice Facilities: 5 stars
Experience: 5 stars
Click here for a more detailed breakdown of how I think about course ratings.
Sheep Ranch at its core is 100%, don't-take-yourself-too-serious fun! The pristine piece of land is maximized to give you a fun twirl around the property and plenty of room to battle the ever-present gusts of wind. Enjoy the views as you won't find many courses that come any where close to the amount of ocean views that Sheep Ranch provides. With 9 greens located on the edge of the continent, you should count your lucky stars that this piece of land was somehow allowed to be turned into a golf course and just enjoy your day!
