Introduction

The south coast — the coastal regions of Douglas, Coos and Curry counties — is at a crossroads. Traditionally, and largely still, the south coast has been a region of rural activities such as sheep ranching, cranberry farming, cattle ranching and salmon fishing. Because of the region’s remoteness and stunning beauty, it has also hosted for decades a steady but manageable stream of tourists seeking to experience the rugged state parks and nearby wildernesses, as well as visit the small towns of Reedsport, Bandon, Port Orford, Gold Beach and Brookings — and the regional hub of Coos Bay/North Bend.

But in the early 1990s, Michel Keiser of Chicago received permits for an upscale golf resort, Bandon Dunes, just north of Bandon. It has been successful, which has brought forward many imitators. As a result, there are increasing numbers of golf course proposals mushrooming along this spectacular coast. The question is whether the south coast should turn to being principally a golf paradise, as many promoters (including Keiser) seem to want, or should carefully consider whether this is the future best suited to the region. 

ORCA does not think a future pinned to golf, a notoriously volatile enterprise declining in popularity (despite a temporary covid-related resurgence) is a wise decision for the south coast. There are many economic paths that fit much better with the region’s resources, population and skills to build a sustainable future.

Here we profile the sagas of three south coast golf course prospects: an application returning for the third time (Coos County), an entirely new development vision (Douglas County), and an approved but unbuilt project (Curry County).



Michael Keiser, via his company Bandon Biota, has now tried twice to gain permission for a golf course on his land south of Bandon on Twomile Creek. Now he has submitted a third application to Coos County for the same proposal.

So, what is Keiser proposing this third effort? To see the full application, go here.

The hearing will be on July 11 at 7:00 PM before the Coos County planning commission. If you can attend in person, it will be held in the conference room of the Owen Building at 201 N. Adams in Coquille. Please email testimony here if you cannot attend.

Keiser’s first attempt at this golf course, in 2013-5, included the purchase of 280 acres of Bandon State Natural Area for $2.5 million, a project that floundered when the Bureau of Land Management (which had given the land to the state) decided against the golf course after Keiser had illegal bore holes and wells dug on the state park land. The second attempt, in 2022, ended when Keiser withdrew the application from Coos County without explanation, after winning partial approval from the planning commission for a smaller golf course than he requested, and not including the associated buildings. ORCA had appealed that approval, but before it could be heard at the Board of Commissioners, Keiser withdrew the application.

This third attempt does not appear very different. Confusingly, the company is now called Ocean River LLC, though Bandon Biota LLC also appears as the applicant. The company owns 342 acres, and proposes the golf course on 165 acres.The application also proposes a clubhouse/restaurant, a maintenance facility, a vendor’s facility, at least two restrooms, a caddy shack, and parking areas. Keiser’s land on the western boundary lies along the flank of Bandon State Natural Area, with which it shares a long border. Most of the other surrounding land is zoned for Exclusive Farm Use, much of which is in cranberry operations. 

The exact same issues that cropped up in the 2022 application will be important again. Some of the proposed golf course land is High Value Farmland (HVF) on which golf courses are not allowed. Water supply is a serious problem in an area already known for water shortages. But the application simply states that “the golf course cannot, and will not, impact the viability of existing agricultural uses through its water uses.” As part of its water strategy, Bandon Biota has submitted three “water transfer” applications to the Water Resources Department to move the irrigation from other Keiser parcels up to the golf course. ORCA has opposed all three.

The conditional use criteria the golf course must meet include a criterion that the new use must not “force a significant change in accepted farm or forest practices on surrounding lands.” Bandon Biota meets this criterion by stating that the activities Lost Lake Cranberry Farms, Kranick Cranberry Farm and others in the area must do to grow cranberries are similar to the golf course maintenance practices of irrigation, fertilizing and mowing! The golf course maintenance facility, to be sited 500 feet from the southern Kranick bogs, “will essentially function in the same manner as a barn,” and so not be a problem for farm operations either.

ORCA has staunchly opposed a golf course in this area from Keiser’s first effort in 2013, and continues to do so. It is a crowded farming and rural residential area served by small, local roads, with a large state park, Bandon State Natural Area, at its head. Water is already at a premium, and protection of the farmland essential. This is no place for a large, busy golf course.

A classic example of the creeping golf focus on the south coast is the new mega-proposal in Douglas County. A golf group calling itself Douglas Point Golf Partners LLC states, in their promotional pamphlet, that they have “entered into an agreement” to purchase 775 acres for a large full service resort focused on golf — but the developers also propose a public/private partnership with Douglas County that might make the project balloon to perhaps 1,500 acres. The 775 acres is bordered by the Umpqua River, the Pacific Ocean and Sparrow Park Road, and is just east of the old Gardiner millsite. Rumors abound that the developers have already bought the property for some $4 million, though the sale is not reflected in the county property records.

The Douglas Point Golf Resort proposal envisions two 18-hole “world-class” golf courses, with a lodge, hotel, and self-catering villas, as well as 300 residential home sites. Phase One, the North Course, is targeted for completion in Fall of 2024. Phase Two, the South Course, is slated for Fall of 2026, along with the lodge, golf villas and residential sites.

Who are the developers of this massive project? One principal is George Rhodes, a former Curry County Commissioner well known for pie-in-the-sky proposals, which at one point included turning 627 acres of State Park lands near Floras Lake into a county park, along with other county lands, to develop a golf resort. The other principal is John Fought, a well-known golf course architect who has worked on the design of scores of golf courses nationwide. A third partner is Jeffrey Fought, Director of Golf at Black Butte Ranch.

This proposal, called Oregon Dunes, is clearly modeled on nearby Bandon Dunes in Coos County, and seeks to emulate its cachet, style and combination of beautiful scenery and relaxed, upscale lodging. ORCA is watching this massive project very closely, as it is clearly unsuitable for this highly rural and rather remote corner of the coast that has very limited transportation and water. Furthermore, the project is to be sited in a sensitive dune area right on the Umpqua estuary and the Pacific Ocean.

The unbuilt Knapp Ranch golf course, just outside the Port Orford urban growth boundary, has long desired to use Port Orford treated effluent for its irrigation needs. Granted city permits in 2017 for the necessary pipeline, Elk River Property Development (ERPD) has since applied for, and received, an unbroken procession of yearly time extensions for the project, without showing any progress in the permits required from the Department of Environmental Quality. 

These annual time extensions have been granted by the city without a murmur. But ERPD did not apply for the extension in 2024, and the 2023 extension expired on April 20th of this year. Questions arose because the city did not issue its 2023 final order for that year’s time extension until March 2024, due to city staffing gaps. When it came out, the final order simply said that the extension granted began on April 20, 2023 and ran until April 2024, per the decision made in 2023.

It transpires that ERPD wrote to the city in January 2024, requesting the annual time extension permit, but also requesting the planning commission not process the extension until the status of the 2023 extension was determined. Now taking the safe route, the city decided to hold a planning commission hearing June 10th for ERPD to argue in favor of receiving another extension for 2024, nearly two months late. But the planning commission unanimously turned the request down. ERPD promptly appealed to City Council. The hearing will be:

Thursday, July 18th

5:30 PM

Email testimony to: Melissa Radcliffe and Joseph Harrison.