Mike Kaiser, thank you so much for all that you've done, all that you continue to do the way you do it. Uh. You know, I always say that if I read, ever write a book about you, it'll be called what do We Think? Because I've always appreciated your style of of listening. You obviously make the decisions, and you make the right ones. It's been amazing to watch how you've also included so many people and different voices into a lot of your thought process getting to the final decisions. So it's been
it's been amazing, so I appreciate it. Thanks Matt, You've been great for golf yourself. Keep it up and enjoy the Sheep Ranch. I can't wait. I'm gonna enjoy every step, especially coming off of the circumstances that we're going through right now. So be safe. My best to you and your family and uh and I hope to see you in organ in a couple of weeks. Good thanks man. Put another logo. Nobody here is to get in time. Welcome to the fire Pit with Matt Chenella. We're back
and it's always good to be at this pit. Although currently in winter Park, Florida, it's a steamy fire pit every time you walk out the door, masks on of course. Hope you're all staying safe and healthy out there. As we continue a short hiatus between seasons one and two, we continue to go through some of our first season of recordings and extract some relevant nuggets or unpublished stories
from our distinguished list of guests. With all That's happening this week Abandoned Dunes in Oregon, most notably the US Amateur. We've created another mini pod serving as a short tribute to owner Mike Kaiser and all that he has done to golf in America and four golfers all over the world. We start with a short bite from Mick Peters, a barber in the town of Bandon for over fifty years, who got the first tea time on the first course
that opened, the Bandon Dunes Course in May. Mick hit first. Well, we all shook hands and they introduced theirselves to me us, and uh, they handed out these coins and I just can't explain it. It was just something special. I've never had that happen because I've never been to a course like that, and it's too nice for me really actually, but it was It's just an honor to be number one.
It's a sweet story. Mick hit first that day, then his son Mike, and they've gone on to be first and then second off every new course opening Abandoned ever since, most recently on June one, the opening of the Sheep Ranch, the Bill Core and Ben Crenshaw design. It was Mick, Mike and a lot more of the Peters family for their last hurrah. For more on the Sheep Ranch, Mick Peters and his place in Bandon history, see the link in this podcast description, which is where you'll also see
a link to the Bob gas Bar story. Gas Bars Bandon's official director of outside Happiness, and his nickname is Shoe because he looks like jockey Bill Shoemaker. In this feature shoot tells you how he found Bandon Dunes, who gave him the nickname. Background on his daily weather reviews, his reach on social media, and the impact Mike Kaiser
has had on the community. Here's Kaiser on Shoe. He's a retired UPS guy who was involved in this post guard in what capacity I've forgot when he moved in southern California in retirement to Abandon and he was working with the Coast Guard and heard about our project and said I would do himself. I want to be involved in this. Came into Josh's um and said, put me to work, and Jeff said, well, we don't have any positions,
so put me to work. I don't you don't need to pay an me and Josh never looking to wanting to look at your person amount and said, well, you know what, I got the owner coming out with forty eight friends that run into Jet and they're coming out here too. Look at the golf course a little bit before it's ready to play. I need h and you know what, if you find caddies, they will play. But I don't know where to find him. Sho said, if you want caddies, just tell me how many forty eight.
I'll get you forty eight kiddies, And he found forty eight caddies from the Coastguard. So who are our first? Candy Cord that one day where coast guards have been taken the day off and caddying for my my group of Chicago. It was great. He's been the voice in the presence of Van and Duds ever since, been there
for twenty years. Over twenty years. In our reporting on several of Season one podcasts, including the history of Bandon Dunes, how Bill core part Earned with Ben Crenshaw, the building of Sandhills, the Plantation Course, a couple of and much more. We spoke to Bill Course several times. Here are his thoughts on Mike Kaiser. We've gotten so far away more than our fair share of very special sites, and a
great number of those have come from Mike Kiser. Uh He's been He is simply the most incredible and should be the most highly acclaimed golf developer in the world. And he the products that he puts out there and the care that he puts into them is just beyond comparison. And but he finds these sites, he goes back to that that that nucleus of playing golf on sandy firm ground, and in Mike's case, at least until Sand Valley, it
was always about somewhere near the sea. Um is he just finds it to be it's a it's a connection to five d years of golf history. And he he just I think he believed in before he started doing these golf developments, that that was a connection that would resonate with American golfers as well as European and other other nationality golfers, and he brought it to us. He gave us the opportunity to experience it, and he was right.
I mean, it's a it's a It may be the oldest form of golf in the world, but I think it's still the most appreciated. I always say, the only person in golf who's more respected, revered and appreciated than Bill Core is Ben Crenshaw, who also provided some insight
into Kaiser's success. Man, you talk about a guy who has given us so many opportunities to put our philosophy forward in a natural manner, and Mike is you know, in his heart, he's a golfer and he simply wants to present the people something that's entirely different in the world of golf. I think reaches an element in a person that wants to go a journey a little bit and travel a little bit to see a destination. Crenshaw
always delivers. But one of my favorite interviews of the season was getting time with Jimmy Kidd David McClay, Kid's father, who had never realized had such an impact on the building of Bandoned Dunes. Here's a little bit from Mr Kidd on how he and his son got the gig from Mr Kaiser. David had already said that, well, I don't think that there's any real chance of us. Mike's obviously talking to the bigger guys, so to help we
may as well just go for it. And at the end of the day makes offended by anything I say tonight, that's just too bad. But when I had up, what I understood of Mike from way back was that Mike's the sort of guy that really enjoys that. He enjoys the competitiveness of conversation and at the end of the day, he's not a chat a guy who sits back and uh. And it wants people to just be um, what's the one I'm looking for? Beholden to him and listen to take on board everything he says. He wants you to
argue it. Employee David can argue, and he did that particular night, And at the end of the day I thought, she's David, I think you've probably done it. I think we'll be in the next plain home and maybe another back here. But it worked out fine, I'd say it did. You can hear a lot more from Jimmy and David kidd on building Bandon in episodes eight and nine of season one, which is where we asked David and Josh
Lesnick what Bandoned Dunes means to them. Now. Lesnik is the current president of Kemper Sports, which helps the Kaiser family manage the resort, but in late nineties, les Nick was also the first general manager of Bandon Doom. Here's Josh line and then David kidd on why it's also special to them even to this day. For me, absolutely, I mean I've been involved with a number of other places, and but Bandon is is uh yeah, it's home. It's
my home away from home. It's my happy place. I love you know, the second you step foot on that property and breathe in that air and then get to play those golf courses. Um and Bandon Dunes being my favorite golf course anywhere in the world. Yeah, there's I don't know that anything could ever take over Banded Dunes is my favorite place in the world. And Bandoned Dunes is your favorite course. It is David is is it? Is?
It hard to think that anything will ever overtake this is your this is your number one, this is this is your first baby. Absolutely, I never tire of talk about Bannon Dun's. I never tire of every visit I make. I especially love it when I get to take Bandon virgins there who are not banned in East As yet to experience the place with a newbie is still a huge kick. And I know it's the same for you guys.
I mean taking I probably take at least one or two ate somes to band in a year, and in that eight someme, I try and make sure there's at least one or two virgins, uh and introduced them to the place and know that it's just blowing their minds. And that's such fun to be part of. To see that wonder again and experience it through someone else's eyes, seeing it for the first time, I'll never ever tire of that. Congratulations to David and his wife Tara who
on July two, Welcome to David Drake McLay kid. Young David Drake's father started building Bandon Dunes from Mike Kaiser when he was twenty six years old, still a baby, And of course we spoke at length with Kaiser on several subjects, some of which you haven't heard yet. For example, I asked Mike why Bill Court and Ben Crenshaw are at the top of his list of preferred architects, and on Core's ability to route a course like the sheep Ridge.
They have their own opinions about things, but they don't insist that we do it in their way. They are really open minded, not totally because they have their own style, but they're modest about their their own beliefs and are always open to change, you know, if they criticize Bill or event Red Green that I don't like because it's too lumply, or a whole like Bannon Trails number fourteen, which has been through a number of iterations, and that
sort of Ben's whole. They've amended things before and there was built and after they were built in a way that the other architects, Some of the other architects. I'm thinking of Timo Cano, who's who's brilliant, but he is He's a big golf ego, and I take away nothing from him for being certain more certain than the other architects about this is the way it. Because he's so brilliant, I've been working with him. I let him do that because there's only so much she'll listen to from an
owner mayorment, I know what he's doing. Bill and Ben are more collegial. What about Bill Core's ability to unlock a puzzle? But you're probably thinking of the Sheep Ranch is a good example of that, and there are many other examples of good in sand Hills, where he and he had been walked for days and days and days to find the investity team holes. Wow, out of you know, they identified a hundred and twenty holes, all of which were good, and they had to reduce it down to
an eight team hoole routing. What a what a mental thing that is. So the Sheep Ranch. Other architects I won't name them and looked at it and said it's a great site, but it's only big enough for thirteen fourteen holes. And Bill had known what others had said. He knew that it was somewhat constraints I certainly compared to sam Hills or Bannon Trails. Instead, I'll give it a try anyway, and he and Ben came up with this famulous rounting everyone will see on June first when
it opens. Uh, and all the other architects who thought it was too small just stacked ahead and say, I don't know how he did that in talking to Bill, I know they did it by finding what became the first Hole, Kaiser's favorite opening hole on property. They pushed the first Green as far north as possible. They built three double teas two and eighteen, five and fifteen, eight and ten, and they maximized the potential and use of the coastline with nine Infinity Green complexes, including the double
Green of three and sixteen. Before we go, here's Kaiser again on his fall to feed on fire pits and his favorite fire pit, because as I'm sure you've heard by now, it was abandoned fire pit tucked into the trees of Bandon's Grove cottages that inspired this podcast in
the first place. We probably don't have enough of them, but we we have them because no one wants the day to stop, and it's outdoors and part of nature at night, so we couldn't have note, we could have many fire pits without a fire, but we've got to keep you warm, so we we want to keep you outside moment. Cigars were not just the way, just the way to warm you so you stay in nature a little bit longer. Do you have a favorite fire pit,
it's probably the one of growth cotta jump. We're building one right now for and I haven't seen it a cheap branch, so it's got it's going to have some growth. Cottages doesn't really have a view. You're just part of nature, and they wanted sheep ran. She's going to be resplendent with the visuals. You'll be overlooking the golfers. So wait until you see that right now as the growth cottages smart man to say the least. All right, that'll do
it for this mini pod interlude between seasons. Remember use promo code Mattie G to get off your next purchase
of apparel at link soul dot com. Ongoing appreciation for alex Upeggy who helps me produce this podcast, Rex Lint who adds the sound music and makes it sing, which brings me to another playing of the complete fire Pit Anthem written and recorded by Joe Horrow what's produced by Jakier King, which they called The Story and is available on iTunes or wherever you buy your music for more on the making of this song The Story listened to episode fifteen, which is how we ended season one. We'll
be back again soon. Put another larpole of fire. Nobody hears getting tired, Settle down, and settle in the story. Here's about to begin, the circles starting to take its shape, seats of field, and the tired sun lands, and his skin, and everybody's got some glory, Just wait unto unfold. Everybody's got some story, Just wait unto him. Be to the place, for that is here. All those smiles and all those tears, let them go. Put another log on the figh. Nobody
hears getting tired. Settle down, and settle in the story hears about to begin. Tales were told of war and gold, lovers lost in a lifetimes dreams our soul. Maybe you should stop in the sun at the wisdom in the air. Baby, you should pour your heart out. We ainle hand the way, find your mercy in the sound. As the smoke gets pushed around in your soul. Put another lock on fire. Nobody hears getting tired. Settle down and settle in the story hears about to begin. The story hears about to begin.
The story hears about to begin.