The game of golf was born on rugged, wind-swept land like this. Where every hole, every hazard, and every shot is defined by nature's infinite presence. True links courses are rare, with only about 160 on the entire planet.
At Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, you'll find five distinctly different courses built on a beautiful stretch of sand dunes perched 100 feet above the Pacific Ocean. Bandon Dunes and Pacific Dunes feature a dozen holes that run along the bluff overlooking 2.3 miles of sweeping, undisturbed shoreline. Bandon Trails begins on a massive dune, works its way through open meadows and upland forest, and then finishes in the dunes. Old Macdonald moves through dune to ocean revealing breathtaking views throughout. The courses here weren't built as much as discovered. Among the coastal forest, dunes and gorse, lie golf holes that yield fresh rewards each time they're played.
Accommodations provide a refuge of relative seclusion. Chrome Lake rooms offer double king and two-room lofts. Lily Pond rooms offer two queen beds, while the Lodge offers single rooms and three suites, many with dramatic golf course views. Our Grove Cottages are designed specifically for a foursome of golfers, with four private rooms and a shared parlor and patio. The Inn at Bandon Dunes provides single king and double queen beds just a short walk from the Lodge.
Located on the property are full-service restaurants, lounges, golf shops, hot tub, sauna, exercise room and locker rooms. A 30-acre practice center allows you to hone every shot required at Bandon Dunes and features a one-acre practice putting green and bunker practice area.
Decades ago, another guy fell in love with the game of golf. That wouldn’t have made for much of a story, except this wasn’t just any guy. Mike Keiser had achieved great success in business and had the resources to pursue his passion. He traveled to the birthplace of the game to absorb the traditions and heritage of the last 500 years of golf and to play in the elements where the game was invented. He was so inspired that he decided to build a golf course on Lake Michigan, a nine-hole course that would eventually become the highest ranked in the U.S.
Over the years, he played many of the world’s best courses, most of which were private clubs, and became committed to the principle that every golfer should have the opportunity to play great courses. It was then that he decided to build his own vision of what golf should be.
He discovered the ideal property in the sand dunes near Bandon, Oregon, and then made three important decisions. First, he hired friend and confidant Howard McKee to develop a land plan and work with City and County officials to move the vision forward. Second, he retained KemperSports to manage the construction phase and to assume overall management of the project when completed. Third, he hired an untested young Scotsman, David McLay Kidd, the son of the legendary head agronomist at Gleneagles in Scotland, to design the first course. David spent 18 hours a day studying the land in order to fulfill Mike’s vision of a true links experience. Bandon Dunes opened in 1999 to unprecedented reviews and remains one of the finest links courses in the nation.
The first course alone put Bandon Dunes on the map of favorite American golf destinations, but Mike wasn’t finished. He retained the services of Tom Doak, noted minimalist golf course architect and one of the world’s foremost authorities on links golf, to work the dunes just north of Bandon Dunes to create Pacific Dunes. Opened in 2001, the course has consistently ranked among the very best courses in the U.S.
His vision not yet complete, Mike then turned to renowned architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw to design the third course, Bandon Trails. Opened in 2005, the course offers a journey through the same kind of land where the game of golf was born. Starting on massive sand dunes, working through open meadows to an upland coastal forest, then finishing again in the dunes, the course was the perfect complement to Bandon and Pacific Dunes.
The fourth course opened in June 2010, and it came from special inspiration. Of all the incredible tracks around the world Mike has had the opportunity to play, his favorite remains National Golf Links on Long Island. Designed by Charles Blair Macdonald, the course opened in 1911 and ushered in the Golden Age of Golf Architecture in the U.S. One question burned inside Mike Keiser: What would his favorite golf course architect have done with the pristine land at Bandon Dunes? Mike asked Tom Doak and Jim Urbina to return, this time to work the sand north of Pacific Dunes and design a course in the tradition of C.B. Macdonald’s masterpiece at National Golf Links.
As Bandon Dunes continues to grow, so does Mike’s vision of offering golf as it was meant to be.
Wild Rivers Coast Alliance (WRCA) was founded in 2010 by Mike Keiser, owner of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. WRCA is a grant funding organization that seeks to unite organizations and support projects that protect the rich lands and waters on Oregon's South Coast. Through conservation, WRCA will create jobs for local residents, promote tourism and foster stewardship of working landscapes.
Vision
To support a thriving South Coast of Oregon.
Mission
To fund community projects on the South Coast of Oregon that are committed to the triple bottom line (conservation, community, economy) and prioritize approaches that blend innovative ecological initiatives while driving economic opportunity.
Priorities
To support and promote healthy fish and species habitats, working landscapes and seascapes, sustainable tourism and local entrepreneurs.
For more info about WRCA, click here.
Most visitors to Bandon Dunes make their way to McKee's Pub at some point during their stay. Many will think that it honors a magical watering hole somewhere in Scotland or Ireland - and therefore is a fitting tribute to the birthplace of the game. But it is actually named for the man who pioneered much of what is seen at the resort today.
Howard McKee was one of Mike Keiser's most trusted advisors on the development, design, and vision for Bandon Dunes. Howard earned three degrees at Columbia University in New York City and became one of the finest land use and urban design experts of our age. He died on December 8, 2007, after a long battle with cancer.
During his illustrious career, Howard helped create Oregon's land use laws and led teams that designed innumerable projects around the globe - each challenging conventional thinking to preserve the human spirit in urban design. Howard maintained a home on the Oregon Coast and spent much of his time at Bandon Dunes. Over the past two decades, he located the pristine stretch of sand dunes on which Bandon Dunes was developed and then led the team that secured permits to move forward. He helped design every structure on the property and clarified how all the pieces fit together. His was a vision of golf and infrastructure honoring the environment in which it is created, of a pure challenge in the spirit of the game, all uncluttered by manmade amenities.
Howard was a thinker and a visionary. Some had the opportunity to work directly with him and continue to be amazed at how affable - and at the same time uncompromising - he could be on the vision. Some know him only through the golf experience that he leaves behind for all of us to enjoy. We ask you to join us in respectful and loving memory of Howard McKee and his indispensable contribution to the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort you know today. Maybe with a toast to him the next time you're in McKee's Pub. Or perhaps more fittingly, a slight nod as you finish the 18th hole the next time you play.