NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bakerg]

I am not sure if anyone else just recieved a survey from Bandon Dunes Resort.  But, they are wondering how many people would be interested in helicopter service from either Portland Airport or the North Bend Airport.  They also are taking feedback on lengthing the airport at Bandon to accomodate Leers, Citations, and Gulfstreams.

I love Bandon, I have gone every year since its opened but I just don't want the whole world out there.  This will ruin the charm of the town and the golf resort.  Who wants a fleet of Bell Ranger's buzzing the town or lodge.  

[Patrick_Mucci]

bakerg,

Do you think Mike Keiser is spending all his money to make it difficult for people to visit his golfing mecca ?

Give me the air service from Portland to North Bend, or North Bend to Bandon,  I want to get there as quickly, with as little hassle as possible.

You are aware that they do have running water and toilet facilities at Bandon Dunes, aren't you ?  

While they're at it, how about air service to and from Las Vegas ??  

[bakerg]

How many more people are they going to bring in to Bandon if you have Gulfstreams land 10 minutes away or have Bells or Sirkorskies landing at the lodge?  All you are adding is noise pollution and wealthier golfers to the area that are not necessarly there to take in the scenery and the golf but to claim that they have been to Bandon.  

They seem to be doing great for someplace that is remote by most standards.  I just cringe when I think about this becoming an Old Head type place instead of a Royal Dornoch or Machrihanish.  

And, they are not talking about adding air service to North Bend, they are talking about lengthing the runways to get Gulfstreams in not commercial airliners.  

[ChasLawler]

I thought you were going to say they were sending a survey to see how many people were interested in having golf carts available to everyone at Bandon.

Helicopters, leers, and gulfstreams are nothing. People in that economic stratosphere are few and far between and will do little to crowd or taint the charm of Bandon Dunes

[Patrick_Mucci]

Bakerg,

What difference does it make if tee times remain ten minutes apart

How people get there is inconsequential to play on the golf course.

If all the tee times are booked, does it matter that 90 % of the golfers drove and 10 % flew in, or 82 % drove and 18 % flew in ?

I believe that private jets and Gulfstreams can get in and out of the current runways, along with commercial jets, so I'm not so sure you have your facts right.

Wasn't North Bend a Military airfield before it was a public airfield ?

Why would a public airfield extend its runways to accomodate flights for private jets just for golfers at Bandon ?

Or, is their a more global vision for the area that you're not privy to ?
Who would fund such a project ?

[John Nixon]

All you are adding is ...wealthier golfers to the area that are not necessarly there to take in the scenery and the golf but to claim that they have been to Bandon.  

And how is this different from any other highly regarded publicly accessible resort in the world?
To this budget limited player, Bandon is already out of my league. And I'm ok with that. But that doesn't mean I want it kept away from others more willing to spend that kind of $.

[Jamie_Duffner]

Commercial airlines will get in there with prop planes and the embraer jets, if leers and gulfstreams can get in there.  That helps me get there, on the commercial that is.

[A_Clay_Man]

Sounds like it's not in keeping with Section #1 and consideration of others. But totaly in keeping with Mike Keiser's right to do whatever he wants. Why not just put it  close enough but away from distrubing others?

Start catering to the jet set and the next thing you know it will be chocolate pudding, too.

[Dan Herrmann]

So much for "Golf as it was meant to be."

Getting there is half the fun!  I still remember the CD I was listening to when I made the turn into Bandon.

[bakerg]

They don't plan any changes at the North Bend airport, they are talking about Bandon's airport that is 12 minutes from the course.  

Its not that their aren't wealthy golfers out there already, I guess I was just hoping that it would maintain its small town feel to the area.  I would really hate to see Bandon become Carmel.  Right now you have artists and nature photogrophers making Bandon their home, but what happens in 10 to 20 years when it becomes too expensive for them to live there any longer.  

I guess for the short term its fine for these advances to the resort, but in the end it will destroy what was there originally.

[Patrick_Mucci]

bakerg,

Are you sure this isn't part of the National Airspace System Capital Investment Plan, February, 2003, mandated by Congress ?

Is there a control tower at the Bandon airport ?
Is it manned 24/7 ?
What are the current runway lengths ?

I don't know if you're aware of this, but wealthy people have visited, and will continue to visit Bandon/Pacific Dunes.

What difference does it make with regard to how they get there ?  

[Jamie_Duffner]

It's a double edged sword.  If you build a world class golf destination, then you're going to draw attention and increased visitors.  The natural extension is people visit, love the area and then buy property, build second homes, and now the process is started.  If people were worried about the artists and photographers, then the golf resort should not have been built.

You can't have a resort on the level of Bandon and expect it to remain unknown or hidden.  Heck, this site alone is one of Bandon's greatest marketers.  You can't read Ran's reviews of Pac and Bandon Dunes and not want to visit the place!

[John Nixon]

in the end it will destroy what was there originally.

Some would say "No, the course destroyed what was there originally." All in how you look at it.

[cary lichtenstein]

What am I not getting here?

R you saying the guys with jets are bad?

[bakerg]

Mr. Mucci,

There is no tower at Bandon.  The airport is not open 24/7.  It is not even manned unless you make prior arrangements.  And the current runway length is 3600 feet.  They want to expand it to 4600 feet and add all the amenities of rental car, navigational aid, etc....

So, as of right now it is a class B1 airport, they want to upgrade it to a class C level.  This has nothing to do with NASCIP ordance.  

[bakerg]

Quassi,

I am not saying that guys with jets are bad in any way.  I just don't want to see the town lose the charm that it has.  I mean do you really want to hear a GV launch itself off at 11:00 in the evening as you are falling asleep to the sound of the ocean?  I would rather not have choppers or jets that close to what I consider paradise.  

I am heading out for the day so please don't take my silence to mean that I am avoiding discussing this with everyone.  

[Jamie_Duffner]

Isn't the impetus for the airport upgrade the increased traffic due to the resort?

[TEPaul]

"If you build it they will come."

A dreamy little cliche which in the case of Mike Keiser and the Bandon Dunes project actually worked great. So what's he expected to do now, say he didn't really mean it?

 

[Dan Herrmann]

You're right of course, I just fear a Rodney Dangerfield type driving up in his limo after his Lear jet trip from Vegas....

Bandon is a very special place, and I hope it keeps some of its character.

Besides the golf, my fondest memories are sitting with my wife in "downtown" Bandon eating freshly caught hallibut fish & chips while enjoying the gulls and the fresh salt air.  It was a "Local Hero" (the movie) type of moment.

I don't want to lose that.

[Joel_Stewart]

This is almost amusing since we are talking such small numbers in terms of private jets.   My god, let the city of Bandon join the 21st century and get an airport that can handle private jets.  In can only help the economy, in both jobs to build the new runway and possibly a few dollars to house the pilots when they fly in.

When I played Maidstone a few weeks ago (on a Friday) I was surprised by the number of private jets flying into Easthampton airport, probably around 25.  But these are wealthy people, maybe movie stars etc who may or may not be playing golf.  I'll assume that most have families.  I doubt that most people flying into Bandon will have their families, and the airport is not in sight of the course.

[Dan Smoot]

Everyone is entitled to make money off their investments.  However, having grown up in Colorado and seen the incredible growth and all that comes with that (i.e. overpriced housing, traffic sprawl and higher priced golf, etc), I have great reservations.   I am not equating Denver metro area to Bandon, but there will be a loss of quality of life when this starts building up.  See Bend,OR,  Steamboat Springs,CO and many other places that we have fond memories of the way it used to be.

I have been to Bandon three times and the price of golf is nearing the point I can't look my wife in the face when I go there.   The golf there is very special.  It is golf, pure and simple, nothing else and that is very special to me.  This is what sets it apart from Monterey golf.  The effort to get there is secondary but that also adds something to the experience.   When I'm on vacation, I want to get away from what I face on a daily basis.

At Bandon,  the people have been so great and appreciative to the people who make the journey.  Will it be the same when it is much easier to get there?  I would regret to see it become the cold money making machine I feel at Pinehurst or Pebble Beach.

[Patrick_Mucci]

bakerg,

I don't understand you and others.

A world class golf facility is created in a remote area by a man with vision, and you don't want golfers to come and play it ?

Why did you travel to play it ?

Why should anybody else be any different ?
What difference does their net worth have to do with it ?

Anybody that thinks it's easy to get to Bandon/Pacific Dunes must be dreaming.

Lastly, I don't think that there's a Gulfstream made that has a recommended takeoff distance of less then 5,100 feet at sea level, so you needn't worry about the G crowd with a 4,600 foot runway.

[W.H. Cosgrove]

I must say, I would love to travel to Bandon by helicopter.  The scenery would be fantastic.  

Just as long as no one else was ever able to do the same thing

[Scott_Burroughs]

Pat and all,

Bakerg's point (I believe) besides ruining the small-town charm of Bandon is the very real possibility of this catering to the jetset crowd skyrocketing the green fees beyond recognition into the Pebble/Pinehurst #2 range.  The guest fees are already at $200 in the summer!  It was $100 just 4 years ago.  After spending all that money to alter the airport, someone has to pay for it, and it's the rest of us.  Fees any higher and it becomes "rate-limiting" like Pebble and #2.  They just might price the regular guy out and then the tee sheets aren't full and they may not care because they're still making the bucks.  It definitely  would not be "golf as it was meant to be" any more.  You'd have to add "only if you're rich" at the end.

I've lived 1 1/2 hours from #2 for 9 years and it took me 8 to decide that playing #2 was worth the exorbitant fees (made a little less by playing with a member, but it was still over $300).  I probably will never play it again.

Let's see, when the new C&C course opens and it has a $300 price tag, will I go?  Probably only once.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Just asked my cousin Joe what he thought, who as of two and a half weeks ago become a former Oregon resident, and he said, "Why not?"