“Pipe-Dream” Come True
Why this week at Bandon Dunes is even better than the rest.
The text thread for the annual Uncle Tony Invitational is always lit, but especially this week.
One text read: “Bandon’s headed to your teevee screens today through Sunday. Women’s Am.”
Most of us were well aware.
Another text came in: “They just said that if any matches go to 20 holes they’ll play the DaveO tees on No. 2.”
Dave Licosati, a 15 handicap, was getting a shot on the 2nd hole of a playoff at the 2019 Uncle Tony Invitational, my annual buddies trip, and “DaveO” proceeded to knock a heroic hybrid to 10-feet.
“Always swing hard,” says Licosati, in the video below. “Just in case you hit it.”
We played the alternate tees to the back-right of Bandon’s first green, which was about 175 yards, dead into the wind. I’ve never seen those tees used for daily play, but caddies all know about them and no one else was on the course, so we squirreled up there to sneak it in for our playoff. Tough to beat a 3-net-2—DaveO and BT hoisted the coveted hardware that year.
“Those were actually the original tees,” says David McLay Kidd, who built the course in the late-90’s. “At one point, I found the tees that are used now and when I showed Mike (Keiser) the option he had, he said: ‘Build both.’ Which is what we did.”
As for this year, this week, on Golf Channel and countless social feeds, you’ll see Keiser’s far-fetched dream come true. Again.
Going back to 1999, Bandon Dunes was always going to be a public-accessible destination. “Golf as it was meant to be.” But Bandon, being as remote as it is, and lacking the necessary infrastructure, could never host a men’s or women’s professional major championship. But amateur championships? Early on, Keiser would often mention it as an aspiration.
From the beginning, Keiser had tasked Josh Lesnik, the original general manager and employee of KemperSports, to build a relationship with the USGA in hopes of hosting meaningful amateur championships along the Oregon Coastline. Which is exactly what transpired.
From the 2006 Curtis Cup, 2007 U.S. Mid Am, 2011 U.S. Women’s and Men’s Amateur Public Links, U.S. Amateur in 2020 and U.S. Junior Amateur in 2022, Bandon has almost 10 USGA events in the books and another 20 scheduled in the future.
“At the time we were in the sand of the first course, we could’ve never could’ve truly imagined it,” says Lesnik. “But it all just kept evolving.”
From one course (1999) to two (2001), three (2005), four (2010), to what is now five 18-hole courses (2020), two par-3 courses (2012 & 2024) and a putting course (2014), with one last 18-hole course on the way (2028?), which will be another Kidd design, this week Bandon Dunes is hosting the 125th U.S. Women’s Amateur, yet another USGA major.
The course they’ll use is the original Bandon Dunes, which is the most-played, and some would argue, the most popular course on property. And Kidd, at the age of 26 when he was building it, wasn’t much older than most of this week’s participants. Format is 36 holes of stroke play (Monday and Tuesday) to qualify for match play (64 players) with a 36-hole final on Sunday.
To know Keiser, who once told me he had considered leaving the pure golf destination to the USGA as a West Coast homebase, is to know that these weeks mean a little more to him than most.
“So many developers have built, and continue to build, courses in hopes of one day hosting a PGA Tour event or a major championship,” says Lesnik, “but Mike’s goal was to always host the best amateurs. It has always been about the love of the game for him, but specifically, the amateur game.”
Lesnik, along with Keiser, Kidd, longtime staffers like Ken Nice, Jeff Simonds, Michael Chupka, Bob “Shoe” Gaspar, and so many other “Bandonistas” who have been making that pilgrimage to such a special destination for so long, are all excited for the Bandon staff and caddies who get to see the fruits of their labor on display on what is a main stage of competitive golf.
“We’re all happy for the team on-site who punch that clock every day,” says Lesnik. “To have the best amateurs in the world show up to their part of the country, it has to be so gratifying for them. It’s certainly well-deserved.”
Like most of us, Keiser will be watching from the comfort of his sofa this week, enjoying the visuals of what he unveiled to the lovers of golf played below the wind and on the ground. “Links golf clicks with the American golfer,” says Keiser. Which has been proven by the packed tee sheets and bodacious bottom line.
“For me and Mike, to have the best amateurs in the world playing that course, is definitely validation of what we created,” says Kidd. “To host the Men’s and Women’s U.S. Amateur was a pipe dream for both of us, and now it’s a reality. Shit-yes it’s special!”
Keiser, 80, who’s recovering from hip surgery and continues to fight Parkinson’s disease, is back to walking without a cane and although he didn’t swing a club, was able to walk all nine holes of the Dunes Club last week, the first of his course developments in New Buffalo, Mich.
“Mike might not have officially deeded the destination to the USGA,” says Kidd, “but if you look at how many championships the USGA is set to host at Bandon Dunes over the course of 30 years, he got his wish. No doubt.”
And in the spirit of what you’ll see this week, and in case you’ve missed them, Fire Pit Productions has compiled a few things to read, watch and listen to on all things Bandon Dunes.
Bandon’s 25th Anniversary
On the 25th anniversary of the opening of Bandon Dunes, the Fire Pit Productions celebrates Mike Keiser, links golf in America, the architects, culture and characters that make it so special.
The Fire Pit Podcast Series: Building Bandon Dunes (Part 1)
In part 1 of the building of Bandon Dunes, as told by Mike Keiser, the owner, David McLay Kidd and his father, Jimmy, the architects, and Josh Lesnik and his father, Steve, who won the bid to manage it. Bandon Dunes, the original course at what is now the best pure golf destination in America, and arguably the world, was an outlier that opened in 1999. Like Sand Hills in Mullen, Nebraska, which opened in 1995, to build a golf course in a remote location using a minimalist architect or architects was anything but what was being built in America in the 90s.
The Fire Pit Podcast Series: Building Bandon Dunes (Part 2)
Part 2 picks up on May 1st, 1999 on the eve of Bandon Dunes opening for business. I’m not even sure Mike Keiser could’ve dreamed something as big as what Bandon has become. We hear from Bandon’s original caddy master, Shoe, and the local barber, Mick Peters, who has hit the first tee shot on every course at Bandon, as well as reflections from Mike Keiser, David Kidd, Josh Lesnik, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw as we also celebrate the opening of the Sheep Ranch, their third course on property.
The Shoe Fits!
So many aspects and people of Bandon Dunes link the land and the resort to the town, in part, making this a collection of true links golf. But by being there from the beginning, and nearly every workday since, no one has been there longer, no one has spent more time on property, than Bob Gaspar. The former teamster and member of the Coast Guard is now affectionately known as “Shoe” because there’s a striking resemblance to the great jockey Bill Shoemaker. This is the story of how Gaspar discovered the Bandon Dunes development before it opened and why this Shoe was such a great fit from the start. From fetching sandwiches, caddie, caddie master, weather reviewer, social media sensation and ultimately the “Director of Outside Happiness,” this is a short celebration of how one committed, hard-working loyal local can have such a significant impact on so many global golfers descending upon the Southwest Coast of Oregon. In his daily weather ratings, on a scale of 1 to 10, he has never handed out a perfect score. “There’s always room for improvement,” Shoe says. Which might be true as it relates to the weather, but this guy is forever a 10.
On the Tee: Mick the Barber
Like the routing of a golf course, the story of Bandon Dunes, the evolution of a pure golf destination along the remote coastline of Oregon, doglegs in several directions and over a variety of undulations. The constants have been Mike Keiser, the owner, Kemper Sports, the management company, loyal employees, of which there are countless, minimalist architects, of which there have been several, and then there’s Mick Peters, the local barber, who, along with his son Mike, have been the first to be first and then second off at every new course at the resort. This goes back to May, 1999, when Mick and Mike were first off Bandon Dunes, the first course, designed by David McLay Kidd. And on June 1, 2020, on what Keiser says will be the last addition of golf to arguably the best pure golf destination in the world, Mick and Mike Peters are first and second to the first tee for the last time. Meet the Barber of Bandon.
The Magic of Bandon Dunes
An inspiring trip to the Oregon coast for the Uncle Tony Invitational.