Bandon Dunes sets up lottery to help manage high demand

Golf is booming in many places, but few spots have exploded like this Dunat Bandon.

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

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

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

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

In the email, the resort described the change as part of its “continuous effort to adapt and deliver the best possible guest experience” during a time of extremely high demand. While Bandon has been a popular destination almost since its birth, its appeal has become particularly magnetic in recent years, intensifying from growth in the game after the pandemic. The resort’s policy has long been to finalize all reservations over the phone, and those lines are often flooded with calls for reservations that, depending on the season, are made available up to 18 months in advance.

Given the resort’s large inventory of courses, getting a layover is often less of a challenge than nabbing one of the property’s 210 guest rooms, and many visitors have found they can still book tours if they’re willing to. stay abroad. Bandon has been steadily building its accommodation over the years, and is currently building more accommodation nearby Old Macdonaldone of its five 18-hole courses, although a completion date for that work has yet to be announced.

“Over the past year we’ve been working on our future booking processes,” Jeff Simonds, Bandon’s general manager, told GOLF.com. “Our hold times for 2025 bookings were extremely long and we have 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 our guests and team significant time. It’s all about trying to provide the best possible guest booking experience.”

If you’re looking to visit in 2025 and haven’t had any luck finding an opening, you can ask again about appointment times for your desired dates and ask to be put on the waiting list for room reservations. Then, as insurance, book accommodation abroad.

As for 2026, now you know what to do.