PORTLAND, OR. (January 14, 2010) – Award-winning Bandon Dunes Golf Resort has received recognition as “The 2009 Walking Golfer of the Year” for its passionate commitment to the walking game of golf. The Walking Golfers Society and The MacKenzie Golf Bag Company selected Bandon Dunes because it “represents the essence of the walking game of golf in the United States.”
“In our opinion, there is no entity more worthy of this recognition than Bandon Dunes Golf Resort which provides its guests with ‘Dream Golf’ and encourages them to play the game as it was meant to be,” said Rob Rigg, Founder of The Walking Golfers Society.
The property at Bandon Dunes was purchased in the 1990s by Mike Keiser, a visionary who saw the Oregon Coast’s potential to provide some of the best golf in the world. While many developers focused on real estate golf courses that could only be played with carts, Keiser reinvigorated the walking game of golf in the United States at a location that was both open to the public and hours away from any major city. The doubters were quickly proven wrong, as the Resort has been an unprecedented success and has been lauded for its “pure” and “minimalist” course design the world over.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort opened as a walking-only venue to critical acclaim in 1999 with the unveiling of David McLay Kidd’s Bandon Dunes. In 2001, Tom Doak created one of the finest golf experiences in the world just next door at Pacific Dunes and then in 2005 the team of Coore & Crenshaw carved a masterpiece out of dunes, meadow and forest to create Bandon Trails. Tom Doak and Jim Urbina were retained by Keiser to create the fourth course at the resort, Old Macdonald, which will be unveiled to the public in June 2010. Old Macdonald, which was inspired by the spirit of C.B. Macdonald, the father of American golf course architecture, is another wonderful walking venue that firmly solidifies Bandon Dunes Golf Resort as one of the elite, yet public and walking only, golf destinations in the world.
A unique award, created by Oregon craftsman Larry Eisenbach of Ray-Gun Imagery in Hillsboro will be presented to Keiser at Bandon Dunes in February. Eisenbach used Joshua Smith’s beautiful painting of Pacific’s 11th hole and laser etched the image onto the award to create a stunning visual.
The Walking Golfers Society was founded in early 2009, along with The Walking Golfer.com, to promote the many benefits of walking when you golf. For more information, please visit www.thewalkinggolfer.com .
The MacKenzie Golf Bag Company was founded in 1985 by a tour pro who was so inspired by the pure golfing experience he found at St. Andrews, Scotland, that he wanted to bring a piece of it home. The MacKenzie Walker golf bag is carried by thousands of passionate walking golfers around the world and constructed by hand at a shop in Portland, OR. More information can be found at www.themackenziegolfbagcompany.com .
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Media Contact:
Rob Rigg – The Walking Golfer – (503) 701-9289
Todd Rohrer – MacKenzie Golf Bags – (503) 734-6355
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