Speaker 1: We've gotten so far away more than our fair chair
Speaker 1: of very special sites, and a great number of those
Speaker 1: have come from Mike kun Uh. He's been He is
Speaker 1: simply the most incredible and should be the most highly
Speaker 1: acclaimed golf developer in the world. And he the products
Speaker 1: that he puts out there and the care that he
Speaker 1: puts into them is just beyond comparison. And but he
Speaker 1: finds these sites, he goes back to that that that
Speaker 1: nucleus of playing golf on sandy firm ground, and in
Speaker 1: Mike's case, at least until Sand Valley, it was always
Speaker 1: about somewhere near the sea. Um he just finds it
Speaker 1: to be. It's a it's a connection to five years
Speaker 1: of golf streets and he he just I think he
Speaker 1: believed in before he started doing these golf developments that
Speaker 1: that was a connection that would resonate with American golfers
Speaker 1: as well as European and other other nationality golfers. And
Speaker 1: he brought it to us. He gave us the opportunity
Speaker 1: to experience it, and he was right. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: a it's a It may be the oldest form of
Speaker 1: golf in the world, but I think it's still the
Speaker 1: most appreciated. Got another log on the fire here give
Speaker 1: the time. Welcome to the fire pit with Mattinella. This
Speaker 1: is a bit of a new form of a fire
Speaker 1: pit podcast, um, which we're we're thrown to get thrown
Speaker 1: together pretty spontaneously because of the news out of bandoned
Speaker 1: dunes and because of the news out of bandoned dunes,
Speaker 1: that's a that's a thunderbolt, I mean new golf courses
Speaker 1: a bandoned we gotta put the bat signal like it's
Speaker 1: time to go there. That gets our attention quickly. Not
Speaker 1: to mention, I said that it's very rare that bandoned,
Speaker 1: for lack of a better term, trumps its own news.
Speaker 1: But thirteen U S g A championships coming to coming
Speaker 1: to the resort in the next twenty four years. For me,
Speaker 1: it's it's like the hits just keep on coming. And
Speaker 1: all amateur championships for that matter, which given the infrastructure
Speaker 1: in the location, is pretty much all that it can have.
Speaker 1: Um you know I I you know, abandoned dunes golf
Speaker 1: as it was meant to be best pieces of property
Speaker 1: used for golf, Minimalist architects, uh spartan you know, accommodations
Speaker 1: and infrastructure always. You know, Mike Kaiser's you know, grandest
Speaker 1: dream for a place in which he started with one
Speaker 1: course and a little lodging, was the idea of hosting
Speaker 1: a US amateur. I don't think even in his wildest dreams,
Speaker 1: even though it has grown to be what's now widely
Speaker 1: considered dream golf, which includes Sand Valley and and Cabot,
Speaker 1: all that has happened at Cabinot Links and cliffs, this
Speaker 1: is far beyond his wildest dreams. I don't think he
Speaker 1: could have ever imagined having now what what's going to
Speaker 1: be multiple US amateurs, multiple women's amateurs, a Curtis Cup,
Speaker 1: a Walker Cup, Junior amateur championships. You know this, this
Speaker 1: is between the U s g a giving and here's
Speaker 1: multiple US opens and essentially be declaring pioneers as kind
Speaker 1: of the old course of US opens, like the old
Speaker 1: courses to the opens, Bandon is now becoming the home
Speaker 1: and the hub of amateur championships. I mean, as it
Speaker 1: should be. It's really the heartbeat of American golf. And
Speaker 1: there might be individual courses that are meaningful to each
Speaker 1: of us and the golf fans and to the golf world,
Speaker 1: but as a destination for the public golfer. There's nothing
Speaker 1: even close to Bannon Dunes, and it's uh it's such
Speaker 1: a special place to so many of us. And UH
Speaker 1: the U s g A, with its mandate to grow
Speaker 1: the game and their renewed emphasis on the grassroots the game,
Speaker 1: it's just a perfect statement that they're making banned in
Speaker 1: essentially their home base. It's not Oakmont, it's not Wingfoot,
Speaker 1: it's not these very fancy private clubs, and those are
Speaker 1: still nice US open venues every eight or ten years.
Speaker 1: But Bandon and the U s J there's this kid's
Speaker 1: meet like they have the same mission, which is to
Speaker 1: get everyday golfer is excited about golf and to bring
Speaker 1: the championships to these wondrous golf courses, and um, you know,
Speaker 1: I see this at whenever there's a major played at
Speaker 1: a at a public course, whether it's Pebble or it's
Speaker 1: Pioneers Star especially Torry Pinones this year. When you got
Speaker 1: and you walk around, the fans have the sense of
Speaker 1: ownership like, oh, you know, I have might drive right there,
Speaker 1: and uh, I gotta put down for that bunker, And
Speaker 1: there's there's such a connection to what they're watching because
Speaker 1: they played those courses. And so the average golf I
Speaker 1: might not generally watch the Walker Cup for the US Amateur,
Speaker 1: but if it's abandoned, they will because they played those courses,
Speaker 1: They know the shots, they know the decisions that the
Speaker 1: players are facing, and it just makes it so much
Speaker 1: more special. And so uh yeah, it's it's just a
Speaker 1: wonderful statement by the U s g A. And it's
Speaker 1: it's a fantastic recognition of what endon is and that's
Speaker 1: just a great day for golf. Before we get too deep,
Speaker 1: um Starry to interject, Matt, but just you know, for
Speaker 1: somebody who hasn't been to Abandon Dunes, can you guys
Speaker 1: paint to click picture for me what the places like?
Speaker 1: Obviously I've heard so much about it, um, but for
Speaker 1: the people that haven't been, I know, you guys have
Speaker 1: had so many experiences there. Can you can you give
Speaker 1: me an idea? Well, I mean, I mean for me
Speaker 1: it it started in obviously with Bandoned Dunes and then
Speaker 1: David McClay kid, and you know you have a place
Speaker 1: like Whistling Straits where you have four p die golf courses,
Speaker 1: you can have, um, you can have you know, the
Speaker 1: sort of the model is, you know the model was
Speaker 1: at that point. You know, oh, Jack, Nicholas Arnold Palmer,
Speaker 1: Gary Player, Uh, you know Tom uh, Tom Fosio or
Speaker 1: or Rhese Jones, Robert Trent Jones. You know, here comes
Speaker 1: David McClay kidd h really out of nowhere, out of Scotland,
Speaker 1: twenty five years old. He gets plucked out of you know, obscurity,
Speaker 1: out of Macrahannish to Bill Bandon Dunes. Uh. He and
Speaker 1: his dad essentially, uh, you know, sort of put Bandon
Speaker 1: on the map by building Scottish golf in Oregon with
Speaker 1: a limited number of a lodging and then you have
Speaker 1: Tom Dope followed close behind two years later Pacific Dunes,
Speaker 1: Soon Dunes two thousand one, Tom Dope Pacific Dunes two
Speaker 1: thousand five. Banded trails by Bill Core and Ben Crenshaw
Speaker 1: before they were really Bill Core and Ben Crenshaw two
Speaker 1: thousand ten. Old McDonald and homage essentially to Sebe McDonald
Speaker 1: built by Tom Doke and Jim Urbina two thousand twelve.
Speaker 1: Banned in Preserve thirteen Whole Part three course by Core
Speaker 1: and Crenshaw two thousand fourteen, a punch bowl putting course
Speaker 1: so I mean, and then you know two thousand and twenty. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, sheep Ranch by Core and Crunchhaw. So five
Speaker 1: big courses, multiple short course, little options by a wide
Speaker 1: variety of architects, but all of them have something similar,
Speaker 1: which is they like to do the bare minimum to
Speaker 1: the land in order to extract the maximum in terms
Speaker 1: of an experience. And and so you have this. You know,
Speaker 1: if if you don't like this one, you might like
Speaker 1: this one. And if you don't like this one, you
Speaker 1: might like this one. If you don't like the coast,
Speaker 1: you might like it within the trees. And if you
Speaker 1: don't like in the trees, go ahead and go back
Speaker 1: out on the coast. If you don't like to eighteen
Speaker 1: old courses in one day, you can have eighteen big holes,
Speaker 1: and you can have thirteen short courses, or you can
Speaker 1: just go have a great time at the punch Bowl
Speaker 1: putting course. Then all of it is within a three
Speaker 1: to seven minutes shuttle ride. All of it has, you know,
Speaker 1: multiple clubhouses, multiple dining options, spartan lodging. It is the
Speaker 1: purest form of a golf destination. Uh, you know, not
Speaker 1: just in America, but I think in the world. Well,
Speaker 1: I have to correct you, Matt. No one says I
Speaker 1: don't like this. I like that. They say I love that,
Speaker 1: but I really love that. I mean, it's uh there,
Speaker 1: every course so fun and you and I old McDonald's
Speaker 1: not our favorite course on the property, but I know
Speaker 1: some people it's their number one, and that that's the
Speaker 1: genius of it is even though it's on the same
Speaker 1: piece of property, the courses play very differently, the challenges
Speaker 1: are different, the aesthetics, and so it really is a
Speaker 1: fun debate, and it could be always tiresome because people
Speaker 1: do this endlessly, is ranking your courses. That everyone is
Speaker 1: different and no one's wrong or right. It's just they're
Speaker 1: they're they're so unique despite their close proximity and um
Speaker 1: the cold, there's just there's just a magic to the place,
Speaker 1: like everyone is there for only one reason, and that's
Speaker 1: just to have a great time and to play golf
Speaker 1: and to test yourself against the wind and the elements
Speaker 1: and each other, and against the transfusions and against the
Speaker 1: late night dinners and the dice games. And it's just
Speaker 1: you've never seen so many people having so much fun.
Speaker 1: And even you know, everyone knows I I live pretty
Speaker 1: close to Pebble Beach and it's a special place to me.
Speaker 1: But you know, Pebbles a totally different vibe. And people
Speaker 1: come here and they go to the art galleries and
Speaker 1: they walk on the beach and they might take a
Speaker 1: day trip to San Francisco or Big Sir and all
Speaker 1: that bandoned. You were just there to play golf from
Speaker 1: the time you wake up until you collapse into bed,
Speaker 1: and the only breaks you take are to eat and
Speaker 1: drink and uh and what and may you know other
Speaker 1: rituals of male bonding. But it's um, it's really just
Speaker 1: the purity of the experience. There's only one thing to
Speaker 1: do there. I mean, it's the middle of nowhere, um,
Speaker 1: and it's just to have fun and play golf and
Speaker 1: test yourself on these amazing golf courses and with the
Speaker 1: elements ever changing and uh. And of course there's the
Speaker 1: whole catty culture that adds a lot to it. Their
Speaker 1: characters and and they added experience. And you got on
Speaker 1: the putting course and you're a group of sixteen or
Speaker 1: twenty and then there's there's a bunch of other clusters
Speaker 1: like that that was whooping on, hollering and um, I
Speaker 1: mean the Disneyland is not the happiest place on earth,
Speaker 1: like the parents are all miserable. Abandoned is honestly the
Speaker 1: happiest place on earth. And even if you three put
Speaker 1: the last hole to lose all the bets, it's okay
Speaker 1: because you'll get him tomorrow or the next day or
Speaker 1: the next day. So, uh, there's just uh the court,
Speaker 1: the golf is great, but the camaraderie and the sense
Speaker 1: of fellowship and the fact that it's this pilgrimage to
Speaker 1: get there, and it's even that's a challenge, and uh,
Speaker 1: it just it adds to the whole kind of magical experience,
Speaker 1: and that that pilgrimage is is what creates that like
Speaker 1: minded feeling amongst anybody who's there is everybody has made
Speaker 1: that track. There's a bunch of you know, it almost
Speaker 1: feels like once you're there, you've arrived at your club,
Speaker 1: so to speak, where you're gonna see somebody that Everybody
Speaker 1: is looking at each other like, oh, you made it here.
Speaker 1: I made it here too, you made it here too.
Speaker 1: I've made it here too. I will go to the
Speaker 1: You're in the shuttle and everybody's like, what do you
Speaker 1: like the bell? I like this with the bant you know,
Speaker 1: what are you gonna? Where are you gonna eat tonight?
Speaker 1: What are you playing tomorrow? I just played you coming?
Speaker 1: Are you going? It's it's the conversation, it's it's all
Speaker 1: of that. But then it's the shuttle drivers, it's Shoe,
Speaker 1: the director of outside happiness. It's it's the it's the
Speaker 1: fact that I can still see I've been there twenty
Speaker 1: six times over the course of the last you know years,
Speaker 1: twenty years. I I you still see the same wait
Speaker 1: staff or the same people who are there. You know
Speaker 1: them by name, they know you by name. Um you you.
Speaker 1: It's all about sort of the the experience goes so
Speaker 1: far beyond just like what's happening in the form of golf.
Speaker 1: It's the fire pits, it's the you know, the walks
Speaker 1: you know, back to the room, the cottages down in
Speaker 1: the bunker bar and the hoop. And I mean it's
Speaker 1: the even just to walk to the labyrinth, which I
Speaker 1: tell everybody to go do from time to time. It's
Speaker 1: a special little experience. The dedication or the sort of
Speaker 1: the the hints or of the winks to guys like
Speaker 1: Howard McKee who who or Shorties who used to manage
Speaker 1: the property, Howard McKee, who envisioned how the land would
Speaker 1: be all laid out. All those things are are happening
Speaker 1: um and and it's and it's subtle, and there's the
Speaker 1: subtleties are what's so great about it. And the going
Speaker 1: back is part of it too, Like you know, the
Speaker 1: fifteenth Pole Adbandoned Doings is one of the hardest part
Speaker 1: threes in the world when the winds blown at you,
Speaker 1: and it's often the last round of of our big
Speaker 1: Uncle Tony Invitational of like you know, when you t
Speaker 1: off okay in three and a half hours, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: have this do or die shot that could decide the
Speaker 1: whole thing. And you think about you did the year before,
Speaker 1: and the year before and the year before, where you
Speaker 1: missed it or what club you should have hit. And
Speaker 1: there's that institutional knowledge that adds up when you play
Speaker 1: the same things over and over. Like you know, Matt
Speaker 1: and I have done these great barn storming trips press
Speaker 1: Scotland and Ireland and Australia. You know we're always in her.
Speaker 1: You get to play these courses once you may never
Speaker 1: see him again, and you appreciate him and you love them,
Speaker 1: but uh, Bannon, you keep coming back, keep coming back,
Speaker 1: And so you have your own scar tissue and your
Speaker 1: own triumphs and your your personal history, and that all
Speaker 1: gets just baked into the experience, and so there's just
Speaker 1: adds more and more layers to the whole thing. But
Speaker 1: I mean, you and I can we can wax poetic
Speaker 1: about and the dunes forever. We should talk about the news.
Speaker 1: And I'll tell you so. I played around the golf
Speaker 1: in Mike Kaiser a couple of months ago and the
Speaker 1: East Bay um at the scruffy little Munique course. Mike
Speaker 1: Kayser could get a game anywhere on the planet. He
Speaker 1: wants to play Santransco Golf Club, he wants you know,
Speaker 1: he wants to play Olympic. No, he chose this like
Speaker 1: thirty dollar Muni with this very mixed crowd um And
Speaker 1: it was wonderful and we had a great time. And
Speaker 1: one thing you said to me, and it was just
Speaker 1: a four hour conversation. It was as delightful as you
Speaker 1: would imagine about a myriad topics. But he said, you know,
Speaker 1: golf development is a young man's game. And He's like,
Speaker 1: I'm not a young man anymore. And I think probably
Speaker 1: that at its emergency, like his place in in Gulf
Speaker 1: history is secure, like we're gonna be We're gonna be
Speaker 1: toasting Mike Kaiser fifty years from now, hundred years from now,
Speaker 1: two years from now. But I think it was meaningful
Speaker 1: to him to get these USC championships on the slate.
Speaker 1: Is he gonna be around Hope? So, but you know
Speaker 1: he's in his late seventies, so maybe not, but uh
Speaker 1: it's something that he knows is coming and that that's
Speaker 1: part of his legacy. And so it's really cool. It's like,
Speaker 1: you know, why, right, someone's obituary once they're dead, like
Speaker 1: Mike Kayser deserved to have this validation and this celebration.
Speaker 1: And you know, he lays his head on the pillow tonight,
Speaker 1: he's gonna have a huge smile on his face because
Speaker 1: they have secured this relationship that is so good for
Speaker 1: both the U. S g A and for Bandon. And
Speaker 1: it's also and Matt, you can speak more about about
Speaker 1: these particular courses and developments because you've been working the
Speaker 1: phones all day. But uh know, he's he's been tied
Speaker 1: up in a bunch of projects and some of them
Speaker 1: moving at this glacial pace, Like he wants to build
Speaker 1: five courses at this Air Force base on the California coast.
Speaker 1: They're like a year ten of trying to get that done,
Speaker 1: and who knows, lever get across the finish line. And
Speaker 1: so I think these two new courses abandoned. It's like,
Speaker 1: you know what, it's not an hour never because his
Speaker 1: sons are great stewards and they could they can do
Speaker 1: these things. But if we're gonna do it, let's do
Speaker 1: it now so the old man can go out and
Speaker 1: play it and enjoy it and see it. And so
Speaker 1: I think there was a little urgency and I detected
Speaker 1: that in our conversation, Like you know, he wants a
Speaker 1: victory lap, and so this is the ultimate one and
Speaker 1: he can't be more happy for him and his family
Speaker 1: and all the people who care about golf. But it's
Speaker 1: it's kind of a celebration of his legacy. It's funny
Speaker 1: because I mean, I just spoke to him an hour
Speaker 1: ago and I I was asking him, you know, because
Speaker 1: he said to me in June of last year, at
Speaker 1: the opening of the Sheep Ranch, that that would be
Speaker 1: the last piece of the golf puzzle at Bandon Dunes,
Speaker 1: that five big courses, the short course, you know, shorties,
Speaker 1: the punch bowl, and preserve that that that that would
Speaker 1: be enough. And I do think that, you know, he's
Speaker 1: been sitting on this property that was once deemed a
Speaker 1: place where they would be building a golf course called
Speaker 1: Bandon Muni his in theory, give back two locals in
Speaker 1: which they would be able to play that the seven
Speaker 1: holes by gil Hants for a very small fee. You know,
Speaker 1: resort guests would still be paying resort you know, resort fees,
Speaker 1: but this was going to be a place where he
Speaker 1: was gonna have a junior caddy academy. He was going
Speaker 1: to be allowing locals to play it for for far
Speaker 1: less money than than what resort guests pay to play.
Speaker 1: And this was going to be kind of his in
Speaker 1: a way is get back much like Bandoned Preserve is
Speaker 1: with you know, he uses essentially most of the proceeds
Speaker 1: to give back two community efforts. And I said, so
Speaker 1: it would have been at Mike. You said in June
Speaker 1: that this was the last piece, and he said, well,
Speaker 1: I'll be honest, like you know, the demand is so
Speaker 1: high based on you know, both I think not only
Speaker 1: what happened in terms of COVID with the momentum of
Speaker 1: golf in general, but also the display of what was
Speaker 1: the US amateur I think from that point forward, I mean,
Speaker 1: if you think that I I was usually booking the
Speaker 1: Uncle Tony Invitational year in advance, I had to book
Speaker 1: in August of twenty to book for October of and
Speaker 1: barely got a group of eight in almost a year
Speaker 1: and a half advanced in advance. And that that in
Speaker 1: itself made him think like, He's been sitting on this
Speaker 1: land for over twenty years, and what was gonna happen
Speaker 1: was he was going to take portions of the land
Speaker 1: he owned and slop it out, you know, trade it
Speaker 1: essentially plus cash to the Oregon State Parks Department, so
Speaker 1: that he could get enough land and the better part
Speaker 1: of the land to build what was going to be
Speaker 1: Gil Hans's Band Immunity seven holes. But after all the
Speaker 1: negotiations and the Oregon State Parks Department continuing to come
Speaker 1: back to him and want more and more and more
Speaker 1: in what was already in what he considered a four
Speaker 1: to one value in their favor, he eventually said, you
Speaker 1: know what, I'm out, I'm gonna go build a sheep ranch.
Speaker 1: I'm done doing this. It's not worth the effort of
Speaker 1: the energy or certainly the expense, and I'm going to go.
Speaker 1: You know, Phil Freedom was ready and to to turn
Speaker 1: sheep Ranch into what it is now. And so they
Speaker 1: did that, and he said, but with the demands so Hi,
Speaker 1: he had David Kidd come out in March, take a
Speaker 1: look at what the land he had add David Kidd
Speaker 1: created it, spent weeks there and walked it and created
Speaker 1: a routing, brought brought Mike back out there. And Mike
Speaker 1: has a rating system of how he rates holes one
Speaker 1: to ten and he'll go each hole one to ten,
Speaker 1: one to ten, one to ten. The reason why Mike
Speaker 1: Kaiser started hiring David Kidd again was because he rated
Speaker 1: Gamble Sands so high after a trip to Gamble Sands,
Speaker 1: to which he then realized, David Kidd is back to
Speaker 1: building fun again. That's how he got the job building
Speaker 1: Mammoth Dunes at Sand Valley, and that's how and why
Speaker 1: he's going to get the job to build this sixth
Speaker 1: course abandoned dunes if they get the permitting, which is
Speaker 1: a big if um. But he owns the land that
Speaker 1: makes permitting a little easier. And you know, look at
Speaker 1: what look at look at the track record he's got.
Speaker 1: If someone wants to get in the way of more
Speaker 1: of this of what is you know, dunes restoration after
Speaker 1: what was ghost short, ghost gorse, choked land and essentially
Speaker 1: a major fire hazard. Um, I think, I think, I
Speaker 1: think the problem is there is not ours well, and
Speaker 1: you said something important there. You know, he abandoned this
Speaker 1: banded muni and he built sheep Rants, and sheep Rants
Speaker 1: has been a home run. I mean we're now a
Speaker 1: year basically into its thirteen months it's been on the planet.
Speaker 1: Everyone freaking loves sheep Rants. Um. And instead of spreading
Speaker 1: out the play, it actually just made every course more
Speaker 1: path because everyone has to go play. Sheep ranched out
Speaker 1: and it's brought more people abandoned and even though another course,
Speaker 1: it's like it hasn't really lessen the demand elsewhere, it's
Speaker 1: increased it. And so um, there's a few things going
Speaker 1: on there. But I you know, dealing with governmental agencies
Speaker 1: is especially on the coast, is always a challenge. But
Speaker 1: the economic impact that Mike Kaiser has had on that
Speaker 1: part of Oregon is just phenomenal and the amount of
Speaker 1: money and time he's put into restoring the watershed and
Speaker 1: and other environmental projects. He's been such an incredible partner
Speaker 1: and steward of of the land, not just around Abandoned,
Speaker 1: with the whole, the whole part of Oregon that it's
Speaker 1: just hard to fathom anyone could object. So hopefully now
Speaker 1: with with renewed energy and will uh this will finally
Speaker 1: get done. And I know it would be so satisfying
Speaker 1: for Kaiser because as you said, he's walked away from
Speaker 1: this project a couple of times and throwing his hands
Speaker 1: in the errands that to get it across the finish
Speaker 1: line and be huge and so I mean, I don't
Speaker 1: know what do we have to do. Let's start right,
Speaker 1: Let's start a letter writing campaign. We could get about
Speaker 1: fifty thousand pieces of mail dumped on the desks of
Speaker 1: the county supervisors and clerks, and uh, you know, they
Speaker 1: must know how popular abandon Dunes is. But maybe maybe
Speaker 1: we need some some physical evidence. But for sure, the
Speaker 1: entire golf world is behind Mike Kai's or and you know,
Speaker 1: maybe this one to punch helps. It's like now the
Speaker 1: you know, he has the blessing of the U s
Speaker 1: J and he has a formal relationship with U s
Speaker 1: g A, and maybe they can push some of the
Speaker 1: lovers of power to to help make this happen. So
Speaker 1: that's not why bandoned hosting the USG events for that
Speaker 1: that could be helpful. You know, there's any way you
Speaker 1: can bring pressure to bear on on these these governmental
Speaker 1: agencies and obstructionists and shot callers. We support because, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, David McClay kid, as he said, Matt like
Speaker 1: Bannon is where it all started for him. And um,
Speaker 1: you know, Cort Crunchhaw now had two bites of the apple.
Speaker 1: It would be awesome for him to come back and
Speaker 1: and do what's probably the last course abandoned. But certainly,
Speaker 1: you know, McClay kid deserves that that recognition as well
Speaker 1: and a chance to put his stamp on another course there.
Speaker 1: So it just makes it a totally delicious project. I
Speaker 1: talked to David Kidd also earlier today and he referred
Speaker 1: to that that very idea that he could have he
Speaker 1: could build the first when he was twenty five and
Speaker 1: nineteen late nineties from to now building what would be
Speaker 1: the sixth course. He said it would be poetic, he said, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, essentially nearing his sixties to go from his
Speaker 1: you know, twenties to Bandon learning all that he's learned
Speaker 1: and knowing all that he knows, and to be able
Speaker 1: to put the to put the to the exclamation point
Speaker 1: or the or the the cherry on top of what
Speaker 1: is this, this epic Sunday of golf would would be
Speaker 1: poetic for him. Uh. And and what a hell of
Speaker 1: a narrative. I just put out a Twitter poll asking
Speaker 1: general general public about what do they think is the
Speaker 1: bigger news the idea that Bandon is going to build
Speaker 1: a sixth golf course or that they are now going
Speaker 1: to get thirteen U s g A Championships. About five
Speaker 1: votes in where you know, we're twenty three minutes into
Speaker 1: the poll, and six of five votes are saying a
Speaker 1: six sixth course and thirty six center saying U s
Speaker 1: g A Championships. But you know, essentially that means the
Speaker 1: general amateurs are saying, yes, we get a sixth course.
Speaker 1: The elite ms are saying, wow, we get a chance
Speaker 1: to compete at one of these epics. Sort of true
Speaker 1: links style, you know, uh, venues with the exception of
Speaker 1: Banding trails, which you know is inland and has a
Speaker 1: links looked to it, but it's not necessarily you know,
Speaker 1: on the on the water. But um, it's It's interesting
Speaker 1: to me because I actually think that with these championships
Speaker 1: comes TV, and with TV comes these this transcendent group
Speaker 1: of eyeballs on the way golf is supposed to be played.
Speaker 1: So if you looked at the US Amateur, just like
Speaker 1: we saw in pine Hurst in two thousand fourteen when
Speaker 1: we saw browned out ball on the ground moving around,
Speaker 1: impact that that had on the eyeballs of people who
Speaker 1: are watching it. I actually think these may you know,
Speaker 1: these U S g A Championships and being able to
Speaker 1: see bandoned dunes and see that style of golf in
Speaker 1: America is going to continue to have a ripple effect
Speaker 1: on golf and development in America. Not to mention highlighting
Speaker 1: things like short courses and putting courses. It's just an
Speaker 1: opportunity to keep having this ripple effect of what Mike's
Speaker 1: building to go beyond people who are willing to actually
Speaker 1: make the trip and play the golf. Yeah, and I
Speaker 1: think it'll You know, Matt and I you've been there
Speaker 1: a lot more than I have but we're both blessed
Speaker 1: to have been there a good number of times. And
Speaker 1: I think we sort of take for granted that any
Speaker 1: kind of hardcore golfer has been there, But just look
Speaker 1: at the fire Pit collective. Roster Colt hasn't been. Ryan
Speaker 1: French hasn't been. Laws Versailles has not been. And so
Speaker 1: I think these u SG champions ships will create this
Speaker 1: momentum that every person who's thought about it and and
Speaker 1: procrastinated or talk themselves out of it for one reason
Speaker 1: or another, they're all going to get on the plane
Speaker 1: over time because those courses look so great on TV.
Speaker 1: I mean, the US Amateur was just a riveting show
Speaker 1: to see really really great amateur golfers attacking those courses
Speaker 1: and having to contend with the wind and having to
Speaker 1: play shots and all the tricky little short game. If
Speaker 1: that didn't get your blood pumping, then you're dead. Like
Speaker 1: it was just it was. It was such a great show.
Speaker 1: And you know, you do you take a Walker cup there,
Speaker 1: you Curtis Cup, you know, bringing a team element and
Speaker 1: the flag waven and the partner golf and the alternate shot,
Speaker 1: it just it just adds a whole other element of intrigue.
Speaker 1: So um, yeah, it's it's just a wonderful development. And
Speaker 1: you're right, infrastructure is an issue, Like you know, all
Speaker 1: these events draw somewhat limited crowds. Uh, there's a part
Speaker 1: to me like I've always sort of held out hope
Speaker 1: for a Ryder Cup, a Bandon because it would just
Speaker 1: be so phenomenal. And it's it's what we play, right,
Speaker 1: Like when we go up there, it's always two man
Speaker 1: team is always best ball, and crazy stuff happens. You
Speaker 1: can be super aggressive, you can you can both both
Speaker 1: players can wind up in funky spots and you're just
Speaker 1: fighting for a bogey and um, you know it would
Speaker 1: it would How you'd get it have to be somewhat
Speaker 1: limited fans and people have to be willing to take
Speaker 1: a long bus ride from somewhere. But uh, I guess
Speaker 1: I can let that dream go because we are getting
Speaker 1: all these great USG championships. But uh, you know, I
Speaker 1: was thinking you could dock some cruise ships out off
Speaker 1: on the coast and those are the hotels like there's
Speaker 1: I don't know, but anyway, it's it's a different dream.
Speaker 1: But I think these USG events are such a wonderful
Speaker 1: fit and it's gonna be awesome to see the junior
Speaker 1: you know, US Junior is like you know, they can't
Speaker 1: over the power of the course, like like the US
Speaker 1: Amateur in a lot of ways. So uh so many
Speaker 1: different styles of golf on on so many different unique
Speaker 1: playing fields, and uh it's it's gonna be wonderful for
Speaker 1: the competitors, for the viewers, and obviously for stiamu ltting
Speaker 1: interest in Bannon Dunes as a destination. And I think
Speaker 1: it's relatable in two ways. Right we mentioned how you know,
Speaker 1: obviously there's gonna be a broadcast of it, you get
Speaker 1: to watch it on TV and then hopefully one day
Speaker 1: go out there and you get to to play those
Speaker 1: same shots. But in the other way, Matt, we talked
Speaker 1: about this just this week, um with the with the
Speaker 1: Amateur Championship, all of these championships that are coming out
Speaker 1: to Bandon Dunes al thir teen, our match play championships,
Speaker 1: and that's what you know we typically play, or I
Speaker 1: would assume you guys simpically play when you head up there,
Speaker 1: you know, with your buddies. Um, so you know, to you,
Speaker 1: how how is that more relatable than say, watching guys
Speaker 1: shoot six yeah, it's it's it's just it's layers of
Speaker 1: relatability that it is at a public of course, and
Speaker 1: that it is match play, uh, and then what that
Speaker 1: yields in terms of strategy or shot a king. I
Speaker 1: mean I remember watching uh, you know, guys at the
Speaker 1: amateur trying to hit chip shots all the off those
Speaker 1: tight lines around those greens, and I'm thinking to myself,
Speaker 1: what are they doing. You gotta put that. That's a
Speaker 1: put that's a you gotta put, you know, And then
Speaker 1: they chunk the chip and it comes back to their
Speaker 1: feet and it's like, I told you gotta put that,
Speaker 1: Like any good caddy would have put a putter in
Speaker 1: that player's head and said put this. Are you kidding me? Um?
Speaker 1: So there's there's that. Uh. The other yeah, it's truely stuff.
Speaker 1: But the other thing Mike Mike pointed out to me,
Speaker 1: and that championships boys and girls, men's and women's that
Speaker 1: are happening in the same year at the same time consecutively,
Speaker 1: back to back, could end up actually happening at the
Speaker 1: same time, so that you're going you are having the
Speaker 1: men's and women's or the boys and girls because they
Speaker 1: have the courses and they can do it. You can
Speaker 1: actually be having them simultaneously, not like what Pineers did
Speaker 1: in two thousand and fourteen where you have the men's
Speaker 1: followed by the women. This is going to be, uh,
Speaker 1: this is going to be something in which if they
Speaker 1: do this, like Mike said, I you know, it's women's
Speaker 1: and girls golf matters to him and wants this to
Speaker 1: be an opportunity to really showcase that that golf on
Speaker 1: the main stage. Yeah, that's awesome. I love that. And
Speaker 1: when you like when the VIC opened down in Australia
Speaker 1: had the men of the women playing at the same time.
Speaker 1: It was great for the competitors. They got they got
Speaker 1: exposed to new ideas and it was it was a
Speaker 1: fun change and it you know, we all know that
Speaker 1: women's golf viewership is lagged behind men's and so when
Speaker 1: and yet it's so compelling to watch. If you can
Speaker 1: just get people to tune in, they fall in love
Speaker 1: with her and and the players and and the finesse
Speaker 1: and and the and the precision that they bring to
Speaker 1: the sport. And so anything you can do to get
Speaker 1: more eyeballs on the women's game is super valuable. And
Speaker 1: I think, um, that's a great idea and knowing knowing
Speaker 1: Kaiser and his love of women's golf, and uh, I
Speaker 1: think it will happen, and I think it'll be really
Speaker 1: cool for everyone involved. I think I think it's important.
Speaker 1: Mike made several mentions of this to me, is that
Speaker 1: he really credits Mike Davis for making all this happen,
Speaker 1: and then he credits Josh Lesnik, the original general manager
Speaker 1: of Bandoned Dunes going back to the late nineties, who
Speaker 1: was in his twenties, who we've told that story in
Speaker 1: the fire Pit podcast of the Building Abandoned Dunes obviously
Speaker 1: in a two part podcast about how David Kid and
Speaker 1: Josh Lesnik were in their twenties out there like, you know,
Speaker 1: I don't know what I was doing in my late twenties,
Speaker 1: but I wasn't out there, you know, building one of
Speaker 1: the greatest golf destinations in the world like Josh and
Speaker 1: David were. But he says that Josh las Nik was
Speaker 1: really his big thing was to befriend Mike Davis. They've
Speaker 1: gone on to become great friends and then bring Mike
Speaker 1: Davis too Bandoned Dunes to show them what was happening.
Speaker 1: And Mike Davis really fell in love with the place
Speaker 1: because of those visits, and and and Mike Kaiser really
Speaker 1: gives both Josh and Mike a lot of credit for
Speaker 1: what what has just transpired in the terms of the
Speaker 1: U s g A Championships. So it's it's definitely worth noting. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that that's cool. I love that. And uh, that's a
Speaker 1: nice feather on account for Mike Davis. You know, his
Speaker 1: tenure is is ended, but he's still in the game,
Speaker 1: and um, that's a nice thought for sure. Uh. I
Speaker 1: just think it's just the outpouring of excitement. You know,
Speaker 1: this went around the internet. It was other than you know,
Speaker 1: Tiger getting in a car crash. I can't think of
Speaker 1: a piece of news I saw in so many places.
Speaker 1: It just tells you the emotional attachment people have to
Speaker 1: bandon dudes. And uh, six course, oh my god, U
Speaker 1: s J Championships. The speed in which it got picked
Speaker 1: up and how widely was disseminated, and just the celebration
Speaker 1: that followed. I mean, it's it's really remarkable, and it's uh,
Speaker 1: it's sort of validating, you know it because Bannon is different, right,
Speaker 1: It's not it's not fancy hotel rooms. It's not plush
Speaker 1: green grass. You're not zooming around in a cart. Um.
Speaker 1: It's the different kind of golf, and it makes different
Speaker 1: demands of the people who make that trip. Um. But uh,
Speaker 1: it's sort of validation for for for golf the way
Speaker 1: it should be and the way we love it. And
Speaker 1: one of the things that came out of my round
Speaker 1: with Kaiser I want to mention is we're talking about
Speaker 1: the prices, and Bannon is not cheap. I mean, uh,
Speaker 1: it becomes a great value. As I think most people know.
Speaker 1: You play one round, pay full price, if you go
Speaker 1: for second eighteen, that one's half price, and if you
Speaker 1: go for a third eighteen, that's free. And so you
Speaker 1: get around to golf for basically four or fifty bucks
Speaker 1: and um, you know and one day. Yeah, and the
Speaker 1: quality is such that it's a hell of a bargain.
Speaker 1: And but I asked Mike, I said, so, I said,
Speaker 1: I feel like that first round at two, two or
Speaker 1: nine dollars, it's been like that for years. He's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: five years. Um, I said, is that is that kind
Speaker 1: of an emotional number you don't want to cross like
Speaker 1: a threshold? He said, yeah, for sure. He's like they
Speaker 1: begged me, and he said, so Lesnik begged me every
Speaker 1: year to raise the prices. Uh, He's like, whatever number
Speaker 1: we set, we could probably get. He's like, but I
Speaker 1: don't want to go above. I don't want to go
Speaker 1: above to like I feel like that's you know, there's
Speaker 1: there's sort of h he just doesn't want the green
Speaker 1: speed to start with the three. And because he's the
Speaker 1: big cheese, that's that's how it is. And um, so
Speaker 1: you know that's so against the American way where everyone's
Speaker 1: trying to squeeze every dollar out of everyone else at
Speaker 1: all times, right, and any other business. Uh you know
Speaker 1: you look at the cost of you know, a lift
Speaker 1: ticket to go skiing. It just goes up every year
Speaker 1: by twenty bucks. You look at Disney Laod like these
Speaker 1: things just on a straight upward climb. And the fact
Speaker 1: that Bannon has held the line on their green spies
Speaker 1: now for five going on six years, even as you
Speaker 1: mentioned matter that the demand is exploded. Um, it's just cool.
Speaker 1: It gives me like a warm, fuzzy feeling for for
Speaker 1: myke Kaiser and his people because there's, um, there's something
Speaker 1: else at play here besides just trying to make money.
Speaker 1: And that that's a rarity in this world. And when
Speaker 1: the beneficiaries are the everyday golfers who uh you know,
Speaker 1: might have to save up all years so they can
Speaker 1: go make that trip, and they go in February, they
Speaker 1: go in October when the rates are even cheaper, and um,
Speaker 1: you know, he's really doing right by those people. And
Speaker 1: I think it's just a cool part of this whole story. Well,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's worth noting that he's always told me
Speaker 1: that he's always wanted to be half of Pebble Beach.
Speaker 1: So whatever Pebble Beach charges, which is now north of six,
Speaker 1: he's he's still held to that commitment of being half
Speaker 1: of Pebble Beach. Um, you mentioned the idea if you
Speaker 1: play a third eighteen hole or a third round of
Speaker 1: golf under the same sun, that round is for it
Speaker 1: is free. Um. The the the other thing, the other
Speaker 1: thing that that's worth pointing out is is I remember
Speaker 1: speaking to him when he when he opened up abandoned
Speaker 1: Preserve and punch Bowl. He added he added these short
Speaker 1: course and then the putting course. Preserve is a hundred
Speaker 1: dollars in peak season and fifty dollars in the off season,
Speaker 1: and punch bowl a putting course is free. And I
Speaker 1: remember saying to him, I go, I don't understand these
Speaker 1: last two parts of what you've added to the portfolio
Speaker 1: or essentially undermining your business. Why are you giving people
Speaker 1: a place to go and play at a far less
Speaker 1: cost of your of your big cost and your big investment,
Speaker 1: which is the big golf the big golf courses. And
Speaker 1: he says, you know, I get it. I know what
Speaker 1: you're saying. It probably is not a the greatest idea
Speaker 1: by me. It's it's probably not the best business idea
Speaker 1: I've ever had. But you have to remember that what
Speaker 1: I'm trying to do is create the kind of an experience,
Speaker 1: the kind of experience that people have in which they
Speaker 1: don't just come here once. I need them to come back.
Speaker 1: And if they're driving away and they think to themselves, well, yeah,
Speaker 1: it was this amount of money, but we got that
Speaker 1: punch bowl afternoon for free, or we went and played
Speaker 1: the preserve and you know, for fifty dollars, or or
Speaker 1: it was because it was the third round of our day,
Speaker 1: we got to play it for free. You know, they're
Speaker 1: more inclined to come back. The reason why the menu
Speaker 1: isn't going to kill you in terms of what you're
Speaker 1: eating or what you're ordering or what you're drinking. Is
Speaker 1: because that's all part of his commitment to not only
Speaker 1: having you come once, but he wants you to come back.
Speaker 1: And if you look at the bottom out prices in November, December, January,
Speaker 1: and February, in which a lot of people, you know,
Speaker 1: the dirty little secret is those might be some of
Speaker 1: the best months to go to abandon and yeah, you
Speaker 1: get shorter days, but you get a lot smaller bills
Speaker 1: at the end. Is another amazing part of this whole
Speaker 1: equation is that he bottoms out the prices in the
Speaker 1: off season. He needs to keep that place active, He
Speaker 1: needs to keep a job for the you know, the
Speaker 1: people he's employing, both in you know, the service industry,
Speaker 1: but also the caddies, etcetera. So the whole thing is,
Speaker 1: you know, you wonder, how can some buddy in twenty
Speaker 1: years build a place that becomes the number one pure
Speaker 1: golf destination in a country in which they've been building
Speaker 1: golf for a hundred and thirty years. How did he
Speaker 1: do it with that kind of commitment to the experience,
Speaker 1: the affordability, the accessibility and uh, and the opportunity did
Speaker 1: not just come to come come once, but come back.
Speaker 1: I mean, honestly, how many people have given so much
Speaker 1: enjoyment to their fellow man as Mike Kaiser, maybe Hugh Hefner. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, we could could come up, we could come
Speaker 1: up with a small list, but like, um, yeah, report Thomas.
Speaker 1: That is a you know whatever, but it's a small yeah.
Speaker 1: And I mean he's just a great American. That's how
Speaker 1: I think of the guy. It's not that he's just
Speaker 1: great for golf, like, um, the example he's set as
Speaker 1: an industry leader and as as a philanthropist and as
Speaker 1: a conservationist like I mean, he's just he's the man.
Speaker 1: I don't know what else to say, but uh, anyway, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I really feel like we could talk about Bandon Dunes
Speaker 1: all night. But the bottom line is there's gonna be
Speaker 1: another course. We feel good about that despite some of
Speaker 1: the head winds politically, and there's gonna be thirteen u
Speaker 1: SG Championships. We're all it's not cold. Me and you, Matt,
Speaker 1: We're gonna be in our seventies when they're they're still
Speaker 1: playing these and you know, I'm sure we'll drag our
Speaker 1: sorry butts up there to cover the you know, U
Speaker 1: s g a slate abandoned dunes, because why not. I mean,
Speaker 1: might only play eighteen holes that day when we're sneaking off,
Speaker 1: but uh, I think we'll be there because why not.
Speaker 1: It's like uh oh, by the way, It's not like
Speaker 1: these are the only thirteen. I'm sure they're just gonna
Speaker 1: keep adding to it as as they're successful and people
Speaker 1: get excited. I mean, um, you know, who knows the
Speaker 1: sky's the limit And maybe maybe maybe maybe the Women's Open,
Speaker 1: you know, that doesn't require the infrastructure and it doesn't
Speaker 1: have the crowd demands, and maybe they'll figure out a
Speaker 1: way they could do a US Open with limited crowds.
Speaker 1: Like you know, Marion, Um, you just just except you're
Speaker 1: only gonna have ten thousand fans a day and you're
Speaker 1: not gonna make as much, but you're given something back
Speaker 1: that's really special to golf fans. So this, this is
Speaker 1: a long term relationship that I think is going to
Speaker 1: be um evolving and and there'll be more exciting surprises
Speaker 1: and well, there's twenty four new rooms that are opening
Speaker 1: up next week. Mike is on his way to Bandon
Speaker 1: Dunes to to see those. They've got another forty eight
Speaker 1: rooms that they're building. Uh, and they're building a new
Speaker 1: clubhouse overlooking the eighteenth hole of Old McDonald. It's gonna
Speaker 1: be there's gonna be a steakhouse there. There's gonna be
Speaker 1: another punch bowl near Old McDonald. If he builds the
Speaker 1: sixth golf course, Um, he's gonna need in his mind,
Speaker 1: he needs another to another seventy two rooms at the minimum.
Speaker 1: Um that he's looking to expand on. Um. They have
Speaker 1: a they've bought an old motel in the town abandoned
Speaker 1: that if they get the permitting approved, they could potentially
Speaker 1: renovate and restore and and add another thirty two rooms.
Speaker 1: Uh there. So UM, when you say there's more to come,
Speaker 1: I mean there's more to come. And I just want
Speaker 1: to make the I was just gonna make the point
Speaker 1: that I mean the excitement starts now right. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's thirteen championships coming stretching all the way to next
Speaker 1: year Junior M. And they made that, you know, this
Speaker 1: announcement today as the Junior M is going on, just
Speaker 1: finished the stroke play rounds. I want to shout out
Speaker 1: Kelly Chen who dropped a course record sixty four at
Speaker 1: the country Club of North Carolina Dogwood Course. Yes, your day.
Speaker 1: Um this tournaments, no, Joe, there's no regular junior golf tournament.
Speaker 1: I mean going back, you know, looking at the finalists
Speaker 1: since Min Wooley, who just wants got a show, ben
Speaker 1: Zalator's Scheffler, actually Battia, Matt Wolf Speed j T. And
Speaker 1: then going beyond that, of course you know Tiger mayhand
Speaker 1: badly a slew of guys. So I mean these are
Speaker 1: h the stars of tomorrow and that's happening next year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And it's just it's all as part of the brand.
Speaker 1: I mean, kids, women, uh, seniors. I mean, Bandon is
Speaker 1: just a very inclusive place, and that's why the slate
Speaker 1: of tournaments is uh so fitting. You know, it's not
Speaker 1: just the best of the best. It's not like they're
Speaker 1: saying we're either we get a US Open or nothing.
Speaker 1: You know, it's like, bring it, give us all your
Speaker 1: tournaments that are neglected and underpublicized. Let's make him a
Speaker 1: big deal and let's get people excited about him, and
Speaker 1: let's let's serve all these different kinds teachum ins and
Speaker 1: it's just uh it's it's the perfect slate for for
Speaker 1: abandoned dunes. And by the way, those are those are
Speaker 1: you know, the most fun to watch. I've gotten to
Speaker 1: to work you know, the usg events with Fox Sports
Speaker 1: for five years from to nineteen. I got to work
Speaker 1: the US Opens and those were fun but long days.
Speaker 1: I was in the TV compound. It's obviously a lot
Speaker 1: going on that week, uh, and for the patrons as well.
Speaker 1: But my favorite events were you know, Curtis Cup, Walker Cup,
Speaker 1: the amateurs. You get to go out there, you getting
Speaker 1: you know, talk to the families and friends that are
Speaker 1: following the players. You can walk out on the fairways,
Speaker 1: you can dip into the press conferences, and you can
Speaker 1: even talk to the players after the round. Um. It's
Speaker 1: just such a a different environment, um and very enjoyable
Speaker 1: for for the spectator. So I would advise to go, well,
Speaker 1: you know, back, you know, back to Pinehurst, Royal Dornick
Speaker 1: being Kaiser's original model in which he was like, wow,
Speaker 1: ten thousand North Americans make the trek to Royal Dornick
Speaker 1: every year. Well, maybe if I build something in a
Speaker 1: remote location, we can get ten thousand North Americans to
Speaker 1: go to you know, southern Oregon, which then ended up
Speaker 1: becoming twenty north North American people making that trick, which
Speaker 1: ended up being the justification why he would build a
Speaker 1: second course. But you've got Dornick Ross, Ross goes to Pinehurst,
Speaker 1: kid from Scotland goes to Band and uh Pinehers and
Speaker 1: Band and become, as you you've put it, alan like
Speaker 1: an arms race in terms of greatness, as you know,
Speaker 1: as it is for the avid amateur golfer. Um one
Speaker 1: starting a putting course, one doing another putting one doing
Speaker 1: a short course, the other one doing a short course.
Speaker 1: This has been you know, the the the architects Core
Speaker 1: and Crenshaw there. Then you know Bill Core and Ben
Speaker 1: come back to Pineers to redo and restore number two. Um,
Speaker 1: it's just there's this beautiful connective tissue in which you
Speaker 1: can take it all the way back to Ross who
Speaker 1: worked with old Tom wa I mean, this just really
Speaker 1: is golf as it was meant to be. And I
Speaker 1: think American golf and architecture got sideways and lost its
Speaker 1: way for decades as people were trying to innovate and
Speaker 1: and create real estate in which they could sell houses
Speaker 1: around golf. And I think what Mike did was reset
Speaker 1: that narrative and reset that path, uh for the next
Speaker 1: you know, for the next hundred years. As now everything
Speaker 1: is being redone and reimagined, and and people are gravitating
Speaker 1: towards what really matters, which is golf first, golf as
Speaker 1: it was meant to be ore here, m I mean,
Speaker 1: it's amazing and we win, always saying like we you know,
Speaker 1: I've always said if I wrote a book about Kaiser,
Speaker 1: would I would always say what do we think? Because
Speaker 1: that's the way he approaches almost any decision. He pulls
Speaker 1: the group of people that he's assembled to say what
Speaker 1: do we think? And then he listens to what everybody thinks,
Speaker 1: and then he ultimately makes the decision. But the decisions
Speaker 1: he has made as it relates to what we have
Speaker 1: uh certainly abandoned dunes and now what his sons are
Speaker 1: doing in Sand Valley, and what Ben Calander has done
Speaker 1: with you know, Cabot, and now what will be Cabots St. Louis,
Speaker 1: Cabot St. Lucia just continued. The ripple effect here is happening.
Speaker 1: And I should also note that I spoke to Michael
Speaker 1: Kaiser earlier today as well. Mike's oldest son who he
Speaker 1: and Chris. Michael and Chris Kaiser are are the owners
Speaker 1: of Sand Valley. And I asked Michael before I got
Speaker 1: Mike on the phone, to say, hey, on behalf of
Speaker 1: the Kaiser family, what's your comments on these you know,
Speaker 1: these U s g A events and then the idea
Speaker 1: of a sixth course. And he said, look, I'm happy
Speaker 1: to talk to you, but I'm going to defer to
Speaker 1: my dad on on his comments about his baby, which
Speaker 1: is banned in dunes. I don't feel comfortable being the
Speaker 1: voice of our family speaking on behalf of of the
Speaker 1: news out abandoned Dunes on both fronts, because this is
Speaker 1: my dad's this is my dad's vision, this is my
Speaker 1: dad's creation, and this is you know, in large part
Speaker 1: going to be a big part of my dad's legacy.
Speaker 1: I mean that that that just shows I mean that
Speaker 1: just shows you just sort of the quality of all
Speaker 1: that Mike Kaiser is telling you about Josh Lesnik and
Speaker 1: Mike Davis and Michael Kaiser is telling you about this
Speaker 1: is my dad. And you know there's nobody out there
Speaker 1: banging chest and grandstanding about this is about me. Everybody's
Speaker 1: talking about how it's about everybody else, and it's a
Speaker 1: it's it's you feel when you go there, that what
Speaker 1: it really is about is about us, is about our
Speaker 1: experience and our opportunity for that kind of camaraderie that
Speaker 1: you talked about, those memorable experiences, those moments with loved
Speaker 1: ones and family and friends, and I mean, and that
Speaker 1: desire that as you're driving away you want to sob
Speaker 1: like a child because it's coming to an end and
Speaker 1: you can't wait to go back. Well, that's perfect way
Speaker 1: to end it. I mean, that's well said, Maddie. It's
Speaker 1: it's a special place to all of us. So, um,
Speaker 1: you know, it's just it's a great day for golfers.
Speaker 1: But what can you say. It's uh, it's something to
Speaker 1: celebrate for so many different reasons. And it's fun to
Speaker 1: kick it around because this just makes I haven't thought
Speaker 1: about abandoned, you know, in a couple of days until
Speaker 1: today is it's like, oh my god, we gotta get
Speaker 1: back there. Wait how many months is it? You know?
Speaker 1: It's like uh so yeah, it's uh, it's it's a celebration,
Speaker 1: that's what it is. I'll leave you with this. Mike
Speaker 1: actually painted this picture for me. He goes he was
Speaker 1: most excited about the juniors, by the way of all
Speaker 1: the people, the boys and girls. Uh, you know, amateur
Speaker 1: events there is what he's so excited about it. He goes, Maddie,
Speaker 1: can you imagine one day the idea of band and
Speaker 1: Janella playing a junior championship at Bandon Dunes and you'ro
Speaker 1: out there on his bag, you know, as you know,
Speaker 1: knowing the golf courses like you know, him trying to
Speaker 1: coach your son around it. And I was like, all right,
Speaker 1: that said, you gotta stop it. You know, that's too much,
Speaker 1: too much for me to handle. Can you imagine Bandon
Speaker 1: at Bandon winning a championship? So he did paint that
Speaker 1: a little picture. So now that's all I can think about,
Speaker 1: and I'll probably be dreaming about it for the next
Speaker 1: decades to come. You're gonna be telling Bannon to put it.
Speaker 1: You're gonna that's a gamester. I look forward to writing, Uh,
Speaker 1: Colt will Philip and edit. Yeah, we got it all right, boys,
Speaker 1: this was fun. Thanks hopefully we're there. To Mike Kaiser,
Speaker 1: to Mike Davis, to Josh les Nick, to the people
Speaker 1: like shoot, to all the caddies, to the great Experiences,
Speaker 1: to Howard McKee, to uh to Shorty and his wife,
Speaker 1: I mean David Kidd and Mr Kidd and Doak and
Speaker 1: Orbina and Core and Cranshaw and my goodness, thank you,
Speaker 1: thank you. Cheers. Before we go, I just want to
Speaker 1: thank our sponsors and that is link Soul, our friends
Speaker 1: John Ashworth and Jeff Cunningham for their support. Couldn't do
Speaker 1: without him. Go to links soul dot com and use
Speaker 1: promo code fire pit Off on your next purchase. And
Speaker 1: then our friends at part Points. I couldn't do it
Speaker 1: without them either. The innovative guys who came up with
Speaker 1: a way to score the game. Download the app and
Speaker 1: go make par