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3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW RCC students, faculty hold vigil to honor UCC shooting victims ... Funding will help close gap in Greenway trail ... SOU set to reopen Thursday after threatening handwritten note prompts closure ... RCC students, faculty hold vigil to honor UCC shooting victims ... Funding will help close gap in Greenway trail ... SOU set to reopen Thursday after threatening handwritten note prompts closure ... OUR VIEW Our View: Dropped golf course a loss for the south coast MailTribune.com Writer Posted Oct. 2, 2015 @ 12:01 am Posted Oct. 2, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> Too many obstacles thrown up in the path of a proposed golf course south of Bandon have caused the developer to walk away from the project. That's a shame, because the course would have benefited Oregon golfers and added jobs and money to the economy of the South Coast, a region that needs all the economic help it can get. Developer Mike Keiser, who built the world-famous Bandon Dunes course, had a vision of a 27-hole links golf course — just the course, no housing or hotel — on land he owns, plus 280 acres of the Bandon State Natural Area. Contrary to rumor, this is not prime, beach-front park land. It is a stretch of land half a mile inland from the beach, choked with non-native gorse, where virtually no one goes. The Bandon Links course was to be designed by the architect of the first-ever Olympic golf course in Brazil. It would attract well-heeled golfers from far and wide who would pay $200 to $250 a round to play there. Oregon residents, however, could play for $30 — less than what they pay at many existing courses — and South Coast locals could play for $10 if they served as mentors for high-school student caddies, who would be eligible for college scholarships. To interest the state Parks Commission in a land swap to acquire the necessary acres, Keiser offered 111 acres of oceanfront property, 97 acres of wetland property on the Coquille spit, $300,000 in cash to control gorse (a perennial problem on the coast), $450,000 toward acquiring 11 acres at Whale Cove in Lincoln City and $2.5 million to purchase additional park land. That's a deal that should have been hard to pass up, and the state Parks Commission approved it last year. But the Bureau of Land Management had to sign off on it, too, because the BLM had transferred the land to the state in the first place. The final straw was the BLM's insistence that fees charged for golf had to be competitive with other nonprofit golf courses on federal land, and all money earned had to be spent on the property. So much for the scholarships, and so much for the money Keiser was planning to donate annually for gorse removal. Keiser is not some dreamer with an unrealistic scheme. Bandon Dunes employs 550 people and is a roaring success. Bandon Links could have been, too, but federal officials shanked the opportunity. MailTribune.com Writer Posted Oct. 2, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments Terms of Service /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. MailTribune.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501