In the Summer of ’21 several fraternity brothers and I had a YOLO trip wish for Bandon Dunes. If you’re not familiar with Bandon, OR…shame on you. Many of us are turning 50 either in ’22 or ’23, so we started to seriously discuss scheduling a trip in the Summer of ’23. Planning would need to start early in order to be ready for their reservation release date of 12/1/2021. You read that correctly. We had to register nearly 2 years prior to the trip.
The reservation process was quite the ordeal to say the least. Each group must prepare by completing the following before making the reservation;
- Group size
- Date selection
- Lodging
- Course am/pm preferences
- Tee time preferences
- Partial deposit organization and collection
The phone lines opened at 0800 Central. Our group had at least 5 people lined up to start calling. If one person was successful, he would take the lead in making the group reservation.
We knew there may be long wait times as Bandon Dunes opened the reservation line for all reservations beginning March 1, 2023 through EOY ’23. So, we called and waited and waited and waited a little bit longer. Many of us continued to work while on hold. After 2 hours, the reservation line would hang up. We learned, due to capacity issues, any phone call lasting 2 hours, was dropped programmatically. 7 hours and 58 minutes worth of holding paid off. The phone call was answered, but before we could begin the conversation, the 2 hour time limit elapsed and the call was dropped. You can imagine how pissed I was after holding all day; however, the great customer service at Bandon Dunes called immediately as they had my number on file.
The reservation capture went flawless. All times, courses, and lodging options were available on our preferred dates. The group was pumped and now we have to wait 20 long months. Anticipation is both a blessing and curse. To pass the time, a new goal was dreamt and a plan is staring to come together…more to come.
