Bandon Dunes instituting lottery to help manage high demand

Golf is booming in a lot of places, but few spots have exploded like Bandon Dunes.

Twenty-five years since it opened with a single course and a rustic lodge on a lonely stretch of the Oregon coast, the pioneering resort has built four additional 18-holers, two par-3 courses and a fan base so fervid that demand often outstrips supply, with bookings routinely selling out more than a year in advance.

It’s a good problem to have, but Bandon has found a fresh way to give all would-be guests a fair shake at landing a room. In an email blast this week, the resort announced that it has adopted a new process for accepting reservations for 2026 that calls to mind ticket lotteries for such high-demand sporting events as the Masters or Ryder Cup.

With the switch, Bandon has divided 2026 into three reservation periods (January-April; May-September; and October-December), each with a registration window and a random drawing to determine the order of reservations requests.

Registration is now open online for all three time periods. The window for the January-April 2026 period will close on Dec. 22, 2024, while the windows for the May-September and October-December 2026 slots will close on Jan.19, 2025, and April 20, 2025, respectively. Golfers whose entries are selected will receive an email notifying them of their place in line, and then a call from a Bandon reservationist when it comes time to book.

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In the email, the resort described the change as part of its “ongoing effort to adapt and provide the best possible guest experience” during a time of staggeringly high demand. While Bandon has been a popular destination almost since its birth, its draw has become especially magnetic in recent years, intensified by the surge in post-pandemic play. The resort’s policy has long been to finalize all bookings over the phone, and those lines have frequently been flooded with calls for reservations that, depending on the season, have been made available up to 18 months in advance.

Given the resort’s large inventory of courses, landing a tee time is often less challenging than nabbing one of the property’s 210 guest rooms, and many visitors have found that they can still book rounds if they are willing to stay off site. Bandon has been steadily building out its accommodations over the years, and is currently constructing more lodging near Old Macdonald, one of its five 18-hole courses, though a completion date for that work has not yet been announced.

“Over the past year we’ve been working on our future reservations processes,” Jeff Simonds, Bandon’s general manager, told GOLF.com. “Our hold times for 2025 reservations were extremely long, and we’ve been working to adapt and improve the process for everyone. We tested a similar random drawing and outbound booking approach for the fourth quarter of 2025 and found that it saved guests and our team significant time. It’s all about striving to provide the best possible guest booking experience.” 

If you’re looking to visit in 2025 and have not had any luck finding an opening, you can still inquire about tee times for your desired dates and ask to be placed on the waitlist for room reservations. Then, as insurance, book lodging off-site.

As for 2026, well, now you know what to do.