Category: Courses

Bandon Dunes 25th anniversary: Ken Nice found the chance to grow on the Oregon coast

Is he the basketball coach or the greenskeeper? H didn’t have to choose at Bandon Dunes.



(Editor’s note: Bandon Dunes Golf Resort is celebrating its 25th anniversary and Golfweek Travel Editor Jason Lusk put together a comprehensive package for the occasion, complete with Q&As of pivotal people in and around the operation. To see the entire package of stories, click here.)

BANDON, Ore. – Ken Nice grew up in Corvallis, Oregon, and he wasn’t a golfer. Basketball was his game, and it’s still one of his passions as a coach at the high school in Bandon.

Nice took up golf after college, and with his interest piqued, he has gone on to become one of the leading voices of golf agronomy in the world since starting at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort as an assistant before it opened in 1999, then overseeing the grow-in of the other courses. He is now the senior director of agronomy at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort.

He spoke with Golfweek in the run-up to the resort’s 25th anniversary.

When you started at Bandon, what was the environment like? 

March of ’99. Even for me at the time, it seemed big. The previous courses I had worked at were Trysting Tree in Corvallis and then Astoria Golf and Country Club. So we had a full-time staff of about eight or nine at Astoria. I came here and all of a sudden there were like 30 guys and a brand-new maintenance facility, a brand-new golf course in Bandon Dunes with big scale compared to a lot of what I has seen up to that point. Initially I was just blown away by the place. 

What’s interesting, 10 months later we got the fire at (the yet unbuilt) Pacific Dunes that wiped out all the gorse (which is extremely flammable and is a threat along much of the coast around Bandon). Tom Doak was able to envision the routing much better because the contours were now exposed. Up to that point it was just a sea of gorse, so you had to completely rely on topo maps. So Doak comes out and really refines his routing, and then all the sudden Mr. Keiser said the Renaissance guys (the company Doak founded) and Tom, they’re not doing anything this winter so they thought they’d just build some holes. We built 11 holes by June. It was a blur. 

And I was never given the actual construction superintendent job, for a while. I just acted like I had it. At some point they were just like, “Well, he’s been doing it, so …” I actually owe Tom Doak a lot because he was probably the first person to really champion my cause and my efforts. 

You got to work with Tom Doak again at Old Mac. That must have been like a familiar handshake. 

Getting to work with Tom for the second time, and also Jim Urbina – Jim was kind of the on-site designer at Pacific, too, ran the construction – I have learned so much from Tom. I could never do what Tom does. When you get to work with Tom or Bill Coore or David McLay Kidd, these guys put together these amazing routings. 

Just to be a fly on the wall with Tom, going through the process twice with him and also the Punchbowl (putting course), I have learned a ton from him about what’s right and what’s wrong. Aesthetically, I think a lot of time we all know what looks good and what doesn’t, but how do you create that? 

Working on a links-type golf course must have been a different experience for you, all the way to the roots of the turf? 

It’s kind of interesting that what got me into golf, my passion, was watching (British) Open Championships. So I saw these kinds of burnt-out, brownish, fast-playing and kind of raw and rugged golf courses, and that was what motivated me. That was my inspiration to get into golf. 

One of my first jobs out of Oregon State was at Astoria Golf and Country Club, and it’s on the North Coast. It’s a sandy, ocean course – not right on the ocean, but it’s very old-school. If you were to go look at it, you would say the contours are amazing and very cool. So I actually sought out the most links-like experience to start my career, and it was Astoria. 

Bandon Dunes
From left, Phil Friedmann, Bill Coore, Ken Nice and Mike Keiser walk the site of the Sheep Ranch during construction. (Courtesy of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort)

What’s it been like working for Mike Keiser all these years as he tries to build a Dornoch of the United States? How do you go about it? 

First, I can’t really even say how thankful and how much gratitude I have toward the opportunity to work with him. The relationship, like all relationships, builds over time – you have to prove yourself. He’s always understated with his comments. It’s not like he’s overly effusive, but certain comments mean a ton, you know. 

For me, the biggest comment he ever made to me that probably changed our relationship but also let me know how he felt about me, was when I left Pacific Dunes and went to Bandon Trails. At the time, Pacific Dunes was dialed in, it was amazing and I could have just lived out a career as the superintendent at Pacific Dunes. 

But then I had the opportunity to go work with Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, and build Trails with them and do the grow-in there. Mike Keiser and I were driving around the jobsite, and he said he respected the move that I made to come over to Trails, and that I could have rested on my laurels but I took a chance. He said that “was a strong move, a confident move and the right move.” 

That statement to me kind of let me know I was on the right path with him in terms of his confidence. After that he’s trusted me to lead the projects here forward. … That’s a huge honor for me and something I don’t take lightly. 

Speaking of taking a risk, 25 years ago nobody was building a resort like this. The whole place is a risk. How does all that stack up in building what Bandon is today? 

Because I have been here all this time and been a part of every change that has occurred, it’s probably not as impactful to me. I’ve always said: You know the movie “Men in Black,” they have that thing that erases your memory? It would be pretty cool to come here for a first time again. Somebody zappy-thing me, then I come to Bandon Dunes for a week. That would be great. 

It’s a different place entirely. I never envisioned it being this massive, this many courses. When you start on a project, how many times have you been in a golf development where you see the first one but they’re talking four or five more courses and tennis courts, you know? And then something peters out and momentum stops and it never really comes to fruition. 

Whereas Bandon Dunes has always been like, Mr. Keiser is just like, “We’re starting the construction on this,” and boom, next thing we’re going. That kind of pace, of being able to continue to work and have opportunities to develop some of these courses with such a great group of designers and teams that we’ve actually had come through here – I’m thankful every day for this job. 

What surprises your guests the most about these links? 

Our clients are so varied, you have some men and women come here that know what links golf is all about. And that’s their deal, so they’re all in.

But then there’s some that are shocked, you know. We get the comment about no grass on the fairways, the lies are too tight, you know? It depends on perception. If somebody’s coming from Florida thinking that, you know, they’re going to have similar conditions to what they’re used to, it’s kind of a shock to them. Adapting to a new style of golf is tough in a crash course kind of situation.

In town, are you known as the golf guy or the basketball coach? 

Well, I’m certainly thankful to have been able to coach for 22 years at Bandon High. That’s another whole side of the deal in terms of being thankful. That’s a lot of kids and family connections in the town that are meaningful, being integrated in the town.

It’s probably 50-50. Some of them probably don’t know what I do out here. I would like to say, the Keiser family has always been hugely supportive of my coaching and being part of the community and having involvement. You know, being a Bandon guy.

Bandon Dunes 25th anniversary: Ben Cowan-Dewar proves the Bandon model works other places

Ben Cowan-Dewar was inspired by Mike Keiser: ‘No one since Old Tom Morris has had more impact.’



(Editor’s note: Bandon Dunes Golf Resort is celebrating its 25th anniversary and Golfweek Travel Editor Jason Lusk put together a comprehensive package for the occasion, complete with Q&As of pivotal people in and around the operation. To see the entire package of stories, click here.)

BANDON, Ore. – Ben Cowan-Dewar, who dreamed of building a far-away golf resort in Nova Scotia, Canada, has learned much by studying Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon.

The Canadian developer has partnered with Mike Keiser on several of the best new golf course properties in recent decades, most notably the two highly ranked courses at Cabot Cape Breton. Cowan-Dewar has in recent years expanded to Scotland, Saint Lucia, Florida and soon western Canada.

Cowan-Dewar spoke with Golfweek about the inspiration and financial backing he derived from Keiser, the developer of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, which in May celebrates its 25th anniversary. 

How much have Bandon Dunes and Mike Keiser influenced your career?

It would be hard to imagine Bandon having a more profound effect on many people’s lives than it did on mine. When I first went there (in 2001), I was a lover of golf courses who went to this far-off place and played Bandon Dunes and Pacific. I think it gave me the ability to dream, you know. I’ve been dreaming since I was a kid about building a golf course, but I think to see something like that on the coast, it sort of gave me a dream. …

There’s no chance I would have even been able to undertake Cabot 19 years ago had I not seen Bandon. I think Bandon gave me the ability to dream really big dreams. And then Mike, in his partnership and mentorship, really helped fulfill them. It had an absolutely profound effect.

Bandon Dunes Cabot
Bandon Dunes founder Mike Keiser and Cabot founder Ben Cowan-Dewer (Courtesy of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort)

What was your first conversation about Cabot with Mike Keiser like?

We were two years from partnering, and he was busy with trying to get Trails open. And, you know, he said he had bitten off more than he could chew in remote golf. That partly was a natural defense for a man who was probably assaulted on a weekly basis by some young buck who wanted to build a golf course in the middle of nowhere.

At the end of that conversation, which I call a very polite brush-off, he said, “Hey, wait, you’ve got to get more land, because you won’t be able to buy land for a second course (Cabot Cliffs) after the first course (Cabot Links).”

In 2007 he partnered with me and made the dream come true, and from those humble beginnings, we built on that foundation. 

He’s been an exemplar, a mentor, a partner, a father figure, and I’ve been blessed to know him.

Is it fair to say that no other modern golf developers had the impact that Mike has had? 

I would say, not even close. I would go further than that to say no one since Old Tom Morris has had more impact.

It’s been only 25 years, and if you think about Barnbougle (in Tasmania, and in which Keiser invested before it opened in 2004), and you think about Cabot, those were two that he was directly related to early on. Then you think about all of the other stuff that’s been built in that period of time since. 

I just can’t think of anybody else. You said “modern” but I would drop the modern and just say, who’s had a greater impact on golf development in history? I can’t think of anybody. 

What are some main lessons you’ve learned from Bandon or Keiser?

I have a book of what I call my Keiserisms. Mike has this unbelievable ability to make things seem very simple, even if they are anything but. I think when you have the success that he has – he’s had two very different types of businesses (golf and greeting cards), and he’s been a global leader in two different sectors. Some of that is getting people to follow you, and he has that in spades, but he just has so many really simple truisms. 

One of my favorites is to do what you say you’re going to do, when you say you’re going do it. That means if you say you’re going to have something on Tuesday, you don’t wait and have it on Wednesday. Well, that sounds pretty simple but it’s a hard thing to live by.

Simply being someone that people want to work for, to me that is one of his greatest hallmarks. You see that with all of the great architects in the world that have lined up and wanted to work with him. 

And he just has the ability to draw the very best out of people. 

Bandon Dunes Cabot
Mike Keiser was an early investor in Cabot in Nova Scotia, Canada (Courtesy of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort)

So many developers and courses have tried to follow the Bandon model, but few have been able to pull it off as well. What do they miss? 

I think there’s a couple of things. One, Mike said at Cabot in the early days that Cabot will be different than Bandon in 20 ways, he just didn’t know which 20 ways yet. For a man that had done the impossible at Bandon, he wasn’t trying to carbon copy it and say this is a franchise model.

And so I think whenever you’re trying to copy an original, it’s probably pretty hard. He had the original, and he didn’t go and try and copy it. He tried to make everything authentic to the locations he worked in.

He obviously focused on a couple of really key ingredients, but I think like any really good business that is consumer-facing, it’s really about delivering to your customer the very best product you can. People can lose sight of that and have their own vision, and it’s just not as customer-centric as Mike would be in his business.

What’s it like to play golf with Mike? 

He’s fast. He’s good a player too, but he’s fast more than he’s good. And that suited me quite well. He is competitive, and he loves the competition, but above all else he is fast.

On the opening day of Cabot, we stood on the first tee and saw every golfer tee off, like he has done at Bandon. So we didn’t get to play until the next morning. 

The next morning we were playing with the premier of Nova Scotia – for you, he was the equivalent of a governor – and Mike told the premier, let’s play at 8. And Mike was on the tee at 7:41, and he said, “Do we need to wait for him?” I said, “Well, he is the premier.” Mike’s ball was in the air before 8, and the premier was running down to meet us having seen us out his window. So speed trumps all.

Bandon Dunes 25th anniversary: Say hi to Shoe, the resort’s director of outside happiness

Rain or shine, Shoe will be beat you to the parking lot any day as director of outside happiness at Bandon Dunes.


(Editor’s note: Bandon Dunes Golf Resort is celebrating its 25th anniversary and Golfweek Travel Editor Jason Lusk put together a comprehensive package for the occasion, complete with Q&As of pivotal people in and around the operation. To see the entire package of stories, click here.)

BANDON, Ore. – A former UPS and semi-tractor driver who had lived in the area for decades, Bob Gaspar arrived at Bandon Dunes Golf resort in the 1990s to make a delivery before the resort opened. He fell in love with the place.

Gaspar quickly jumped at the chance to switch careers when offered a job by the resort’s first general manager, Josh Lesnick. Starting as caddie master, he transitioned to outside services, earning his title as director of outside happiness.

Handed the nickname Shoe by a former Golfweek editor, Gaspar handles plenty of golf bags flowing through the resort, but more importantly perhaps, he studies the guest list daily to better welcome players from around the world – he often arrives not long after midnight to read up on who is playing that day.

He provides a daily weather report via X (formerly Twitter; check him out @GolfShoeBandon), and many guests make it a point to snap a selfie with Shoe. He took the time to speak with Golfweek in the run-up to the resort’s 25th anniversary.

Bob “Shoe” Gaspar has been an employee since before the resort opened 25 years ago. (Courtesy of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort)

What was it like when you first came out to Bandon Dunes? 

I was probably the epitome of a gofer, you know. “Shoe, could you go here? Shoe, can you do this?” To me it was just fun. 

When it first appeared in the local Bandon paper that a Chicago businessman by the name of Mike Keiser was going to do us a huge favor by building a golf course out here, to a man everybody just said, “No, you know that’s not going to work. Who’s gonna come?”

But we were thinking small, you know, and Mr. Keiser thinks worldwide. He proved the world wrong, I’ll guarantee you. … He’s a brilliant person, first of all, and he’s never been much for small talk. He’s always watching, looking to see what the guest needs, what else can we do that will make their visit exceptional. 

How did the nickname Shoe come about? 

That came about in 1998. Josh Lesnick was acquainted with one of the writers, (longtime Golfweek columnist) Jeff Rude, so Josh invited him down since they were in this part of the country. The course was just playable and we weren’t open yet, and Jeff came down with three or four other writers. 

(Longtime Golfweek editor) Dave Seanor was with them, also. They pulled up on a sand dune in a van, and I went to meet them. Dave jumped out first, looked at me and he said, “You remind me of jockey Bill Shoemaker.” So from that day on they started calling me Shoe. 

It would have died out, but Josh wouldn’t let it go. There was a house that came with the property, and it was a design center where all the work was done. They took out the water heater that was in there, and it was a small little closet thing, and Josh said to me, “There’s your office.” And he nailed a shoe above it. So basically the rest is just history. 

How did your Twitter handle come about, and giving the weather ratings?

Once again, Mr. Keiser. I didn’t know anything about Twitter. One day, I think it was seven or eight years ago, he said, “Shoe, you ever thought about being on Twitter?” And I said, no. He said, “Why don’t you think about it, and why don’t you think about tweeting the weather every day?” 

Weather’s been real important to me ever since opening day. The first car pulled up, the door opened up and before the foot hit the ground, it was, “What’s the weather gonna do today?”

My rating score is based on wind and rain; it has nothing to do with the sun. If the sun never shines here and the wind is 4 to 5 mph, that would be a great day. It’s a playability number, in other words. I do it on a scale of zero to 10. I’ve never given a zero and I’ll never give a 10, because nothing’s perfect.

Bandon Dunes 25th anniversary: A step back in time to the first Bandon story by Golfweek

Golfweek first wrote about Bandon Dunes Golf Resort the year before it opened. Check out the story to see if we got things right.


Golfweek got its first look at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in 1998, when several writers visited before the first of what has become five courses even officially opened. Dave Seanor, Golfweek’s editor at the time, wrote the first national story on the new course.

The next year, Golfweek put Bandon Dunes on the magazine cover in March, two months before the grand opening, and described the layout as among the top 10 courses in the U.S. The accolades have been coming ever since.

For more details on the development of Bandon Dunes, check out developer Mike Keiser’s most recent book, “The Nature of the Game.” And keep scrolling for Seanor’s story that served as an introduction for so many to Bandon Dunes.

With the resort celebrating its 25th anniversary, Golfweek Travel Editor Jason Lusk put together a comprehensive package for the occasion, complete with Q&As of pivotal people in and around the operation. To see the entire package of stories, click here.

Picture a cross between Pebble Beach and Carnoustie – with a pinch of Pine Valley for good measure – and you have Bandon Dunes. Tentatively set to open next May, the new resort in Bandon, Oregon, already has previewers rating it as a “must-play” destination for the golf purist.

Owner Mike Keiser, a Chicagoan with a passion for golf in the Scottish tradition, imported architect David McLay Kidd of Gleneagles, Scotland, and gave him the run of 2,500 virgin acres to design only his second golf course. Not since the golden age of course construction in the 1920s has a Scottish designer left such a striking impact on American soil. Architecturally precocious at 30, Kidd created a masterpiece that’s evocative of the great links courses of his native land.

Bandon Dunes sits atop a bluff that commands a seemingly endless stretch of pristine Pacific Ocean beach. The routing meshes naturally with the existing duneland terrain; Keiser insisted that a minimum of earth be moved during construction. There is no water on the links of Bandon, although six holes abut the Pacific.

Sod-faced bunkers bring to mind Carnoustie. Wind can wreak havoc, especially on the par 3s – three of which have arresting ocean backdrops. Greens and chipping areas are configured to reward the creative ground game. Fairways are magnanimous for the resort player, but with strategically placed bunkers that provoke indecision on the tee. Stray from the short stuff, and the golfer must grapple with Scottish-like gorse and whins.

More memorable that the risks are the rewards. Stand over a putt, and the only sound is the crashing of waves. A 36-hole walk is paradise, not purgatory. And walk you must. At Bandon Dunes, which eventually will have 54 holes, caddies are the rule, not the exception.

Accommodations will include 20 suites in the clubhouse complex and between 30 and 40 cottages out of sight of the golf course.

For more details, call Bandon Dunes at 541/347-4380.

Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Arizona flips the switch on night golf with #miniDunes

Lights, camera, action.

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MARICOPA, Ariz. — Lights, camera, action.

Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club, located about 45 minutes south of Phoenix, is the latest facility in Arizona to offer night golf with its newly lit #miniDunes course.

With a celebrity lineup of former NBA standout Eddie Johnson, former NFL linebacker Seth Joyner, former NFL kicker Jay Feely, former Major League Baseball pitcher Archie Bradley and trick shot artist Tania Tare, Southern Dunes flipped the switch on its six-hole loop, which also serves as the driving range during the daylight hours.

The short course, featuring holes measuring from 60 to 115 yards, opened in 2014 but there’s now 13 poles with Musco stadium lights illuminating the night. Tee times can be booked as late as 10 p.m. with unlimited play options available.

The 18-hole course at Ak-Chin, designed by Brian Curley and Fred Couples, opened in 2002 and became part of the Ak-Chin Indian Community in 2010. It is ranked No. 14 on on Golfweek’s Best top casino golf courses in the U.S. and sixth best public-access layout in Arizona.

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Crown Colony CC in Texas undergoes renovation by Trey Kemp, John Colligan

Trey Kemp and John Colligan have started work at Crown Colony Country Club in Lufkin to restore greens plus much more.

Golf course architects Trey Kemp and John Colligan have started a project to restore the playing conditions at Crown Colony Country Club in Lufkin in eastern Texas.

Originally designed by Bruce Devlin and Robert Von Hagge, Crown Colony opened in 1979. The semi-private club offers stay-and-play packages.

“The course has been kept in great shape over the years, but the greens have gotten smaller, the bunkers have lost their original shapes and the time has come for many of the components to be updated,” Kemp said in a media release announcing the news.

Work will include expanding the greens, which have shrunk, as most greens do over time. Kemp and Colligan have enlisted Sanders Golf Course Construction to help rebuild the greens and the bunkers. Other work will focus on the course’s bridges, tree trimming, tees and drainage.

“The renovation will address aesthetics, playability and maintenance elements of the course in an effort to take it back to its original grandeur,” Colligan said in the media release. “Trey and I are very honored to have this opportunity to restore such a great piece of Texas golf history.”

Kemp and Colligan’s renovation began April 1 and is scheduled to be completed in October.

Kemp and Colligan have teamed up on past projects such as Brackenridge Park Golf Course in San Antonio, Stevens Park Golf Course in Dallas and Texas Rangers Golf Club in Arlington, Texas.

This Beau Welling-designed course in Texas will have stunning lakefront views

“You look here at this setting like this … it’s going to be super dramatic.”

LAKEWAY, Texas — Beau Welling stood on a spot perched high above Lake Travis on Tuesday and talked very little about what will likely be a breathtaking golf hole.

The architect of the Travis Club, which officially broke ground this week near Austin, Welling insisted what drew him to this project was the idea that a golf course can do more than just determine a handicap. In fact, he said in his first meetings about the property, the conversation had more to do with experience than it did layout.

“We didn’t talk about golf holes. We talked about what this project could mean to the community, even the greater community of Austin and the Hill Country and I immediately was attracted to that,” Welling said during his introductory speech on Tuesday, noting that at 54 his best playing days are behind him, but he still finds happiness on the golf course.

Golfweek’s Best: Top public and private courses in Texas

“The light bulb that went off was that golf was something that attracts people together to have these human moments, create memories and be together. And I think we all learn kind of going through the pandemic that we as a species like we need to be around other people. Well, golf is an incredible fosterer of that. And that’s kind of what we talked about in some of our initial conversations.

“I think about my life and half the memories of my father on the golf course, half my friends come from the golf course. And I think what’s driven our practice really is trying to take our craft, the golf course design and create golf experiences that allow people to have these human moments.”

Although he hails from South Carolina, Welling is familiar with the Lone Star State, having crafted one of the two golf courses at Fields Ranch, the PGA of America’s new masterpiece in Frisco, as well as Bluejack National outside Houston and Escondido near Marble Falls.

And while he talked primarily about relationships, he did add that the piece of property where the signature fifth hole sits — the site of Tuesday’s groundbreaking — should be special. The hole will likely max out at about 221 yards from the back tee, offering a spectacular view of the lake and its surroundings.

“You look here at this setting like this, when the lake fills back up it’s going to be super dramatic. It’s super dramatic right now with this big ravine, this big canyon,” Welling said. “Alister MacKenzie, the designer of Augusta National, Cypress Point and Royal Melbourne, he said that the chief consideration of any good golf hole is this idea of drama or overcoming a hazard and that all good golf holes have that. And so we will have tons and tons of drama throughout the experience that will be the Travis Club.”

Architect Beau Welling speaks on what will be the fifth tee at the Travis Club in Austin, Texas. (Photo: Errich Petersen for Travis Club)

The first phase of the project, which includes 106 home sites, is about half-sold and the remaining sites, which range from a half-acre to just under three acres, start at about $800,000.

“We are thrilled to introduce this new lake and golf community on Lake Travis. What sets this project apart is the unique natural beauty and recreational opportunities that Lake Travis offers. We have designed Travis Club intentionally by taking great care to preserve and complement the local environment and surroundings, with over 50% of the property dedicated to golf, open space, or conservation areas,” said Leisha Ehlert, CEO of Travis Club. “We have integrated the stunning lakeside views and lush landscapes with the development of exceptional facilities, providing members and their families the ability to enjoy the serenity of lakeside living while having access to a world-class golf and recreation experience.”

After BigShots backed out, this Florida community is rallying to reopen a 9-hole municipal golf course

The county will kick in $6 million, the same amount it promised to give BigShots.

NAPLES, Florida — Commissioners in Collier County have approved a long-term lease and operating agreement critical to the reopening of the Golden Gate golf course.

On Tuesday, the board voted unanimously in favor of the contract, authorizing the commission chairman to sign it.

The action has been a long time in coming.

Nearly six months after BigShots backed out of its plans to build a golf entertainment center on the county-owned land last year, a newly formed charity made an offer to step into its shoes in mid-December, then won a competitive bid to move forward.

The new nonprofit was formed by the Schmieding family, behind the global medical device manufacturer Arthrex, based in North Naples. Known as The Gate Golf Club Inc., it will design, build and operate the community project through a public-private partnership.

The county will kick in $6 million to help fund the redevelopment, the same amount it promised to give BigShots before the company bowed out, then got absorbed by its competitor TopGolf.

The new golf complex will include a nine-hole community course with a driving range, a practice area and a full-service restaurant, with at least 150 seats. It will also have a pro shop, cart barn and maintenance building.

For a nominal amount, The Gate will sublease a portion of the land to First Tee for the development of a clubhouse with classrooms, offices, conference rooms and storage to support that organization’s youth development program.

Arthrex has long been a big supporter of First Tee in Collier County.

In partnership with First Tee Naples/Collier, Arthrex plans to create a golf learning center for kids to introduce them to the sport, while using the sport to develop their character and core values. The First Tee Academy would offer advanced, interactive technology and learning classes, as well as providing a practice area for young players at the site.

Golf complex will have many benefits

Ed Finn, an assistant county manager, told commissioners the project would be built to the highest standards, and give the public access to a public golf course that meets the community’s highest expectations. He listed the many benefits of the project, from boosting the local economy to enhancing green space and increasing golf access by making it more affordable for the community.

Discounts would be offered to county residents on rounds of golf, in the amount of 40% on seasonal rates and 20% on offseason rates. The annual value of the discounts is estimated at $600,000.

Participants in First Tee would also get a break on rates.

The Gate will pay a base rent of $130,000 a year to the county, which will be phased in over the first three years of operations, then subject to an annual adjustment, based on the Consumer Price Index.

A private company will be hired to manage and maintain the operations.

Before construction can begin, the county commission must approve more detailed plans for the project, which are expected to come back to the board within six months.

Once plans are approved and all site-related permitting is obtained, construction will have to be completed with 24 months, or two years, under the terms of the lease, unless there is justification for delays.

“There could be some twists and turns in this,” Finn said.

If all goes as planned, the golf course could open in the fall of 2025.

The cost of the development has been estimated at about $21 million.

The agreement includes an out clause should environmental issues arise that make it too difficult or costly to build.

The Golden Gate golf course has been closed for more than four years.

Collier County purchased the property, located at the corner of Collier Boulevard and Golden Gate Parkway, in July 2019, from its owners for $29.1 million, with the goal of preventing overdevelopment in the wrong hands, and with the intent of maintaining a public golf course.

Project will bring golf course ‘back to life’

A handful of neighbors spoke in favor of the lease and operating agreement with The Gate, saying they’re eager to see dirt move, after so many unforeseen challenges and delays.

“Arthrex is bringing this golf course back to life,” said CeCe Zenti, who lives nearby, in the Par One subdivision.

The proposal, she said, will allow people of all backgrounds to play golf, including young families, and their children.

“This is a project whose time has come,” Zenti added.

During the board’s discussions, Commissioner Rick LoCastro said it was an “opportunity we don’t want to waste,” with the “50-pound brain” of Arthrex’s founder Reinhold Schmieding behind it. Arthrex, a formidable force in its industry, has overseen and completed many big construction projects, as it’s continued to expand its footprint in Southwest Florida and beyond.

While it’s hard to determine if the proposed golf complex is perfect in every way, without the benefit of more detailed plans at this time, LoCastro said a “9.5 right now” is better than a “10 that never comes.”

“Will it be a 10? I don’t know,” he said.

Collier County Commissioner Rick LoCastro, shown here at a meeting on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, said the golf course project is an “opportunity we don’t want to waste.”

A ‘long time in coming’

Commissioner Burt Saunders, who represents Golden Gate, has championed the project and other uses at the shuttered golf course property, including workforce housing and a veterans nursing home.

“For me, this has been a long time in coming,” he said. “So, I’m delighted.”

He motioned to approve the agreement and thanked the commission for “staying the course.”

Commissioner Bill McDaniel seconded, expressing his support, after getting a few questions answered about the project, and the lease terms.

Although a bit painful, Commissioner Dan Kowal said he’s glad the deal with BigShots fell through because the county ended up with a much better offer that will be more beneficial to the “entire county.”

He said the involvement of First Tee will make the project “fantastic.”

The local chapter has the potential to become a “model for the country,” as part of the redevelopment, Kowal said.

The proposal by BigShots also included a home for First Tee, so when the deal fell apart it came as a big disappointment to its leaders, supporters and participants.

LoCastro gave credit to the hard work of Cindy Darland, executive director at The First Tee of Naples/Collier, who continued to push for its inclusion, as part of a larger community project, with passion and clarity. He pointed her out in the second row of commission chambers.

“You might be sitting in the second row,” he said, “but I think on this project you are front and center.”

Once-troubled Florida resort has a new strategy: Go more expensive, more exclusive

With financial troubles dogging the property, the once-pristine golf course was neglected.

The once-troubled Banyan Cay Resort & Golf in West Palm Beach, Florida, is being recast into an exclusive golf club for wealthy Palm Beach and West Palm Beach residents who want to hit the greens near their pricey coastal homes —and are willing to pay big money to do it.

Banyan Cay golf is now known as Dutchman’s Pipe Golf Club. The name is derived from a flowering vine that is favored by swallowtail butterflies.

“If you live in Palm Beach island or West Palm Beach, minutes from your home you have a brand-new golf experience,” said Alex Witkoff, co-chief executive of the Witkoff Group of New York, one of the property’s new owners.

The golf course is just east of Interstate 95, off Congress Avenue and north of Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, near the Tanger Outlets shopping mall.

Witkoff touts Dutchman’s Pipe as the only new golf course east of I-95 in West Palm Beach in 25 years, a location just minutes from well-heeled residents in Palm Beach or West Palm Beach.

Convenience and luxury have their price. Initiation fees for Dutchman’s Pipe will range from $300,000 to $350,000, Witkoff said.

To attract these upscale club members, Dutchman’s Pipe’s existing Jack Nicklaus Signature Course, built only seven years ago, is being redone to make it more attractive and better to play.

There are also plans to transform Dutchman’s Pipe into a “holistic retreat” in the heart of the city, with a globally-recognized chef helming three restaurants. Fitness and wellness amenities will be built at the club and resort, which also will be completed by the site’s new owners.

As for former members of the Banyan Cay club, they are out of luck. Their memberships and fees were wiped away in the bankruptcy filing.

Former club member Rick Cerone said some members have joined Eastpointe Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens or play at The Park, West Palm Beach’s new public course.

Palm Beach West, the new playground for the rich

Witkoff’s plans for the former Banyan Cay reflect the continued transformation of West Palm Beach into an extension of Palm Beach, a trend that first earned the city the nickname “Palm Beach West” during the COVID pandemic.

Since the Banyan Cay resort hotel and club first was announced in 2015, the demand for upscale hotels has dramatically increased, especially with the wealth migration to Palm Beach County during the pandemic.

But plans by Witkoff and its partners elevate the hotel and adjoining golf course to a different, rarified level of luxury, akin to the exclusive Breakers Palm Beach resort and club, where club initiation fees reportedly also cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Dutchman’s Pipe’s owners are experienced operators of luxury hotels, residences and clubs.

Dutchman’s Pipe is owned by Witkoff Group, Access Industries of New York and London; and PPG Development of Hallandale Beach.

Witkoff and PPG are behind South Florida’s newest luxury golf club, the Shell Bay Club in Hallandale Beach, formerly the Diplomat Golf Resort & Spa. Access Industries is a global investment firm led by Len Blavatnik, who has previously invested in major projects in Miami Beach.

Witkoff said West Palm Beach is entering a new level of affluence.

During the past three years, parts of the downtown have become crowded with upscale restaurants, many of them from New York; luxurious new condominiums built or planned; and steel-and-glass office towers stuffed with perks typically seen in boutique hotels.

These developments, in turn, have attracted hospitality operators to West Palm Beach who have opened or plan to open private membership social clubs typically built in major cities such as New York, London and Miami. One new club already is open in West Palm Beach, and two more clubs are planned for downtown.

In addition, old West Palm Beach neighborhoods wedged between Flagler Drive and Dixie Highway are sought after by homebuyers who want an in-town location. The demand has supercharged home sales to seven and even eight-figure sales.

Witkoff also pointed to the surge of super-wealthy residents who have snapped up homes in Palm Beach.

The trend continues. During the first quarter of 2024, the median sales price of a single-family home in Palm Beach was $12.5 million, up 54 percentage points from the same period last year, according to Corcoran, a real estate brokerage.

The Jack Nicklaus-designed Banyan Cay Golf Course, part of a larger development in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Courtesy of Banyan Cay Resort & Club)

Plans for Dutchman’s Pipe and the unfinished resort

Witkoff said the new ownership group will complete the 150-room resort hotel, which will open in the fall.

The hotel remains only partly built, even though by now it was supposed to be a lushly landscaped Destination by Hyatt property, featuring a fitness center, pool, cabanas, tennis center, tiki hut and spa, plus meeting space.

The unfinished hotel has been a years-long eyesore for residents in the nearby Lands of the President community, many of whom own condominium units that overlook the hotel or the golf course.

The 250-acre Banyan Cay property used to be the site of the President Country Club, which fell into financial trouble and was sold to an investor group for $11 million in 2011. That investor group then flipped the property to Banyan CayDev LLC, led by Domenic Gatto Jr., for $26 million in 2015.

Gatto opened the Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course in 2017, but work on the resort hotel stopped, started and then stopped again.

In 2022, lender Calmwater Capital sued to foreclose on the property and sought repayment of $85 million in loans. The parent company behind the construction of Banyan Cay Resort & Club then filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, where it tried to sell the property to another owner. The deal fell apart at the last minute, however, and the lender took control.

Witkoff and partners acquired the property in January for an undisclosed amount, scoring a $75 million loan from Calmwater Capital.

The former Banyan Cay Resort under construction June 7, 2022 in West Palm Beach. (Meghan McCarthy/Palm Beach Post/USA Today Network)

A better, more lushly landscaped golf course

With financial troubles dogging the property in the past couple of years, the once-pristine golf course was neglected.

Witkoff closed the course on Jan. 15 and started a redo. Now the greens are being refurbished in anticipation of a reopening in the fall.

In addition to fresh grass for the golf course, the new owners also are adding a new practice facility, new berms and a new bunker. Astroturf also is being added to buffer edges to maintain a strong course shape. And some holes are being reshaped to increase “quality of play,” Witkoff said.

Even the driving range is being redone so that golfers will be able to hit a ball more than 300 yards.

Golf memberships are being offered by invitation only at first. Social memberships will be made available in the future, Witkoff said.

There will be plenty of perks for club members.

Not only will the resort feature tennis courts but it also will have courts for pickleball and padel, a mix between tennis and squash.

Three dining venues — including a members-only grill and poolside al fresco dining led by Chef Julian Jouhannaud, formerly of Anabel’s London and Le Bilboquet — will offer “world-class” fare. Meanwhile, health and wellness amenities will include personal training, a day spa, and event space.

Teeth of the Dog at Casa de Campo in Dominican Republic to be restored by Jerry Pate Design

Jerry Pate Design will upgrade the playing surfaces and bunkers at a massive Dominican Republic resort.

Casa de Campo, the sprawling destination in the Dominican Republic with three resort golf courses, has announced plans to restore its Pete Dye-designed Teeth of the Dog layout starting in January of 2025.

Teeth of the Dog – named for the small, sharp rocks along the shore – is widely considered one of the best courses in the Caribbean. Opened in 1971, the layout features seven dramatic holes that play tight enough to the ocean to get a player’s socks wet. The course not only was built by the legendary Dye, he lived there with his wife, Alice, for years, and some of his ashes were spread on No. 8 of Teeth of the Dog after he died in 2020.

The restoration will be done by Jerry Pate Design, the company owned by the winner of the 1976 U.S. Open and the 1982 Players Championship. After that latter victory, Pate threw Dye into the water on the new Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass that Dye had recently designed.

The Pete Dye-designed Teeth of the Dog course at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic (Courtesy of Casa de Campo/Matthew Majka)

Much of the work to be done at Teeth of the Dog is cosmetic. All tees, fairways and greens will be re-grassed with Dynasty Paspalum, which is ideal for seaside courses, especially one like Teeth of the Dog where ocean spray easily can blow onto the golf holes. The fairways will be sand-capped three inches deep, which promotes firm and bouncy turf ideal for golf.

Pate’s team also will expand the current greens back to their original sizes, with some slight recontouring. All greenside bunkers will be reshaped and expanded to flat bottoms with enhanced faces for a sharper, more dramatic look. Other work includes renovating the cart paths.

Work is expected to be completed by November 2025.

“I have long admired Pete Dye, as he was a creative genius who transformed the modern game of golf with his immense talent and imagination, and no course typifies that more than Teeth of the Dog,” Pate said in a media release announcing the restoration. “The layout is truly one of the best in the world, and our job is to preserve Pete’s lifeworks and put a bit more bite back into Teeth of the Dog.”

Casa de Campo
Casa de Campo’s Teeth of the Dog in the Dominican Republic (Jason Lusk/Golfweek)

The resort’s other two Dye-designed courses will remain open to guests. The 27-hole Dye Fore course features many holes along incredible jungle cliffs above a river with long views down toward the ocean, while the 18-hole Links course plays through the center of the 7,000-acre property with wider fairways and tricky greens.

The resort as a whole is massive with a world-class marina, a smorgasbord of dining options, a wide assortment of activities ranging from shooting sports to the beach and one of the best beach bars in the world. The property includes an assortment of accommodations ranging from hotel rooms to luxury villas frequently rented by top celebrities.

The updates to Teeth of the Dog will be the first large-scale work to the course since it opened.

“We will miss Teeth of the Dog for most of 2025, but we are excited and honored to take Pete’s masterpiece to a new level and completely restore the integrity of his legendary course to new heights,“ Gilles Gagon, longtime friend of Dye and the golf director emeritus and senior director of golf sales at the resort, said in the media release. “With all the many years Pete and I worked together, I know he would be beyond pleased with the upcoming work to be done on the course that ignited his stellar career and legacy as one of the world’s premier golf architects.”