[Gary Sato]

Sand Valley opened yesterday under extremely cold and windy conditions. 


Did anyone attend?

[CJames]

Gary,
It was a proper spring day in the upper Midwest!  Actually, it was a bit brisk up at Craig's Porch and Messers Coore and Crenshaw deserve credit for braving the elements and greeting the inaugural guests.  Vaughn Halyard, Jason Way, Peter Korbakes, Dan Moore, and many others were there.  The course looks and plays great, and I've enjoyed each successive round more than the prior.  The staff was wonderfully welcoming and cheerful.  The pulled pork/beef taco/brat slider trio is the best $4.50 lunch you'll ever enjoy.  We played 72 holes over three days and I finished the 72nd hole with the same ball that I used on the first.  Michael and Chris Keiser, Glen Murray, Josh Lesnik, C&C, and the local Adams County citizens and administrators all deserve a hearty round of applause for bringing Craig Haltom's vision to fruition.  A job exceptionally well done.

[Carl Nichols]

Anyone have a guess about the % of play at Bandon Dunes Resort that comes from people flying directly into Bandon airport?  Paging Sven...

If you're talking about commercial flights, I would think a pretty low %, since there are fewer flights/day than there are courses, and the planes are not big.   

[Tom Ferrell]

Anyone have a guess about the % of play at Bandon Dunes Resort that comes from people flying directly into Bandon airport?  Paging Sven...

If you're talking about commercial flights, I would think a pretty low %, since there are fewer flights/day than there are courses, and the planes are not big.

Two rules of thumb that developers and all who serve high-end markets eventually learn...there are not near as many trust-funders on the ground nor tail numbers in the sky as you want to believe.

[Howard Riefs]

New York Times article about SV:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/travel/sand-valley-wisconsin-golfing-destination-homage.html

Of note...

- Six-hole loop of DMK’s Mammoth Dunes is expected to open for preview play this summer, and the full 18 holes might be ready as early as September.
-[/size] C[/size]oore and Crenshaw are also designing a short par-3 course, which should be ready in 2018.

[Dan Moore]

I will echo what Charley had to say.  It was 42 degrees with a 20-25 mph wind.  Driving to the course there were puddles alongside the road and lakes in the fields from several days of heavy rains that finally ended that morning with a few final sputters. The first tee is located on the volcano, a high dune affording great views of the surrounding landscape. I first stood there with Craig Haltom and Young Mike Keiser on April 7, 2014 when the site was wall to wall trees. I have a couple of photos from that date standing on the high dune that looking down what are now the first and tenth fairways. Truly a remarkable transformation with much much more to come. Kudos to Craig and Mike and the entire crew and local community.


Sounds like a miserable day to play but everyone in my group had a blast. The course was not only dry but fast and firm and the greens were rolling true. The width and wind made it so much fun to play requiring you to use your imagination to create shots to counter the wind. One of the neatest things about the Coore Crenshaw course is the way the routing converges at various points as the holes wind through different sectors of the landscape.


I can't wait to see the entire McKlay Kidd Course as it is located on a slightly more rambunctious part of the property.

[Jon Heise]

Did they plant more trees since last fall?  Like along the entrance road?  Thought I saw them along the left part of #7 as well...

[Howard Riefs]

via an email from SV:

-- Six holes of the highly-anticipated Mammoth Dunes course will open to lodging guest preview play launching on June 12th.  Beginning and ending at the Clubhouse, guests may preview the loop of holes 1, 2, 15, 16, 17, and 18.   

---- The Clubhouse will be the heart of the resort and is opening ahead of schedule on June 1st.

[David_Tepper]

Golfweek review of Sand Valley:

http://golfweek.com/2017/05/17/sand-valley-golf-resort-heathland-in-the-heartland-hideaway/

[BHoover]

What is the timeline for courses 3 and 4?

[PCCraig]

Word on the street is that the architect is close to being officially picked. From what I heard its between Hanse and Devries.


Anyone hearing anything else?

[PThomas]

Word on the street is that the architect is close to being officially picked. From what I heard its between Hanse and Devries.


Anyone hearing anything else?

I heard the third HAS been picked....

[PCCraig]

Word on the street is that the architect is close to being officially picked. From what I heard its between Hanse and Devries.


Anyone hearing anything else?

I heard the third HAS been picked....

And...

[Daryl David]

Anyone one have the current Vegas line on Tom Doak? 

[Morgan Clawson]

I brought this topic up with some of the SV management when I was there a few weeks ago.

They gave me the impression that a decision on the 3rd course was not imminent.

At this point they are working on quite a few things:
*final touches and grow-in of Mammoth
*grow-in of short course
*grow-in of driving range and practice area
*expansion of club house - new kitchen and dining room
*building walking trails
*restoring non golf areas to natural habitat

My guess is that they will make a call on the third course based on the number of advance bookings they get during the off season.

There certainly seems to be a large number of architects in play.  And part of the decision has to be the availability of those architects.

One thing I'm certain of:  the management team is very thoughtful and experienced and spends a lot of time on their decision making.  The execution of everything from the courses to the bratwurst sliders is impressive.

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