Campo Cup 2023: A 20th Anniversary Celebration
It is my great hope that our paths, however long and winding, will cross again.
Jonathan Safran Foer
Scratched and scarred like a punch-drunk boxer, the Campo Cup trophy mirrors those whose names are gloriously etched across it. Conceived in 2003, the banged-up Campolindo neighborhood keepsake has for the past 19 years served as a scorecard as to when, where, and who took home the bacon. The hardware, a shiny gold loving cup resting atop a pair of dark wooden bases, has grown in stature over the years, as well as added a significant amount of girth and weight. So, too, has its pursuers.
The 20th rendition of the Campo Cup commenced in early August and was contested at the illustrious Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, OR. The inaugural 2003 event, also held at Bandon Dunes when the resort was still a toddler, featured just eight residents from Moraga, CA, but due to the special anniversary nature of this year’s event it was decided to expand the field to 16 (with golf indexes ranging from 1 to 28), and include past participants who trekked all the way from London and Hong Kong. This year was designed to be special. It was.
Campo Cuppers consider Bandon Dunes home. Located on a grassy bluff a hundred feet above the Pacific Ocean, one can see for miles in every direction, from the windswept dunes and rolling hills along the shore, straight out across the sea toward the horizon. The wind can blow so hard here that rain comes in sideways sheets across the fairways, as it did when we played Pacific Dunes during a raging monsoon in December 2015. The Bandon Dunes Resort is plug and play golf, with cozy accommodations, good eats and convenient shuttle service. This would be our ninth official gathering at Bandon Dunes, and yes, we’re lucky. It’s been truly amazing watching the resort flourish, expanding from two to five championship courses, as well as adding a world-class Par-3 track. Equally astonishing, though not quite as charming, has been the corresponding rise in green fees and room rates. What can you do…this place is popular.
How popular? Try this metric on for size. In order to secure prime tee times and accommodations for a group of sixteen for August 2023, I called Bandon reservations on December 1, 2021, the first day one could make reservations for the second half of 2023. That’s over a YEAR AND A HALF in advance. I subsequently sat on hold for ninety minutes. That’s right. NINETY MINUTES! I heard the pre-recorded David McLay Kidd description of Bandon Dunes so often I could recite it in my sleep.
But man, was it worth it.
DAY 1
- Course: Bandon Trails
- Game: Best 6 net scores of 8
- Points: 9
Sixteen players show up on the first tee to take the traditional group photo, but one of us is not like the others. Sadly, Hall of Fame engineer Jim Malley is wearing a clunky black orthotic boot, unable to play after incuring a severely strained right calf injury playing old-man softball a few days prior to our departure. Being the good sport that he is, and the fact it would do him, and especially his wife, no good to stay home and mope, Jim tags along and offers to take pictures while the rest of us play. Pleading issues related to insurance liability, Bandon requires Jim to both rent a cart and hire a caddy to ride around the property. At that price, Jim could have rented a Ferrari for the day and cruised up and down the Oregon coast.
The team captains for this year’s Ryder Cup-style event would be me and legendary UC Berkeley bioengineering professor Kevin Healy, a repeat from 2003. Dr. Healy has captained four previous teams and is undefeated, whilst my previous three at bats as a team captain has yet to yield victory. Though the Campo Cup is more about camaraderie than competition, I must admit that I really want to win this year. BADLY. I didn’t want any Campo Cuppers coming to my funeral comparing me to the Buffalo Bills.
I come out firing, shooting a nifty 42 on the front nine. The golf gods get even on the back nine, however, and I stagger home with a dreadful 48. Still, a gross 90 works out to a net-71 based on my 15 index. All-in-all, a solid start. Same for Team Geiger, who takes an early lead by a score of 6-3.
Afterwards, a foursome of hearty souls heads off for an exhibition match on Old Macdonald, the one Bandon course not included in this year’s Campo Cup rota. Long gone are the days when trips to Bandon required days of 36-hole marches around the property (Bandon is walking only–carts are not allowed unless you have a doctor’s note). The other dozen players wish them well and head off to the jacuzzi, take naps and/or break into the scotch. Me and two buddies decide to hike down to the beach below Bandon’s cliffs to watch the waves over a few beers. We also get to watch a surfer in a pickup truck drag race along the water’s edge before attempting a U-turn and getting stuck in the soft sand. Poor sap.
I love Bandon.
DAY 2
- Course: Sheep Ranch
- Game: Stableford
- Points: 12
The Campo Cup has three standing rules. Rule #1–no betting. Rule #2–the captains decide everything. In that vein, Kevin and I use the anniversary theme to break out some serious swag; an 80-page photo album culling the best photos taken over the past two decades; team shirts with a Campo Cup logo designed by Kevin’s daughter, Eva; and team hats featuring, 1) the Ghost Tree logo from Old MacDonald, arguably the coolest logo of all the Bandon courses, 2) a player’s name across the back of the cap, and 3) the initials of Todd Clarke, one of our Campo Cup brethren who passed away earlier in the summer at the age of 62. A golf divot tool and ball marker are also thrown in, featuring a traditional Campo Cup hand gesture which shouldn’t be displayed in polite company. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Oh yeah. Rule #3–have fun and relax. It’s the Campo Cup, not the U.S. Open.
Sheep Ranch, Bandon’s newest course opened in 2021, is the course most exposed to Bandon’s never-ending wind tunnel. We played the prehistoric version of Sheep Ranch back in December 2015 when it consisted of only eleven greens, and you could play a 900-yard par-7 if you felt like it. What we remember most about that day was hitting balls that traveled sideways and backwards thanks to a flag-bending gale and watching our bag trolley’s nearly get blown off the cliffs. But boy, was it fun.
Today’s steady 25mph breeze slaps me across the face, and I shoot a rather pedestrian 90 (a net 77 since the slope from the green tees is a paltry 116) but finish strong, going par-par-birdie over the final three holes to help secure a halve for our team. The jaw-dropping ocean views and the bluest skies you’ve ever seen must have distracted Team Healy, as Team Geiger extends its lead to 13-8. But it’s only the halfway point, and there’s still plenty of golf left.
Jim, now affectionately referred to as “Bootsie,” decides to give it a go, though his score won’t count in today’s competition. He ends up shooting a very impressive 88 (off an 18 index), including making a birdie on the #1 handicap hole. Bootsie may want to consider wearing an orthotic when he plays back home.
DAY 3
- Course: Pacific Dunes
- Game: Best Ball
- Points: 12
Pacific Trails is normally rated the highest of Bandon’s five courses. It rises up from the sand, gorse, beach grass and shore pines that characterize this remote stretch of southern Oregon coastline. It’s breathtaking. And difficult, especially when the wind howls like today.
I play like canine excrement and struggle to a 94. But I manage to walk off the course in a good mood after managing to hit five good shots in a row to par the demanding 18th hole. Team Healy, however, dominates the matches and pulls to within two points, 17.5-15.5. Tomorrow’s singles matches are going to be fun. And Bootsie, who sat out today’s round because his lower body was screaming for a timeout, is going to buckle up his chinstrap and play for real tomorrow. Of course, he is. It’s for the freaking Campo Cup.
But the party starts early. Our 16-some reconvenes at The Punchbowl, a putting course resembling an elephant graveyard, complete with ocean views and 10-foot breaks. We break into two-man teams and play alternate shot. Classic 70’s rock ‘n roll from Bruce Springsteen, The Who and Lynyrd Skynyrd booms out over the course and pairs well with our double gin and tonics. The sun sets, wine is poured, dinner is served, and another tremendous day is in the books.
DAY 4
- Course: Bandon Dunes
- Game: Singles
- Points: 24
Bandon Dunes, the resort’s original course, has always been my favorite. The course fits me like a pair of warm socks on Christmas morning. There’s a wild beauty to the place, with ocean waves pounding below the cliffs, gnarly thickets of gorse blossoming along the fairways, and mesmerizing shades of green and gold blanketing the hills. I love this course.
I win my match by virtue of shooting an 85, the best round I ever posted on Bandon Dunes. My driver is working for a change, and it helps me par for the first time the diabolically difficult 5th hole and nearly drive the green on the signature par-4 16th hole. I conclude my round by slam-dunking a 20-foot birdie putt on #18. Damn, that felt good. If I’m ever unable to return, draining that putt was the perfect way to end my relationship with Bandon Dunes.
It’s Team Geiger’s day, and we win by a final score of 33.5 – 23.5. Leading the charge for Team Geiger was rockstar podiatrist Steve Bartis, returning to the Campo Cup after an extended sabbatical. Steve is, without question, the best 32-handicap singles player on the planet. He also came up with the idea for the “Bro Book,” a collection of personal memoirs scribed by this special band of golfing brothers. I penned a story about the 2016 Campo Cup in Scottsdale, AZ, because that year’s competition actually drew blood.
As for Bootsie, he prevails in his match by a score of 2-1. Had his team won the Campo Cup, an argument could have been made that Jim should receive consideration as the tournament’s MVP. Instead, it was awarded to Team Geiger’s most consistent player, Jim Bosek, a wizard with a hybrid who traveled all the way from Connecticut. For the next year he gets to proudly show off the MVP trophy to his East Coast golf buddies. No doubt they’ll be impressed.
**It must be noted that John McPhee, my sui generis next-door neighbor, actually won the most points for Team Geiger. However, because John lobbied for and was bestowed one additional stroke to his index by Captain Healy due to his recovery from recent elbow surgery, he received not a single SHREAD of consideration for MVP. Then again, based on his play, including recording the only eagle (#1 at Sheep Ranch) for the week, John required an extra stroke as much as I require an extra bite of dessert.
DAY 5
The longest day of the year is the 9-hour drive back to Moraga. I’m hungover thanks to chugging some Belgian Chimay beer from the trophy’s loving cup (a Campo Cup tradition for the winning team), savoring two magnums of red wine, and polishing all that off with at least two nighttime negronis. I ride most of the way home slumped in the back seat, hat pulled down, eyes closed, and Mark Knopfler streaming through the air pods. It’s time to take inventory.
I’ve played golf in Ireland, including Royal County Down, ranked by many as the #1 course in the world. Check.
I’ve played golf in Scotland, including the historic Old Course at St. Andrews. Check.
I once was a proud member of Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, MD, home of the treasured Caves Valley Experience. If you’ve been fortunate to spend any time at Caves, you know what I’m talking about. Check.
I once made a putt on the final shot of the final round to win 2018 Campo Cup. Booyah. And check.
I’ve played 23 of the top 100 courses in America, including Pine Valley, consistently ranked the greatest course in America. Check. But I wouldn’t mind adding a few more.
I have a hole-in-one. Check. But I’m overdue for another one.
I lived for a time in an amazing house astride the first green at Pebble Beach. I once streaked the golf course at midnight. And I proposed to The Pretty Blonde at Stillwater Cove, the pristine, white sandy beach next to Pebble’s fourth fairway. Check, check, and check.
And finally, after two decades and four tries, I now have my name on the Campo Cup trophy as a captain. Check
I can die a happy man.
P.S. – For what it’s worth, below is my ranking of the courses at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort.
1a. Bandon Dunes
1b. Bandon Trails
3. Pacific Dunes
4. Sheep Ranch
5. Old Macdonald
P.S.S. – As the primary organizer for the 2023 Campo Cup, I was gifted a beautifully handcrafted wine decanter featuring the Campo Cup Anniversary logo. I will treasure it forever. Thank you, gentlemen. I love you all. Even John.