More complete information on the course was printed in today's The World newspaper in Coos Bay, OR:
‘Old MacDonald' Fourth course planned at Bandon Dunes
By John Gunther Sports Editor
Friday, October 20, 2006 2:05 PM PDT
The grandfather of golf course architecture in the United States will leave his imprint on the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort.
Though C.B. MacDonald died in 1939, Bandon Dunes owner Mike Keiser plans to revive his spirit in the resort's fourth course, announced to resort employees today and expected to open in 2010.
The course, to be named Old MacDonald, will be the result of a bold and unique concept - a team-driven design process led by Pacific Dunes architect Tom Doak and his design partner Jim Urbina.
“I think I'm not employing Doak and Urbina as architects,” Keiser said. “I'm employing them to design as C.B. MacDonald and Seth Raynor, his apprentice and successor, would build it if they were alive today.”
A panel of other noted architects, including George Bahto, an expert on MacDonald, will work with Doak and Urbina on the project. Bahto is the author of “The Evangelist of Golf,” a book about MacDonald's life.
Old MacDonald will be located to the north and east of Pacific Dunes, which has received the highest ratings to date among the resort's three links-style layouts.
The site is all sand, including one huge, long sand dune and a bit of ocean-front property, though not the extensive ocean vistas of either the Bandon Dunes or Pacific Dunes courses.
“It's a pretty cool site,” said Josh Lesnik, the first general manager at Bandon Dunes and now a president with Kemper Sports Management, which runs the resort.
Lesnik said the site fits well with Keiser's hope of building a course to fit MacDonald's philosophies from a century ago.
MacDonald, who was born at Chicago and studied at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, is credited with opening the first two 18-hole courses in the United States - the Chicago Golf Club in 1892 and Wheaton in 1895. He also was one of the founding members of the U.S. Golf Association.
His most famous course is the National Golf Links of America in Southampton, N.Y., one of Keiser's favorite courses.
That course, which opened in 1909, is regarded as the best of its era and is ranked in the top 10 courses in the United States by most publications. It also was an inspiration for Keiser when he created Bandon Dunes.
“I always thought in many ways that was my model,” he said, explaining that he believed another course with 18 great holes would prove similarly successful.
The property for Old MacDonald isn't identical to the National Golf Links of America, but is perhaps equally special.
“I like the ocean views and the natural rolling dunes,” said Keiser.
Likewise, the course won't be identical, but will have similar characteristics.
MacDonald and Raynor were known for considering the great golf holes in Scotland when they built their courses, employing similar characteristics - they also took input from other architects. And so at Old MacDonald, golfers likely will find holes similar to the famed Redan Hole at North Berwick and other great holes.
“The concept to the average golfer is I believe the team will pull off something that is fun,” Keiser said.
When Keiser decided on his concept for the new course, Doak was a natural choice as lead architect. He is regarded as one of the top students of architecture in the United States and already was familiar with Bandon Dunes from when he and Urbina designed Pacific Dunes.
“I feel as if I'm hiring C.B. MacDonald myself,” Keiser said. “I trust (Tom) and Jim is fantastic.”
The design board could have as many as 12 members, all of whom will have input.
“This is interpretive,” Keiser said. “It isn't just, ‘Tom do it.' It's, ‘You and Jim, along with George, being C.B. MacDonald.'”
Keiser, Lesnik, Doak and Bahto are scheduled to meet on Halloween at the National Golf Links to begin discussing the makeup of the group.
Because of the nature of the project and because of a new role Keiser has taken, there is no hurry for construction of Old MacDonald.
Keiser, who made his fortune as co-founder of Recycled Paper Greetings, recently took the position of chairman of the board for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, a post that came with a two-year commitment.
Keiser always has been a hands-on owner, wanting a close look at every phase of planning and construction of the other three courses at Bandon Dunes. He said he didn't want his role at the resort to clash with his position at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
“Knowing Mike and Tom and Jim, they're going to look at a lot of potential routings,” Lesnik said.
The general timeline for Old MacDonald is for design work to be done through 2007, with construction in 2008 and 2009 and the opening in 2010.
Though construction is still a couple of years away, news of the new course is exciting for the employees at Bandon Dunes, said Hank Hickox, general manager at the resort.
“The team here has been anxiously awaiting what we hoped would be an announcement this fall,” Hickox said. “As we tried to do with the first three golf courses, we will give it our very best effort to have them continue the fine traditions that have been established in (the past) seven years.”
Hickox expects demand to be plentiful for the new course.
The resort has grown in terms of numbers of golfers every year and the so-called high season now extends through all or part of eight months from April to November. This summer, Bandon Dunes reached new highs with about 550 full- and part-time employees and about 350 caddies during the summer. Hickox expects the workforce to remain above 400 throughout the winter, though the number of caddies will drop considerably with many away at college.
“There's every reason to believe that the demand will be there,” Hickox said. “There's always a risk associated with new development. We have every confidence that this will be the most exciting golf course yet.”
It also will lead to expansion resort-wide.
“As we build more golf holes, there will be more accommodations, more retail, more food and beverage and more employment opportunities,” Hickox said.
The specific nature and timeline of the expansion hasn't been determined, though one component likely will be an expanded fitness center because the resort has outgrown the original center in the basement of the Bandon Dunes Lodge, Hickox said.
Howard McKee, Keiser's resort planning partner, will work to keep the same principals used to date at the resort when the expansion is completed.
“We like to remain the same place that feels small and personal,” Hickox said. “Mr. McKee has several plans he has been massaging.”