The next great golf course in Oregon?

[Joe Bentham]

check my blog post out on the course at Crook's Point in Gold Beach:
http://pacduneslooper.blogspot.com/

[Scott Warren]

Gold Beach rings a bell. Is that the area where Mike Keiser bought, then decided against building his course before Bandon Dunes began?

EDIT - Now I see that addressed at the foot of your blog. I thought I read he bought it, then sold it, but I am probably wrong.

[Kalen Braley]

joe,

The article was interesting, I think the course is further south from Bandon and not far from the Cali State line if memory serves me right.

There was a thread on this earlier.  http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41396.0/

But perhaps even more disturbing is your next blog entry where you talk about Greg Oden vs.  Kevin Durant?  Were you being serious?  You still think Greg Oden was the better pick?  Have you actually see Kevin Durant playing?  Its not even close, KD is a bonafide star and future hall of famer.  Oden on the other hand is looking like the next Sam Bowie!! 

[George Freeman]

Dave Duffy sure has some high expectations!  

It would be exciting if they were well founded due to a spectacular site...

[Garland Bayley]

Gold Beach rings a bell. Is that the area where Mike Keiser bought, then decided against building his course before Bandon Dunes began?

EDIT - Now I see that addressed at the foot of your blog. I thought I read he bought it, then sold it, but I am probably wrong.

Mike bought an adjacent property, and made several efforts to buy the property in question to build a golf course. After Bandon Dunes got going, he sold his property adjacent to the property in question.

[Tim Nugent]

Nice photo of #7 at Whistling Straits - how'd they get it transported to OR?

[George Freeman]

Nice photo of #7 at Whistling Straits - how'd they get it transported to OR?

Photoshop

[Ben Sims]

I smell Half Moon Bay Ocean Course.  Unless the property can make up for it...

[Rob Rigg]

Such an interesting choice to go with Perry Dye - especially given the current climate where there must be 20+ great GCAs looking for work - and this is a "chance of a lifetime" site for all but a few of those guys.

I hope this place isn't the next "Sandpines" since OR already has one of those travesties - I would imagine this should be auto Top 100 USA Magazine material based on the location.

Perry has his chance - may the force be with him!

[Patrick_Mucci]

Joe,

The Oregon Coast is stunning, but, good views alone won't attract golfers from near and far.
A quality golf course is a necessary ingredient.

Has anyone played Bandon Links ?

I wonder if Mike Keiser considered constructing or purchasing a nearby private air strip.

[Dan Herrmann]

Patrick,
Bandon Links is a really nice inland course.  It's right off US101, but it's definitely not a linksland course.

[Kalen Braley]

Based on the description from reading various articles and figuring that they can't build it on state park land, it would seem this is the piece of property they'll be building it on.

[Pete_Pittock]

Joe,
My last trip to Bandon started from Medford and I took the high road over the coast range from Merlin to Gold Beach to take a look at the general area. Kalen, the course site is about 15 miles south of Gold Beach. I could not find any access to the point. My original though was that the course would be mainly down on the river valley floor because the state park has much of the land between US101 and the ocean. Looking at Google Earth it now looks like a good number of holes can be located on the point. I saw some blowouts from the highway. There will be a lot of logging.
The bloggers expectations are much higher than mine, but he lives there.

Kalen, that is the right area, but you might also want to post the pics to the north to incorporate the river valley. You'r only showing 50-75 acres.

[George Freeman]

Patrick,
Bandon Links is a really nice inland course.  It's right off US101, but it's definitely not a linksland course.

Dan,

Is this the nine holer?

Thanks

[Rob Rigg]

Old Bandon is a nine hole course that rents hickories - it's a pretty cool idea and I think the course is getting better every year as Troy Russell keeps working on it.

http://www.oldbandongolflinks.com/

[Joe Bentham]

Joe,
The Oregon Coast is stunning, but, good views alone won't attract golfers from near and far.
A quality golf course is a necessary ingredient.

How incredibly insightful....

[Patrick Hodgdon]

joe,

The article was interesting, I think the course is further south from Bandon and not far from the Cali State line if memory serves me right.

There was a thread on this earlier.  http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41396.0/

But perhaps even more disturbing is your next blog entry where you talk about Greg Oden vs.  Kevin Durant?  Were you being serious?  You still think Greg Oden was the better pick?  Have you actually see Kevin Durant playing?  Its not even close, KD is a bonafide star and future hall of famer.  Oden on the other hand is looking like the next Sam Bowie!! 

Took the words right out of my mouth Kalen totally distracted by the previous post! Unbelievable how those Blazers fans are blind to the truth that Durant is going on in just his third year to become the games best scorer! I don't care how well Oden can protect the paint, as Simmons says, his legs are two different sizes! I mean Durant has 25 games now with over 25 points! I dare you to look up the only guy who has more consecutive games in a 25+ point streak. 

[Dan Herrmann]

George,
It's an 18-holer about 2 miles south of Bandon-by-the-Sea.

Old Bandon is just east of Face Rock State Park.  We stayed in a hotel that abuts the course in 2001.  At that time, it was a very simple, inexpensive golf course.  Nice to see it's getting some attention.

Here's a link to information about the nearby state park:  http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_76.php?md=pic  Thought it'd give you a feel for the area.

When I was in Oregon in 2009, I drove thru Pistol River 3 times.  Very scenic, but quite different than the Bandon Dunes resort area. 

[Scott Weersing]

There have been others who have thought about building the next great course in Oregon.

But I wonder, why would someone go play this course when then they could play the four courses at Bandon Dunes Resort?

I wonder how much play Bandon Crossings will get this coming summer?

Wasn't there plans for another course on the coast of Oregon, north of Florence.

[Carl Rogers]

Scott & et al,

Your friend Carl thinks you have hit on something.  The quality of golf in that area is so extraordinarliy high, how does the new course compete? on price? (why bother)?  Doesn't a well financed individual or organzation with a national or international reach recognize local marketplace saturation?

[Pete_Pittock]

Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals has delayed the project for a year to further study landslide potential and approachig cliff tops
http://www.registerguard.com/web/business/26295191-41/resort-county-golf-crook-curry.html.csp. It seems Mike Erdman and I refreshed both threads about the same time.

[Garland Bayley]

There have been others who have thought about building the next great course in Oregon.

But I wonder, why would someone go play this course when then they could play the four courses at Bandon Dunes Resort?

I wonder how much play Bandon Crossings will get this coming summer?

Wasn't there plans for another course on the coast of Oregon, north of Florence.

Keiser though he could made a go of Bandon Dunes with a $35 green fee. If you can put courses of quality on the coastline and charge an inflation adjusted equivalent to $35 or a little more, then there would be little reason to go to the Resort. Unfortunately Bandon Crossings is not on the coastline.

However, the areas east of the mountains have potential in an improved economy of doing it. Some would say Tetherow already acomplished it. Others of us would hold off on that with hopes of Wicked Pony or the next Dan Hixson design would come to fruition.