Oregon Drift

The ninth hole at Old Bandon Golf Links is the shortest on the course, but is protected by the menacing Johnson Creek right in front of the green. World Photo by John Gunther.

BANDON — People who haven’t seen the old Face Rock Golf Course in a while might be surprised by the changes in the past several months.

Since Troy Russell and his wife, Kim, started leasing the course from owners Margaret Miller and Jerry Brown nearly a year ago and changed the name to Old Bandon Golf Links, they’ve made several improvements.

Russell, who is a specialist in turf management and helped build several top golf courses, has overseeded the greens several times to fill them out and improve the putting surfaces. He also added bunkers on five of the holes. Over the coming months, he’ll add another tee on every hole for senior players, make the eighth green larger and also move the ninth green a few yards and make it bigger, changing the closing hole considerably.

The greens will continue to be a focus of Russell’s attention.

“They don’t look like much, but they roll well,” he said.

“They’re never going to be great. They’re 80-year-old greens with thatch underneath. They’re fair. Next year, they’ll be good.”

There’s a lot of work to do, but given that the owners had allowed the entire area to be overgrown, Russell is happy with how things have gone.

“I went in knowing this thing was broken,” he said.

The best sign of the improvement has been the response he’s gotten from people playing the course.

“I’m getting a lot of positive reviews,” he said, adding that some of the old timers who have been playing the course up to 50 years say it’s in the best shape they’ve seen it.

“I find that hard to believe,” said Russell, who has learned the rich history of one of the area’s oldest courses — it was built in 1928. But he appreciates the comments, which have encouraged him to continue leasing the facility.

“We’ve gotten enough positive feedback,” he said. “When the locals return, they bring people with them.”

Old Bandon Golf Links is different from any other course in the area, and especially the well-known layouts at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort and the new Bandon Crossings south of town.

First, Old Bandon Golf Links is short, measuring just 2,074 for nine holes — 4,402 for 18 if players use the back tees the second time around. It plays to a par 32 with five par-4 holes and four par-3s.

But it also plays like a links course in the frequent breezes, rewarding the low running shots on all the holes except two par 3s.

The mix of bunkers have added to the course dramatically. A large bunker greets many golfers who hit the ball down the middle of the second fairway, while a smaller one is right and short of the green on the par-3 third. A long bunker frames the left side of the fourth green and a deep one is just right of the sixth green. The newest trap, done in the “principal’s nose” style, sits 75 yards from the green on the seventh hole.

“The better players really appreciate them,” Russell said. “They’re not meant to be punishing. They’re meant to be thought provoking.

“You have to think your way around the golf course.”

Russell plans to add a few more sand traps, some of which he calls “happy bunkers” before next year. Those will protect some wayward golf balls from the biggest hazard on the course — Johnson Creek.

The creek winds through the middle of the course, coming into play on nearly every hole. It lines the right side of the fairways on No. 1 and No. 2 before golfers have to cross it twice on the par-3 third hole. Then the creek is on the right side again for No. 4 and No. 5, while a pond and a tributary of the creek can swallow up balls on No. 6 and No. 7. As a fitting finish, the creek runs right in front of the ninth green.

As the course has improved this summer, the Russells have seen more people coming through the doors.

A few are drawn by a unique attraction of Old Bandon Golf Links — vintage clubs from the 1920s and from the 1890s.

Golfers can rent the clubs in a package that also includes three balls from the era they choose. With the oldest clubs and balls, which didn’t fly nearly as far as the current ones, the course plays to a par-36.

Russell said he expects renting of the vintage sets to pick up some after an article comes out in a regional golf magazine next month, but isn’t counting on huge numbers of people buying into either the $55 package for the 1920s clubs or the $70 fee for the oldest sets.

“It was never intended to be the main entree on the menu — just a nice side dish,” he said.

The clubs will be featured in the upcoming club championship, which will have the unique format with nine holes played using each style.

Meanwhile, as Russell makes more improvements to the course, the people who come back next year should expect even better things. They might not notice improved irrigation or drainage, but Russell said it will make a big difference in the tees, greens and fairways.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun to play,” he said. “It’s a neat piece of ground.”