Mike Keiser, owner of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, applies his talent for creating successful golf projects by focusing on simplicity and golfer satisfaction. He delivers experiences players didn’t know they wanted, ensuring their loyalty. His vision for a short course at Bandon Dunes aimed to entice visitors beyond the resort’s acclaimed 18-hole layouts.
Bandon Golf Preserve
Bandon, Oregon
Mike Keiser, owner of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, has a remarkable ability to develop successful golf projects, similar to his success in the greeting card business. He understands the simplicity of the game and creates fun, efficient destinations that cater to a golfer’s core interests. His projects often provide experiences golfers didn’t even know they wanted.
Keiser long envisioned a short course at Bandon Dunes, but the challenge was creating one that would entice visitors beyond the resort’s four highly acclaimed 18-hole layouts. When Bill Coore originally routed Bandon Trails, he avoided the abrupt dunes to the west, leaving an ideal location for a short course when the time came to develop one.
Keiser and Coore explored these choppy dunes sloping toward the Pacific, where short holes fit better than long par fours and fives. Early site visits revealed dense shore pines and gorse, making movement difficult. This heavy vegetation, enabled by European Beachgrass, had nearly eliminated the native Silvery Phacelia, a low-lying plant once common in these dunes.
The routing ultimately uncovered a dozen unique short holes that would also help protect the endangered Silvery Phacelia. A thirteenth hole was added after clearing exposed a perfect green site along the western extreme. Throughout construction, care was taken to ensure the Silvery Phacelia’s habitat would not only be preserved but expanded as a result of the course.
Now, Silvery Phacelia thrives around the course, inspiring the Preserve’s name and logo. The course’s sandy aesthetic contrasts beautifully with the resort’s other layouts. Demand for tee times is high, and golfers frequently call Bandon Preserve the most fun they’ve ever had playing golf. David, as Coore & Crenshaw’s sole Design Associate on the project, shaped all thirteen greens and oversaw construction.
Images By: Wood Sabold