The surname Keiser is recognized by anyone involved in the growth of golf since the late 1990s. Mike Keiser, originally from western New York and now a Chicago resident, turned the golf travel world inside-out with his development of a single course (that became two, then three, then four, then five) along the rustic Oregon coast in the town of Bandon. The golf courses are links courses in every sense, sand-based, adjacent to the ocean, dependent on the ground game over the aerial one. To boot, they even have fescue grass instead of bent or bermuda. After Bandon came courses in Tasmania, Nova Scotia, and now, Wisconsin. The difference with the Sand Valley project in Wisconsin, is that the surname is the same but the identity has changed a bit. Michael Keiser, son of the visionary developer, is the project manager of an endeavor that has Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw as designers of course #1, David Kidd, for course #2, and an unnamed architect for course #3. Keiser the younger was featured on The Golf Channel’s Architecture Week in December, and set aside 60 minutes one Sunday to answer questions for Buffalo Golfer. Below are images provided by Michael Keiser, of the work being completed at Sand Valley.
1. How do you choose to be identified? Also, please give us an idea of your educational background, courses of study, previous employment experience.
I go by Michael Keiser, since my dad is recognized as Mike Keiser. Although I’m proud of his work and proud to be his son, we still get each other’s physical mail, so some distinction is helpful. I went to Santa Clara University in San Jose, California, where I majored in Latin and Economics. My first job out of college was at Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania, where I worked for Richard Sattler, helping him to open his golf course, and with operations. I discovered that my passion was more in development and so I came home and started working in real estate development. I knew that I would one day work with my father. Our parents always encouraged us to find success on our own, to build confidence from that, to bring a skill set back to the family. The firm I was with was involved in building medical office space, so I developed a similar skill set to what I’m doing now, save for the final product (office buildings versus golf courses.) The Bandon Municipal was when my father said, how about you get involved. At Sand Valley, I am the project manager. My brother is also involved, and we make a great team together.
2. What’s your background in golf, in terms of playing the game, learning about golf courses, etc.?
I grew up playing a few holes with my father. I learned the fundamentals, but was more interested in hiking and mountaineering growing up. We lived in Switzerland for a year when I was 14 or 15, so you would think that the climbing interest would have taken off. Instead, it was the golf. We took a side trip to Dornoch in the Scottish Highlands and golf’s spirit caught me. My father and I would play the big course (Royal Dornoch,) and then I would play round and round the wee course until midnight, and that was it. Although I believe that any course at the right moment can inspire this discovery of spirit, three courses in particular were influential in enhancing golf’s hold on me. At Royal Melbourne in Australia, I learned about scale and grand size. At St. Andrews, too. Last summer, in anticipation of our work at Sand Valley in Wisconsin, my father and I tried to replicate what George Crump had done prior to building Pine Valley (New Jersey), so we repeated his trip to the English Heathlands, to play the Harry Colt courses at Sunningdale and Swinley Forest. They are inland, not officially links courses, but are still all about the ground game. Their terrain is so similar to what we were hoping to establish in Wisconsin.
3. When did you recognize that your father was involved in something cool, that became something transcendent?
The first course my father built was the nine-hole Dunes Club in New Buffalo, Michigan. We would go over with his hatchet and saw and I would help clear here and there. I took it a bit for granted, as I didn’t realize how special a place it was and what exactly he was doing. When I saw the 12th hole at Bandon Dunes (the original course), the first hole that was seeded, that’s when I realized that what my father was doing was something different. For those who don’t know, my father is an extremely fast golfer. I learned this one round when I sliced a ball over a hill and decided to use all 5 minutes that the rules allowed to find the ball. No one else wanted to help me. When I finally walked back over hill to the fairway, the rest of the foursome were already off the green, so I learned then that you need to play quickly.
4. The Bandon Municipal project was in the news during the second half of 2015. After an extended period of negotiation that involved a land swap and an apparent gift of a 27-hole layout by your father, he pulled the plug on the project. How frustrating was that?
How the Bandon Muni affected my father is what I remember. It was truly a gift on his part; his primary motivation was to make a gift back to a town and state that have given him so much. He was very invested in the project and was dismayed by the results. The land is spectacular, a phenomenal piece of property. Up until six months ago, I continued to encourage him to be patient, to stay the course. I had an epiphany of sorts and said “Dad, it’s not worth it. There are places where we can get down to doing what we love.” We still own a fair amount of property outside of the trade piece. It’s long and narrow, room for a true out and back links routing from Gil Hanse (designer of the 2016 Rio Olympics course.) It can be a bit constrained in places, but it is gorgeous.
5. What is your official title?
I am the project manager and lead developer at the Sand Valley project.
6. Taking on such responsibility can be daunting. Do you feel that you were ready for the opportunity? Any surprises?
There always will be unforeseen things, but I was eager and prepared, knowing what I had learned from my dad. We have put together an amazing team, Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw and their guys, the representatives from the town of Rome, WI, Craig Haltom (who uncovered the site and is the general contractor for the project) all of these talented folks contribute to building the courses. I knew that I was never going to be out there alone. My job is not to come up with all the great ideas, but to identify the great ideas that everyone comes up with and keep things moving forward. In addition, my father is always around. We speak every day, we continue that relationship. Over the last six months, with my brother Christopher involved, it has been even better. He and I are extremely close, we are best friends, and everyone gets along with Chris.
7. How do you view the future evolution of your involvement in the business? Do you have goals that you can share with us? An anticipated trajectory?
There are so many great sites in the world. We should always be able to find a place to build.
8. What question haven’t we asked, that we should have asked, that perhaps no one has yet asked? Go ahead and ask it, then answer it, please. And thank you for your time.
I’m not certain that it’s a question, but more a couple of ideas that mean a lot to me.
-stewardship…is an important theme that has popped up on a daily basis since Bandon. Much is expected of those that have been given much. Our father always said, whatever you do, don’t be bored. One time, he found me sitting around and said “Go buy some grass and go plant it.” He offered me $5 to do it, but I declined. We went out together, bought seed, raked it in and watched it grow. It was on Chicago public land, but he did it himself, because he could return something to the neighborhood, to the community.
-Restoration…In Wisconsin, there was a natural habitat up until the early 1900s. The land then became a pine tree crop farm for 90 years. It was gorgeous and rare, like a savannah, officially a “Jack Pine-Hill Oak sand barren,” and so we learned about restoration, about returning it to what it was. We had known about conservation and preservation from our work in Bandon, but now we could work with restoration. The people of Rome didn’t know what had been there all along, but after we removed the invasive species, two things happened. The community recognized what was beneath the pine trees, and the seed that had lain dormant for 90 years just took back over. We thought we would have to plant seeds, but there was no need. My personal goal is to restore over 20,000 acres in Rome during my lifetime.
All photos provided by Sand Valley Golf Resort. Follow Sand Valley Golf Resort in Nekoosa, Wisconsin, on Facebook here and on Twitter here.
