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Joel_Stewart

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Dream Golf: The making of Bandon Dunes
« on: May 19, 2006, 09:29:38 PM »
Has anybody read this book?    Amazon has it for a very good price.

ed_getka

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Re:Dream Golf: The making of Bandon Dunes
« Reply #1 on: May 19, 2006, 10:23:07 PM »
I think a couple of guys have commented that they were enjoying it. I'll check Amazon, if the price is right I'll buy it. I still want to see the Tom Doak version someday though.
"Perimeter-weighted fairways", The best euphemism for containment mounding I've ever heard.

PThomas

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Re:Dream Golf: The making of Bandon Dunes
« Reply #2 on: May 20, 2006, 12:40:27 AM »
I highly recommended it in a thread a few days ago
199 played, only Augusta National left to play!

Mike Erdmann

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Re:Dream Golf: The making of Bandon Dunes
« Reply #3 on: May 20, 2006, 12:50:42 AM »
Got it a few days ago and I'm halfway through it.  I'd definitely recommend it, it's a pretty interesting read.

Pete Stankevich

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Re:Dream Golf: The making of Bandon Dunes
« Reply #4 on: May 20, 2006, 08:40:32 AM »
My  copy just came yesterday from Amazon.  $15.72 plus $3.99 shipping is great considering the prices for most books regarding golf or design.

Jim Johnson

Re:Dream Golf: The making of Bandon Dunes
« Reply #5 on: May 20, 2006, 11:10:02 AM »
I highly recommend the book, Joel. I picked it up last week, and couldn't put the the thing down. I actually re-read several chapters this past week.

It's very informative, describing Mike Keiser and his history of building the Dunes Club, and putting out feelers for real estate on the two coasts, and how the transaction for buying Bandon came about. From there it goes on to describe how Keiser's right-hand man, a non-golfer named Howard McKee, did a bunch of legwork for the project. Keiser's philosophies on golf and course design are sprinkled throughout the book.

Most of the book is dedicated to the story of how Bandon Dunes came to be, with a smaller portion describing the Pacific Dunes story [perhaps allowing Tom D. to tell everyone in initimate detail all about his course?], and an even smaller portion talking about Bandon Trails.

Routing maps for each of the three courses are included, alongwith full-colour photos of the courses and its architects.

I found the book to be very interesting reading, in looking at how Keiser analyses the game of golf, the business concept he was striving for at Bandon, and ultimately what he wanted out of Bandon.

There are several references throughout the book to an area called Cascades Ranch [mentioned in other threads here], which was a site that was actually recommended to Keiser above Bandon and another site he had his eye on, by a consulting firm that he had hired. It would be interesting if anything ever comes of that.

JJ  

Patrick_Mucci

Re:Dream Golf: The making of Bandon Dunes
« Reply #6 on: May 20, 2006, 11:16:18 PM »
Joel,

I'm enjoying the read.

I think the author and Mike Keiser embrace golf and golf course architecture in a manner similar to GCA.com.

And while their views aren't in harmony with a certain cretins "big world theory", their love of the classics is undeniable and genuine.

It's fun to read.

I have a question.

Was Mike Keiser's organized method of ordering his office an impediment to creating an acceptable routing at the Dunes Club ?

In other words, are disciplined, orderly individuals limited when it comes to being creative in designing a golf course even though they have an abundance of knowledge with respect to classic architecture ?

Can an artiste be a great administrator and can a great administrator be an artiste ?