WEBVTT - Bandon Dunes is Back in The News 0:00:03.720 --> 0:00:07.840 We've gotten so far away more than our fair chair 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:11.840 of very special sites, and a great number of those 0:00:12.039 --> 0:00:17.920 have come from Mike kun Uh. He's been He is 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:25.920 simply the most incredible and should be the most highly 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:31.080 acclaimed golf developer in the world. And he the products 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:33.559 that he puts out there and the care that he 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:40.440 puts into them is just beyond comparison. And but he 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:43.800 finds these sites, he goes back to that that that 0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:48.319 nucleus of playing golf on sandy firm ground, and in 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:50.960 Mike's case, at least until Sand Valley, it was always 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:55.920 about somewhere near the sea. Um he just finds it 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:59.440 to be. It's a it's a connection to five years 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:02.720 of golf streets and he he just I think he 0:01:02.800 --> 0:01:07.440 believed in before he started doing these golf developments that 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:12.720 that was a connection that would resonate with American golfers 0:01:12.920 --> 0:01:18.040 as well as European and other other nationality golfers. And 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:21.080 he brought it to us. He gave us the opportunity 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:24.880 to experience it, and he was right. I mean, it's 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:28.120 a it's a It may be the oldest form of 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:30.880 golf in the world, but I think it's still the 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:44.040 most appreciated. Got another log on the fire here give 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:53.280 the time. Welcome to the fire pit with Mattinella. This 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:56.520 is a bit of a new form of a fire 0:01:56.600 --> 0:02:01.600 pit podcast, um, which we're we're thrown to get thrown 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:07.720 together pretty spontaneously because of the news out of bandoned 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:11.680 dunes and because of the news out of bandoned dunes, 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:16.919 that's a that's a thunderbolt, I mean new golf courses 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:19.000 a bandoned we gotta put the bat signal like it's 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:23.200 time to go there. That gets our attention quickly. Not 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:26.079 to mention, I said that it's very rare that bandoned, 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:30.280 for lack of a better term, trumps its own news. 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:35.160 But thirteen U S g A championships coming to coming 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:37.760 to the resort in the next twenty four years. For me, 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:42.760 it's it's like the hits just keep on coming. And 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:48.120 all amateur championships for that matter, which given the infrastructure 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:51.440 in the location, is pretty much all that it can have. 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:58.440 Um you know I I you know, abandoned dunes golf 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:02.080 as it was meant to be best pieces of property 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:08.359 used for golf, Minimalist architects, uh spartan you know, accommodations 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:15.840 and infrastructure always. You know, Mike Kaiser's you know, grandest 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:18.600 dream for a place in which he started with one 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:21.720 course and a little lodging, was the idea of hosting 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:26.160 a US amateur. I don't think even in his wildest dreams, 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:29.400 even though it has grown to be what's now widely 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:35.160 considered dream golf, which includes Sand Valley and and Cabot, 0:03:35.720 --> 0:03:39.800 all that has happened at Cabinot Links and cliffs, this 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:42.680 is far beyond his wildest dreams. I don't think he 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:47.120 could have ever imagined having now what what's going to 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:51.720 be multiple US amateurs, multiple women's amateurs, a Curtis Cup, 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:56.240 a Walker Cup, Junior amateur championships. You know this, this 0:03:56.400 --> 0:04:00.320 is between the U s g a giving and here's 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:04.360 multiple US opens and essentially be declaring pioneers as kind 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:07.640 of the old course of US opens, like the old 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:11.640 courses to the opens, Bandon is now becoming the home 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:15.800 and the hub of amateur championships. I mean, as it 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:19.040 should be. It's really the heartbeat of American golf. And 0:04:19.680 --> 0:04:24.600 there might be individual courses that are meaningful to each 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:27.159 of us and the golf fans and to the golf world, 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:31.320 but as a destination for the public golfer. There's nothing 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:35.360 even close to Bannon Dunes, and it's uh it's such 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:38.920 a special place to so many of us. And UH 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:41.440 the U s g A, with its mandate to grow 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:45.120 the game and their renewed emphasis on the grassroots the game, 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:48.640 it's just a perfect statement that they're making banned in 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:52.200 essentially their home base. It's not Oakmont, it's not Wingfoot, 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:57.600 it's not these very fancy private clubs, and those are 0:04:57.600 --> 0:05:00.000 still nice US open venues every eight or ten years. 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:04.240 But Bandon and the U s J there's this kid's 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:06.400 meet like they have the same mission, which is to 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:10.200 get everyday golfer is excited about golf and to bring 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:14.760 the championships to these wondrous golf courses, and um, you know, 0:05:14.880 --> 0:05:18.640 I see this at whenever there's a major played at 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:21.400 a at a public course, whether it's Pebble or it's 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:24.040 Pioneers Star especially Torry Pinones this year. When you got 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:26.719 and you walk around, the fans have the sense of 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:30.360 ownership like, oh, you know, I have might drive right there, 0:05:30.839 --> 0:05:33.080 and uh, I gotta put down for that bunker, And 0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:35.960 there's there's such a connection to what they're watching because 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:39.560 they played those courses. And so the average golf I 0:05:39.680 --> 0:05:42.799 might not generally watch the Walker Cup for the US Amateur, 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:45.719 but if it's abandoned, they will because they played those courses, 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:49.279 They know the shots, they know the decisions that the 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:51.400 players are facing, and it just makes it so much 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:55.280 more special. And so uh yeah, it's it's just a 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:57.960 wonderful statement by the U s g A. And it's 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:01.280 it's a fantastic recognition of what endon is and that's 0:06:01.320 --> 0:06:05.320 just a great day for golf. Before we get too deep, 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:08.440 um Starry to interject, Matt, but just you know, for 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:12.359 somebody who hasn't been to Abandon Dunes, can you guys 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:15.159 paint to click picture for me what the places like? 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:18.200 Obviously I've heard so much about it, um, but for 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:19.800 the people that haven't been, I know, you guys have 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:22.680 had so many experiences there. Can you can you give 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:26.720 me an idea? Well, I mean, I mean for me 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:31.719 it it started in obviously with Bandoned Dunes and then 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:35.440 David McClay kid, and you know you have a place 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:39.279 like Whistling Straits where you have four p die golf courses, 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:43.720 you can have, um, you can have you know, the 0:06:44.040 --> 0:06:47.760 sort of the model is, you know the model was 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:51.320 at that point. You know, oh, Jack, Nicholas Arnold Palmer, 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:58.440 Gary Player, Uh, you know Tom uh, Tom Fosio or 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:02.480 or Rhese Jones, Robert Trent Jones. You know, here comes 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:07.200 David McClay kidd h really out of nowhere, out of Scotland, 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:12.160 twenty five years old. He gets plucked out of you know, obscurity, 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:16.440 out of Macrahannish to Bill Bandon Dunes. Uh. He and 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:20.400 his dad essentially, uh, you know, sort of put Bandon 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:26.120 on the map by building Scottish golf in Oregon with 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:29.400 a limited number of a lodging and then you have 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:32.800 Tom Dope followed close behind two years later Pacific Dunes, 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:36.600 Soon Dunes two thousand one, Tom Dope Pacific Dunes two 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:40.000 thousand five. Banded trails by Bill Core and Ben Crenshaw 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:42.920 before they were really Bill Core and Ben Crenshaw two 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:48.000 thousand ten. Old McDonald and homage essentially to Sebe McDonald 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:51.160 built by Tom Doke and Jim Urbina two thousand twelve. 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:54.560 Banned in Preserve thirteen Whole Part three course by Core 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:58.520 and Crenshaw two thousand fourteen, a punch bowl putting course 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:03.360 so I mean, and then you know two thousand and twenty. Uh, 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:06.000 you know, sheep Ranch by Core and Crunchhaw. So five 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:10.240 big courses, multiple short course, little options by a wide 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:14.880 variety of architects, but all of them have something similar, 0:08:14.880 --> 0:08:18.160 which is they like to do the bare minimum to 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:22.559 the land in order to extract the maximum in terms 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:26.880 of an experience. And and so you have this. You know, 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:29.440 if if you don't like this one, you might like 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:31.080 this one. And if you don't like this one, you 0:08:31.160 --> 0:08:33.000 might like this one. If you don't like the coast, 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:34.480 you might like it within the trees. And if you 0:08:34.480 --> 0:08:36.080 don't like in the trees, go ahead and go back 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:38.160 out on the coast. If you don't like to eighteen 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:40.880 old courses in one day, you can have eighteen big holes, 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:43.280 and you can have thirteen short courses, or you can 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:45.480 just go have a great time at the punch Bowl 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:50.160 putting course. Then all of it is within a three 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:53.439 to seven minutes shuttle ride. All of it has, you know, 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:59.199 multiple clubhouses, multiple dining options, spartan lodging. It is the 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:03.360 purest form of a golf destination. Uh, you know, not 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:06.520 just in America, but I think in the world. Well, 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:08.800 I have to correct you, Matt. No one says I 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:11.400 don't like this. I like that. They say I love that, 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:14.640 but I really love that. I mean, it's uh there, 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:19.640 every course so fun and you and I old McDonald's 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:21.520 not our favorite course on the property, but I know 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:24.360 some people it's their number one, and that that's the 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:27.680 genius of it is even though it's on the same 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:31.120 piece of property, the courses play very differently, the challenges 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:35.160 are different, the aesthetics, and so it really is a 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:37.600 fun debate, and it could be always tiresome because people 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:40.880 do this endlessly, is ranking your courses. That everyone is 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:44.080 different and no one's wrong or right. It's just they're 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:49.360 they're they're so unique despite their close proximity and um 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:51.680 the cold, there's just there's just a magic to the place, 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:55.040 like everyone is there for only one reason, and that's 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:56.760 just to have a great time and to play golf 0:09:56.880 --> 0:09:59.560 and to test yourself against the wind and the elements 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:05.120 and each other, and against the transfusions and against the 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:07.840 late night dinners and the dice games. And it's just 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:11.319 you've never seen so many people having so much fun. 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:13.920 And even you know, everyone knows I I live pretty 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:15.960 close to Pebble Beach and it's a special place to me. 0:10:16.000 --> 0:10:19.000 But you know, Pebbles a totally different vibe. And people 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:20.360 come here and they go to the art galleries and 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:23.000 they walk on the beach and they might take a 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:25.360 day trip to San Francisco or Big Sir and all 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:27.960 that bandoned. You were just there to play golf from 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:29.960 the time you wake up until you collapse into bed, 0:10:30.400 --> 0:10:32.840 and the only breaks you take are to eat and 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:36.160 drink and uh and what and may you know other 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:40.000 rituals of male bonding. But it's um, it's really just 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:43.080 the purity of the experience. There's only one thing to 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:45.440 do there. I mean, it's the middle of nowhere, um, 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:47.600 and it's just to have fun and play golf and 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:50.319 test yourself on these amazing golf courses and with the 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:53.679 elements ever changing and uh. And of course there's the 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:55.600 whole catty culture that adds a lot to it. Their 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:59.160 characters and and they added experience. And you got on 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:02.000 the putting course and you're a group of sixteen or 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:04.000 twenty and then there's there's a bunch of other clusters 0:11:04.080 --> 0:11:07.240 like that that was whooping on, hollering and um, I 0:11:07.240 --> 0:11:09.480 mean the Disneyland is not the happiest place on earth, 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:12.280 like the parents are all miserable. Abandoned is honestly the 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:14.520 happiest place on earth. And even if you three put 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:16.560 the last hole to lose all the bets, it's okay 0:11:16.559 --> 0:11:18.360 because you'll get him tomorrow or the next day or 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:22.240 the next day. So, uh, there's just uh the court, 0:11:22.280 --> 0:11:25.040 the golf is great, but the camaraderie and the sense 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:29.480 of fellowship and the fact that it's this pilgrimage to 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:32.520 get there, and it's even that's a challenge, and uh, 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:35.160 it just it adds to the whole kind of magical experience, 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:40.880 and that that pilgrimage is is what creates that like 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:46.480 minded feeling amongst anybody who's there is everybody has made 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:49.280 that track. There's a bunch of you know, it almost 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:52.760 feels like once you're there, you've arrived at your club, 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:56.120 so to speak, where you're gonna see somebody that Everybody 0:11:56.200 --> 0:11:58.079 is looking at each other like, oh, you made it here. 0:11:58.160 --> 0:11:59.920 I made it here too, you made it here too. 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:01.520 I've made it here too. I will go to the 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:03.880 You're in the shuttle and everybody's like, what do you 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:06.840 like the bell? I like this with the bant you know, 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:08.640 what are you gonna? Where are you gonna eat tonight? 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:10.680 What are you playing tomorrow? I just played you coming? 0:12:10.760 --> 0:12:13.760 Are you going? It's it's the conversation, it's it's all 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:16.959 of that. But then it's the shuttle drivers, it's Shoe, 0:12:17.040 --> 0:12:20.520 the director of outside happiness. It's it's the it's the 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:23.720 fact that I can still see I've been there twenty 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:27.840 six times over the course of the last you know years, 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:32.520 twenty years. I I you still see the same wait 0:12:32.679 --> 0:12:35.560 staff or the same people who are there. You know 0:12:35.679 --> 0:12:39.280 them by name, they know you by name. Um you you. 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:45.000 It's all about sort of the the experience goes so 0:12:45.080 --> 0:12:49.640 far beyond just like what's happening in the form of golf. 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:53.440 It's the fire pits, it's the you know, the walks 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:56.040 you know, back to the room, the cottages down in 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:58.640 the bunker bar and the hoop. And I mean it's 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:02.080 the even just to walk to the labyrinth, which I 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:04.520 tell everybody to go do from time to time. It's 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:07.440 a special little experience. The dedication or the sort of 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:10.800 the the hints or of the winks to guys like 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:14.800 Howard McKee who who or Shorties who used to manage 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:18.679 the property, Howard McKee, who envisioned how the land would 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:22.000 be all laid out. All those things are are happening 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:25.120 um and and it's and it's subtle, and there's the 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:28.120 subtleties are what's so great about it. And the going 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:30.280 back is part of it too, Like you know, the 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:32.640 fifteenth Pole Adbandoned Doings is one of the hardest part 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:34.839 threes in the world when the winds blown at you, 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:38.199 and it's often the last round of of our big 0:13:38.320 --> 0:13:41.040 Uncle Tony Invitational of like you know, when you t 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:43.400 off okay in three and a half hours, I'm gonna 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:45.280 have this do or die shot that could decide the 0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:47.400 whole thing. And you think about you did the year before, 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:49.280 and the year before and the year before, where you 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:50.960 missed it or what club you should have hit. And 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:54.160 there's that institutional knowledge that adds up when you play 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:56.280 the same things over and over. Like you know, Matt 0:13:56.280 --> 0:13:58.959 and I have done these great barn storming trips press 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:02.640 Scotland and Ireland and Australia. You know we're always in her. 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:04.200 You get to play these courses once you may never 0:14:04.200 --> 0:14:06.280 see him again, and you appreciate him and you love them, 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:09.320 but uh, Bannon, you keep coming back, keep coming back, 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:11.360 And so you have your own scar tissue and your 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:15.000 own triumphs and your your personal history, and that all 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:18.720 gets just baked into the experience, and so there's just 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:20.760 adds more and more layers to the whole thing. But 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:23.440 I mean, you and I can we can wax poetic 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:26.760 about and the dunes forever. We should talk about the news. 0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:28.520 And I'll tell you so. I played around the golf 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:30.800 in Mike Kaiser a couple of months ago and the 0:14:30.840 --> 0:14:34.360 East Bay um at the scruffy little Munique course. Mike 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:36.160 Kayser could get a game anywhere on the planet. He 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:38.600 wants to play Santransco Golf Club, he wants you know, 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:41.560 he wants to play Olympic. No, he chose this like 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:45.160 thirty dollar Muni with this very mixed crowd um And 0:14:45.200 --> 0:14:47.760 it was wonderful and we had a great time. And 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:50.880 one thing you said to me, and it was just 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:53.280 a four hour conversation. It was as delightful as you 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:57.120 would imagine about a myriad topics. But he said, you know, 0:14:57.160 --> 0:14:59.280 golf development is a young man's game. And He's like, 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:02.000 I'm not a young man anymore. And I think probably 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:06.320 that at its emergency, like his place in in Gulf 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:09.720 history is secure, like we're gonna be We're gonna be 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:13.240 toasting Mike Kaiser fifty years from now, hundred years from now, 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:16.760 two years from now. But I think it was meaningful 0:15:16.800 --> 0:15:21.080 to him to get these USC championships on the slate. 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:25.240 Is he gonna be around Hope? So, but you know 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:27.840 he's in his late seventies, so maybe not, but uh 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:30.240 it's something that he knows is coming and that that's 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:33.080 part of his legacy. And so it's really cool. It's like, 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:36.520 you know, why, right, someone's obituary once they're dead, like 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:40.560 Mike Kayser deserved to have this validation and this celebration. 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:42.480 And you know, he lays his head on the pillow tonight, 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:44.640 he's gonna have a huge smile on his face because 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:49.200 they have secured this relationship that is so good for 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:52.200 both the U. S g A and for Bandon. And 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:54.400 it's also and Matt, you can speak more about about 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:57.720 these particular courses and developments because you've been working the 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:01.200 phones all day. But uh know, he's he's been tied 0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:04.600 up in a bunch of projects and some of them 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:06.880 moving at this glacial pace, Like he wants to build 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:09.640 five courses at this Air Force base on the California coast. 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:12.040 They're like a year ten of trying to get that done, 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:14.560 and who knows, lever get across the finish line. And 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:16.720 so I think these two new courses abandoned. It's like, 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:19.120 you know what, it's not an hour never because his 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:22.120 sons are great stewards and they could they can do 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:23.520 these things. But if we're gonna do it, let's do 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:25.560 it now so the old man can go out and 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:27.640 play it and enjoy it and see it. And so 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:31.280 I think there was a little urgency and I detected 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:33.600 that in our conversation, Like you know, he wants a 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:36.680 victory lap, and so this is the ultimate one and 0:16:36.720 --> 0:16:39.040 he can't be more happy for him and his family 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:40.880 and all the people who care about golf. But it's 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:44.840 it's kind of a celebration of his legacy. It's funny 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:47.280 because I mean, I just spoke to him an hour 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:53.320 ago and I I was asking him, you know, because 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:56.040 he said to me in June of last year, at 0:16:56.080 --> 0:17:00.360 the opening of the Sheep Ranch, that that would be 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:05.560 the last piece of the golf puzzle at Bandon Dunes, 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:10.320 that five big courses, the short course, you know, shorties, 0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:13.920 the punch bowl, and preserve that that that that would 0:17:13.960 --> 0:17:17.720 be enough. And I do think that, you know, he's 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:21.000 been sitting on this property that was once deemed a 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:23.880 place where they would be building a golf course called 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:29.919 Bandon Muni his in theory, give back two locals in 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:33.600 which they would be able to play that the seven 0:17:33.720 --> 0:17:38.280 holes by gil Hants for a very small fee. You know, 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:42.280 resort guests would still be paying resort you know, resort fees, 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:43.760 but this was going to be a place where he 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:46.240 was gonna have a junior caddy academy. He was going 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:50.120 to be allowing locals to play it for for far 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:54.639 less money than than what resort guests pay to play. 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:56.840 And this was going to be kind of his in 0:17:56.880 --> 0:17:59.480 a way is get back much like Bandoned Preserve is 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:02.560 with you know, he uses essentially most of the proceeds 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:06.520 to give back two community efforts. And I said, so 0:18:06.520 --> 0:18:08.359 it would have been at Mike. You said in June 0:18:08.400 --> 0:18:10.400 that this was the last piece, and he said, well, 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:14.800 I'll be honest, like you know, the demand is so 0:18:15.000 --> 0:18:20.320 high based on you know, both I think not only 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:22.719 what happened in terms of COVID with the momentum of 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:27.280 golf in general, but also the display of what was 0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:30.479 the US amateur I think from that point forward, I mean, 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:33.399 if you think that I I was usually booking the 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:37.159 Uncle Tony Invitational year in advance, I had to book 0:18:38.040 --> 0:18:45.760 in August of twenty to book for October of and 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:48.920 barely got a group of eight in almost a year 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:53.080 and a half advanced in advance. And that that in 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:55.800 itself made him think like, He's been sitting on this 0:18:55.880 --> 0:18:59.240 land for over twenty years, and what was gonna happen 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:02.720 was he was going to take portions of the land 0:19:02.760 --> 0:19:06.439 he owned and slop it out, you know, trade it 0:19:06.840 --> 0:19:12.040 essentially plus cash to the Oregon State Parks Department, so 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:15.600 that he could get enough land and the better part 0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:17.320 of the land to build what was going to be 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:22.399 Gil Hans's Band Immunity seven holes. But after all the 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:26.440 negotiations and the Oregon State Parks Department continuing to come 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:29.200 back to him and want more and more and more 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:32.760 in what was already in what he considered a four 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:37.480 to one value in their favor, he eventually said, you 0:19:37.520 --> 0:19:40.320 know what, I'm out, I'm gonna go build a sheep ranch. 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:43.720 I'm done doing this. It's not worth the effort of 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:46.639 the energy or certainly the expense, and I'm going to go. 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:49.600 You know, Phil Freedom was ready and to to turn 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:52.880 sheep Ranch into what it is now. And so they 0:19:52.880 --> 0:19:56.000 did that, and he said, but with the demands so Hi, 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:58.720 he had David Kidd come out in March, take a 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:01.440 look at what the land he had add David Kidd 0:20:01.440 --> 0:20:04.600 created it, spent weeks there and walked it and created 0:20:04.640 --> 0:20:08.200 a routing, brought brought Mike back out there. And Mike 0:20:08.280 --> 0:20:11.080 has a rating system of how he rates holes one 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:13.520 to ten and he'll go each hole one to ten, 0:20:13.640 --> 0:20:16.000 one to ten, one to ten. The reason why Mike 0:20:16.440 --> 0:20:19.840 Kaiser started hiring David Kidd again was because he rated 0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:23.400 Gamble Sands so high after a trip to Gamble Sands, 0:20:23.440 --> 0:20:26.320 to which he then realized, David Kidd is back to 0:20:26.400 --> 0:20:29.240 building fun again. That's how he got the job building 0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:32.120 Mammoth Dunes at Sand Valley, and that's how and why 0:20:32.160 --> 0:20:34.560 he's going to get the job to build this sixth 0:20:34.560 --> 0:20:38.560 course abandoned dunes if they get the permitting, which is 0:20:38.600 --> 0:20:43.040 a big if um. But he owns the land that 0:20:43.080 --> 0:20:46.840 makes permitting a little easier. And you know, look at 0:20:46.840 --> 0:20:49.200 what look at look at the track record he's got. 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:51.680 If someone wants to get in the way of more 0:20:51.760 --> 0:20:57.600 of this of what is you know, dunes restoration after 0:20:57.720 --> 0:21:01.880 what was ghost short, ghost gorse, choked land and essentially 0:21:01.880 --> 0:21:06.359 a major fire hazard. Um, I think, I think, I 0:21:06.400 --> 0:21:09.240 think the problem is there is not ours well, and 0:21:09.280 --> 0:21:13.600 you said something important there. You know, he abandoned this 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:16.520 banded muni and he built sheep Rants, and sheep Rants 0:21:16.520 --> 0:21:18.720 has been a home run. I mean we're now a 0:21:18.800 --> 0:21:22.880 year basically into its thirteen months it's been on the planet. 0:21:23.080 --> 0:21:27.680 Everyone freaking loves sheep Rants. Um. And instead of spreading 0:21:27.720 --> 0:21:31.160 out the play, it actually just made every course more 0:21:31.160 --> 0:21:33.320 path because everyone has to go play. Sheep ranched out 0:21:33.720 --> 0:21:36.960 and it's brought more people abandoned and even though another course, 0:21:37.040 --> 0:21:39.919 it's like it hasn't really lessen the demand elsewhere, it's 0:21:39.960 --> 0:21:42.880 increased it. And so um, there's a few things going 0:21:42.920 --> 0:21:48.760 on there. But I you know, dealing with governmental agencies 0:21:48.840 --> 0:21:51.600 is especially on the coast, is always a challenge. But 0:21:52.480 --> 0:21:55.399 the economic impact that Mike Kaiser has had on that 0:21:55.480 --> 0:21:58.720 part of Oregon is just phenomenal and the amount of 0:21:59.280 --> 0:22:03.159 money and time he's put into restoring the watershed and 0:22:03.160 --> 0:22:07.840 and other environmental projects. He's been such an incredible partner 0:22:07.920 --> 0:22:12.120 and steward of of the land, not just around Abandoned, 0:22:12.160 --> 0:22:15.160 with the whole, the whole part of Oregon that it's 0:22:15.160 --> 0:22:21.040 just hard to fathom anyone could object. So hopefully now 0:22:21.160 --> 0:22:26.480 with with renewed energy and will uh this will finally 0:22:26.520 --> 0:22:28.440 get done. And I know it would be so satisfying 0:22:28.480 --> 0:22:30.199 for Kaiser because as you said, he's walked away from 0:22:30.240 --> 0:22:32.040 this project a couple of times and throwing his hands 0:22:32.080 --> 0:22:33.760 in the errands that to get it across the finish 0:22:33.760 --> 0:22:38.960 line and be huge and so I mean, I don't 0:22:39.000 --> 0:22:40.159 know what do we have to do. Let's start right, 0:22:40.200 --> 0:22:44.040 Let's start a letter writing campaign. We could get about 0:22:44.119 --> 0:22:47.439 fifty thousand pieces of mail dumped on the desks of 0:22:47.000 --> 0:22:52.000 the county supervisors and clerks, and uh, you know, they 0:22:52.080 --> 0:22:55.120 must know how popular abandon Dunes is. But maybe maybe 0:22:55.160 --> 0:22:57.840 we need some some physical evidence. But for sure, the 0:22:57.960 --> 0:23:01.080 entire golf world is behind Mike Kai's or and you know, 0:23:01.160 --> 0:23:05.119 maybe this one to punch helps. It's like now the 0:23:06.280 --> 0:23:07.920