Mike Keiser Builds A New Golf World

It’s not often someone does something to change the game of golf. Mike Keiser did so when he built Bandon Dunes south of Portland, OR. With Bandon Dunes, Sand Valley in central Wisconsin, and Cabot Links in Nova Scotia, he has developed highly rated, multi-course destination venues in remote locations, open to the public. Nobody has successfully filled such a prescription. He did it using a recipe of great land, preferably with an ocean view, while using the finest architects and sandy soil. 

Keiser’s first venture in golf course development was The Dunes in New Buffalo, MI. Located 45 minutes southeast of Chicago on Lake Michigan, The Dunes was a collaboration between Keiser and Chicago golf course architect Dick Nugent in 1991.  It is one of the top three nine hole courses in the country and his only private course. The land was purchased and the course built to keep the property from being commercially developed.

I ventured to Michigan to play The Dunes after talking by phone with Keiser. It’s a walking course with no carts. With only a few more than 100 members there are about 5000 rounds played each year. 

The clubhouse was the smallest I have ever seen. It contained a pro shop six feet wide and 16 feet long, which also held the manager’s desk. In addition, it included a locker room with a few lockers, a unisex bathroom, and a common area with four tables. A ‘kitchen’, not large enough for two people, contained a refrigerator holding refreshments, and a short counter with condiments to put on your burger or hot dog. The food was cooked on the grill outside.

With no practice range, I hit a few putts and went to the first tee where my caddie Tom Wells was waiting for me. 

The Dunes is cut out of the woods thus has a feeling of being tight. The large greens are contoured and well protected by bunkers. Like all of Mike Keiser’s courses, it is built on sand.  

My caddie, Tom, is a teacher and varsity basketball coach at Michigan City, Indiana, located just south of New Buffalo across the state border. It is a town with one of the highest crime rates for a city of its size.

I hit my tee shot at the second hole and asked Tom about coaching. “The entire team is made up of minorities. My biggest worry about the kids is food,” Tom said. It’s a team effort with Tom and his wife. “We try to make sure they are eating. We provide food for them.” Hearing his story I was honored to have had him on my bag.

The greens are slower than expected. “Mike Keiser doesn’t like the speeds over 11 on the stemp,” Tom told me. That seemed reasonable to me because of the sloped, rolling greens. 

To say the atmosphere was relaxed would be an understatement. There were only two employees in the clubhouse area and no scheduled tee times. 

It’s a unique course being a highly rated nine hole facility. Every hole is strong. A loose swing off the tee will find the player in the woods. A less than ideal iron will result in a difficult bunker shot or a long putt over valleys and bumps on the greens.

The meandering tee boxes provide plenty of variation in the length of the holes.  There are no tee markers designating where to tee off for either the first or second nine.  You can play each hole any way you want.   

With Keiser courses the journey is half the fun. Keiser at 76 is still active and reviewing opportunities around the world. “I’m scouting sites in Scotland, Ireland and Denmark,” Mike said. “I got a call from a friend scouting sites in Denmark reporting some of the best dunes in the world.” He chuckled.  “The only problem is nobody plays golf in Denmark.”

There is another challenge his son, Mike Jr., mentioned to me. “Denmark is in the EU so all approvals have to go through that governmental body.” Mike Jr. and his brother Chris are in charge at Sand Valley and run the company along with their father. “New construction is difficult over there, but restoration projects are much easier to get approved. We’re looking at existing courses to possibly rebuild.”

“If you build great, it will create its own demand,” Mike Sr told me.

“My father has way more patience than I have,” said Mike Jr. “It took him seven years to get the necessary approvals to build Bandon Dunes. He has another project in northern California that he has been working on for seven years also. He says that when approval is difficult it means there will not be competition.” 

With the success of Sand Valley in central Wisconsin, I asked Mike Sr. if he had changed his mind on the necessity of an ocean nearby to build a course. “I have. There are hundreds of sand based sites around the country.” 

Generally, sandy soil is not good for agriculture and therefore is probably in an economically depressed area. Thus a project such as Sand Valley is a big boost to the local economy. “The economy in Adams County, WI, in the area around Sand Valley is the weakest in the state,“ said Mike Jr. “Getting approvals from local governments is easier when they understand what we are going to do for the economy.”

While each of their projects have multiple courses, “We don’t decide at the front end how many courses the market will bear. We just kind of sense when an additional course will work,” said Mike Jr. There are currently six courses at Bandon Dunes, Two at Cabot Links, and two at Sand Valley with two more on the way. 

Following the building of the initial course at Bandon Dunes in 2001, Mike Sr. was an investing partner in Barnbougle Dunes Golf Links in Tasmania, Australia. Located on the Indian Ocean and designed by Tom Doak and Mike Clayton it opened in 2005 and is one of the top five courses in Australia. The course meets Mike Keiser’s requirements of a great architect, on an ocean, with sand soil. A partner has since purchased Mike’s position.

He next opened Cabot Links in Nova Scotia. Ranked in the top ten in the world, there are two courses at the resort.

They have purchased 13,000 acres adjacent to Sand Valley. “Golf has a negative image in the mind of the public,” said Mike Sr. “Pesticides, herbicides, and water usage are all negatives to the public. I want to change that. There will be hiking, biking and outdoor activities for the family. It will be like a national park.” 

The Keisers are big supporters of caddies. There are no carts allowed at any of their courses unless a disability prevents walking. “We had four Evans Scholarship award winners at Sand Valley this year,” said Mike Jr proudly. 

Mike Sr. has made significant donations to the Evans Scholarship Foundation. Evans Scholars are academic high achieving caddies with extreme financial hardship.

Partnering with Ben Cowan-Dewar, with whom he partnered at Cabot Links in Nova Scotia, the next Keiser project is set to open in 2022. It’s a resort community called Cabot Saint Lucia on the island of Saint Lucia in the Caribbean. The golf course, called Cabot Point, is built on dramatic cliffs overlooking the ocean. Stunning ocean views dominate the course designed by Crenshaw Coore. It may put Saint Lucia on the golf map.

Never one to rest, Mike is exploring sites in Colorado, Florida, and California. Thirty years after developing The Dunes, Mike Keiser has become a major developer of great destination golf courses. 

With sons Mike Jr. and Chris now part of the team, there will be many more remote, sand based courses to be played in A Life In Golf.

Bandon Dunes