Exceeding Expectations Golfers have flocked to the Pacific Northwest to experience Mike Keiser's vision of what golf ought to be. By Ed Sherman first met Mike Keiser about 10 years ago. We were paired together in an outing at the IMerit Club. Back then, all I knew about Keiser was that he co-founded Chicago-based Recycled Paper Greetings, a highly successful greet- ing card company, and proba- bly was financially secure many times over. Anyway, it was a fall day and when we arrived at the club, we were informed that there weren’t any caddies avail- able. The season was winding down. I thought we would just ride. I didn’t figure Keiser would be the kind to want to pull his bag in a cart, let alone carry it. So imagine my surprise when Keiser insisted he was up for walking. Right then and there, he threw his bag over his shoulder and marched down the first fairway. It was at that point that I knew Keiser was different. When I think of the essence of Bandon Dunes in Oregon and its astonishing success, I always go back to that round of golf we played at the Merit Club. 22 CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER COURTESY KEMPERSPORTS COURTESY After Bandon Dunes opened to rave reviews, Keiser added Pacific Dunes (above, 17th hole) and then Bandon Trails. Looking for the perfect property Golf is a simple game. Hit the ball, find it and hit the ball again. That’s the way the Scots did it back in the 17th century. And that’s how Keiser does it in the 21st century. When Keiser set out to build Bandon Dunes, located four hours from Portland on the coast of Oregon, he wasn’t looking to construct a mega resort where the focus would be on ameni- ties like a spa and a swimming pool with a waterfall. None of that stuff interested Keiser. Keiser’s goal was simple: He wanted to create a pure golf experience on an incredible piece of property. He wanted to build a memorable ode to the game. SCOTT A. MILLER/CDGA On the surface, none of his plan made sense. He wanted to build a links course on a piece of land covered with impen- etrable, prickly gorse. His location would be in a remote, eco- nomically challenged town, seemingly closer to oblivion than NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006 23 Portland. The course also would be walking only in an age area. He never expected to do any more with the game than when carts increasingly have become a standard mode of walk to the first tee. transportation for 18 holes. And then to top it off, he chose a then 27-year old architect An introduction to the game whose sparse résumé featured designing only one modest Raised in the Buffalo, N.Y. area, he moved to Chicago in course in that golf hot spot, Katmandu. 1971 after a stint in the Navy. With his college roommate, Phil “A lot of people thought he was nuts,” said Julie Miller, exec- Friedmann, he founded a company that now sells more than utive director of the Bandon Chamber of Commerce. “It was a 100 million greeting cards per year. big gorse field. Why would anyone want to build a golf course Keiser got into the golf business on a fluke. After pur- in that wasteland?” chasing a piece of property in New Buffalo, Mich., during the What they didn’t see, or what they couldn’t understand, ’80s, he wanted to make sure nobody would be able to was Keiser’s vision. He saw a golden opportunity under all develop the adjacent land. So Keiser bought the parcel himself that gorse. Once he spotted a chance to build something spe- and decided to build a nine-hole course. The end product cial, he was determined to see it through. became the Dunes Club, a CDGA member club and a fun The end result has become one of the biggest and most track that draws comparison to the revered Pine Valley Golf unlikely success sto- Club in southern ries in golf. Keiser’s Keiser welcomed the 2006 Curtis Cup to New Jersey. Bandon Dunes now is Bandon Dunes, and more top-flight amateur The experience mentioned in the competition is on the way. gave Keiser the same breath as Pebble hunger to do a much Beach, Pinehurst and larger project. even the legendary “The next course links of Scotland and was going to be an Ireland, as one of the extension of my top don’t-miss golf hobby,” Keiser said. destinations in the Keiser did not sim- world. ply want to build any The facility now has old golf course. The three courses. Bandon game’s roots appeal Dunes opened to rave JOHN MUMMERT/USGA to him, so he sought reviews in 1999. Keiser to follow in the tradi- then went ahead and tion of the great links built Pacific Dunes in courses of Scotland 2001. That course, and Ireland. He went with its dramatic sand in search of raw, formations along with coastal landscapes ocean views, even got higher marks from the critics. that featured a lot of sand. Then last year, Keiser opened Bandon Trails. The new 18, “It’s not surprising that all the great courses are built on built away from the ocean, has a little bit of everything: it starts water and sand,” Keiser said. “Golf on those settings and ends with the sand dunes, and in between, it meanders improves nature.” through trees and rivers with numerous elevation changes. There aren’t many pieces of land like that in the U.S., but Even before Bandon Trails opened, it was a smash hit: 20,000 Keiser’s search eventually took him to Bandon in 1990. The golfers had reserved starting times. parcel had been on the market for four years. That speaks volumes to Bandon’s reputation. To get to Covered with dunes and gorse, it had only one small Bandon, it isn’t as simple as jumping on a plane. Most golfers patch that allowed access to the inside of the property. Any fly into Portland and make the long drive. The place isn’t easy first-time visitor to Bandon tries to imagine what it must have to find even for those who live in Oregon. been like, looking out over nothing but acres of gorse. “Golfers are like hunters,” Keiser said. “They hunt golf What made him believe that he could build a golf course courses. Wherever the game is, they go there. As soon as they there, let alone three? And this was not an experienced read that it’s a legitimate links course, there were so many course developer here. Remember, all Keiser had done previ- hunters who said, ‘I’ve got to get there.’ ” ously was his nine-hole course. Keiser is one of those hunters, although not in the typical Some how, some way, Keiser knew. He just knew. sense. As a golfer, he is not a top player with a pedigree. “I played enough golf in Scotland and Ireland to know Actually, he employs the lashing swing of a 12 handicapper. this land was really good,” Keiser said. “I knew that with He is extremely humble, even self-effacing, about his ability. 1,200 acres of land, I’d have at least one golf course down Nevertheless, Keiser always has been a passionate golfer, there.” playing regularly at various clubs throughout the Chicago Others weren’t convinced. Keiser was told he should aban- 24 WWW.CDGA.ORG don the remote area and look for a piece of property that could with everything else coming in a distant second. attract more people. It all worked because Keiser’s ultimate priority wasn’t to Keiser went with his heart. maximize profits. And by doing so, the courses have become “I didn’t need to spend $50,000 on a market study to be wildly successful. told I was stupid,” Keiser said. “This was somewhere between “What strikes me is how loyal he was to his vision,” said speculative investment and total folly.” Josh Lesnik, who served as Bandon’s first general manager and Keiser then even went more off the board. Instead of hiring now is the president of KemperSports Management. “He an established architect, he hired David McLay Kidd, a new- allowed great golf to be the driver of every discussion. He only comer who was just starting his design business. cares about one thing: How can this be the best place for the Kidd’s main attribute in Keiser’s eyes was that he was golfer? It sounds overly simple, but that’s what it was.” Scottish. He couldn’t see bringing in an American to do a true links-style course. Build it and they will come Kidd still wonders why he was picked. It changed his life, as When the course opened in 1999, Keiser and Lesnik he married a woman from Oregon and still maintains a home thought they would be lucky if Bandon did nearly 12,000 there. rounds the first year. “To this day, I still don’t know what Mike saw in me,” Kidd “We weren’t sure if people would come,” Keiser said. said. “I guess he wanted someone with the enthusiasm of a Oh, they came. The course did nearly 30,000 rounds. And guy in his 20s. I was running 50 ideas a day by Mike.” they’re still coming. The area still is buzzing about the day One of Kidd’s ideas was to be subtle with the design.