The creation of Bandon Dunes started with the dreams of Mike Keiser of building an authentic links golf course in the United States.
“My first course was a nine-hole course in New Buffalo, Michigan, and it was so much fun to do and it was so well received, I thought why not do it in another place,” he said recently during a 20th-anniversary celebration for the resort.
He looked for a site on the East Coast, but couldn’t find one. When he heard about the 1,200-acre site with a mile of Oregon ocean frontage and visited it with property caretakers Charlotte and Shorty Dow, he was sold.
“My goal was to build a golf course, and seeing this site … it was magical,” he said.
Still, it wasn’t a wise decision, Keiser admits.
“This is nuts,” he remembered thinking. “To actually build this course in the middle of nowhere, 4 ½ hours from Portland and 12 hours from San Francisco, and think that anybody would come to play it, more than a few die-hards from Portland, this is nuts.
“I was just determined to build another course and this was such a good site that this was going to be the course.”
And as a walking-only course, it bucked the traditions of West Coast golf.
“In terms of it making sense, it never made sense until, lo and behold, the first year American golf announced that they loved links golf. That’s what we didn’t know and knew as of the first year,” he said. “American golfers like to play links golf. They like the natural beauty, the bounces, the weather is the same for everyone. But in terms of it being a rational decision, it wasn’t. It was foolhardy from the day I conceived this.”
Now, 20 years later, Keiser’s decision to build Bandon Dunes has proven a great one.
He recently sat down with The World to provide some thoughts about the resort as well as his other efforts on the South Coast.
Q: You and your wife, Lindy, have given extensively to South Coast organizations through the Mr. and Mrs. Michael L. Keiser Fund of the Oregon Community foundation. Why is that important to you?
A: It’s the way we were brought up. One, it was my dad and mom at a very early age — we tithed. Just as big, I went to the Nichols School in Buffalo. Their big thing was: You are lucky to be here. For those who have received, we expect you to give back. As for why to give on the South Coast? This is my community.
Q: Similarly, why is conservation important to you, as evidenced by the creation of the Wild Rivers Coast alliance and all proceeds from Bandon Preserve going to that organization?
A: I give full credit to Joe Whitworth of The Freshwater Trust. It was Joe who rented a helicopter. He wanted to show me the watersheds and how damaged they were. We especially took a look at the Coquille River. We the settlers have really despoiled the continent. Let’s try to restore it.
Q: What is your favorite spot on the resort property and why?
A: I have a lot of spots, but I will narrow it to two. First, the Bandon Dunes 16th tee. I think it’s the best par-4 ever built. Second, the Garden Room restaurant in the Bandon Dunes Lodge looking down the 18th fairway at dusk. You can’t beat a fairway.
Q: Bandon Dunes has received extensive acclaim from various golf publications through their rankings of top courses and resorts. How important are rankings to you?
A: They are extremely important. I would like to say they are incidental, but in the golf world, everybody follows them. And I’ve found they are accurate from an architectural view. I think if you talk to any golf raters, they would agree.
Q: The original slogan for Bandon Dunes was 'Golf as it was meant to be,' a phrase now 20 years old. How does the resort fit that concept?
A:'Golf as it was meant to be' started in links golf. It’s a walking sport. Carts are only the last 60 years. Before then, you walked. You carried your sticks or had caddies carry them. The caddies add to the experience. And we are the natural elements. We are coastal.
Q: Arguably the biggest event to date at Bandon Dunes is next summer’s U.S. Amateur Championship. Why do you consider the U.S. Amateur golf’s fifth major?
A: It always used to be one of the top four tournaments. It was until the PGA Championship and Augusta (the Masters) kicked out the British Amateur and U.S. Amateur as majors.
Q: How big an honor is it to be hosting the U.S. Amateur in 2020
B: It’s a great honor. In general, the USGA has said we will only award the U.S. Amateur to U.S. Open courses. I see that as saying: The courses at Bandon Dunes are good enough to host the U.S. Open, you’re just too remote. This resort is for amateur golf. I build the courses for retail golfers.
Q: Do you have a favorite hole at the resort?
A: The best hole ever architected in the world, David Kidd’s 16th hole at Bandon Dunes. I think it’s the most memorable hole that I have perhaps ever played. It ends up on the covers and in magazines when they say please send us your best shots. We have a lot of photographs for a lot of great holes and that’s the one that always wins.
