PPallotta- While a private course (or at least private to guests of the resort), would only make sense if there were enough locals around to steal away the tee times from the resort guests. Financially speaking, resort guests are spending more money on the property, thus they are more important for Streamsongs success. If resort guests cannot get tee times then they are unlikely to return or even come in the first place. Given Streamsong's remote location this isnt yet an issue, and likely wont become one in the future (as long as new courses are being built). If Streamsong continues to grow I can see them offering preferred tee times to resort guests exclusively, or only allowing non resort guests to book a short time in advance, but having a resort only course doesn't look to be in the future.
Howard Riefs- I agree. Not only is there a dip off in service from one management group to the other, there is a lack of continuity between them as well. The two management companies are not amply designed to work side by side, which, in my opinion, is where many compilations about the service originate (two cooks in the kitchen). Also due to the fluctuating rates of the Hotel I found it significantly cheaper to book my golf and lodge a la carte instead of purchasing a package, which absolutely should not be possible.
Brian Hoover-That’s a fun question! Although I’m not sure if anyone can answer completely accurately id like to give it a go. Streamsong is 15,000 acres, which is roughly 10x the size of Bandon. The current two courses occupy somewhere between 600-800 acres. The Black course is to sit on top of 250+- acres. Add in another 200-400 acres for the hypothetical, yet inevitable lido course. Lets go ahead and assume that the Lodge, 2 current courses, and 2 future courses take up an astonishing 5000 acres (which they don’t), which also accounts for some unusable land along the property. Now we are left with 10,000 acres. We want our courses to be spread out so lets go ahead and set aside 500 acres for each course which leaves us with 20 more courses that can be built. That being said the real answer is infinity more courses Stream song isn’t located in downtown San Francisco, its located in rural central Florida. If land were to every become an issue (which it wont) Mosiac could just purchase additional property assuming they don't already own it (which they probably do).
Jerry Kluger-The novelty of a course like Old Mac or Lido isn’t in its history but in its uniqueness. Although its neat to talk about with guests while playing, 99% of people who like Old Mac don't care who it is designed by and how it fits into history, they like Old Mac because its different. I would argue that Old Mac is the most unique course in the United States. The uniqueness of Old Mac combined with vastly different BD/PD, and tree lined forest of BT provide the variety that has contributed to Bandon's success. The reason why golfers travel outside of their respective regions is to seek something new. Streamsong has the ability to add something completely different, but have it 1000 feet away, instead of 1000 miles. The real goal of the Lido course (aside from getting some sort of official partnership for marketing purposes out of Keiser), would to be provide something vastly different then what’s already on the property.