The roots of our experience exist in the surrounding flora and fauna. Shorty Dow understood that. He was the caretaker of the property for decades prior to it becoming what is now known as Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. He prided himself on being curious, knowing the land, and constantly documenting the varying species he’d come across while exploring. However, Shorty did have one furry foe, a black bear, who was as elusive as they come.

While Shorty is no longer alive, his spirit surely is. And it’s out there among the dunes he loved, maybe chasing that elusive bear he never saw, though he swore up and down that it existed.

When you finally get the chance to explore Shorty’s we hope you will be on the lookout as well. Stay tuned later this winter for an official opening date!

“On a recent walk reviewing the routing for the new Par 3, I was inspired by my first memory of meeting Shorty Dow. Everyone knows of the vista near 14 tee on Bandon Trails where Shorty first took our group, but he also hiked us along the Ridge Trail to tour a location where I could have a clear view of the dunes that lay underneath all the encroaching gorse. Looking out over the same set of dunes on that recent walk I thought, ‘This is the land that Shorty would want to oversee.’”

—Mike Keiser